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in my Late 50s I got lucky. I was the last faculty member in my department in the old DB pension plan. With 30 years in I could be appointed Emeritus take my pension and they would pay me on special contracts for the work I wanted to do. Effectively for 4 years I had more pay for less work than as a...

And of course your mother could lose her home for the daughters debts.
I've been a lawyer for 38 years and I hire lawyers for these issues.
No one would amputate their own foot to save on medical bills.
Why do they do such incredibly risky things in the law?

if we treat our DB pensions and SS as inflation protected annuities they make up 50% of our financial assets. we have 20% in Wellesley and 27% in Broad based domestic and international index funds. We have 3% in Fidelity and TIAA bonds (legacy 403 b) If we did not have large DB pensions TRI would be...

Just because its Mother's day Nothing on the stone. When I was 9 years old my mother lost her diamond wedding ring into the garbage at our vacation apartment. On a hot August day I dug through the garbage from 32 apartments, and after a number of hours of digging though crab and fish guts I found th...

For the record, not every 401(k) plan advisor is bad. My formerly employer had a Fidelity-managed 401(k), and I attended a couple of retirement seminars and had a one-on-one session with a rep from Fidelity's retirement department. He was a CFP and I felt he was legit. Most of the session involved ...

Quoted from Mr. Swedroe's article: "That means having a plan that makes sure that you don't take more risk than you have the ability, willingness or need to take." Of all the books, articles, and discussions I have ever read in investing I have not seen a better way to assess one's risk t...

HardKnocker wrote:Big market swings are what separates the men from the boys.

And presumably the women from the girls

Sorry to be dense, but after all this I still have to ask a basic question: Will a chip + sig card allow me to purchase a train ticket at a station in Amsterdam or Copenhagen or pay for parking at an unmanned parking garage? I'm not interested in being the enforcer for MasterCard or VISA merchant a...

Interesting
We normally have a budget for both of us $400 a day for airfare, housing and rental car or local transport. That can take you a lot of places in comfortable middle class style.
If it were up to me I'd travel 100-120 days a year but DW prefers playing with the grandson

We go the other way. DWs entire TSP is in the C fund and we use our IRAs at Vanguard for asset allocation.

. Over the hill, I must say you are not over the hill at all. I would strongly urge not discussing this with the wife. Marriages do end. And inadvertanetly with good intentions, you have facilitated with your paying for their expenses a situation where the wife really should be working, as your son...

I went back and looked up the financial plan I created in 1992. That was when I sold the one and only stock I ever bought. I have a DB pension that I started in 1977. DW also was in a pension plan. I remember telling DW that we would never lose the house and the kids would go to college. All of our ...

larmewar wrote:If your wife and the school system she works do not pay into social security, remember her pension will be partly offset by reduced social security.

Lar

I suspect you have it backwards or at least confusing . Her spousal social security will be reduced by the pension for a non SS worker.

Having seen the Education mill from top to bottom, or at least MIT to a rural Community college, let me make a few suggestions. 1) The emotional energy you invest in your child in high school is at least if not more important than the financial support for college . Encourage them, go to the games, ...

Default User BR wrote:

kitteh wrote:

rubypeanut wrote:My husband is almost 20 years older than me

[Snarky comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

What do you mean?


Brian

Subtle Grammar point
linking comparisons use nominative pronouns
e.g.
My husband is almost 20 years older than I (am).

My totally unscientific but gut feeling response is that what I really pay for from Wellesley is highly qualified conservative bond picking. While the academic research on Stock indexing is highly persuasive, I have yet to see the same work on the bond side. I then take on "faith" that the...

I actually live in the house I grew up in. I bought it from my parents 36 years ago. I paid my parents back several times over for their part of the cost of my education. When my parents died I inherited a bolo tie. My father had 6 kids and a non working spouse. I had two and a professional spouse. ...

The money is still in the pension fund. I believe it will have to be rolled over to a 403b. The pension fund in my state is seriously underfunded and they plan to make changes in the next two years. I'll feel better getting my cash out. I will still get a monthly pension payment. There are no inves...

The same thing happened to me in January. Unfortunately, Capital One accepted a fraudulent transaction against the old number some weeks after they had theoretically canceled it. How that happened I don't know, because they had already stopped a legitimate one. You might want to keep a close eye on...

As soon as I had income I that wasn't being spent beyond what I could set aside in my 401k - so basically as soon as I had income. I have a single brokerage account for my taxable investments There are lots of ways to "save" When you buy a house or a car you increase your stock of durable...

"saving as much as you can should be the goal of every investor.". :happy This is simply not true. Saving is for the purpose of consumption. The goal is to maximize consumption over a lifetime. :happy As one who is just now moving into the decumulation phase, I am enjoying the spending I ...

My wife and I are thinking about having a baby in the next year or two. I think we have a lot of our basics down in our finances (20% home equity, maxing retirement funds, emergency fund). :happy Caution As my "new mother" daughter always says "they have a child, SHE had a baby"...

As soon as I had income I that wasn't being spent beyond what I could set aside in my 401k - so basically as soon as I had income. I have a single brokerage account for my taxable investments There are lots of ways to "save" When you buy a house or a car you increase your stock of durable...

"saving as much as you can should be the goal of every investor.". :happy This is simply not true. Saving is for the purpose of consumption. The goal is to maximize consumption over a lifetime. :happy As one who is just now moving into the decumulation phase, I am enjoying the spending

When I got my first job after finishing school (1971), and started saving for a house in an ordinary savings account. Interesting questions as to whether saving and investing are the same thing. When you pay for an education you are "investing" in human capital. investing is acquiring &qu...

