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Whether to pay off a mortgage before or just after retirement is a topic I have addressed before. But, it is such a major decision, I get at least one email every few weeks asking my advice. No wonder. With nearly 30% of all those 65+ having monthly mortgage payments, it is important to make the best choice for you.  As I write this, the picture is anything but clear. Plans for a tax cut are bouncing around the halls of Congress. As of now, mortgage interest deductions would be protected. But, an increase in the standard deduction and a change in personal deductions might be coupled with the loss of real estate tax deductions, making house ownership potentially more expensive for some.  So, for purposes of this post, let's stick with how things are right now. After the dust settles in Washington and there is clarity (?) I might do a followup to adjust to the new reality. Retirement brings its own unique set of concerns and decisions. Near the top of many lists is a decision ab...

This isn't going to be a post where I pull out all sorts of scary statistics about our lack of savings and the problems ahead as millions of Boomers join the already-retired. I'm not going to give you a detailed plan for having a financially comfortable, satisfying ret irement. There are thousands of web sites, blogs, and books that can help you with financial planning if that is what you decide you need.  What I would like to do is offer some reasons why we simply can't seem to do what we know we must do: save enough for our post-working life. If we recognize what the obstacles are there is a chance that these problems can be minimized. I ran across an article by Jennifer Derrick from several years ago on her web site,  SavingsAdvice.com . She offered an interesting explanation of what may be part of the problem: "It’s only been in the last two hundred years or so that technology and medical care have evolved to the point where we now have the luxury to think about t...

Most of my posts stress the positive nature of retirement. After all, this blog is Satisfying Retirement , not Unhappy Retirement. I am a firm believer in our ability to work toward making a bad situation better. Attitude and a willingness to change can often work wonders. Even so, there are times when your retirement doesn't live up to your dreams or expectations. Despite your best efforts, fate has dealt you a difficult hand. Try as you might, things seem to have gone off track. It may be a health problem that doctors can't seem to solve. Whatever you have tried doesn't seem to have worked well. Maybe your relationships have taken a turn for the worse. Sometimes being close to someone 24/7 reveals cracks in the foundation that weren't noticeable  before.  Your dreams of travel have bumped up against the reality of your resources. A trip to the South Pacific has to be replaced by a three day trip south of your hometown. The idea of seeing the cou...

The devastation of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma is very fresh in our minds. The rebuilding of lives and property will continue well into the future; some people and places will never be the same. I feel for these losses and the massive toll on the countries hit and the people fighting to come back. At the same time, floods in Italy, Malaysia, India, just to name a few other locations, have wreaked absolute havoc. Preparation before disaster strikes is essential in a world where nature seems to be running wild. A "what will be will be" attitude may work when it is time to choose a restaurant for dinner, but not when confronting Mother Nature in all her power. Since my mind is a little odd, it occurred to me that preparing for an event like a hurricane or typhoon is somewhat akin to we should do before retirement strikes. Of course, a storm usually passes in a few hours though rebuilding may take weeks or months, even years, to repair.  There may be injuries, even d...

I am not sure I have ever written about this subject before. Satisfying Retirement is not a financial blog, but our monetary resources are an important part of how well we live, so it is not a subject I ignore. If you search the archives there are plenty of blog posts about preparing yourself for retirement, managing your money, budgeting, and all the basic steps that help keep us financially afloat. But, what about after retirement...are we done investing new money? Do we take what we have and figure that is what has to last for the rest of our lives? I can only speak for me, but, yes, that has been my assumption. After all, I don't work anymore. I have no "extra" income do I? What would I use to invest? Actually,  the more I thought about it, the more obvious became the fact that I do have money to invest. Maybe my days of making fresh financial decisions are not over. Here are some of my thoughts: 1) In an earlier post I mentioned that my wife will begin receiving spo...

Even though only a small percentage of folks decide to move shortly after retirement, it remains a topic of real interest to many blog readers. Part of the image we carry into retirement is a move to a beach side cottage or mountain chalet. We leave behind cold weather or the desert heat and live out our years of freedom in a place that keeps appearing in our dreams. One of my most emphatic cautions to someone who has recently retired is to not move right away. There are so many adjustments retirement requires that to add the stress of a relocation is dangerous to one's health and happiness. Certainly, after careful consideration and time, moving to a place that would make someone happy is encouraged.  Even then, there are five key questions that need to be asked. If living with someone, his or her responses are just as important. To move when only half of a couple agrees can lead to an unhappy environment.  1) How much will you miss the familiarity of wher...

...retirement was an unknown concept for most of human history. Work until you die, or can't do anything productive any longer was the "rule." With most of us living in rural situations, retirement made no sense. The cows needed milking and the crops had to be planted, regardless of your age. Most experts cite the start of Social Security in the United States in 1935 as the official recognition of a change in mindset. But, not until Medicare was enacted in 1965 were most people able to even consider retirement at some point. As you are aware, 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring every day. This massive flow will continue for another several years. That many people puts Social Security and Medicare under tremendous pressure. Neither was designed to support so many folks for so long. In 1935 the government figured setting the retirement age at 65 was a safe move; the majority of recipients would not live for very many years after that. Well, we showed them! Within a few ye...

