# Why are you still working?



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Why are you still showing up for work? That question came up yesterday for my wife. After Church we went to a information meeting on her retirement. Big part of looking at where she is was why are you still showing up. You reach a point where sticking around to the last possible benefit is a losing game. 
They tell you to put of drawing SS as long as you can. That is not true in most cases . Waiting could cost you big time in the long run what you don't take now may not pay off in the longer run. Comes down to a case something like this.
When you add up all that you are leaving sit while you still work. You are working for either nothing or very low dollar differences. I saw that 3 years ago and walked. Wife sees that now. When you do the math , she is really working for a difference of $4 dollars an hour. Walking away now would in the long run put more cash in her bank account. Some of you will understand it , some will have to really dig in for it to sink in. There is a point where you have done the right thing all these years time to cash in.
We had a hard time explaining to one person yesterday why it made no sense for her to pay a house off first. She has money earning 5% and is paying 3% on the home. By doubling up to pay the house off she is losing 2% on that money.
Being bad debit free is a Goal, not all debit is bad. When you reach a point in life after working you ass off for mist of it. It is hard to stop and really taken in the big picture. Then you figure out that goal you had been chasing for 40 years was passed a few years back. Each person there was in a different place. Most were better off than they realized. 
We went through all that a few years back , and made the first major step in leaving the work world. That was my walking away. Now time for the second for my wife pick a day and walk out the door for the last time.
Hard to believe so many are losing money by showing up for work. That the long term plans they had worked and it was time to take what was yours and walk away.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

But millions on welfare are counting on you to show up and pay for their benefits.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Why am I still working? I ask myself that question every Monday morning. :tango_face_grin: I have a few more years left but I am lining up my ducks now. I am looking at 62.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

SS is calculated by actuarial tables. 
Your monthly amount is set by the number of years you are expected to live. 
Wait until 70 and you will get more per month, true, but you are drawing for a shorter time. In the end, the calculated amount is the same.
The government just gets to tax you more while you are still working.

After 6 months, I went back part time simply to have extra pocket money.
Oh, the government takes income tax from your SS benefit. Some people don’t realized that.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Chipper said:


> But millions on welfare are counting on you to show up and pay for their benefits.


 I left the working world 3 years ago. Now it is my wife turn. I want her to retire. We have some motorcycle trips to take. Lots of them.


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## Toefoot (Jun 21, 2017)

Smitty901 said:


> I left the working world 3 years ago. Now it is my wife turn. I want her to retire. We have some motorcycle trips to take. Lots of them.


I am right behind you but will be towing a RV and owning no home once sold in mid Spring. The wife and I have been working out a plan on how to maintain a prepper mentality while on the road........ Imagine once we get our fill of the road we will settle down in N. Arkansas on the property.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

I still work only because I have clients that are happy to pay me, and much of what I do for them is retirement planning. BTW I have some clients I openly suggest taking SS day one and others I don’t. It is about knowing them, family history, and their health. Someone who by all accounts should make it to 85+ I say wait otherwise I say take.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

stowlin said:


> I still work only because I have clients that are happy to pay me, and much of what I do for them is retirement planning. BTW I have some clients I openly suggest taking SS day one and others I don't. It is about knowing them, family history, and their health. Someone who by all accounts should make it to 85+ I say wait otherwise I say take.


SS is at it's best when you can say you really don't need it. Other plans and preparation have covered you as if it was not there.


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## Yavanna (Aug 27, 2018)

Because I am only 28 and most likely will have to work for at least another 40 years to retire.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

I enjoy my work a lot and cannot imagine ever giving it up completely. But when we started building M.T. Acres about 2 years ago, I went to a work schedule of 3 weeks working followed by 1 week off to build the house. Once I finished the house, I just decided to keep the same schedule. Our cost of living is next to nothing so there is no reason to kill myself to make every last dollar.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

Yavanna said:


> Because I am only 28 and most likely will have to work for at least another 40 years to retire.


Honestly don't believe that is true. People with reasonable income and proper investments can easily accumulate what is needed to retire in 20 years it just takes the will to start and stick to it. 90% of my clients started and retired in less than 20 years.


