RCW, it sounds like all that's left for you to do is make it official and set the date!! You won't regret it for a minute.I was honestly very speculative when I started this thread, but knew something had to change.
I got a good projection of my final benefit in the mail yesterday. I used July 31 as a retirement date for projection purposes. 36.75 years in the pension plan.
We can make it work…..another piece of the puzzle….check….
I haven’t pulled the trigger with my employer yet.
That’s a time TBD, but guessing I will try to be in the July 31 timeframe. The Mrs. and I have to have some more conversations.
I learned early on that nobody has your best interests in mind better than you yourself. Whether pertaining to the retirement date decision, what to do in retirement, and especially how to manage your retirement funds.
Beware of the financial planners/managers that want to manage your portfolio and invest the funds in high expense ratio funds that they get a commision for, as in "make a market in" those particular funds.
Or like to "turn over" your funds every so often so they can make their brokerage fees for those transactions, etc.
In these days...it's tough to beat a good ETF fund like Vanguard's VOO or Invesco's QQQ for an ultra low cost maintenance fee along with an average annual return in the 10% range.
For a good 3 years after retirement, I was hounded by different money managers that wanted my business. For the first couple of years I'd go talk with them and very few would steer me in the direction I knew was best. They also wanted up front commisions and wanted the money in their retirement funds with high annual manitenance fees. Some of them bragged that they could beat the market and average 7% returns.
Asked why would I want to give up my 10% - 15% return average for the last 15 years and more.....they didn't know what to say. There was one out of the bunch that admitted that almost no one that comes to them looking for a retirment fund manager has a clue about their fees, low cost fund options to ask for, the difference between an ETF fund and a high maintenance expense mutual fund, etc., etc.
It pays to "bone up" on the different investment companies available, their fees, and the different types of funds (ETFs, Index funds, individual stocks, mutual funds, all the different industry sectors, etc.).
There are a few good investment firms that will give you all the tools, options, and easy lessons to manage your own portfolio with your best interests in mind, and at a very low expense ratio .....and their still making enough money to stay in business.
True, very true…but now RCW keeps all the spoils. That may be more valuable than what the wage was IMO.