Easing Into Retirement

BobM

BobM

New member
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
386
Location
Long Island, NY
I'm 55 now, with my oldest daughter beginning her senior year in college (RIT) and my youngest just starting her freshman year (Penn State). My wife and I will be empty nesters for 9 months of the year and plan on re-engaging each other and doing some traveling. I've met with a financial planner and we have enough saved to begin easing into a semi-retired situation (no pensions).

We could stay in the NY area, but that is prohibitively expensive for long term retirement. We are thinking of moving somewhere like Raleigh/Durham NC which is beautiful, has lots to do, and is near a tech triangle (part time work for me?) and several large universities. This will likely be a 5-10 year move until the girls start families of their own, then we will want to move near them as grandparents (hopefully).

Going from a net saver to a net spender is a real life change. Anyone have advice for making the transition? Anyone else in the same boat and trying to figure it out?

Thanks,
Bob
 
Bob - congratulations on reaching that milestone. I like the idea of semi-retirement and easing into retirement. The Raleigh/Durham area is also very nice.

A friend of mine recently became an empty nester. He said it took him all of a week to get over it. He's now loving the quiet house!
 
Bob enjoy the wonderful world of retirement. I retired young at 58 and my wife just retired this Feb at 56. We both were lucky and have great pensions including healthcare to supplement the way we now live. Our children are long gone and have their own lives, but surprising since we moved to the beach we see them a lot more, which is really kinda nice.
PS: You will be surprised, really how much money you can live on and still live comfortably. The secret, get some new hobbies, live within your means and enjoy each other and be sure you both have "ME TIME".
 
Congrats. As I've researched the transition into retirement. We have decided on living in Oregon because its beautiful, has low property taxes and no sales taxes. A great place if you are spending money - not so good if you make money since it's second behind NY for income taxes. :(
 
Bob,

Obviously you've considered medical insurance for both you and your wife (as well as your kids, if need be, until they're 26). Its our major expense @$18k /yr until we go on Medicare.
Then again, you're probably paying close to that in RE taxes on your lovely home. But your kids don't need those excellent public schools any more. A move out of L.I. could lower your expenses substantially.

All the best,
Paul
 
Health Care - yeah, that's the real big spend. I am self-employed and have to pick up the whole nut, about $20k in premiums this year for the family and only going higher. That will continue (and grow) until the kids get jobs and pay their own way. I need to look into the costs for an equivalent policy in NC (should be somewhat lower).

As for hobbies, I know there are audiophiles in NC. I expect to start playing the piano again, which was essentially given up when we had kids. With colleges close by I might take a creative writing class or two and see how that goes. My wife is a quilt teacher and does lots of other textile arts (rug hooking, beading, etc.). We also expect to travel, so being near a large airport is important.

The on-line calculators estimate about a 30% reduction in the cost of living from LI to Raleigh. So $150K in Nassau County equates to about $106K in Raleigh. That's part of what makes retirement possible earlier than originally planned.
 
Hey Bob, I am 56 and my kids r both a year older than each of your kids. I guess my wife and I were feeling amorous about the same age and stage of life. I love what I do and hope to work 10 more years. When I do retire I see many people pick lovely serene places often with better tax consequences. However as a physician I often see people retire to isolated areas with little or no quality health care nearby. Sadly the need for a true hospital with up to date treatments for stroke, heart attacks, broken bones and cancers(which r more prevalent when we age) are often not available in many small towns. So when you retire b within 10-20 minutes of great healthcare if at all possible.
regards,
Nick
 
veindoc said:
Hey Bob, I am 56 and my kids r both a year older than each of your kids. I guess my wife and I were feeling amorous about the same age and stage of life. I love what I do and hope to work 10 more years. When I do retire I see many people pick lovely serene places often with better tax consequences. However as a physician I often see people retire to isolated areas with little or no quality health care nearby. Sadly the need for a true hospital with up to date treatments for stroke, heart attacks, broken bones and cancers(which r more prevalent when we age) are often not available in many small towns. So when you retire b within 10-20 minutes of great healthcare if at all possible.
regards,
Nick
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wow that is great advise nick!!! im still 20 years from retirement age but have been planning an early one in the middle of nowhere maine. i like the cold. but that has given me something to think about. thanks.
 
Congrats Bob. I also was thinking of moving to that area also and maybe before retirement. I am 52 now and don't see myself in full retirement for close to 20 years. Like you said, good tech area and for me, lots of Pharma companies.
 
Petro85 said:
wow that is great advise nick!!! im still 20 years from retirement age but have been planning an early one in the middle of nowhere maine. i like the cold. but that has given me something to think about. thanks.
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Nick - I agree wholehartedly. My wife has CVID, so a good hospital with a good immunologist is high on our list. That's one of the main reasons why a place like Asheville is lower on the list than Raleigh.

I just contacted a broker in Raleigh. Basically a "platinum" level individual family plan will run about $17K in Raleigh. That's better than NY (@$30k for an individual family plan and $20k for a group plan). I have to look into group rates down there in case I decide to continue my business for a while after we move (aka semi-retirement).
 
I retired at 39 and have two kids. I quickly realized (5 years) that I need to morph to semi-retired.
Extra money takes the edge off. Medical was much higher than expected. I am not sure how the average working Joe survives. 2 adults and 2 kids is $105 for an iMax 3D movie, including food.
How is Asheville? I see a lot of movement there from Florida. Crime rate seems high as a drawback.
 
