I LOVE this! I have a somewhat similar story (late start on career), although it took a divorce for me to learn that I could "depend on myself." I certainly taught that to my kids though! Thank you for sharing your story.
I have benefited greatly by all the information we now have on social security claiming decisions! Because of my age, I am no doubt one of the last group of people to be able to take advantage of the restricted application option, to claim on my ex-spouse's record while delaying my own. I do remember that an agent I dealt with tried to talk me out of that, and wanted me to claim my own at that point, saying I would get more in the long run. I had already run the numbers, and had my daughter run them separately as a sanity check, so I did the restricted application. I'm very grateful for all the good advice out there now, as opposed to when Marjorie retired!
By the time I realized I was getting to an age where I was looking forward to retirement, I also realized I had not paid much attention to my financial situation, other than following a detailed budget over the years, and saving what I could. The book I read that had the most influence in getting me on track was Control Your Retirement Destiny, by Dana Anspach.
Early in the book, she shows how to make an income timeline. Being a one time CPA and IT & spreadsheet nerd, I loved this idea. I have greatly enhanced my original NPV cash flow timeline, with tabs that include my spending plan (my Quicken budgets), allocation, asset location, tax projections, asset class performance, and many other things. I can see my funded ratio, my buckets, drawdown strategy, etc. It's all populated automatically with a simple download from Fidelity. It makes keeping tabs on my finances easy and fun.
The book totally got me pointed in the right direction!
Comments
I LOVE this! I have a somewhat similar story (late start on career), although it took a divorce for me to learn that I could "depend on myself." I certainly taught that to my kids though! Thank you for sharing your story.
Post: Guns to Stethoscopes
Link to comment from September 16, 2023
I have benefited greatly by all the information we now have on social security claiming decisions! Because of my age, I am no doubt one of the last group of people to be able to take advantage of the restricted application option, to claim on my ex-spouse's record while delaying my own. I do remember that an agent I dealt with tried to talk me out of that, and wanted me to claim my own at that point, saying I would get more in the long run. I had already run the numbers, and had my daughter run them separately as a sanity check, so I did the restricted application. I'm very grateful for all the good advice out there now, as opposed to when Marjorie retired!
Post: Bewildering Benefits
Link to comment from April 8, 2023
By the time I realized I was getting to an age where I was looking forward to retirement, I also realized I had not paid much attention to my financial situation, other than following a detailed budget over the years, and saving what I could. The book I read that had the most influence in getting me on track was Control Your Retirement Destiny, by Dana Anspach. Early in the book, she shows how to make an income timeline. Being a one time CPA and IT & spreadsheet nerd, I loved this idea. I have greatly enhanced my original NPV cash flow timeline, with tabs that include my spending plan (my Quicken budgets), allocation, asset location, tax projections, asset class performance, and many other things. I can see my funded ratio, my buckets, drawdown strategy, etc. It's all populated automatically with a simple download from Fidelity. It makes keeping tabs on my finances easy and fun. The book totally got me pointed in the right direction!
Post: What’s the best financial book you’ve ever read?
Link to comment from April 1, 2023