Rustynutt,
The whole retirement issue is complex. The answer is always, "Do your homework and then make the best decision for your circumstances."
Just trying to make sure that you consider everything before making your decision....
Good luck!
Lady
(Firstly, please read light hearted, that’s how it’s meant)
I’m never one to pass up a benefit worked for. The way I see it (and I’m stubborn) the DOD is going to pay me social security level wages for nearly 7 years in addition to my FERS retirement during that time.
7 years of my life is worth more than any 18% ever will be. I’m going to die someday. I’ve been a single parent since my 25-year-old kid was 3, and just put him through an AA Radiological Technician program, as well as a previous AS program, both taking 6 years to complete (he's not the brightest bulb in the box, but neither is dad). Cash out of pocket for tuition, rent and cost of living at well as contributing (until last year) 20% into the TSP. It about broke me and drove me nuts, but I survived. You can imagine that living high on the hog hasn’t been one of my luxuries in life. For reference, I’m equal to what use to be a GS 11/12 (and no bragging intended, China Lake had what they called the “Demo” project that rewarded quite nicely on a performance basis for a layman as myself. Under NSPS, I’ll be hosed the last few years). Another small point to make, my son isn’t too keen on paying Social Security with what reports have been coming out the last several years. Multiply him by millions, and well, who’s to say the program will exist in the same form in 7 years? My hedge is to be under full payment by the DOD in the event something does change. They have done well to take care of me so far, who knows, there might be a special clause for those under that payment plan. I know, just rhetorical nonsense, but really, whom would have thought the world would be in this state six or seven years ago? Change is inevitable, and is also unpredictable.
He graduated in June, worked for a registry since then, and will become a full time Kaiser Employee in Thousand Oaks at 77K a year (Gross) just starting out. I’ve only been above that level the last 5 years of my entire working career, and due in large part to locality pay. He’s set and I harbor no ill feelings about leaving any kind of inherence. I’m spending it all!
But really, I don’t mean to sound so serious. Heck, I’m even engaged and have a wedding date set for June of next year! Life is great, to wonderful to spend the remaining years in the rat race. The down side to winning the rat race is you become one. I like to consider myself a big cuddly bear
Yes, DOD’s FERS MRA is 30 years at 55, which I’m months of calculation wise, almost dead on with carry over annual leave 240 hours and converted sick leave (which I think is in the books, and even if it’s not, one can be sure I’ll become very sickly getting as old as 55!).
Roughly looking at your COLA figures, not really taking into account compounding as I’ll likely be spending the funds enjoying retirement and not doing much investing, the figure depending on the date of my demise is around 180~250K. I’ll make almost half of the 180 figure as a re-hired annuitant in the six months after retirement (not sure if other agencies do this, but DOD has a program, and I actually do perform a necessary function).
So I actually retire at 56, drawing full benefits and medical, but will work another 6 months for basically cash after taxes. I’ve build up a small inventory to keep my personal business running for about 4 years after age 56. Not counting profit, if any, the tax benefit from sales, expense and operating will subtract a few percent from the COLA I’ll be missing, and I’ll be loving every minute of it.
Real estate. Umm, I know what I’d sell my home for, and don’t really care about the current market. Our town has benefited from the last couple of BRAC’s, we are still hiring like crazy (who in their right mind wants to move to the Mojave desert on a realignment?), and luxury homes are still being built to accommodate the upper end of the pay scales. If my place sells for the price of a condo in metropolitan areas, I’ll make out with moving money and about 100% of the purchase price of property where were are planning on moving to. I’ve lowered my “dream home” expectations to either a manufactured home, or some 100-year-old house that needs constant attention. My fiancée is from Holland, and is quite use to 200 year old buildings
She’s a 45 year old very healthy Dutch “Girlie” that can hoist a 12 foot 4*8 beam as well as anyone. It took a long time, lots of searching, trial and error to find not a perfect mate, but a person that has the same ideas about what ones quality of life should be, and the necessary sacrifices it may require to obtain and actually live it. We giggle at each other just reading in the same room, and can ride silently beside each other driving hundreds of miles through densely forested mountains, stopping briefly to take a photo or pick up a rock. The motorcycles are a different story, or rather I should say the racing, but even though the fire still burns, I’m feeling now that that part of my life is better left smoldering and just enjoy the satisfaction in mechanics they offer.
So what’s left to cover in your figures, about 14% say? I still plan on working after retirement, maybe a small OHV shop near the Oregon Dunes State OHV Park selling tires and decals to weekend tourist. That leaves Monday through Friday to fish, work on the old house, or hook up the toy hauler to the diesel, drive a thousand miles to deliver an old motorcycle writing off 55 cents a mile on the trip.
But wait, there’s more! Remember that TSP account? There are a couple of options there. Set up a small account to take care of the manufactured home month by month, or the smallish mortgage on the run down cottage, or whatever the best way is at the time to pull from that account. The second option, one that does involve a bit of skullduggery as it were, is she and her sister are the only heirs to her fathers property in Epe, The Netherlands. If the dollar and US economy brings down Europe to an equal playing field, you can be sure my change of address won’t be in Oregon, it will be about 6000 miles away.
I love trains
We all look at numbers differently, and there are a lot in my little musing, but they are not statistical, nor printed out on a spreadsheet. Like you said, and actually the saying can and should be applied to almost everything else in life, “it’s different for everyone”.
But don’t get me wrong, I love to go over them with all of you on almost a nightly basis while glued to Bloomberg at 6am in the morning.
