longing to retire

[alfaman]

first thanks to all who have contributed to this site...i have learned much

when i started 33 years ago at my facility, it was more patient care and less metics....getting to the point where it is wearing me down....i will probably will last until the end of this year...my service comp date is early december

we have lived under our means for many years and scrimped and saved....

here is my situation..think i am in fairly good shape
will retire at just under 63 years old...my spouse has no social security credits

34 years as federal employee...fers pension should be around be around 50,000 per year ...after taking 10 percent off so spouse can continue health care and receive 50 percent pension upon my death

i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...

tsp account at this moment has about 1,300,000....house is paid off...kids college is paid off...feel like i am getting to the end of the race....if the stock market stays stable i will be in good shape

 

[FAAM]

Sounds like you have a great handle on the numbers & in good shape & feeling good about it. Thanks for your service to USA, Best of luck with retirement and may you be blessed along with your wife and family.

first thanks to all who have contributed to this site...i have learned much

when i started 33 years ago at my facility, it was more patient care and less metics....getting to the point where it is wearing me down....i will probably will last until the end of this year...my service comp date is early december

we have lived under our means for many years and scrimped and saved....

here is my situation..think i am in fairly good shape
will retire at just under 63 years old...my spouse has no social security credits

34 years as federal employee...fers pension should be around be around 50,000 per year ...after taking 10 percent off so spouse can continue health care and receive 50 percent pension upon my death

i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...

tsp account at this moment has about 1,300,000....house is paid off...kids college is paid off...feel like i am getting to the end of the race....if the stock market stays stable i will be in good shape

 

[alfaman]

Sounds like you have a great handle on the numbers & in good shape & feeling good about it. Thanks for your service to USA, Best of luck with retirement and may you be blessed along with your wife and family.

thank you....right now it is about making sure my wife has enough after i am gone...running the numbers again today..it probably make more sense to wait for two more years, but work environment has changed so much....i called in sick today, something i never would have done in the past (just minor sickness/migraine)...have about 9 months of sick leave.

loved being a federal employee...when i first started, i was earning about 15 to 20 percent less than than the private sector ( about first 8 years of my career), but loved the job, patients and people i worked with...a lot more impersonal now...

thanks for letting me vent!

 

[James48843]

thank you....right now it is about making sure my wife has enough after i am gone...running the numbers again today..it probably make more sense to wait for two more years, but work environment has changed so much....i called in sick today, something i never would have done in the past (just minor sickness/migraine)...have about 9 months of sick leave.

loved being a federal employee...when i first started, i was earning about 15 to 20 percent less than than the private sector ( about first 8 years of my career), but loved the job, patients and people i worked with...a lot more impersonal now...

thanks for letting me vent!

You are in the almost perfect position. By all means, get your paperwork together so you can sign it and turn it in when ready. With $1.3 M in the TSP now- I'd say you can easily put that to work for you- get a steady stream of income off of it, and then hold off on the SS as long as you wish to.

Just remember- there is a finite number at the distant end- and every day now continuing to work, is a day that you aren't traveling the world. (Dang- I got to remember that one myself!!)

Best of luck! AND Congrats on having that kind of hard problem- deciding when to retire! You did great!

 

[djlc86]

Why wait till December 2019 or 2 more years for that matter? Staying another 10 months isn't going to drastically change your financial position is it? FERS pension will not be that much larger for only 10 months or 2 years and you have more than enough in your TSP to go now, everything is paid off already, you aren't considering collecting SS for a few more years as it is.

Sure you could work the remainder of this year and build that lump sum leave payout, but I get feeling you don't need that payout (although it's a nice to have). Life is short, retire and enjoy the remainder of it.

Whatever you decide, best of luck! I hope to be in your financial position in another 24 or so years lol

 

[Cactus]

i will prefer to not be taking social security until 66.5 years..would even like to wait until 70 if possible so my wife could collect more after my death...social security estimate about 30,000 per year...

alfaman;

Thank you for sharing this with us.

I would check to make sure your spouses' social security survivor benefit is going to be what you expect. I thought that survivor benefits were capped at your full retirement date. It goes up 8% a year for you after that but the survivor benefit does not. Please correct me if I'm wrong, anybody. I'm in the same situation with my spouse and trying to maximize survivor benefits.

