Yup, March 22
Yup, March 22
Great! Good on ya mate. You're doing the right thing...and yes better late than never!Originally Posted by proggy_jazzer
My friend jokes he's on the Washington State Lottery Retirement Plan.
..Confusion
Will be my epitaph
As I crawl
This cracked and broken path
If we make it
We can all
Sit back
And laugh
But I fear tomorrow
I'll be crying
Yes I fear tomorrow
I'll be crying
Yes I fear tomorrow
I'll be crying
The fate of all
Mankind I see
Is in
The hands of fools
A good friend of mine is now 83. Very active. He had problems finding women his age that could keep up with him in his 60' & 70's.....bowling, ballroom dancing, motorcycle riding. He said 75 was like a light switch turning off.....he suddenly felt "old" losing some passions he had....gave up the activities....traded in the motorcycle for an RV he uses only occasionally now. We still meet up for lunch but I sure miss the old Don.......he was hell-on-wheels when he was 64!*
*I'm just reminded of this.....he used to race cars....mangled a leg in a crash and when all was said & done, one leg was 2" shorter than the other! He has custom shoes made with the blocking on his right shoes.....he is a force of nature. Oh, and at 17 he had TB and had 1/2 a lung removed......Instead of Don, maybe I should start calling him Lucky!
Last edited by Garyhead; 01-24-2023 at 12:33 PM.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
I've got 7 more years to go before hitting 64. The wife and I had not made a point of investing heavily in our 401k accounts until getting a bit more aggressive with that a few years ago -those accounts will likely never get to where they should've been. On the plus side, the company we work for has been giving us stock for over 20 years. We got in on the ground floor of that (they changed the plan about 7 years in, which reduced the amount of shares given each year) so we'll potentially have a big enough chunk of money to live from the interest if we invest it wisely (plus SS). In a couple of years we should be debt free and we'll start saving money until I think I have enough to carry us comfortably until I get my stock $$$ at 65. So I'm hoping to retire in just a few years.
The down side is that my wife will still need to work for a few years after I retire. This is good in terms of still having healthcare, but where we live is about 30 minutes from work. I currently do all the driving since we work at the same place. She's still traumatized from a car accident she had just before I met her and gets extremely stressed out if she has to drive even the easy drive we have (all interstate, very little traffic) and forget about her driving in snow storms or heavy rain. We're kind of hoping we'll one day take over my parent's place which would allow us to stay busy with a lot of outdoor activities on the property, but that's even further from work. So I am kind of thinking we might just need to get a place close to work lest I end up spending several years of my retirement as a chauffeur. In any case, we're currently feeling extremely fortunate.
Edit: the company we work for is 100% associate-owned, it's not a publicly traded stock. The price of the stock has never gone down (we might come close this year?) and only grown. A couple years ago it increased 40%.
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What some Navy guys would do is retire from the Navy and live in the Philippines. There are housing communities specifically for retired US Navy personnel. With the cost of living in the Philippines, one could live comfortably on just their military pension. Rather than returning to the states, and working another 20 or so years until reaching retirement age. Since the Subic Bay Naval Station was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, I don't know if guys still do that.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Yup, my wife and I started going to a financial advisor when we were in our 30’s and it is the smartest thing we ever did.
Get the hell off my lawn!I'm still in my early 50s and don't want to rush anything.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
A few years ago something happened that everyone assured me COULD NEVER HAPPEN IN A MILLION YEARS so forgive me if my threshold for "alarmism" has adjusted somewhat.
Of course, I'm referring to the mainstream media and drama queens on Wall Street.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I'm teetering on the edge of retirement; 36 years in the federal gov't, started Social Security recently. The problem is I was part-time for a good portion of those 36 years, so nobody seems to be able to compute what my monthly pension will be.
The framework for Railroad Retirement was implemented by a long ago law passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. I don't recall the year, but I think it was in the 30s or 40s. Adjustments are negotiated by the Carriers and Unions, and the results apply to all the railroads in those carrier group/unions. So, the plan you get at Burlington Northern isn't going to be different than at Norfolk Southern or CSX or UP or Kansas City Southern, etc. I can't say for sure about CN, as they are probably affected by Canadian Law at least somewhat. As for specifics, your annuity is based on an average of your 5 highest earning years (I think.) Fortunately, I had one year that was well over $100K, which bumped me up. No one is making dollar-for-dollar on their annuity what they made while working, but the monthly income is pretty good. And yes, spouses get an additional half of what the railroad employee gets monthly. It is sweet, especially when factoring in the 60-30 qualification requirement, but it should be noted that railroad employees paid more into Railroad Retirement than those paying into the Social Security system did in FICA taxes. Less now for more later, I guess.
That's awesome Mark!! Glad you're sitting well in retirement. I can hardly wait for the 4 years I have to pass.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Spot on, Moe, the year was 1935, the same year Roosevelt's Social Security was passed. Railroad workers don't pay into SS because they have their own plan. Both were amended after 50 years to improve solvency. Both are looking at severe shortfalls in the near future: Social Security because the baby boomers are retiring and not enough youngsters are paying into SS to support us; and the railroads because trains are largely automated these days. Many run with a crew of two. There are LITERALLY almost no workers keeping it afloat.
