Debt...
- Thread starter JHDK
- Start date
The wife is still around. We've of course discussed this a lot and she tells me there will be a discussion after the holidays about divorce and all that. I tend to believe her and the wife already started the convo at one point a while back but I get that it's best to wait for the kids. So who knows, hopefully it'll happen and all work out but I mean I can't totally believe it until I see it. But I do totally get how it's much harder cause 2 small children are involved.
The gifts are from Santa as far as the girls and wife knows. And that's cool. Really I get them for her cause I look good thinking of her kids and all.
We do hang out a lot tho, which it quite nice. In fact we have a 4 day getaway planned for early 23 which should be a good time.
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So if she leaves the wife for you, that kinda puts you on the hook to be her next wife.......
It's a lotta pressure to have someone leave a relationship for you. Be sure that you're willing to go the distance.
It's been you and the cat for a long time. You'll be adding a dame and 2 kids into your lifestyle.
It's a lotta pressure to have someone leave a relationship for you. Be sure that you're willing to go the distance.
It's been you and the cat for a long time. You'll be adding a dame and 2 kids into your lifestyle.
Yes. As a dreamer, I'd love to just wake up every day to no work obligations. Just helping friends and family, reading and learning, volunteering.
Like...
Monday: Stay with father-in-law so mother-in-law can leave the house for more than an hour. Volunteer at local high school event at night.
Tuesday: Help a friend move into a new apartment. Babysit for different friend for a few hours so they can get out and catch a movie.
Wednesday: Finish reading book, clean house, fix this and that. Try cooking a complicated dinner.
Thursday: Lunch with mom, dinner with high school buddies
Friday: Write music, take a small hike, rock concert at night.
That's the life I want.
Like...
Monday: Stay with father-in-law so mother-in-law can leave the house for more than an hour. Volunteer at local high school event at night.
Tuesday: Help a friend move into a new apartment. Babysit for different friend for a few hours so they can get out and catch a movie.
Wednesday: Finish reading book, clean house, fix this and that. Try cooking a complicated dinner.
Thursday: Lunch with mom, dinner with high school buddies
Friday: Write music, take a small hike, rock concert at night.
That's the life I want.
People say that without formal, regimented motivation - meaning a job requiring a set start time, as opposed to a casual plan to do gardening - an older person will become sedentary, and mentally unengaged; leading to early death. I've seen some evidence of that, but I also know many people who have successfully transitioned to other things in retirement. Right now, I don't have that option, so I can't "try it out".
As far as my situation, we had been living in the big, old, inefficient house where we finished raising the kids in southern NH. The town was a nice bedroom community, which made it a good place for what we needed. But it wasn't a good location long-term. Nothing going on in town, or nearby. Not close to anything of interest, such as nice cities, the coast, resort areas, etc.
Also, the house was not a good place to retire. Lots of stairs, high property taxes, hard to heat, hard to cool, needed work, expensive to maintain, was never going to be the kind of place we'd want to stay. We could've stayed there, and with my pension and 401k, I may have been able to retire at 60. But we didn't want to spend the rest of our lives there. So we did what we did.
We have debt, but we have much more in assets. And we're slowly paring down the monthly expense obligations, so I can stop working my day job in a reasonable timeframe. And meanwhile, we're exactly where we want to be for retirement.
As far as my situation, we had been living in the big, old, inefficient house where we finished raising the kids in southern NH. The town was a nice bedroom community, which made it a good place for what we needed. But it wasn't a good location long-term. Nothing going on in town, or nearby. Not close to anything of interest, such as nice cities, the coast, resort areas, etc.
Also, the house was not a good place to retire. Lots of stairs, high property taxes, hard to heat, hard to cool, needed work, expensive to maintain, was never going to be the kind of place we'd want to stay. We could've stayed there, and with my pension and 401k, I may have been able to retire at 60. But we didn't want to spend the rest of our lives there. So we did what we did.
We have debt, but we have much more in assets. And we're slowly paring down the monthly expense obligations, so I can stop working my day job in a reasonable timeframe. And meanwhile, we're exactly where we want to be for retirement.
I've heard about that too, and suspected it of some people who retired from where I work and died within a few years. But I know others who have avoided it. One guy retired from here about 15 years ago and has done so much (my bass player ended up marrying his youngest daughter). Pottery oven in his home (made the dishes his daughter and my bassist use), motorcycle rides across several states, several other projects. I'd like that to be me. Tennis, volunteering, travel (I've barely been outside the US), ready at a moment's notice when my son starts a family to help with anything and everything. Give me that life!
We've got the mortgage, and that's it for debt. It took a long time after college to get to that point, but it's pretty good.
Our house is modest, which helped get out of debt, but we should probably think about moving before we get too much older. (Like Scotch mentioned.)
Part of me loves what I do, and even when it's stressful, I can picture doing it well into my 70's. The other part of me could retire next week.
It would be great to retire a few years before 65, but we'll have to see how the economy goes.
Our house is modest, which helped get out of debt, but we should probably think about moving before we get too much older. (Like Scotch mentioned.)
Part of me loves what I do, and even when it's stressful, I can picture doing it well into my 70's. The other part of me could retire next week.
It would be great to retire a few years before 65, but we'll have to see how the economy goes.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
My dad retired shortly after he turned 55. He will be 90 this March. For the first 7 or 8 years after retirement he was hired back as a consultant. So he made consultant's wages + got his full pension as well.