Honobob, not sure why I need 1.3 million today to fund possible LTC. $80K X 2.5 years = $200K in today's dollars Invest $200K and keep separate for future LTC or if not used, have some happy relatives. :D Where did you get "2.5 years" from? You're not making the mistake of thinking you do...

Worse still, the article underestimates the PV by a factor of THREE! 2. Second, Social Security is inflation adjusted. Inflation indexed SPIAs cost about 60% more than fixed amount ones. That make the total more like $720,000. . There is a big debate on whether inflation adjusted SPIA's are fairly ...

It's quick and dirty but for all SS and other inflation protected annuities/pensions I use http://www.immediateannuities.com/ and add 25% for inflation protection In our personal low tech asset allocation model I use the present value of our SS and pensions, add bonds and cash and call that the guar...

What lovely thoughtful helpful even profound comments. Score a point for "social media" To add one person's perspective, We are entering retirement in excellent shape, due to luck, skill and frugality. (emphasis on luck) I carefully make sure that all necessities including eventual "l...

I teach Engineers. Very bright, very task oriented and routinely terrible at deciding whether or not a specific task is a good idea. In general they are not trained to ask "Why/" but only "how". In software terms they understand "verification" (is the output true? ) bu...

if you want fun with life expectancy analysis try this one http://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_press/press_releases_1916/marriage_and_life_expectancy_1813.htm A woman's life expectancy is shorter the greater the age difference from her husband, irrespective of whether she is younger or older than him. ...

After using mainly eneloop for a long while, I bought a pack of Lithium AA batteries for my smoke detectors. Just can't stand the constant beeping when the batter drains, and need to change and charge. I use the Eneloop still for most devices, just not for smoke detectors. I published my first arti...

Andy, Are you claiming that momentum doesn't exist? How can it exist if the market is a memory-less system? The market does have a memory. One example that applies even to people on this board: say the market goes up (or down) a substantial amount in the next few months. Will Bogleheads just shrug ...

Liberal arts degrees in majors like philosophy may have no direct practical application in the workforce you are selling your nephew's education short. A liberal arts education hones one's critical thinking, writing, and communication skills. I am sure your nephew is applying all of them in his job...

Not quite sure what any such numbers mean. DW retires this year. I married DW because she was brilliant cute and cheaper than I was. (Actual recent conversation. ) Me "We may need a new car." Her " You just bought a new car" Me "that was in 2005" Her "So?" I'v...

One assumption that is being made here is way off the mark for most Americans. Namely the paper assumes the ratio of annual SS benefits to financial assets is 2%. The median American two earner couple at retirement will have about $25,000 in annual SS benefits if started at age 65 and about $120,00...

More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers More buyers than sellers [many more copies of this deleted by admin alex]

Repeat until you get it right

Work or fun has taken me to Europe almost every year since 1977. (DW and I are also Irish Citizens) Also taken the daughters from infants to adults. 1) Costs will kill you if you don't understand the European way of family travel. Best bet is to rent an apartment in a small town in a nice area with ...

You can either treat them as assets or as streams but you should pick one or the other. DW and I both have SS and inflation protected DB pensions These are income producing assets , essentially annuities. Our house produces imputed income equal to its rental value. Also "inflation protected&quo...

One assumption that is being made here is way off the mark for most Americans. Namely the paper assumes the ratio of annual SS benefits to financial assets is 2%. The median American two earner couple at retirement will have about $25,000 in annual SS benefits if started at age 65 and about $120,00...

Inflation adjusted SPIAs are not available at an efficient price so avoid them except for SS (Deferring social security is of course the cheapest inflation protected annuity you can buy) This statement stands on its own. To say that inflation-indexed SPIAs are expensive does not mean you should ign...

I read the article as being the equivalent of the discussion on Term life insurance. If you NEED life insurance you buy term and don't confuse it with a savings/investment program. Fortunately the market in Term life insurance is efficient. Similarly if you NEED annual income you should "buy&qu...

Radon causes an estimated 21,000 deaths per year in the USA. Not true as stated. Radon is a radioactive gas - you breathe it in and breathe it right back out again. No harm, no foul. However, radon decays into other elements known as radon daughters which are also radioactive. These are solids and ...

Is radon more prevalent in homes with concrete foundations and basements? It is heavier than air correct? You are confusing two concepts. A "mass" of gas may be heavier or lighter than air. i.e. if you release a mass of propane it tends to descend and methane tends to ascend. But that is ...

My family bought the house in Bethesda in 1957 I bought it in 1977. I find it hard to believe anyone would "retire to" Bethesda, but an incredible number of people retire "in place" here. They don't move or leave. If you are moving "to Maryland" for retirement either go...

As an academic lawyer you already outrank me on math, but I have written a number of influential joint papers on the regulatory use of mathematical models. My partners did the all heavy math lifting Model building and statistical analysis both require expertise in the math and the subject area domai...

Personally, I would stay away from Merrill Edge. I have a MM Savings Account at BOA, where I keep my cash. When I set it up, I told the person at the local bank that I would close the account immediately if I ever receved a call from anyone from Merrill. The old ML, and the new ME, are rip-off arti...

We were Bank of America premiere customers. The treatment by Merill reminded me of a viking plunder raid. Smash grab steal all you can and leave a smoking rotten ruin. We transferred enough assets to become flagship customers at Vanguard and never looked back

. You didn't lose money, because it is an expense to begin with.... We are taking a Safari to Africa in June and losing $32 Grand......We don't think of it that way and either should you. :D :happy :) :oops: Our 2 person self drive self catering safari in Kruger NP South Africa in September will ru...

I'm an academic lawyer. I routinely hire and pay lawyers to do the work I cannot do. You save the most money by relentless and careful preparation to avoid wasting the expensive legal time. For wealthier people I suggest they have a CPA put their finances in complete order e.g. basis in stock and ho...