 

[uscfanhawaii]

Totally agree with James!
Looks like your finances are in GOOD shape! (And you are still young enough to get a second job, if you like. And can make it a part time job too.)
I can repeat what others told me, prior to my retiring. When you are in your quiet time, listening to your ‘inner voice’, you will KNOW when it is time to retire.

Oh, and one more thing, that I also posted on my own account talk recently:
’I wish I had worked longer’, said no retiree ever!

Good Luck! (And maybe share with us how you got to 1.3M !!).

 

[uscfanhawaii]

Oh, and one more thing....

Not to be coming across as a expert or anything, but I often wince when I hear someone say they want to wait on SS until 70, even if they retire at 63 (or 66). Just suggest you consider: If you take SS at 63, that means that you will have collected $210,000 by age 70 ($30K x 7yrs). It will take you a LONG time to make up that 210K at the slightly increased rate you will get at 70. PLUS, once you are in SS, you will get annual Cost of Living raises, so the extra you get from waiting is even less.

Hope this gives you some ‘food for thought’, as well as others out there debating the same question! :147:

 

[alfaman]

good advice especially on social security and quality of life....i have two daughters under 26 so have to make sure health insurance will continue to cover them....i will be starting the paperwork on retirement estimate early next wk...appreciate all you input and wisdom

thanks again

 

[alfaman]

since it was asked how i got to 1.3 million
1. maxed out tsp from the get go...pay yourself first etc...mostly in c fund...although lifestyle 20 and 30 last couple of years
did not try to time the market...do not think i even looked at my tsp for about the first 10 years
2. started catchup contributions about 4 years ago...suggest you start earlier if you can
3 drove 13 year old cars (father was a mechanic and i learned enough to do all work myself on them....daughters have new cars however)
4. paid extra on the mortgage principal every month....came out to an extra mortgage monthly payment per year...had a 15 year loan
5. most vacations were at hilton or hyatt properties using hilton or hyatt points...europe, hawaii 4 or 5 times....went to just about every national park
6. my wife is a great cook and bargain finder....we like a good deal, but splurge on the good stuff...especially while on vacation
7. i am really not that smart in retrospect....my wife does all the budget...i'm lucky if i find a 20 dollar bill in my wallet (if my wife feels generous)
8. never cheaped out on the kids, food, or family vacations
9. did not live in a huge super expensive house, but it fits our needs well, and is close to work....about 5 min away...very lucky
10. i did not mention that we took advantage of lowering our taxable income...my wife has a spousal ira that helped with that as well...
she has about 40 thousand in that i think

as a side note...i make both of my kids start a roth ira, with automatic investments when they were 18 years old......hopefully they will be in good shape when they retire....

thanks all

 

[Scout333]

Nice! You did a lot of things right! You started early and kept socking away the contributions through good years and bad! Best of luck to you in your retirement!:smile:

 

[nasa1974]

Oh, and one more thing....

Not to be coming across as a expert or anything, but I often wince when I hear someone say they want to wait on SS until 70, even if they retire at 63 (or 66). Just suggest you consider: If you take SS at 63, that means that you will have collected $210,000 by age 70 ($30K x 7yrs). It will take you a LONG time to make up that 210K at the slightly increased rate you will get at 70. PLUS, once you are in SS, you will get annual Cost of Living raises, so the extra you get from waiting is even less.

Hope this gives you some ‘food for thought’, as well as others out there debating the same question! :147:

If you retired under CSRS and earned SS outside the government you get hit with WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/wep.html. You may be better off taking SS when eligible.

 

[alfaman]

If you retired under CSRS and earned SS outside the government you get hit with WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/wep.html. You may be better off taking SS when eligible.

thanks..under fers but this is useful information for a friend of mine who is thinking of retiring....thinks he ma know because he is the one who suggested i start looking at this site


i have to reread the information on life insurance....think i changed it to basic and part a last year

 

[FAAM]

Some good issues and discussions. Thought I'd direct y'all to recent 2/11/19 post on Tsunami's Account Talk; he posted a link to a long & very good website-article that give a good, REAL picture/analysis of when to start drawing SS (Pasted excerpt below).
" It took me a week to find the time in my busy retirement schedule :smile: to read this, but boy am I glad I did:

Making Optimal Social Security Claiming Decisions by Daniel Amerman What an eye opener regarding social security and Medicare Part B. I'd urge anyone not already collecting SS to take the time to read that from start to finish."