Yeah, that's the thing to do if you can swing it. I know a few former coworkers who did that. The problem is, I can't just walk into my manager's office and say, "hey, let me retire and then immediately hire me as a consultant". There's also some period of time where you'd be in the process of transitioning to a retiree status, before you'd be eligible to be hired back. But if they'd let me do that, I'm eligible for the max pension benefits already. Mrs. Scotch is always telling me to do that. Problem is, we're hiring, and rather than pay me a consulting salary, they can pay 2 people to each work full time. I would only be able to work part-time if I was receiving my pension. And then there's the cost of medical benefits for being under 65 (ineligible for Medicare).
I can work for another company, and receive my full pension from my current employer. The thing with general consulting is that you need to have unique expertise in some area of broad need. For example, if you are an expert with a particular type of coding language, or firmware programming, or microprocessor design, you may be in general demand. Where I work, my expertise is in areas that are particular to this company, plus a small number (like 3) of other local companies.
So here's the catch: whether I land a job consulting or just working for another company, I will need to be on-site, and possibly have to travel. Two of my coworkers who became consultants had to either work in a lab everyday, or travel to US and international sites. Currently, I'm one of a small number of people who is working on stuff that can be done 100% remotely. To my knowledge, there are no other companies locally who are using the tools I'm using (I would know, because the company who developed the tool has a list). So there are no job openings for this particular type of work at other companies.
Given the choice, I'd rather WFH than have to drive in to a work site, even if the latter means I can get my pension on the side.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
At the time, my dad's company was doing a "right sizing" exercise. He was not on "the list" but asked if he could be. So he got the package, and his retirement package and then they approached him to work on the side. In Canada, his basic medical is covered by the government. I think he was covered by extended benefits until he reached 65 (part of the layoff package). No benefits to the consulting jobs. Also no stress. He was no longer the manager just a consulting engineer.
The reason he did it was my mom's health was starting to fail. He wanted to spend more time with her. The joke was that she lasted 32 more years. But he did enjoy his retirement. He was a nurse and cook for my mom when her health failed and now he is busy with his own projects and of course daily golf in the summer.
We currently have 2 big projects in the works. Having the house repainted, including trim (about $10k) and having a backup generator installed (about $10k). My plan was to use an available 401k loan, which currently carries an interest rate of 9.25% (although the interest is paid to oneself). It's very easy to initiate a 401k loan, and the repayment term is 5 years or less, so I'd have it paid-off by the time I "retire".
I was reading some finance articles, and they almost unanimously said I shouldn't do that (even though I've been doing 401k loans for many years) if I have the option of doing a home-equity loan/line of credit. I've also done many of those over the years, and they often seem to get me into trouble. It's easy to take expenses you really can't afford to ever pay for - like various home repairs and improvements, or even cars, weddings, and vacations - and just pile the costs onto the equity in your house. Eventually, when you sell, you have to deal with the reduced equity.
So despite the finance experts saying I should do a home equity loan, I was avoiding it, because I want to keep paying my mortgage down, not create a bad situation just when I try to retire. But the interest rate now is 8.25% (high for a home loan, but low compared to everything else now). The interest is deductible. And I was prepared to make monthly payments anyway, so it doesn't matter where it goes to. But here's the big thing. The house appraises for twice what I owe on it, so I can get a home equity line that will allow me to get rid of my high interest credit cards - which I've been paying for anyway. The payments would be half of what I'm paying now, and I'll actually pay them off in 5 years (not just kick the ball down the road).
So I'm really excited about telling the high interest rate CC companies to go fuck themselves, while also being able to do things for the house we need, like the generator.
I was reading some finance articles, and they almost unanimously said I shouldn't do that (even though I've been doing 401k loans for many years) if I have the option of doing a home-equity loan/line of credit. I've also done many of those over the years, and they often seem to get me into trouble. It's easy to take expenses you really can't afford to ever pay for - like various home repairs and improvements, or even cars, weddings, and vacations - and just pile the costs onto the equity in your house. Eventually, when you sell, you have to deal with the reduced equity.
So despite the finance experts saying I should do a home equity loan, I was avoiding it, because I want to keep paying my mortgage down, not create a bad situation just when I try to retire. But the interest rate now is 8.25% (high for a home loan, but low compared to everything else now). The interest is deductible. And I was prepared to make monthly payments anyway, so it doesn't matter where it goes to. But here's the big thing. The house appraises for twice what I owe on it, so I can get a home equity line that will allow me to get rid of my high interest credit cards - which I've been paying for anyway. The payments would be half of what I'm paying now, and I'll actually pay them off in 5 years (not just kick the ball down the road).
So I'm really excited about telling the high interest rate CC companies to go fuck themselves, while also being able to do things for the house we need, like the generator.
An update to this. We closed on the HELOC (home equity line of credit) in late August. We've paid off $35k in high interest credit card debt, and my credit score has gone up by around 80 points. It's over 800 on one of the credit reporting bureaus.
I got a notice the other day that one of the cards we're paying-off is raising their interest rate to over 27%, because of "market conditions". Not a moment too soon!
Congrats!
Getting my credit cards and student loans paid off was one of the best feelings ever.
I'd rather do without than crank up the debt again.
Our house is modest, my car is old, and I don't really mind it.
Getting my credit cards and student loans paid off was one of the best feelings ever.
I'd rather do without than crank up the debt again.
Our house is modest, my car is old, and I don't really mind it.
Judge dismisses Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, allowing creditors to try to seize his assets
Hey Rudy! They're coming after your ass ............... ets
I just noticed JHDK's signature block, and it begins with this:
And I can't help but think of this well-known financial statistic, regarding the US national debt:
Of course, recessions have a lot to do with this chart. But it's an interesting study in debt, all politics aside.
Note: chart is 1960 to today, full terms.
And I can't help but think of this well-known financial statistic, regarding the US national debt:
Of course, recessions have a lot to do with this chart. But it's an interesting study in debt, all politics aside.
Note: chart is 1960 to today, full terms.
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