Bogleheads.org

gerrym51 wrote:i had already seen this-but i read all the posts-yours and others that posted. i like mine better

Yes, if you disregard the laws of mathematics, I can see why you like yours better.

everybody has their own reasons for taking ss and when. some people say it is prudent to take a calculation into your 90's. some say it's chutspah to think you will get into your 90's. everybody has their own opinions. my desire is to show the break-even calculation is closer to 90. as oppossed to ...

suddenly the break even equation gets pushed closer to 90. i will agree that between 90 and 100 ss gets better. again from 90-100 you are at that 23000/16000 and its the full 16,000 I can tell, you have not thought much about this or searched and read the other myriads of threads on this topic. You...

I'm not double counting. At age 79, my lifetime accumulated SS payout is the same regardless of whether I started at 62 or 70. However, there is still the 200K hole I referenced that was used from the nest egg between ages 62 and 70. At age 79, I am even on SS and going forward I am ahead of the ga...

Granted, this assumes my 5% return on the nest egg is valid but I can probably absorb a lower return and the model would still reach the same conclusion. You know what happens when you Assume? There are a ton of threads on this topic, if you search. It will point out the error in your ways far bett...

+1! - Well said and I agree with it 100% I have been reading different blogs and forums about personal finance. It is my hobby and I do learn new things and I see others perspective on personal finance. Some of the sites/forums advocate for stash as much cash as you can, live very frugal to a point...

45 years old, married, two small kids. I'm looking to retire in the US in a city with a cost-of-living index in the 105-110% range. $2,000,000 in brokerage accounts (index funds) $500,000 in retirement accounts (mostly 401(k), also some Roth) $215,000 in 529 plans for college for the kids Home paid...

Here, I'll give you a boatload of spreadsheets to play with, since you won't show us yours.

If you have anything better than these please show us.....

http://www.financialwebring.org/gummy-stuff/Excel/

BruceA wrote:[Response to snarky comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

Oh, I understand spreadsheets quite well....And again it seems you have come up with nothing new.

I have a lot of spreadsheets myself, but they are no replacement for Historical Market returns pitted against your withdrawal plans.

Please simply compare my methodology with Firecalc, summarizing how each works and the outputs of each, and commenting upon their relative usefulness. If you do understand my model such a reply should take you less time than it did to assemble your last post, and then I and others would be able to ...

The question I actually asked was: Would anyone be willing to comment upon the matter of the relative usefulness of the outputs from my model and the various other models currently being used? So far, no takers. Actually this question has been Beat to Death in Many other threads that you started. L...

That is all well and good when you are talking about averages. But the thread is specifically titled personal rate of inflation. And a Personal rate of inflation is an Average, so relax! It's just an inflation rate number....It's probably more accurate for an individual than the CPI. And for sure m...

lots of great response. thank you. i am getting closer to understanding what is possible: Keep high speed internet. how high speed do i need? comcast charges different rates. get roku. is this similar to apple TV? is one better than other? i have an ipad. would this allow me to stream wirelssly hul...

It is pretty easy for people to say well I could just cut this and cut that, but most people don't realize that they need to cut and find doing it much more difficult than they anticipate. And that is especially true if they have to do it long term. This thread was about Inflation and had very litt...

To @BruceA I read with interest your comments and I cannot disagree with anything you say. Since you refer to a model you use, I was expecting that your intention was to share the model with us, or you were just warning us to be more discipline with our money? +1..... I just take 3% of my Remaining...

I'm curious to know how you calculate this number. Does the 1.4% represent the average for the 8 years, the compound rate of return for the 8 years, or the real change from your starting year to the latest year? Thank you. Ed It is the compound rate of inflation for the 8 years. There are formulas ...

I think it is all an accounting gimmick. Claiming that you have an inflation rate of X%, while in reality you are spending much more than that and writing off the rest to "standard of living improvements" is not a proper accounting. That is what got Enron in trouble. 8-) The current spend...