That corroborated my own simpler assessment - and I'll be claiming SS at 62 or 63 for my own situation. I'm FERS, have 35+ yrs Fed Service, have about 2.5 yrs till I'm 62. Since my wife just started working for FED Civil Service 2+ years ago, I decided not to retire now but wait till 62, so that, basically, we can retire/travel/etc together (she must work till 62 to have a FERS 5+ years retirement, she's only 9-months younger than I). Would like to go now but don't want to sit home alone waiting for her to retire; plus I'll get the extra 10% for my annuity at 62. I have just more than about half of that $1.3mil mentioned in this thread in my TSP so far... so I can build that up more too. GOOD LUCK ALL.

 

[alfaman]

wow..thanks great article...have to factor in my wife, who is 10 years younger...i do know our/my minimum distribution for iras is less if your spouse is 10 years or younger...this rule does not apply with the thrift plan so that is a disadvantage of the tsp..higher minimum distribution for tsp, so money may not last for her when i am gone

as far as social security goes, will run the numbers for amt for 40 years...she will already already be getting only half my pension when i am gone, so need to maximize social security, her ira, and remaining money in the thrift plan

 

[evilanne]

Have you run the retirement income calculator? Right now, based on what you have said $1.3M, you 62, wife 52. If you assume a very conservative 4% rate of return, if you withdrew $4K/month it would last until you & your wife were 110 & 100, respectively. Base on your TSP balance and your financial situation, I think you will probably have more money than you know what to do with when you retire & stop contributing to TSP [look at your end of year paycheck and subtract out MEDICARE, OASID, FERS RETIRE, TSP & TSP CUC from your Gross Income to get a better idea of what level of income you will need on an annual basis. You will still have to include FEHB & Income Tax in you're expenses] If you went with life expectancy payments, payments would range between $3600 and $6,300/per month until you are over 100. At age 85, under the conservative 4% return, you would still have $1M. https://www.tsp.gov/PlanningTools/C...ependent=Yes&dependent=Spouse&dependentAge=52 Try different RoRs in the calculator based on your actual experience. When you die your wife can assume your TSP as a beneficiary TSP or roll it over to her own IRA or into an inherited IRA (different withdrawal rules to consider depending on her age at the time) see https://www.fedweek.com/issue-briefs/tsp-updates-beneficiary-policies-2/. Any non-spouse beneficiary should be instructed use the inherited IRA option to avoid a large tax bill and to receive it over their life expectancy.

A lot depends on you and your wife's life expectancy but the rate of return between Full Retirement Age and age 70 for SS really cannot be beat with automatic COLA adjustments if you expect for either of you to live until your 90s & if you can afford to wait (see https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10147.pdf) It can also help offset the decrease in your pension for her. IRS life expectancy table end at 115, so that is what I use :smile: Note: I don't really understand how Medicare Part B limitation/correlation with SS factors in based on link FAAM posted but I know your income the year or two prior to age 65 when you will have to begin Medicare does factor into the rate you will pay (you have some control here based on your withdrawals from TSP). Higher income earners have higher rate. It's too far off for me to worry about it now.

One thing you may want to consider before receiving payments from TSP, is doing a partial rollover into an IRA. You will still have to take RMDs at 70.5, but as you stated, the rules are slightly different; plus you can look at converting some of the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA over time. Although you have to pay the taxes, the benefit is that Roth accounts grows tax free, are not subject to RMDs and the tax brackets for surviving spouse are much lower than Married Filing Jointly.