So which is better, to work your ass off to be able to retire "early" (and maybe not enjoy it as much because the stress has worsened your health) or to work "part-time" or be "semi-retired" up to (say) 65-70 with perhaps a little more money and less (but still more than average) time off for recreation, travel, etc?
 
veindoc said:
Hey Bob, I am 56 and my kids r both a year older than each of your kids. I guess my wife and I were feeling amorous about the same age and stage of life. I love what I do and hope to work 10 more years. When I do retire I see many people pick lovely serene places often with better tax consequences. However as a physician I often see people retire to isolated areas with little or no quality health care nearby. Sadly the need for a true hospital with up to date treatments for stroke, heart attacks, broken bones and cancers(which r more prevalent when we age) are often not available in many small towns. So when you retire b within 10-20 minutes of great healthcare if at all possible.
regards,
Nick
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My sweet wife, always planning ahead, dispatched my dreams of retiring in the boonies with that very logic. Her mother needed to be in an emergency room FAST but living way out on Lake Mead at the time meant a long wait for an ambulance, and a long drive to the hospital. This was many years back, but the lesson was not missed by my wife. Definitely a liability to being too far out as we reach geezer status. (Don't worry Bob, at 56 I consider myself a 'young geezer', 'old geezer' I think doesn't come until 70. No offense intended to the old geezers.)
 
The more I research this the more psyched I am to "try it on for size". I think we will likely take a trip down to Raleigh, perhaps in October, and spend a few days there driving around and getting a feel for the place. I have a friend who can hook us up with a realtor to show us general "areas" that are kinder to displaced Yankee retirees.

Then a side trip (4 hour drive) for a couple of days to Asheville and visit friends there who can give us the lay of the land.

If we like what we see I guess the next step would be to rent a furnished house/co-op on a month by month basis and give it a shot for 2-3 months. If that works out then it's time to think about selling our home on Long Island and scheduling the move. But first things first.

I spoke to a buddy in Raleigh who was raised around Boston. He's been there now for 20 years and raised his family. He said it takes about 2-3 months for that "hard NY shell" to come off. He also said we will likely find more friends down there in 2-3 months than we ever made in 20 years in NY because of that shell. I feel ya.
 
BobM said:
The more I research this the more psyched I am to "try it on for size". I think we will likely take a trip down to Raleigh, perhaps in October, and spend a few days there driving around and getting a feel for the place. I have a friend who can hook us up with a realtor to show us general "areas" that are kinder to displaced Yankee retirees.

Then a side trip (4 hour drive) for a couple of days to Asheville and visit friends there who can give us the lay of the land.

If we like what we see I guess the next step would be to rent a furnished house/co-op on a month by month basis and give it a shot for 2-3 months. If that works out then it's time to think about selling our home on Long Island and scheduling the move. But first things first.

I spoke to a buddy in Raleigh who was raised around Boston. He's been there now for 20 years and raised his family. He said it takes about 2-3 months for that "hard NY shell" to come off. He also said we will likely find more friends down there in 2-3 months than we ever made in 20 years in NY because of that shell. I feel ya.
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Do your research on the taxes in N.C. Taxes by State: New York to Wyoming

Florida : Taxes by State: Alabama to Iowa

the reason I am in Fl for retirement ( well spent 53 years of my 61 growing up here)

Personal Income Taxes

No state income tax
Retirement Income: Not taxed.
 
True short story:

Once I was on my plane to Quebec city to visit relatives. Just before I exit the plane to hit the tarmac a young and cute air stewardess, very casually comme ca, in a very friendly tone asked me what I do (for living, my job, my 'Earth ticket', ...). I said that I am mastering the art of retirement, I'm retired. She replied right back: "That's also what I want to do later when I'm older". ...I was not older than 44. She was perhaps 22.

________

Travelling to nice places and meeting nice people and see beautiful jungles, beaches, women, and eat great food, and see great live jazz, classical, blues music concerts, outdoors and also indoors, and go on the ocean sailing, swimming, snorkeling, and by the lakes and rivers and mountains to enjoy the fresh air and the views, and go fishing, golfing, walking the dogs, planting flowers and see them growing and erupting, planting a garden with hot peppers so that you can use them in your own home-made outside pizza oven, and seeing the children playing and growing together, laughing and running, to give comfort and live in harmony with your surroundings no matter where you are or on the move, to balance things in an unbalanced world, to be aware of the joys and pains all over, to relax inside yourself no matter what you do, what type of work you do, even when you do nothing (you always do something; living is doing), no matter the size of your bank account(s), no matter if you are rich or poor, and live stress-free, fearless, maintain a balanced level of health and sanity, even when sick and insane, take it one day at a time, dream your life and live your dream, ...you are mastering the art of living with peace, retirement from a world of conventions and restrictions and paychecks and bills and man-made laws that more or less make sense, or if they do most high society people don't respect them, the poor steal from the rich, the rich steal from the poor, ...and most people get away of it all eventually, into retirement. ...There are happy retirements and there are forced retirements; some are very relaxed, others are unsecured.

Some jobs are like hobbies we love, and like perpetual relaxations. ...Everything else around like money, unhappy people, lazy people, uneasy people, ...who surround you in your job, are not part of a happy way of work (living) or retirement (living). True retirement is to get away of all of that, or be comfortable with what you do, all the time, even when you work.

Our mind is our leader in how we balance things. Our state of mind is the result. ...Easing into retirement is just that; easing. ...And everything around and inside us is our retirement leader. ...There is no recipe only a state, no recipe, each person has his/her own journey into retirement. One way is no better than another; peace is.
 
Nice and philosophical Bob. Retirement isn't about age, but money and if you feel you're done being productive. I tried when I left the tech world 12 years back. After about 3 months I felt too young to be idle, so started my company. Now I suppose I am semi-retired, have time flexibility, but still provide something of value for those who want it.
 
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