How NOT to retire:

[Silverbird]

FERS: Otherwise known as retire no earlier than 62 (or forego an extra 10%).

 

[Hybrid93Hatch]

If you can only save 77k in your TSP by the time you retire then you either have
1) poor saving habit
2) poor spending habit

For a lot of people this (77k) is less than 5 years of contributing to the TSP!

And what is he thinking to retire with a mortgage!

 

[Birchtree]

I plan to take out a new mortgage while in retirement because I need the tax deduction.

 

[Frixxxx]

I plan to take out a new mortgage while in retirement because I need the tax deduction.

I have to do the math on this one....I can't make sense of spending money to pay taxes on it just to get a deduction.

 

[Silverbird]

You mean a mortgage, or a reverse mortgage? Do you really want to be making payments on your house when on retirement? Or do you mean a loan for home improvements?

 

[Birchtree]

I mean a mortgage payment that will provide an interest deduction to help off set my sources of income. There are only so many deductions available - a monthly mortgage payment won't be a problem for me. My oceanic account will throw off plenty of income to handle any mortgage payments - and this account will continue to grow well into my old age - that growth does not take into consideration capital appreciation.

 

[jpcavin]

Even I understand the genius of this move.

 

[Birchtree]

My objective is to try and reduce my tax basis as much as possible so I get to keep my money instead of paying taxes all the time. That's why my wife has a defined contribution plan that will not require distributions until she is 70. Same with my TSP account - my distributions will roll directly into a Roth IRA that has no required minimal distributions or age limits. Anytime you have financial flexibility you can maneuver to save on taxes. Keeping the adjusted gross income low is the key - that sets your tax basis.

 

[Elgallo]

My objective is to try and reduce my tax basis as much as possible so I get to keep my money instead of paying taxes all the time. That's why my wife has a defined contribution plan that will not require distributions until she is 70. Same with my TSP account - my distributions will roll directly into a Roth IRA that has no required minimal distributions or age limits. Anytime you have financial flexibility you can maneuver to save on taxes. Keeping the adjusted gross income low is the key - that sets your tax basis.

Another way of putting it is: It's not what you make, it's what you end up keeping. I'm on the same wave length as BT on this one. So as long as we have the Mortgage Interest deduction, I'm using it to my benefit.