Full time, part time doesn’t matter, as long as you’re on the books and paying FICA. All you need to do is go to My Social Security and create an account. Then you will see exactly what your payments will be from 62 onwards depending on when you retire.
Oops, you put shoes on the cat.
I have been paid by the hour for the last 15 years.
I teach/help pensionist and invalids (physically and psycologically) with computer/phone/techproblems and eventually help them with contact to the authorities, etc..
Denmark is probably the most digitalized country in the world, and if you ar not 'up to the beat' you are lost with taxes, bills, health care, and practically anything imaginable.
SO many people, poor people, sick people, old people and those who doesn't care about IT, are lost. They can get official help, but you have to book (ironicly via the internet!) or sit in line (by the phone) for hours, maybe even days...
I am privately employed and a course needs at least 2 people to 'embark' and runs for half a year, 6 hours pr day and typically 4 students. So if I don't have any students, no money.
Mostly I have regulars coming year after year. But it's a concern every 6 months.
I have a different second job: The last 3 years I have identified molds (microscopy) for a private company about 1 day pr week. Also buy the hour, and the hours depends on how many samples they sell / receive. Usually I have 15 hours pr month.
I am educated as a biologist (fungi), and I worked with this 30 years ago, but got 'headhunted' 3 years ago. Suits me well, its interesting.
All together not a big wage but we get by, we have been never been big spenders, good at saving, and have a house in Copenhagen that have almost 7 doubled its value while we have lived there (Crazy)! So no real worries. And the kids have moved and are doing well.
In 2024 I could retire, but I am not shure I will. It will lower my income with 1/3 I think, and I don't need to. Perhaps I can retire and still work some hours.
I am not sure staying home all the time will be super for neither me or my wife. She has been a pensionist for many years due to cronical illness and we are doing fine.
^^^^^I teach/help pensionist and invalids (physically and psycologically) with computer/phone/techproblems and eventually help them with contact to the authorities, etc..
Denmark is probably the most digitalized country in the world, and if you ar not 'up to the beat' you are lost with taxes, bills, health care, and practically anything imaginable.
SO many people, poor people, sick people, old people and those who doesn't care about IT, are lost. They can get official help, but you have to book (ironicly via the internet!) or sit in line (by the phone) for hours, maybe even days...
That's an admirable job!!
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I'll bet that study is fascinating. Maybe you can answer something I've always wondered about: why aren't we all carrion eaters? Wouldn't it make sense, evolution-wise, to be able to eat any mold, mildew or decomposition? Vultures and Komodo dragons do it. Why is it so rare?
My dad hated computers. When they turned up on his job, he was glad at some point he could choose for early retirement. I can't live without computers and if my dad wanted anything that a computer had to be used for, like finding information, I was the person he turned to. Not that there was much choice. Besides, I lived in the same appartmentbuilding.
YES SIR!!
My dad was a manager at Boeing Computer Services. They not only provided all the computation for Boeing, they sold their services outside the company, back when an IBM 7030 mainframe was a rarity. As kids, we colored on used sprocket paper and punch cards. I guess I grew up around computers and all manner of technology.
My dad was late getting into smartphones though. I had to help him set his up. But his logical mind, his meticulous planning for everything -- including his death -- was flawless. I miss the old coot.
This is not my dad, but I have several pictures of him just like this
Last edited by rcarlberg; 01-25-2023 at 01:25 PM.
For literally decades we used unused punch cards for character sheets in our D&D games. We'd bought them the intro to computer science class, which taught Fortran via punch cards, so we bought a whole box of 'em rather than a smaller packet, figuring they would be cheaper that way ... then that turned out to be the only course in the whole CS curriculum that used either Fortran or punch card.
My Cub Scout troop, some years earlier, used a bunch of punch cards donated by (some company my dad did business with, quite possibly Boeing but more likely Grumman) to make wreaths as gifts for the old folks's home we visited every Christmas/Hanukkah/New Years period (there was no Kwanzaa back then, that's how old I am). You did this by folding one end of the car to make a cone, then stapling the flat end to a round piece of cardboard; repeat until you have several rings around the cardboard. Then spray paint the whole silly thing green and cut out the middle of the cardboard, stick some cheap "ornaments" (gum drops) on it, et voila!.
Dad (who was the Cubmaster) got us some of the coolest field trips from his work connections...we went to a Grumman plant and, through the big glass window into a clean room, saw them building the Lunar Module for one of the Apollo missions (for years I thought it was the Apollo mission, numero eleven, but recent discussions with dad say I was wrong about that); also we got to tour a nuclear sub.
Good times.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
I don't have a smartphone myself. Have a desktop, a laptop and a netbook. Used to have a Psion PDA, which alas is broken and a HP PDA, which I didn't like as much as the Psion.My dad was a manager at Boeing Computer Services. They not only provided all the computation for Boeing, they sold their services outside the company, back when an IBM 7030 mainframe was a rarity. As kids, we colored on used sprocket paper and punch cards. I guess I grew up around computers and all manner of technology.
My dad was late getting into smartphones though. I had to help him set his up. But his logical mind, his meticulous planning for everything -- including his death -- was flawless. I miss the old coot.
Sometimes thinking of buying a tablet, but still not sure.
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