I recommend retiring as soon as possible

 

[alfaman]

Have you run the retirement income calculator? Right now, based on what you have said $1.3M, you 62, wife 52. If you assume a very conservative 4% rate of return, if you withdrew $4K/month it would last until you & your wife were 110 & 100, respectively. Base on your TSP balance and your financial situation, I think you will probably have more money than you know what to do with when you retire & stop contributing to TSP [look at your end of year paycheck and subtract out MEDICARE, OASID, FERS RETIRE, TSP & TSP CUC from your Gross Income to get a better idea of what level of income you will need on an annual basis. You will still have to include FEHB & Income Tax in you're expenses] If you went with life expectancy payments, payments would range between $3600 and $6,300/per month until you are over 100. At age 85, under the conservative 4% return, you would still have $1M.https://www.tsp.gov/PlanningTools/C...ependent=Yes&dependent=Spouse&dependentAge=52 Try different RoRs in the calculator based on your actual experience. When you die your wife can assume your TSP as a beneficiary TSP or roll it over to her own IRA or into an inherited IRA (different withdrawal rules to consider depending on her age at the time) see https://www.fedweek.com/issue-briefs/tsp-updates-beneficiary-policies-2/. Any non-spouse beneficiary should be instructed use the inherited IRA option to avoid a large tax bill and to receive it over their life expectancy.

A lot depends on you and your wife's life expectancy but the rate of return between Full Retirement Age and age 70 for SS really cannot be beat with automatic COLA adjustments if you expect for either of you to live until your 90s & if you can afford to wait (see https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10147.pdf) It can also help offset the decrease in your pension for her. IRS life expectancy table end at 115, so that is what I use :smile: Note: I don't really understand how Medicare Part B limitation/correlation with SS factors in based on link FAAM posted but I know your income the year or two prior to age 65 when you will have to begin Medicare does factor into the rate you will pay (you have some control here based on your withdrawals from TSP). Higher income earners have higher rate. It's too far off for me to worry about it now.

One thing you may want to consider before receiving payments from TSP, is doing a partial rollover into an IRA. You will still have to take RMDs at 70.5, but as you stated, the rules are slightly different; plus you can look at converting some of the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA over time. Although you have to pay the taxes, the benefit is that Roth accounts grows tax free, are not subject to RMDs and the tax brackets for surviving spouse are much lower than Married Filing Jointly.

I recommend retiring as soon as possible

Thanks so much..feel grateful for all the input...cannot express how much you guys have helped me......... after talking to some others at work i realize that i am in a very good situation.....did all the calculations again in front of my wife, who is worried that we may come up short (one income family)....we also have been funding 2 vanguard roth iras off and on for a few years, and was surprised to see about 100,000 between the both of us in there.....have about 15,000 in roth tsp that i will transfer to vanguard one of these days, since i believe the nontsp roth iras do not have a RMD

work wants me to go one more year....know i have two weddings in the future to fund, so i am thinking about it, but doubt i will stay

as far as waiting to take ss until later, in order for my wife to receive a larger ss check....i thought that she can only get up to my maximum for my minimum retirement age...at about 66.5.....was not sure waiting longer would benefit her, but now i know she will get the higher benefit...thanks for the link

 

[nasa1974]

A lot depends on you and your wife's life expectancy but the rate of return between Full Retirement Age and age 70 for SS really cannot be beat with automatic COLA adjustments if you expect for either of you to live until your 90s & if you can afford to wait (see https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10147.pdf) It can also help offset the decrease in your pension for her. IRS life expectancy table end at 115, so that is what I use :smile: Note: I don't really understand how Medicare Part B limitation/correlation with SS factors in based on link FAAM posted but I know your income the year or two prior to age 65 when you will have to begin Medicare does factor into the rate you will pay (you have some control here based on your withdrawals from TSP). Higher income earners have higher rate. It's too far off for me to worry about it now.

For Medicare Part B your monthly cost will depend on your income and your wife's income and how you file your income tax. Here is the link to a chart that explains your monthly cost for Medicare Part B.
https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs

 

[turbo23dog]

For Medicare Part B your monthly cost will depend on your income and your wife's income and how you file your income tax. Here is the link to a chart that explains your monthly cost for Medicare Part B.
https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs

Its also good to know that your Medicare Part B premiums will be automatically deducted from your monthly Social Security check unless you have not yet claimed SS which in that case you get billed quarterly.

 

[alfaman]

there is so much good information on this thread....when i ran the numbers i determined that i would be in a higher tax bracket when i turn about 70...wow, never even considered that...good problem to have