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My name is Gene and I'm a retired IT manager with 34 years experience in IT. After college I did a stint in the USMC in the mid-70's, conductor on the railroad, and then during an economic recession went back to school and got a 2nd bachelors degree in computer science. I then did half my IT career in corporate America and half as a civil servant. I grew up in the southwest and after military service returned to the southwest to raise my family (1 girl & 2 boys). I went through an unwanted and unexpected divorce at 49, but remarried 11 years later to a wonderful companion who's truly my soulmate. We both retired in 2018 and we're having a great time in retirement. We're currently in good health and live in a 55+ community. We love our home but we plan to ultimately move into a CCRC at some point to remove that uncertainty and risk.
Comments
Great article. At 10 years in your above example, the investor ends up with 91% of what they could have had. But the penalty increases with time. At 40 years using the same assumptions, the investors ends up with only 69% (keeping 10,285,718 instead of 14,974,458). So this is one of those cases in life where it only gets worst over time.
Post: The Silent Compounding Cost of a 1% Fee
Link to comment from May 13, 2025
A good reminder for those of us who occasionally rent a car while traveling. Thanks for sharing. Glad things eventually worked out well for you.
Post: A Tale of Excess
Link to comment from May 7, 2025
Good thoughts; thanks. I really like the idea of characterizing the decision to wait to start social security as "buying an annuity". When you roll in the COLA aspect it's hard to beat. Of course, as you point out the folks who need it the most are probably not able to wait. Remember that old quote about "spending money to make money". This is a perfect example.
Post: Buying an Annuity from the SSA
Link to comment from April 29, 2025
A thoughtful act; well done. Thanks for the reminder.
Post: Kind Hearts are More than Coronets
Link to comment from April 28, 2025
I agree. Besides fixing the current shortfalls in social security, I'd like to see it strengthened since it does function as the dominant retirement income stream for so many people. Human nature being what it is, I doubt that will change anytime soon.
Post: You versus Social Security – Quinn is betting against you.
Link to comment from April 27, 2025
I don't remember the last time I mailed a check. I really dislike doing that if possible. For the grand kids I use Zelle. My wife's hairdresser won't accept credit cards so my wife uses Zelle for her as well. My wife sent a small gift recently to someone and I suggested it's the lessor of 2 evils to simply send cash, so that's what she did. The bills are on autopay or paid online.
Post: It’s 2025. Do you send checks by mail?
Link to comment from April 27, 2025
My wife and I are hikers and we've done a pretty good job of forming the habit of stopping when we want to take in a great view. We also use hiking poles a lot more than in our younger years.
Post: Three Points to Avoid Injuries
Link to comment from April 26, 2025
I agree. I've found a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks a fairly steady source of income for a portion of my portfolio. Yeah, any single stock can run into trouble and even a dividend aristocrat can get in trouble and cut their dividend. But as long as one stays diversified across a portfolio of high quality stocks I think (on average) their dividends fluctuate much less that the stock market. Nothings perfect, but I've come to realize dividend investing is a better fit to my personality so I've continued to slowly shift in that direction
Post: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby by Marjorie Kondrack
Link to comment from April 26, 2025
I also do something similar with a spreadsheet. In it I have an aggregate amount for big non-routine expenses such as a major home repair or a trip. As another commentor noted, I also feel an emotional satisfaction from feeling that I've got a good handle on our budget, plus it gives me 2 other things: first, a history of what we've done (including trips) at a glance, which I do use occasionally. Second, I project forward and plug in future trips with an estimated cost. I find that "look ahead" useful for planning and use it a lot. In fact, my wife and I really enjoy our periodic planning sessions when we use it to look ahead and figure out what additional trips we can squeeze into our budget, or replan our future trips. So the "future cash balance" function works well for us. In fact, a recent review resulted in a "spur of the moment" overnight trip to a state park since our projected cash balance for the next few months could easily accommodate it. No big deal, but it works for us.
Post: Insomnia and the Back of an Envelope
Link to comment from April 23, 2025
Good article. One tip on the IP Pin. I already had an online account with the IRS last year when I signed up for the IRS IP Pin (which was later in the year after I had already filed). At the time it gave me a fairly strong warning to save a copy as I'd need it when I filed. I assumed the pin was static and the warning applied to the next year filing. But when I filed this year my return was rejected due to the IP Pin. Long story short, when I looked at my IRS account online they had quietly changed my pin this year. Because of the warning to keep a copy of the pin (which I assumed applied to the next year) I didn't consider it'd get automatically changed each year. I'm not quite sure why they give the warning since you can easily see the pin when you log into your online account. Not a big deal, but just something to know to save yourself a bit of hassle. I do like the IP Pin and now that I know how it works it's real easy to use.
Post: Taxing Situations
Link to comment from April 21, 2025