My wife and are are heading toward retirement and will be updating our wills/estate plans. We are both quite active and mentally sharp; both have advanced degrees, but my family has a history of Parkinson's and hers of Alzheimer's/dementia, so we want to get things in place now. Almost everything is joint, but there are a few accounts that are just her name, and my retirement is in mine. We've always had many accounts as she worries about a company going under or someone stealing our stuff, plus the inherent FDIC limits on cash/CDs, so we limited any account to about 250K cash + 1.5M investme ..read more

I’m thinking about having a Cash account that is outside of my Retirement accounts. This would be for whatever or nothing. Not an Emergency fund. We’ll have that. I would fund Monthly expenses w SSA and Bucket 3 (401k, etc). Does anyone else have something like that in Retirement? submitted by /u/carlspackler2016 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

We (M 65, F 59 both still lol working and plan to along as possible) own 3 homes and plan to sell two of them to partially fund our retirement. We’ll sell home #1 and bank the $500K tax free capital gains plus whatever gains after taxes into an annuity or other investment account. We’ll then move to home #2 ( which we rent out until we occupy it) and live there for 2.5 years - then sell that home and bank the $500K tax free and after tax profits etc. We will add those gains into an annuity or investment and live in house #3 (which we currently operate as a Vrbo) for our final retirement years ..read more

Interesting column in the Wall Street Journal; curious how it strikes people here (both those who have yet to retire, and those who are already retired). I am very much in the group that the author describes as "pushed" into retirement and struggling. It actually sounds to me like the author is in a great place, having useful work that he enjoys doing, but enough flexibility to spend time with friends and indulge in interests. https://archive.ph/gXwsp submitted by /u/VonJoeV [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

We are in a Portland suburb and have a good amount of equity in our home - worth about $650K-$700K, owe $30K. 4 bedrooms + an office. And while we have done lots of work on it in the 20 years we've lived here, we are on a corner lot with a street behind us that has gotten busier and busier so that opening windows has become almost unbearable and being out back isn't enjoyable. I really want an outdoor space for gatherings and to sit out back and read. So to get that, we are going to have to move, but we like our city and want to stay here for lots of different reasons. I thought we (57F and 6 ..read more

We've gotten rid of excess stuff. Now readying for showing. Those who've been there/done that: Privacy. We get people may open bathroom cabinets/drawers, etc. And even more. How do you maintain privacy? (= thinking maybe putting bathroom drawer items in dark colored plastic bags or similar?) Security. Where do you put confidential paperwork, computers, etc? (We've heard a few horror stories of agents letting their clients roam freely.) Most of our home is furnished based on comfort. Are there a few "modern" things we should have so younger buyers don't think "I'd be moving into my paren ..read more

I know this scenario is unusual, but if anyone fits the topic, would love to hear how you manage a few things. I'm likely to retire in the fall, at 65, and these are the questions on my mind about spending winters away from gloomy Seattle. I have no idea where or how to start. But I do know the spouse doesn't really want to be a snowbird. How did you choose your winter locale? Did you have to make new friends there? How long did that take? Does leaving at season's end make keeping those new friends difficult, or do things fall into place when you come back next year? What did you do to fill ..read more

Hi been with same institution for 27 years. Not a high income earner, current salary is $63k. The retirement plan work is employer 5% to get the employer 9% “match”, which I’ve been doing for the last 27 years. Haven’t been able to contribute more on my end. Current balance is $550k. Had an appointment last week with a TIAA financial rep as a “check up” on video chat. He explained different ways to “skin the cat.” One way that I found “interesting” was that my 5% contribution can be looked at as a contribution to a pension. So I’ve been 5% contributing to my pension for the last 27 years and ..read more

I closed my mutual funds about 4 year ago which was a BIG mistake. I got caught up in the news and all the crap that was going on and started thinking that the stock market would crash. As it turned ut the stock market has been doing great the past 2-3 years. I could have earned so much more if I h ad left it in my mutual funds. My little Savings accounts haven't been earning anything, until recently the interest rates have gone up, but I'm sure that won't last for long. . I want to take some of that money, which is not a lot, from the pitiful savings accounts back to a couple of mutual fund ..read more

Service Corp of Retired Executives is a volunteer group where former execs can give back- typically to start ups or non profits. Are there any groups with a similar mission where non executives can contribute? I only got to middle management level and have been in leadership roles most of my career- I don't want a JOB job but would like a volunteer role to feel useful and work with other motivated folks. submitted by /u/Herbvegfruit [visit reddit] [comments ..read more