Countdown to retirement

[dvcgirl67]

My problem is trying to find TIME to go. I had 10 obligations this month scattered in a such a way that we couldn't go anywhere.
And next month, we are going on a three night trip to the coast, but I have 8 individual obligations and JURY DUTY potentially for 10 days (or more). They don't warn you that ADULTING continues in retirement.

I look at it this way, right now, at my age and current weight/level of fitness....I'm never going to feel any better than I do right now. This is the case for most of us. Now, if we're talking about someone my age who loses lots of weight and/or attains a higher fitness level, then that is different. But for the most part, at 56, I'm not going to feel any better....I'll just slowly but surely decline as I age. If we'd put off South Africa for another ten years it's unlikely I could have hiked up Table Mountain like I did two weeks ago. You get my drift.

So the only way I know is to prioritize the things that are most important to you. For us, travel is way, way up there. So we put it at the top of our list (behind immediate family of course).

 

[tvguy]

I look at it this way, right now, at my age and current weight/level of fitness....I'm never going to feel any better than I do right now. This is the case for most of us. Now, if we're talking about someone my age who loses lots of weight and/or attains a higher fitness level, then that is different. But for the most part, at 56, I'm not going to feel any better....I'll just slowly but surely decline as I age. If we'd put off South Africa for another ten years it's unlikely I could have hiked up Table Mountain like I did two weeks ago. You get my drift.

So the only way I know is to prioritize the things that are most important to you. For us, travel is way, way up there. So we put it at the top of our list (behind immediate family of course).

I get that. In my case I had a health condition (slight mobility issue ) spring up in 2019 and took 3 years to resolve, so while I did travel then, I feel better now as that has been resolved and I feel better than I have since prior to 2019.
Now the issue is covid. We made it until March of 2023 without getting it. Got it on an 8 day, 3,600 mile road trip. Our next trip of March of this year, and escaped it that trip. But it is a concern next year as we are doing a land/sea tour, 14 days, 7 by land, 7 by sea on Princess. I am now buying travel insurance, also because I am now on Medicare which does not cover you outside the U.S.

 

[disykat]

We had looked five years ago at LTC insurance and didn't get it because of the ridiculous fine print for using it - none of our parents would have been able to use it. (We were getting it for ourselves, but our parents had four different scenarios and none of them would have qualified!) We didn't want to buy something we would never be able to use!

We looked again last year and found much better options and were all set to invest in a policy specifically for me and found really good options. I just didn't qualify for what I thought were pretty lame reasons. At any rate, LTC policies are changing so they're worth checking out

 

[Frwinkley]

Since my job is talking to people about planning for retirement, I have learned so much from my clients! The number one thing I hear is “I wish I’d done it sooner.” Based on those conversations, I am outta here the moment I turn 59.5 and will pull SS at 62. There is a plan in place and the countdown is on!

If I may ask, why are you taking SS at 62? DH and I are both 63 right now, retired with a pension that covers about 80% of our monthly expenses. We're funding the rest with cash we've saved until SS. Our FRA is 67, but we may take SS at 65. I'd like to have the extra cash to spend on travel, etc. instead of tapping into our retirement assets. I realize every year you leave SS alone, you're guaranteed an 8% increase, but I hate the idea of depleting our 401ks.

 

[tvguy]

We had looked five years ago at LTC insurance and didn't get it because of the ridiculous fine print for using it - none of our parents would have been able to use it. (We were getting it for ourselves, but our parents had four different scenarios and none of them would have qualified!) We didn't want to buy something we would never be able to use!

We looked again last year and found much better options and were all set to invest in a policy specifically for me and found really good options. I just didn't qualify for what I thought were pretty lame reasons. At any rate, LTC policies are changing so they're worth checking out

What kind of things did the plan you looked at exclude?