this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024
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Asklemmy

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

Yes.

By Planning.

I didn't think it would work for the first 10 years. I just wanted to eat better cat food in retirement.

Pursuing higher paid jobs when I can. Changing jobs periodically. Pursuing higher pay until the pay asked for my soul. Then stepped back, changed jobs, and make way more for less.

Paying down debt when possible. Building up to a constant dollar figure of debit and investment per month. Growing that when I can. I now save 40%+ of my income.

Keeping my spending low by prioritizing my time on free things. Prioritizing the money I spend on high pact purchases.

Planning with 4% rule. Works out to needing 300 times your monthly spend in savings. Driving that number down. A $15 a month expense requires $4,500 invested to support.

A great market runup.

I am glad I did too. My friends are dying. One's 40's are rough.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago

No.

Existence had grown exponentially more expensive in my lifetime, well outpacing what a 401k or pension will realistically ever be able to achieve. At best, it might buy me 5-10 years after I am physically unable to work; if I mentally decline too soon due to age (quite likely in my family), I will die in poverty.

That isn't even touching on the possibility of a habitable climate or war, and assumes the survival of the current economic system.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Yep. I just always put money in my 401k, I don't know what a paycheck without 15% going to retirement looks like. I've still got at least 30 years to go.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Incurable cancer, chemo brain means I can’t concentrate and often have trouble thinking straight. Involuntarily β€œretired” on medical insurance. Not working wasn’t what I expected it to be.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yup, sometime in the next year or two I'll get laid off, then I'll just mooch off my spouse.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

If I ever get off my ass and actually make all these games, maybe. If the ideas are as good as I hope they are.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

No, and crying

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My wife and I have pensions plans. We won't retire for another 35 or 40 years but that's the plan.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That's awesome, it seems really far away, but trust me, it goes by quick. I'm 55 and I retire in a few months. And I remember thinking it seemed so far away. And fuck, now I'm here. Crazy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Wow, how are you retiring at 55??? I'm 56, and have spent this year re-vamping my IRA accounts with the hope of retiring in 10-12 years without any reliance on the social security that will be gone.

[Edit] I see below you mentioned having a pension. Must be nice!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As long as Trump doesn't decide to suddenly end pension plans! I mean, i don't really think that will happen, but he's so batshit crazy, who knows. So I figure I should take the jump now and maybe any law changes that would happen would go towards people who aren't collecting the pension yet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

My pension plan is for state workers. So we can retire at 55 if we have at least 20 years service in. I turned 55 this year, and hit my 20th year this year.

Of course, the longer I keep working, the bigger my pension would be. I took my current job with the plan to work for 3 more years, then retire.

And I like my current job enough, but every single morning after I turned 55, when I wake up, I think to myself, "Shit if I were retired, I wouldn't have to go anywhere."

My job is a 10-minute walk away. So I really have no right to bitch about it at all. But just "having" to be somewhere, gets on my nerves so much now! lol

So since I don't owe anybody shit, and I can live off of potatoes and beans, I'll get by just fine. I don't give a shit what people think of me, so no keeping up appearances. That right there, makes my lifestyle sustainable on low income.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have four more years to pay off my house. I just have to survive the Trump administration without losing everything.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yep! I retire in 5 months. 55 years old. With full pension.

My house is paid off and I have no debt. Since I have no bills, my pension will cover my needs just fine. It's not a huge pension or anything, but I've worked for my state for most of my adult life, and whittled down my bills to almost nothing. So I'll get by just fine.

I plan to just spend my time in retirement doing exactly what I want. I've recently started a local branch of my favorite socialist party, so I'll devote more time to that.

Plus, I'll do a lot of writing, a lot of Lemmy posting, garden more so I can grow most of my meals, and doing DIY solar projects so that I can cut back on my bills even farther. Because fuck the capitalist power infrastructure in my state. My state's BS laws won't let me go completely off-grid while here in the city, but I plan on reducing how much I have to pay as far down as I can go

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

One day, yes. I budget accordingly and am lucky enough to be paid relatively well. But at the same time, I prioritize quality of life now because there's no guarantee I'll make it to retirement. Id rather retire later if it means better qol now.

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