When I get older losing my hair ...

[Eamonn]

While the thatch might be getting a little thin, I'm not 64 yet.

I'm in my mid fifties.

I don't think of myself as being rich and I'm not sure what being wealthy really is.

I have worked hard, taken maybe more than my fair share of risk, almost gone under twice! But have managed to save a fair amount of money and have a fair amount of money invested in various things, mainly real estate because I thought it was easy to understand.

I was hit hard when stocks took a tumble a couple of years back, but over the past year I have recovered just about all my losses.

I haven't tried to sell any of the houses or land that I own, so I'm not really sure how hard I've been hit there. But where I live we didn't see any of the silly real estate speculations and price rises that happened in other parts of the USA.

I'm not looking forward to growing old and I'm unsure how I'd manage being retired. I enjoy getting up in the morning knowing that I have someplace to go and something to do.

For almost twenty years I was self-employed.

This was made easy because HWMBO had a good job which provided us with great health insurance.

I quit working for myself in part because I was the worst boss I ever worked for and I started to see that people weren't spending money in the business I was in like they used to. Most of my income came from selling alcohol.

I was flirting with the idea of becoming semi-retired a few years back. My plan at that time was to buy a couple of ice cream stores, which would only be open in the summer and I'd be free to goof off the rest of the year.

Then when HWMBO became ill and lost half of our health insurance and I thought there was a risk we might end up either paying for our own health insurance or paying the bills for the treatments that she was having, I looked for and found a job with a good benefit plan.

Sometime before this happened I'd worked as a dietitian at a local assisted living home.

A very nice facility, great staff who provided great care.

But it wasn't cheap. Over $2,000.00 a month for the basic package with everything else being an add on.

$24,000 a year, even back then was an eye opener for me!

Most of the residents were female. Women live longer than men,so that wasn't surprising.Most had pensions that their husbands had earned from working for years, mostly for the same company. Many had an income from investments that they'd kept for years in blue chip companies.

Sadly there were a few residents who had to move out to cheaper or subsidized homes because their money was running out.

I don't know how much money I'm going to need to pay for my retirement.

I met with the guy from one of the bigger banks in our area. All I wanted to talk about was my retirement. I knew something was wrong when his title was VP of Wealth Management. He was so full of it and full of himself that it was a waste of time. (It was clear after a couple of minutes that we just didn't like each other or maybe I just didn't like him?)

I've met with a good many Investment Advisor's over the years. While they have at times helped me invest in areas that have worked out well. When it comes to me paying for my retirement? They all seem to come up with "Save more" and or keep working longer.

Boy it would be nice to be able to say that I was going to be around for X number of years and would need X amount of money each year. But I just don't have that information.

I have bought Nursing Home that will help offset the cost of whatever home I end up in when the time comes. I don't ever want to be a burden to my son, he has his own life to lead.

I have a birthday in November and I'm sure that Social Security will send me their estimate of how much I can expect from that when the time comes.

I have no idea how Medicare works! But I felt sorry for the little old Lady in front of me the other day when I was picking up some pills for my back. I was ready with my ten dollar co-pay, while she wrote out a check for $246.00.

I hope I'm around long enough to be able to collect the State Pension which I have been promised.

Yes I see it as a promise!

It was in place when I was offered my job and I expect to get it.

I don't have the option of not paying into it.

I pay 6.25% of my gross into it and never see it.

I do have the option of retiring after 15 years service. There is a not very complicated formula for working out how much I might get. If I were to stick around for 20 years I'd be able to retire with my full health insurance package.

I'm not sure I want to stay that long!

I do worry that there is a lot of people about my age, who haven't made hardly any provisions for their retirement.

I seen friend who when the markets went down raided their 401k's. Some because they really did need the money, some because they were just disgusted seeing their savings disappear.

I'm not sure what the Birthday Letter from Social Security will say?

I do know that whatever it says, there isn't enough for me to live on in my retirement years.

I think I'm at the tail end of the Baby Boomer's? Somewhere I have heard that the Boomer's will make up 20% of the population. I'm not sure if that number is right or not?

But having such a large number of people with little or no money is going to be tough on all of us.

Ea.

[packsaddle]

Fifties, huh. You're a baby! Me, I want to be shot by a jealous husband (hey, it's ok to have a romantic fantasy) or eaten by sharks or something. Make a tangible contribution to the ecosystem, LOL. Maybe a tight curve will eventually eat me up on the cycle, came close a couple of times already and the third time is the charm, right?

[frank10]

I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather not screaming in fear like the passengers on the bus he was driving.