If only that were possible. Except for knowing you will die at some point, life doesn't come with a guarantee, and that includes retirement.  After 17 years of experience, there are a few key concepts I'd be glad to share. Maybe I can help you eliminate some of the risks involved, though there is no guarantee. 1) Numbers All sorts of numbers will determine the extent to which your retirement is satisfying: figures in your budget, income, outgo, the size of your investments and pension or IRA, the age you decide to start Social Security, and how you spend the hours in a day. Not completely under your control but still important is how long you will have good enough health to do what you like to do. Days and nights spent in front of a TV or in an easy chair aren't very satisfying if you have other options.  2) Assumptions No one really know what the government will do with Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security payments, or what will happen to the health insurance markets. In...

What if you eventually want to retire, just not now? You are not there yet. Maybe it is a savings and money issue. Maybe you enjoy your job and the stimulation it gives you. Maybe your responsibilities with your family must be front and center for now. Maybe retirement scares you a bit. That just makes you normal. For whatever reason, you want to remain in the workforce, but would like some suggestions on how to prepare for the day when you are ready. Here are some important concerns: A) Make Your Financial Projections:  Get a paper and pencil, spreadsheet program on your computer, or anything that will help you with the following: What is  your projected income  from now until you retire. Obviously, this is a guess. Your job might disappear tomorrow. But, based on your past situation, you should be able to make an educated guess of what you expect to make from now until you do retire.  What do you expect to receive from  Social Security?  Avoid the "i...

Having a  Satisfying Retirement  without a budget is pretty much like jumping off a cliff without a parachute. You may survive but I wouldn't recommend it. I believe quite strongly that a budget is absolutely essential to a financially secure retirement lifestyle. Whether you are already fully retired, working part time, or still a few years away from leaving your job, it is never too early to build a retirement budget. You may hate the idea of keeping track of what you spend. You may think you know what you income and outgo are. But until you put in on paper (or in a software program) you are playing with fire. So, what goes into a budget? How different is a  retirement budget ? Are there categories that were important when you worked full time that can be dropped when you are retired?  How do you plan for retirement ? To give you some idea what might belong in your post-work budget, I will use mine as a sample. Since your situation is likely...

Is sunset the end of something or the beginning of something else? A few weeks ago comments left on the post, Saying Goodbye to The RV Lifestyle, prompted me to write this one. The questions centered on knowing when it is time to let go of something in one's life, when an attachment to something should be severed. When do we know it is time to let go of whatever it is that may be holding us back?  I thought those were very important queries to think about and worthy of some discussion. We are creatures of habit. Most of us are happy when our world is settled, and predictable. This doesn't mean we aren't active and involved, rather we have some anchors in our existence that are comforting. I would suggest that even those who travel a lot each year still need the security of a home base, a familiar place where they can refresh and recoup.  But, when is it time to let go of a part of our life that has been dependable up to now? How do we know when it is time to cut the cord ...

Today, retirement comes with certain expectations. Popular literature, feedback from friends, books, Internet articles....all sorts of sources paint a picture of this stage of life. Getting an accurate overview of what is likely to happen is not that difficult. When I stopped full time work in 2001 things were different. There was very little retirement information that dealt with anything other than financial preparation. Sure, Sun City-type retirement communities painted a picture of never-ending leisure, happy folks playing cards, enjoying the pool, and tasting wine with friends every bit as good-looking as you.  When our parents retired, the life of golf, playing bridge, and days spent in the wood-shop was an appealing model. For many, things didn't work out that way, but that was the dream to aspire to. Because there wasn't a lot to go on, I began my journey with the same idea of what retirement should look like.  Within the first year away from my job, I b...

Not everyone agrees that a financial advisor is necessary. Some of us are quite good at fiscal discipline, understand how investments work, and have the experience and temperament to handle our financial future on our own. For the rest of us (me!), having someone who can help us minimize mistakes and help us reach our goals is prudent. Just like we shouldn't self-diagnose ourselves when a funny-looking skin growth appears somewhere on our body, our financial health benefits from guidance.  In thinking about this post, I figured there are a probably two dozen questions or concerns I could come up with if I were hunting for a new financial advisor (which I am not).  But, that is a bit overwhelming. You might look at such an extensive list and assume that finding the right person is too difficult.  So, I have trimmed the list of key questions to six. The answer to each might lead you to another question or two, and that is good. Though not ...

From the archives. First published three years ago, these thoughts continue to be appropriate as 10,000 people a day retire. According to many  retirement advice  experts, $1,000,000 is the minimum you need in your investments accounts to have a satisfying retirement. Others say you need something north of $2 million to rest easy. As regular readers know, I tend to push back against such generalizations. How someone can draw a line in the sand and tell you what you must have or must do without knowing you and your situation is poppycock (I love that word!).  I offer suggestions and advice based on my experiences and feedback from readers, but I hope I am never guilty of telling you "my way or doom." That being said let me offer some thoughts on how the non-millionaires among us can still retire and enjoy a fulfilling and stimulating life. Again, I will say these are thoughts from me. They may not work for you, or you may have even better ideas which I since...