Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Blinded by the light Bob!!! Blinded by the light.
Aerolo: You have the right of it. Our work is never done raisin' all the kids! And I think you know what I mean by that!

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Do you have a State Pension in the US or do you have to pay into a private or work pension?
Here one is eligible for a basic Pension through the Social Security system. This is usually topped up by work pensions.

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Here we have social security bebefits where half are paid by employers and the other half by the employee. At 62 you can get reduced benefits unless you wait until you're 66 at which time you get full benefits. Medicare & Medicaid kicks in at 65. Retirement pensions are a benefit by some, but not all employers.

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

That system sounds reasonable.
Unfortunately I was caught in the trap where married women of my generation had their contributions linked to their husbands` work and therefore paid a reduced rate for full benefit. Which was fine till you got divorced and if you couldn`t find full time work were effectively `frozen` at that amount of contributions.
The system has changed now, happily.
(but the divorce was worth every penny! )

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Hear hear.

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Started planning for retirement ten years ago when I took voluntary redundancy. Mortgage got paid off (shared ownership property), car loan got paid off, the rest stayed invested. Topped up over the years by donations from parents (to all 4 of us children), and also by other savings & pension schemes.

I downgraded my job, losing about £10k a year, then went part time. Started with the NHS about 5 years ago, to work what hours suit me and actually I am left with no work now because there simply isn't any. Because of poor health (several painful ailments, plus others) I simply cannot work full time, and loathe commuting: the main reason I took redundancy.

So, for the past couple of years I have had to live off my small occupational pension, supplemented by savings, and try to stick to a daily/weekly budget, with the odd salary thrown in now and then. State pension comes into effect March 2015. Not long now, getting nearer...woo hoo!!!

What do I do in the daytime hours? Well, I don't have time to work, as I have enough interests to fill the days. I do two different kinds of voluntary stuff, I have my reading, my allotment, my love of travelling & trips away (whether they be a weekend, or a cheap caravan rental somewhere, using my free travelcard to get around London for a day, day coach trips etc). I have my genealogy, my creative writing (when I can get back into it).

I now think: how ever did I find the time to go to work? And right now, I would be happy never to set foot in an office ever again. I just need to keep going with the frugal living - to avoid decimating my savings - till I get the State pension, which won't be much, but will make life easier.

Right, enough chatting...off to watch telly (another of my favourite pastimes, lol!)

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

What does it take? Work hard, get a good job, save some money, buy a house and then you can retire comfortably. It is simple really!

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

What does it take - enough money to do whatever you want, when you want to do it. Of course it's difficult to plan exactly - a few years ago you could get a good interest on savings and state pension age was a couple of years lower.

Whatever you do - keep busy doing things you like.

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

Due to circumstances, I've never had the opportunity to save a lot, but as an OAP, I'm happy.

The only blot on the horizon is, as Bob mentioned - health. I'm on my own now and I have a lot to occupy my days - grandchildren who tire me out, but keep me smiling and good friends who see me through the 'dark moments' of last year.

It's the dratted osteo-arthritis which slows me down - when I can't do what was easy a few years ago. Good excuse really, not to attend too closely to the dreaded housework and gardening !

Gwyn

Re: What's It Take To Retire Comfortably?

The worst thing is having settled into your rut and managed to sort out your affairs so that you are self sufficient and not a burden on anyone, is to then see your children and even grandchildren struggling with the Countries economic and employment difficulties.