Doug C

Comments

• My response is to this article as well as another posted today written by Edmund Marsh entitled "A Bit More Humble". I guess a lot was going on for many people in the 80s at various aerospace companies. I also joined an aerospace firm in 1985 (Pratt & Whitney) and from the very start, downsizing and layoffs were continually looming. I always managed to stay employed, and was able to progress within the company. About 14 years in, my entire department of "information systems" folks were outsourced from P&W to a large IT organization named CSC. The downsizing and layoffs in the new organization continued, but I retained employment and continued to advance. CSC merged with another company that became DXC. Again, downsizing and layoffs continued, but I retained employment. When I reached 55 years old, my age and the emotional drain of this continual corporate churning over the last 30 years influenced me to start evaluating the future financial reality of retirement. I had hopes and plans of continuing to work until about 62.  But at 58, a lot of troubling dynamics quickly increased within the corporation.  And I had determined that even at this age, I had a good degree of confidence that I could comfortably retire. So after a weekend of heartfelt discussions with my spouse and a bit of tears of my own that this is how my professional path would end, I made the decision to call it quits. I had a bit of worries that first year, adjusting to the new financial reality of drawing from assets instead of building them. But that financial fear soon diminished, after I eased into my new reality. And here I am 7 years later, and things are going better than I could have imagined financially. Taking the step of retiring earlier than I originally had planned was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. But in retrospect, I am so glad that I did.

  Post: Navigating a Turbulent Career

  Link to comment from April 18, 2026

• This certainly seems to be one solution to the mathematics of the financial problem. Especially important is the implementation of some kind of automatic rate adjustment based on future situations. Other options to consider that could be implemented instead of increasing SS tax rates by the full 30.8% (12.4 to 16.22) include:

  • raising or eliminating the taxable maximum cap (currently $184,500)
  • raising the full retirement age above the current 67 (the previous change was approved in 1983, but the actual full implementation took over 40 years to fully manifest the retirement age change)

  Post: Fixing Social Security once and for all

  Link to comment from April 15, 2026

• ❤️

  Post: The Myth of the Default Caregiver

  Link to comment from April 12, 2026

• Dick, your choice was great for you and you are benefiting from it. My take on the bulk of the comments is that finances were considered (as they should be in order to responsibly take on what is required to support a family with children) but that most found that they were able to make needed adjustments and found that any sacrifices were well worth any financial diminishment. I did hear some other people mention that for various personal reasons, they chose or were unable to have children. I see nothing to criticize in any of that. I am sure if we had not had children we would have found plenty of ways to live very full and fruitful lives. There are plenty of people in this world. in addition to our children, to share or love, time and resources.

  Post: Financial regrets about parenthood?

  Link to comment from April 12, 2026

• I am sure that it takes a lot of patience on the part of both of you. He is very lucky, and you are thoughtful, by sharing that important information in case he needs to do it on his own. I have been doing the same with my spouse in terms of me sharing the financial information with her, and I have tried to take on additional involvement in all of the wonderful cooking for us she has done over all of our years together.

  Post: Financial Planning

  Link to comment from April 12, 2026

• Jerry: I don't know you or your daughter. But if your daughter says she would "very much like me to move to Charleston" I would take her at her word. I did not have a special needs child to add to the challenge like your daughter. But I can say, that despite the fact that taking care of my parents required a lot of effort, and it was often very hard, I considered it a privilege to be able to support them in the time of their greatest need. And I know that it benefited us both in more ways than we could have ever imagined before that decision was ever implemented.

  Post: The Myth of the Default Caregiver

  Link to comment from April 10, 2026

• That sounds a lot like my experience with my parents. I deferred taking vacation for quite a while and then when I finally did, I was on the phone with my Mom and caregivers for hours on end during the vacation. It was difficult. But, I still feel very fortunate that they and I had the additional support we did. I don't know how some families do it.

  Post: The Myth of the Default Caregiver

  Link to comment from April 10, 2026

• What a wonderful gift you provided to your father in-law!

  Post: The Opportunity Cost of Waiting

  Link to comment from April 10, 2026

• Here is the unique way it went for my parents who are now both deceased. They relocated from the state to which they originally retired to the state where I lived.  At the time they were 78 and 76. They lived in a condominium about five miles from my home very independently for seven years.  We did much together as a family.  It was wonderful for my children and me having my parents live so close and so involved in our lives. After those seven years (at 85 and 83) they moved into a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) about 10 miles away from my home. They continued to be fairly independent for about 4 more years, until their health started to deteriorate. We were able to visit with one another at least once a week. At about 89 and 87, lots of health issues began and they both got to the point where they needed dedicated assistance.  Instead of moving into a different residence, we hired a live-in aid who lived with them in a spare bedroom in their CCRC apartment.  This was very expensive, but luckily the expense was partially paid by their employer's long term insurance, with the remainder paid out of their assets. Many people will not have this option. Though the CCRC had certain assisted living services, they were not adequate for my parents' needs. There is no way even though I lived 10 miles away (even if I lived next door) that I could have completely handled their needs on my own. The woman who came to assist my parents, ended up living with them for 7 years until both of their deaths (at 91 and 94).  She was such a blessing to my parents and to me.  I can't imagine having gotten through this stage of my parents life without her. Though the last few years of my parents' life were not an easy time for any of us, I am so glad that I was able to live close enough to them and have the ability to spend the time and energy that I did to provide support. I know that I grew as a person and in my faith due to the experience. But without their loving, live-in aid the experience would have been much more difficult for us all.

  Post: The Myth of the Default Caregiver

  Link to comment from April 10, 2026

• If you are using credit cards (and maybe you aren't) all of your information is already available to sources I'd think you would be equally concerned with. The best approach might be to export your income and expense activity from whatever sources it is available and import it into an offline utility for aggregation and reporting. For instance you could probably create an offline access database for importation of the data and desired manipulation.

  Post: Tools/calculators for monthly retirement cash flow and tax estimation

  Link to comment from April 9, 2026