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## BookWorm (Jul 8, 2018)

stowlin said:


> Honestly don't believe that is true. People with reasonable income and proper investments can easily accumulate what is needed to retire in 20 years it just takes the will to start and stick to it. 90% of my clients started and retired in less than 20 years.


A good question to your statement would be, how many people fall into that category of _"People with reasonable income and proper investments can easily accumulate what is needed to retire in 20 years it just takes the will to start and stick to it. 90% of my clients started and retired in less than 20 years"._

Starting at age 18, it took me 26 years to make a total of $509,000 and in the last 8 years I've averaged taking home less than $20,000 after taxes, which is very close to the same I made the last year in the Army in 1994. Yet I have 5 yrs of making between 37-39k where I was able to save $5,000 but since needed to fill in the gaps of just regular living.

Perhaps I'm the minority of people who are living check to check with not much left to put away. I'm not planning for retirement, I'm planning on a a collapse or a Noah like event with quakes instead of water. It could sound stupid, but it feel just as safe as trying to put $50 away a month towards retirement.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Yavanna said:


> Because I am only 28 and most likely will have to work for at least another 40 years to retire.


Not always. You do not have to be rich to retire. What you need is to plan and have someone that really knows what they are doing help with making the plan and carrying it out. Finding the right source is not always easy, there are a lot of crooks out there.
True old saying kind of went like this. Those that do not understand compound interest are doomed to pay it to those that do. Lot of truth to that. One retirement account wife and I had I remember when it had $50 dollars in it and think, That won't do much. The I saw it one year return 33% then another year lose 30% up and own over the years. Stayed the course build in both good and bad times and it payed off.
Get started the sooner the better.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

$20,000 take home or less, no, is not what I defined as reasonable to accomplish the goal I stated. My prediction is it would take double that and as such you've struggled to a great point on that. $500k now means you should be 5-7 years away from retirement IF you feel retirement at $20k annual is ok? Or you can supplement retirement income with jobs.

About 12 years ago I met a 25 year old nurse with a bachelors degree working two 36 hour FT jobs in San Francisco. She is now 37 and retired and very comfortable for life. Why? Because she lived like YOU on less then most people and saved like the SHTF any moment.



BookWorm said:


> A good question to your statement would be, how many people fall into that category of _"People with reasonable income and proper investments can easily accumulate what is needed to retire in 20 years it just takes the will to start and stick to it. 90% of my clients started and retired in less than 20 years"._
> 
> Starting at age 18, it took me 26 years to make a total of $509,000 and in the last 8 years I've averaged taking home less than $20,000 after taxes, which is very close to the same I made the last year in the Army in 1994. Yet I have 5 yrs of making between 37-39k where I was able to save $5,000 but since needed to fill in the gaps of just regular living.
> 
> Perhaps I'm the minority of people who are living check to check with not much left to put away. I'm not planning for retirement, I'm planning on a a collapse or a Noah like event with quakes instead of water. It could sound stupid, but it feel just as safe as trying to put $50 away a month towards retirement.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

When my Old Dad died, he handed over the management of his and my Mom's estate to me. 

I was astounded by how much the old man had, or better put, DID NOT have. Yet he retired in his late 50's and never wanted for anything as far as I can tell.

His stories of growing up in the depression were a reminder to me of what he came from...he was quick to tell us that he worked since he was 9 years old. He wasn't bragging, he was simply stating facts of his life. His high school days working at the steel mill after school and during the summers, his time in the Army in Europe, his cars ranging from 1930's chevrolets and 1940's chryslers to a volkswagen that he smuggled back from Germany after he was stationed there, a pontiac family car that he bought in the early 60's then his pride and joy a 69 camaro! And finally a 57 Chevy and a red hot rod Mercedes before he died! 

Never did he take a loan out for a car and dismissed me as an idiot in the late 80's when I told him I financed a honda accord (GASP! The Horrors!) He paid cash for most things and the only loans he ever took were mortgages and never ever for more than 15 years. Yet he saved and invested.

