A known and secure income stream is extremely important to us as we got involved in investing relatively late in our working years. Fortunately, we both have pensions with COLA's and those more than cover our monthly expenses including an automatic transfer to savings. My wife is receiving Social Security and it all goes into a savings account. We refer to the 3rd Wednesday of the month as her "payday" and to the last business day of the month as our "pension payday"!
I agree with much of your post, but am not paying off my mortgage early due to it having just a 3.25% interest rate. Investing provides a higher rate of return. Our pensions more than cover our expenses. Not spending down our savings to pay off the mortgage leaves us plenty of liquid assets to use for home remodels or other unforeseen expenses.
If the editor/site can't compile this info, I would be glad to do so. Will provide email for data submission if posting the results would be allowed. ALL data would be reported anonymously and in aggregate form.
I appreciate Mr. Quinn keeping this topic in front of us. It appears the only way something positive will happen is either through the election process or by some massive grassroots campaign of contacting representatives and senators to request action be taken sooner rather than later. I have very little faith that the election process will have any significant effect, so appreciate these posts which provide me with information to use when I write my letters.
If the stock market was miserable for the next 5 years, we would be just fine. We each have state-guaranteed pensions with annual COLA's of up to 2.5% and which are nearly fully-funded according to the actuaries. The pension benefits more than cover our monthly spending and also allow us to automatically save to our vacation savings account. In addition, my wife started receiving Social Security 4 months ago, all of which goes into savings. (I would like it in a higher-earning account, but get nowhere when trying to discuss that issue.) I will claim SS at age 70 in August, 2028 and will figure out how best to utilize those funds. In reserve, we have 1 traditional IRA and 3 Roth IRA's between us, the Roths will likely remain unused until passing on to our children and grandchildren. With the traditional IRA, we plan to use the RMD amounts as QCD's when that time comes. We feel fortunate to have this financial security ahead of us!
Great prompt for responses! My parents are both in their 90's and my wife's parents are both deceased. It was only within the last year that I was offered to take a look at the binder of financial information which my dad maintains. I share an up to date document titled "Time's Up" with my wife which provides information about all our accounts, assets, debts, etc., and my wife has the master password to my password keeper. I think the title of the document is funnier than my wife does... My wife takes only a minimal interest at our financial picture, and I would like her to have a better understanding of that information prior to sharing with our daughter and son, both in their 40's. That would allow us to make sure we're on the same page with our finances. If I can get her to understand our finances, then I would like to find a time to meet with the 3 of them together to discuss. FYI, I will gladly accept suggestions for how to enhance her interest in our finances!
Comments
A known and secure income stream is extremely important to us as we got involved in investing relatively late in our working years. Fortunately, we both have pensions with COLA's and those more than cover our monthly expenses including an automatic transfer to savings. My wife is receiving Social Security and it all goes into a savings account. We refer to the 3rd Wednesday of the month as her "payday" and to the last business day of the month as our "pension payday"!
Post: Automatic Income stream? How important to you?
Link to comment from June 26, 2026
Great post, sorry to have missed it when published. Where do you find the "real cars don't shift themselves" t-shirt?
Post: Not Dead Yet
Link to comment from June 21, 2026
Makes complete sense, Dan!
Post: Leverage
Link to comment from June 19, 2026
I agree with much of your post, but am not paying off my mortgage early due to it having just a 3.25% interest rate. Investing provides a higher rate of return. Our pensions more than cover our expenses. Not spending down our savings to pay off the mortgage leaves us plenty of liquid assets to use for home remodels or other unforeseen expenses.
Post: Leverage
Link to comment from June 19, 2026
If the editor/site can't compile this info, I would be glad to do so. Will provide email for data submission if posting the results would be allowed. ALL data would be reported anonymously and in aggregate form.
Post: HD Reader’s Demographics
Link to comment from June 17, 2026
I appreciate Mr. Quinn keeping this topic in front of us. It appears the only way something positive will happen is either through the election process or by some massive grassroots campaign of contacting representatives and senators to request action be taken sooner rather than later. I have very little faith that the election process will have any significant effect, so appreciate these posts which provide me with information to use when I write my letters.
Post: Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t
Link to comment from June 16, 2026
Javier: great post! I believe you have provided a very good summary of what financial planning and living life is all about!
Post: Quiet Failure: Time for Me to Say What I Think
Link to comment from June 11, 2026
Andrew, what a powerful post with reminders to all of us regarding what really matters in life!
Post: What Remains: Money and Me
Link to comment from June 10, 2026
If the stock market was miserable for the next 5 years, we would be just fine. We each have state-guaranteed pensions with annual COLA's of up to 2.5% and which are nearly fully-funded according to the actuaries. The pension benefits more than cover our monthly spending and also allow us to automatically save to our vacation savings account. In addition, my wife started receiving Social Security 4 months ago, all of which goes into savings. (I would like it in a higher-earning account, but get nowhere when trying to discuss that issue.) I will claim SS at age 70 in August, 2028 and will figure out how best to utilize those funds. In reserve, we have 1 traditional IRA and 3 Roth IRA's between us, the Roths will likely remain unused until passing on to our children and grandchildren. With the traditional IRA, we plan to use the RMD amounts as QCD's when that time comes. We feel fortunate to have this financial security ahead of us!
Post: Would You Be Miserable?
Link to comment from June 8, 2026
Great prompt for responses! My parents are both in their 90's and my wife's parents are both deceased. It was only within the last year that I was offered to take a look at the binder of financial information which my dad maintains. I share an up to date document titled "Time's Up" with my wife which provides information about all our accounts, assets, debts, etc., and my wife has the master password to my password keeper. I think the title of the document is funnier than my wife does... My wife takes only a minimal interest at our financial picture, and I would like her to have a better understanding of that information prior to sharing with our daughter and son, both in their 40's. That would allow us to make sure we're on the same page with our finances. If I can get her to understand our finances, then I would like to find a time to meet with the 3 of them together to discuss. FYI, I will gladly accept suggestions for how to enhance her interest in our finances!
Post: Time to share our financial info with children?
Link to comment from June 7, 2026