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Old 08-11-16, 11:51 AM  
Sophie
 
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Originally Posted by Jeanne Marie View Post
My husband passed away a year and a half ago at the age of 61. He worked hard his entire life, but never got the chance to retire. He loved what he did though, and I'm not sure he would have ever retired completely.

Through his hard work and smart investing, I am now a widow able to live on the investments we made through the almost 40 years we were together. In just over 90 days I will be 60 years old, and will be able to draw his full social security also.

So I am "retired", if you will. It wasn't in my plans for it to be this soon, but I am very thankful for my financial circumstances. I would give anything to have him back of course, but I feel his love and dedication every single day through the legacy he left me and my son.
Jeanne, even if I knew about your DH passing away your post made me cry all over again. What beautiful thoughts. My DH is 57 this month and I realize he has been doing just what your husband did - has always thought about making sure me and our kids would be secure if he should pass on early, and has been preparing financially. You are so fortunate to have had each other, and you remind me to cherish what I have now. Bless you and yours.
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Old 08-11-16, 12:22 PM  
Jeanne Marie
 
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Originally Posted by Sophie View Post
Jeanne, even if I knew about your DH passing away your post made me cry all over again. What beautiful thoughts. My DH is 57 this month and I realize he has been doing just what your husband did - has always thought about making sure me and our kids would be secure if he should pass on early, and has been preparing financially. You are so fortunate to have had each other, and you remind me to cherish what I have now. Bless you and yours.
Thank you so much Sophie! Your post made my day. It's been a bittersweet day. Today, August 11th, is exactly 90 days before my 60th birthday. I spent 3 hours waiting this morning at the Social Security office to apply for DH's benefits. It was a long wait, but a very nice man helped me and made the process go so smoothly.

So, a month after my 60th birthday I will begin to receive that money that DH worked so long and hard for. Count your blessings that you and DH still have each other. Never, ever take each other for granted. Trust me, life is too short.
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Old 08-11-16, 12:22 PM  
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oops, double post
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Old 08-11-16, 12:24 PM  
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Originally Posted by clerkin11 View Post
I'm 51 and my husband is 59 and we haven't really thought about retirement much. It feels like something way off in the future to me, but my husband probably feels differently. We've been putting what we can in our 401K plans over the years, but with two kids we definitely weren't maxing out. And we'll be paying huge parent plus loans for a long time. I'm not complaining because we have great kids and they are worth it.
I have to laugh because all of the stuff we read years ago said "put x% in your 401k and you'll be a millionaire when you retire". We did that %, but then the market crashed a couple of times and we're definitely not going to be millionaires lol.
Please please start thinking about retirement and do what you can now, to max out your 401K. In this economy, you can't count on what we used to count on. Companies can (and do) go bankrupt, putting retirement pensions at risk. Companies get bought and the buyer then can put retirement contributions on freeze; you don't lose what you've accumulated, but you don't accumulate any more. Oh, and with the actuary rates being changed recently (people are living much longer), a million $ for one person is no longer the magic number, let alone for 2 people. I'm pretty sure I read in one of the AARP publications that baby boomers are the first generation that may not have a better standard of retirement than their parents. But congrats for taking care of your children !!
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Old 08-11-16, 12:43 PM  
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This is true. I have a cash balance pension from my last job that was frozen right after I was laid off. My husband was still with the same company, but since the pension was frozen, he wasn't receiving anymore contributions either, although we both continue to accrue interest (at least 5%, which is pretty good). I am fortunate enough to have a new cash balance pension at my current job. I was surprised they continue to offer it for new employees. That's unusual now.
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Old 08-11-16, 01:11 PM  
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I have a cash balance pension from my last job that was frozen right after I was laid off.
it might be worth exploring whether you can still roll it over into either your current company's 401K plan or into an IRA/Roth IRA. 5% is not bad, but if you have more than 5 years before you retire, you could possibly exceed that.

many people consolidate so that when they start taking distributions, they won't need to track different accounts and different rules from different brokerages.
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Old 08-11-16, 01:39 PM  
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No, it has a large balance and I can't take a lump sum payout or roll it over. And I wouldn't anyway. I plan to take monthly payments for life with a cost of living adjustment when I retire. I also have a large rollover IRA from the 401k from that job that is invested in stock and bond mutual funds, as well as a non-retirement account that is invested in index funds and a tax-exempt bond fund.
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Old 08-11-16, 01:51 PM  
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No, it has a large balance and I can't take a lump sum payout or roll it over. And I wouldn't anyway. I plan to take monthly payments for life with a cost of living adjustment when I retire. I also have a large rollover IRA from the 401k from that job that is invested in stock and bond mutual funds, as well as a non-retirement account that is invested in index funds and a tax-exempt bond fund.
sounds great!
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Old 08-11-16, 02:35 PM  
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Jeanne,
Your DH is very loving and wise in saving for retirement. Hugs to you.

My DH's family invests and saves so it is instilled in him since childhood. You wouldn't know they are extremely rich when you meet them.

Thanks to my DH, I will be provided for when I retire. On top of our retirement, DH has inheritance that is more than enough for our current lifestyle. My boys are going to inherit the $.

I don't think I will retire yet as I love what I am doing.
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Old 08-12-16, 11:04 AM  
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My DH checked with his 401K at work and it turns out that he can withdraw the money early when he retires at 55. I don't know if we will take advantage of that given you never know how long we'll need funds, but it's nice to know it's an option.

Definitely check with your own accounts/companies as you can. We've made an appointment with a financial planner who specializes in federal government employees (which DH is) to find out what options are out there we may not know we have.
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