I was astounded to find out that he never made more than I did when I was in my late 20's and he worked for 40 years for a big corporation. His net worth when he died was much less than my net worth at the time yet he and my mom owned every damn thing they had and never wanted for anything! They had plenty!

Damn, I was proud of Dad for what he accomplished and what he taught me...He saved, He made good decisions, he didn't spend money frivolously and he lived a damn good life for what little money he made...compared to most people of today...

Point being, you can retire young if you manage your money and don't be stupid. 

As I've said before, I've spent LOTS of money on whisky and a woman! The rest I just wasted!:vs_laugh:


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## Yavanna (Aug 27, 2018)

I seriously doubt someone can retire in 20 years of savings in my country, unless one wins the lottery. You make the plans, you save money and then inflation comes and it is not worth anything anymore. I do not wish to retire early and become very poor for the rest of my life. If you are old you have to at least pay for health insurance, wich is very expensive. Also, I consider that in case I become too frail to look after myself, I might someday need hospice care and so on. 
I am not very optimistic about getting older, so as long as I can I will still work.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I'm reminded of a line in the song "Amarillo By Morning"

"I ain't got a dime, but what I got is mine,
I ain't rich but Lord I'm free"


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Yavanna said:


> I seriously doubt someone can retire in 20 years of savings in my country, unless one wins the lottery. You make the plans, you save money and then inflation comes and it is not worth anything anymore. I do not wish to retire early and become very poor for the rest of my life. If you are old you have to at least pay for health insurance, wich is very expensive. Also, I consider that in case I become too frail to look after myself, I might someday need hospice care and so on.
> I am not very optimistic about getting older, so as long as I can I will still work.


The same in this country, unless you are a white collar worker.
A man who works with his hands has to be really careful not to waste money on trivial crap, like vacations.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Often life requires us to jump. By that I mean jump from where we are to a new place. My second life was working for a class 1 rail railroad. The Labors working on our crews earned 50-80,000 a year plus benefits. You would be surprised at how many people with 4-5 year degrees were working as labors. Granted many of them down the road found ways to move up . The point is they could not get by using the worthless degree. But found a much better living standard with employment that required you show up, stay off the phone and stay off drugs. Now those making the higher level earned it . They showed up every time that phone rang. When I left a female I knew that was playing catch up in life made just short of $90,000 that year. She came to that line of work with not much more than having been a bar owner. That lost everything. Granted she was hard core on changing things and she dam sure did. I also saw many that got in and in a few days "I aint doing this shit" and walk off back to employment that paid very low wages.
Often a good planned can help you see outside the box. Kind of like working on something beating your head against a wall and it is not working. Someone walks over and says try putting the bolt in from the other side and in a minute done.
Life requires us to take a different view some times. In my case working , making money was not a problem. Mine problem was what to do with it . My wife filled that role to protection and I stayed out of her way. As Time went on we found ,honest people that guided us . Based on goals we had. Not perching just offering a different view.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

After spending 50 years in the workaday world and never finding an ideal job of being a bar tender at a hooer house. Thanks to a couple of cop pensions and SS..I decided to bail at 62. Big mistake cause the little bride retired near the same time. They means too much togetherness and listening to her emotional yaking and griping 24-7. I am now 69 and looking for a job just to get some relief. I dont like driving in traffic to go to a job and back home...the traffic which is a constant in DFW and they pile up like cord wood each morning and evening. I just cant figure out what a person should do. Any thoughts?


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

I plan on working in the shop...When the wife and I get "too close", be it making furniture or metal work. I also "hustle" all the time, buying and selling, scrapping things, and holding on to them.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Wife and I sat down last night went over it and she is walking away in November. Giving up a little of the SS will make no difference . Big up side is we can ride any time we want no planning around work. Facts are facts the day we will not have the ability to ride as much as we do will come. Using the time we have now makes sense. I was pushing for her leaving this week. I understand why she wants to wait until November .
Setting up an appointment with the advisor we know and trust to go over some things. Those will not really effect us as much as those we leave behind. The trust has that all taken care of but we want to look at everything one more time.


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