Excellent post @No Name !

I'll just suggest reconsidering taking SS at 62. My view is take what you can, it's probable it'll vanish at some point but that's just my opinion which is worth what you paid for it.

You've shared that with them, right? Nothing's quite so satisfying as hearing that from your kids!

I agree. get it while its there, AND while you are still able to benefit from it.

Depending on where you live, having enough to survive at least 1~3 months of capital to survive without worry is not a bad start.

Money is a tool, most have no clue how to use this this tool. Most spend more time picking a movie than growing their investments if any.

Every car we buy we always include my sons who are now in high school to understand how to negotiate a deal.

Parents should learn to teach the next generation fiscal skills.

I bought property in So Cal in 1996, no mortgages now. I wish for 1996 pricing again so I can buy more.

Cash is king, remember when you carry dumb debt you are a bankers b i tch.

More than a few times, yes. I think they enjoy hearing it as well.

I keep hearing this and I don't understand why. Social Security isn't going anywhere and the AARP (with it's millions of voters) will make sure it stays that way.

I expected this which is why I said it's my opinion. I'll stick with it for now but 76 million of us boomers drawing on SS & Medicare is a huge weight being supported by a relatively smaller group of workers.

I probably should have said that taking the smaller amount starting at 62 may be wiser than getting the maximum at 70 or whatever the age is now. Crunch the numbers and make your own determination. Again, it's all about how long you expect to live. If you're expecting to live to 90 you can wait, if your family history leans toward 70 you'll leave all that you paid in on the table.

If you are young (millennial) 10% savings rate is a solid number to start with and is what I go with. I am fortunate that my employer also offers a defined benefit pension that I do not pay for. It isn't huge but even if it ceases to exist in 30 years, I still have the lump sum value. My wife and I also save a small monthly amount into a Tax free account... It would equal about 1.5% of our earnings. She too has a DB pension and her employer matches her contributions. On top of that, we have an education fund that gets about $200/month for her son. In total, our savings rate would exceed 15%. If you exclude employer pension funds and only count personal investment accounts (including RRSP's and education) we probably have a year's worth of expenses covered.

I am not thrilled about that but in the last 2 years my wife has completed a Master's degree that we paid cash for, we got married and paid cash for it (including the diamond I bought the year prior), and bought a new house and put some money down and paid cash for all the associated new home purchases. We make very good money for our ages but I have found my perception on money has changed. When you get to a point when you can pay cash for larger purchases you almost feel poorer because of it.

You'll feel & be richer for it and congrats on doing so & having a nice income, etc.

My daughter still groans when she looks at what she owes for her Masters but as a teacher that's the only way to get a bigger paycheck.

I'm good.


All input is valuable to me, especially "what I'll learn tomorrow...and the tomorrow after that...and...!"

I met a, "Rain Man" type fella while I was enlisted and he got me into investing with a tip to check out MTG and RDN back in early August of 2012 (he had just lost a good amount of money on MTG's "crash"). My wife wouldn't let me get too crazy, but I invested everything I could, and watched it grow for nearly two years when I sold on March 5th 2014, the day MTG hit my target of $9.00 that I thought I would never see.

As for education... I paid cash for my wife's education when I was enlisted in the Army, and re-enlisted for another deployment right after she got her "grown up job". I now invest that stack of tax-free deployment cash quite aggressively while going to school using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I'm young, I'm dumb, and I wouldn't be screwed if one day I lost it all, so why not?

So far I haven't shot myself in the foot, but I do plan to lower my risk a bit when I hit 30 here in a few of years.

Comfortable retirement doesn't happen by accident:
- without accumulating enough savings (for chosen senior lifestyle) &/or receive family inheritance (if lucky enough)
- Two most important buying decisions EVER, over ones life time is:
a) house/property
b) vehicles
Make wise choices, or go into very long term debt / all buying decisions have consequences, good or bad !!

^^ I don't live in or drive brand new / these purchases, are made very wisely here.
- renovated 1963 brick bungalow that sits on +1.1 commercial acres / location-location-location, for investment potential
- wife drives a mint 2008 RAV4 Limited v6 while I drive a stock 2000 4Runner SR5 v6
(purchased in last year with cash / equals no car payments)
- I buy our family vehicles private (saved $5,000 on each recent 4x4 purchases)
- I sell our older vehicles myself, and get top dollar
- my Gen3-T4R will be kept bone stock, just turned 90,000 original miles / body still rust free & drive-train runs perfect
My fun money will be in restoring my Canadian muscle car, a rare 1967 Beaumont Sport Deluxe (396-350HP/M21/411's).

Regarding tools, my dad some 50 years ago said - "purchase quality and buy it once".
Now we live in a disposable society, & its rather difficult to purchase appliances, that aren't junk by the time the warranty runs out.
- in the home, we love are trouble free Bosch Appliances / and small kitchen stuff, by Breville
- washer & dryer, can't beat Commercial Speed Queen, like used in laundry-marts (aka Huebsch in Canada)

Went it comes to vehicle repairs, I source my own parts / my garage friend supplies his top mechanic.
- just did the rear brakes on wife's RAV4 with drilled & slotted G-3500 grey iron premium rotors with ceramic pads
- my parts & indepentant labor, totaled $300 complete / over a $1,000 rear brake job, at Toyota dealer...I always avoid

^^ Lots of ways to save easy money sometimes & don't always have to get your hands dirty.
- be smart & calculating in decisions that involve spending hard earned money & enjoy the process
[the proper research & hunt for the deal (new or used), does pays off...treat it like a rewarding job]

Not everyone can drive used vehicles / and late last year our son needed a luxury SUV, for business-work.
- we went into $$ negotiations as a skillful team, on his brand new 2015 Lexus RX350 v6 AWD purchase
- in the end, he saved 13.3% off MSRP / even purchased the Lexus, $40 per month cheaper than the same one leased
- it took Dad some 7 weeks to sell his older 2008 Nissan Rogue, privately off our front lawn
- I detailed it myself (hand wax, tires changed, E-test, safety check) / sold for ~$5,000 over normal trade-in-dealership level

I get that and respect your decision. I'm 61 and have been thinking a lot about this.

One thing that concerns me is rules on how much you are allowed to make outside of social security once you elect to start taking it. My parents died young and I've no reason to expect I'll live any longer than they did but I don't want to see my investment income go to waste if I elect to draw SS too early.

I've put in a call to my CPA. Anxious to hear what he says.

Sounds like our situations are similar, both my wife and I come from parents that died young. While not a guarantee we will too it's foolish to assume the actuarial lifespan numbers apply to us. We only get one life and spending it working towards an unrealistic age expectancy isn't sensible.

SS rules are often hard to understand but here's some info: https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html

Let us know what your CPA has to say.