Full retirement this year.

[buteman]

2017, this is the year, full retirement for my wife and I and of course a great deal of thought has gone into the one big question mark, do we have enough to retire on ?
Ask twenty financial advisors that question and you will come up with twenty different answers I'm sure. They say it's a big change in lifestyle retirement, I'm sure it is but both my wife and I are still working and we really are looking forward to being able to spend quality time together instead of the " two ships that pass in the night " scenario that we have experienced.
I would agree that being debt free is highly advisable and we have no debts other than a small mortgage payment ( $ 109.10 per week ).
We bought a new vehicle two years ago, that is clear title and we have no bank loans or credit card debts. We have $ 130 k. equity in our home, $ 145 k. between TFSA and RRSP's. Our monthly costs amount to $ 2200.00 inclusive, our approximate income would be $ 2950.00.
I have a " slush " fund of $ 13 k. which $ 7 k. will be used for a trip when we do retire then the balance would be left for incidentals.
I think it looks relatively good, we don't plan on having a lavish lifestyle when we retire just want to enjoy our time together. We moved to Kelowna eight years ago and Kelowna has been very good to us indeed. Anyway everyone has an opinion as to what you actually need to enjoy your retirement and I'm certainly interested in others opinions ,,, thank you.

[mexi cali]

Live the dream sir. I wish you all the best that the life you worked so hard to create has to offer.

[Bsuds]

As long as you can live within your means then you should be fine.

[Queen K]

I know you mean financial, but you need your health. Of utmost importance is becoming fit, quitting bad anti-health habits and
watching your diet.

Boring me, but I work in the field, so.

[monroe]

Reading that, the take away for me was that you sound like youre both looking forward to spending more time together.

Many times people moving into retirement are doing the math and coming up feeling like theyre financially short for either this or that.
- i know my parents did that and i can tell you they were far from having anything to worry about but my father was money obsessed. That and other things effected their relationship close to retirement time.

Poor retirement planning goes beyond more than just being financially ready. It a mental game as well, i think - especially when there are 2 people involved.


You sound very grounded to me. You sound like you have everything well thought out and planned. ... between that and the fact that youre retiring with someone you love - sounds to me that you have your world by the tail.

All the best.

[TylerM4]

Congratulations!

Too many people wait too long to retire on top of a mountain of money - only to have their health fail shortly thereafter. Enjoy your retirement while you still can!

If it helps, I recently started planning for retirement and visited a financial planner at the bank for advice. One of the things she told me is that generally they recommend budgeting $30,000 a year (at today's dollar value) to live fairly frugally as a retired couple. Your estimate of $2200/month ($26,400 a year) seems to align.

[monroe]

Congratulations!

Too many people wait too long to retire on top of a mountain of money ...

I dont know about the "mountain of money" part but for some, my father included, wheh you spend a good portion of your life socking everything away, its hard coming to terms with the fact that youre now digging into and depending on your nest egg to survive for the remainder of your life.

[TylerM4]

I dont know about the "mountain of money" part but for some, my father included, wheh you spend a good portion of your life socking everything away, its hard coming to terms with the fact that youre now digging into and depending on your nest egg to survive for the remainder of your life.

Oh totally. Psychology is an amazing thing.

I watched something similar unfold with my grandfather. He was dirt poor growing up in the depression, built his 1st home for him and Grandma himself (he had no clue what he was doing, told me he used to sneak into other homes being built to see how they did it). For about 15 years he had a full time job at a machine shop, did work on the side painting and delivering equipment for the machine shop (4hrs every evening), and operated a 10 acre cherry orchard by himself.

Long story short - he was poor and worked his butt off to get where he was and ended up doing pretty well for himself.

The idea of buying a new pickup with modern comforts for his old bones was unfathomable. "A new truck costs like $40k. It only cost me $500 to replace the rear axle in Betsy" Yeah, $500 to an auto recycler. Plus a week of him time swapping it, followed by 2 weeks of sore back and shoulders. He could easily have afforded a new truck but he couldn't look past how hard he worked for that money. $40k was his entire income for 5 years back in the day...