Thanks for your Comments Bill !.....Maybe because we are retired, we see this as more important than other factors. It is one of the few things that you can truly control in the financial picture. An extra 1/2 to 1 percent of 'Real' Return is 'Real Money' ! I am not a cheapskate by any means as Next...

Initially, I too wondered how this information would be useful. I find that regardless of these numbers about personal consumption, I will not scale back on any of the items I require or feel the need for. I don't find such numbers actionable. But I think folks who are closely cuttting it might nee...

Default User BR wrote:I have no need or desire to track expenses, so I have no idea. Even if I did, I'm not sure what I would do with information like this.


Brian

If you don't care about planning for future real returns vs. nominal returns, you don't have to.

[Snarky comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

I have kept track of my expenses for the last 8 years or so... I took all of the categories that remain fairly stable and are not increased due to standard of living choices. These are things like property tax, groceries, electricity, gasoline, water bill, heat bill, phone bill, internet bill, cell ...

I don't think you will be able to calculate your actual costs until these plans get fully implemented. At any rate your premium was bound to increase anyway. All health care insurance premiums are going to go up substantially. The only eventual solution will be to on a single payer health plan.

Didn't realize there was such a strong rally... no wonder I'm sitting on a load of cash right now (using VA strategy and 7%/4% assumption for stock/bond returns)... How can the stock market have risen so quickly? Employment situation still sucks out there, am I missing something? Corporations have ...

floyd i looked at it again and you are correcto mundo. the only problem is the subsidized coverage is still requiring me to pay 500 a month. still 6000 out of pocket-this is because i have to use all family income And Without the ACA you'd be paying about 1,200 out of pocket. I don't see the problem.

Enlightening thread, but I think that it illustrates how completely baffling and confusing the healthcare exchanges, and the costs for participants therein, are. Given the apparent inability of some people to read through their 401K plan options and make sound choices therefrom (as evidenced in the...

I don't know what kind of insurance you are getting for $77/month for two people but it can't be much at all. It has a $10,000 deductible for each person, so if we were in a horrific car accident together, for example, we would pay $20,000. I feel the likelihood of needing the insurance is extremel...

hicabob wrote:

gerrym51 wrote:

orlandoman wrote:FYI, the ACA application says that you do not have to list/count Social Security income.

you misread it. you do count ss income. You do not count SSI-supplementary ss income

Another reason to postpone taking SS until 70?

Absolutely !

Get an Ooma machine and you have no phone bill at all. (About $5 a month in taxes) It works just fine with extensions. My main reason for keeping landlines (one for business, one personal - I know, I know) is because of voice quality. I'm an odd duck - hate talking on my cell and only do for very s...

That calculator told me that my spouse and I, with a combined gross income of $48,000, would have to pay $380/month. And the label above the chart had the audacity to call it my "projected savings"! $380/month is almost as much as we pay in rent ($400), and is over 11% of our net income. ...

Here is article and you can download application for healthcare exchange, download asks how much income yearly from retirement account, not total assets http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/01/news/economy/obamacare-application/index.html?iid=HP_LN John The form I saw was for a Singe person only. Do you kn...

Really would like to drop my Comcast triple play and just get the Internet (prob FIOS) but there are several cable channels we do watch. Mostly sports (ESPN) but also AMC, Fox News and some others. Many questions: Phone – I see Ooma is a solution and I think I understand how it works. If we were to...

Kill the landline. The infrastructure is now outdated. Use your cell phone (unless you do not have one... in which case, do not get one. You become dependent). Kill your TV. In 1999, I stopped getting cable and have had no version of television since then. I read, entertain friends, and have a DVD ...

We use Verizon's Home Phone Connect for $9.99 (add'l line on our cell plan). Combine that with each of us having cells and having unlimited mobile to any mobile and friends and family to 10 #s, we have no need for the triple play. Instead, we've gotten antennas and get out HD OTA and just subscribe...

My bank does the same thing, but if you have a deposit every month into the account, they waive the fee.

I just set up a recurring transfer and no fee occurs.

Wall Street is not a zero-sum game. For every winner there is a loser. This is not correct. Oops! I mixed that up. :( I meant "Wall Street is a zero sum game." That's still not correct. "A rising tide lifts all boats" is a better analogy. Agreed, as long as you don't put one foo...

Yes, New Zealand is Spectacular! I have visited New Zealand for some trout fishing, and at first glance it did not appear that expensive to me. Of course you are more expert than I in this. I fished the South Island and spent some time around Queenstown in the South and Nelson in the North. The Panh...

Our Comcast triple-play just went up by 10 bucks and my haggling gave me 1.00 discount. With taxes and fees it is now 147. That's a lot, I heard on NPR that many people are getting off cable, have cell phones, and watch TV by streaming and apparently it is cheaper and the TV is better. I have no cl...

It seems to me the so-called downsizing is more about reducing your possessions and organizing paperwork with better technology than actually moving to a smaller dwelling. Our house is all paid up and we buy more services now so the maintenance is taken care of. It is bigger than we need but not th...

2.) To save time because of reduced maint? ......I actually moved from a 1500 sq, ft house to a 3600 sq.ft Townhouse. But I spend far less time on Maint as the Lawn, snow removal, brush trimming etc. is handled by the HOA. No exterior maint either. The Costs are higher, but I have far more freedom....

I think you need to tell us your objective in Downsizing first. 1.) Is it to save on Costs. 2.) To save time because of reduced maint? ......I actually moved from a 1500 sq, ft house to a 3600 sq.ft Townhouse. But I spend far less time on Maint as the Lawn, snow removal, brush trimming etc. is handl...

The living environment of the people in the documentary looked pretty good to me, including that researcher, the lady who worry about retirement but type away on a Macbook, two people watching TV in a big living room, ... Awash in money went into those. Also see the thread about Mr Money Mustache w...

These Financial Institutions ask us for Guarantees, They're the Crooks, Witness the Financial Bailouts!

What a Joke!

I agree. It would be easy to go back to a pension scheme if people agree to a 25% pay cut. Here on the forums we have a few threads comparing jobs offering a low salary + high pension contribution vs a high salary + low retirement contributions. Most posters suggested going for the high salary. Pen...

What I don't seem to understand here, is you run out of money and have some problems with your reverse mortgage. Wouldn't you have the problems sooner if you had not had the reverse mortgage? Did the Reverse Mortgage cause the Problem or just delay it? There are a lot of old timers that paid off a ...

What I don't seem to understand here, is you run out of money and have some problems with your reverse mortgage.

Wouldn't you have the problems sooner if you had not had the reverse mortgage?

Did the Reverse Mortgage cause the Problem or just delay it?

InvestorNewb wrote:Don't contrarians also look for a "sale"? I wouldn't exactly consider bonds a sale right now.

Please tell us 'What's on Sale' ?

Default User BR wrote:

Cut-Throat wrote:We are all Contrarians after the fact.....

Let me look at my investing plan. Nope, nothing about being a contrarian in there.


Brian

Really.......When 'Everyone is Selling', you are not 'Staying the Course'.....

I know I am!

We are all Contrarians after the fact..... Here is your chance to Prove it ! Everyone here hates Bonds currently....Interest rates have only one way to go and 'Bonds will get clobbered'.....I see the ultimate Contrarian Play right now as to go 'All in' with Bonds. Especially the 30 year Long Term Bo...

thread will certainly get locked soon, but I will slip in my comment anyway. Yes not everyone can move to a cheaper area or an area with better opportunity for employment, but there are some choices that can be made to reduce expenses or extend the effort to find a job. I guess it is a question of ...

littleken wrote:So I guess you are not really arguing there is no bond bubble. Thank you.

They don't call you "little ken" for nothing!