[Silverstarqueen]

My Dad was mostly a saver and worked hard all his life.
It was hard for him to spend his savings too "Never touch the principle!" he said.
I told him, "If you were saving for your old age Dad, this is it!"
STill easier to deal with than those who aren't in the same place.
I can't advise, I'm not there yet, but just keep in mind you could live into your nineties.
Calculate inflation for 25 years from now.
Dad did work part time in his retirement as much for the social and mental stimulation as anything, Mom did a lot of volunteer work, something to consider as well to stay active and involved.

[Even Steven]

We have $ 130 k. equity in our home,
$ 145 k. between TFSA and RRSP's.
Our monthly costs amount to $ 2200.00 inclusive, our approximate income would be $ 2950.00.
I have a " slush " fund of $ 13 k. which $ 7 k. will be used for a trip when we do retire then the balance would be left for incidentals.

I think it looks relatively good

Equity in your home isn't money, so no point to even calculating it.
$145K between two of you? That's not a whole lot.

Where's the approximate income coming from? It's nice that it above and beyond your costs though.

Personally I'd be uncomfortable with little savings, but if you can live with it by all means.

[perspicacious]

I agree, in this day and age it is tough to make ends meat at retirement.

My mom retired long ago when she was just over 40 and since my dads passing her monthly survivor pension has been cut 75% due to bad markets and investments by the pension company, OAS hasn't kicked in yet, CPP is meagre due to her job consisting of raising the kids and only working part time and if she hadn't had her investment in realty and living reasonably during those working years, she would be struggling in the latter years where her annual income is a mere $12K-$15K per year... yes, that much.

[Grandan]

2017, this is the year, full retirement for my wife and I and of course a great deal of thought has gone into the one big question mark, do we have enough to retire on ?
Ask twenty financial advisors that question and you will come up with twenty different answers I'm sure. They say it's a big change in lifestyle retirement, I'm sure it is but both my wife and I are still working and we really are looking forward to being able to spend quality time together instead of the " two ships that pass in the night " scenario that we have experienced.
I would agree that being debt free is highly advisable and we have no debts other than a small mortgage payment ( $ 109.10 per week ).
We bought a new vehicle two years ago, that is clear title and we have no bank loans or credit card debts. We have $ 130 k. equity in our home, $ 145 k. between TFSA and RRSP's. Our monthly costs amount to $ 2200.00 inclusive, our approximate income would be $ 2950.00.
I have a " slush " fund of $ 13 k. which $ 7 k. will be used for a trip when we do retire then the balance would be left for incidentals.
I think it looks relatively good, we don't plan on having a lavish lifestyle when we retire just want to enjoy our time together. We moved to Kelowna eight years ago and Kelowna has been very good to us indeed. Anyway everyone has an opinion as to what you actually need to enjoy your retirement and I'm certainly interested in others opinions ,,, thank you.

Your biggest challenge will not be monetary but psychological as you both transition into being around each other full time.
No running off to work to cool down after tense words are spoken. Your work usually keeps you distracted enough so your partner does not get under your skin. Don't you wonder why folks are grumpy when they are retired?

[Even Steven]

... being around each other full time. No running off to work to cool down after tense words are spoken. Your work usually keeps you distracted enough so your partner does not get under your skin. Don't you wonder why folks are grumpy when they are retired?

Whoa, somebody is happily married.

[w84u2]

Whoa, somebody is happily married.

[buteman]

We have $ 130 k. equity in our home,
$ 145 k. between TFSA and RRSP's.
Our monthly costs amount to $ 2200.00 inclusive, our approximate income would be $ 2950.00.
I have a " slush " fund of $ 13 k. which $ 7 k. will be used for a trip when we do retire then the balance would be left for incidentals.

I think it looks relatively good

Equity in your home isn't money, so no point to even calculating it.
$145K between two of you? That's not a whole lot.

Where's the approximate income coming from? It's nice that it above and beyond your costs though.

Personally I'd be uncomfortable with little savings, but if you can live with it by all means.

" Equity in your home isn't money " ,,,, really ? okay it's an asset then ,,,, income derives from, both our OAS plus both our CPP plus a private pension plus interest on our capital. If I drew $ 500.00 a month from our investments then we would be okay for 25 years by that time we could really give a poop !! We have six children between us and we have twelve Grand children ,, terms of our respective wills, when we both head off to the big course in the sky all our assets are liquified and divided equally amongst the Grand children.