Retirement Countdown 2025

It's 2025. My countdown to my retirement date is July 1st. I'm quite anxious at the same time scared. But, I've been planning this for years and now that I want to pull the trigger, I have this unease, at the same time excitement to leave my present employment and really take some time off.  All these emotions running through my head lately is not a surprise. It manifests in my constant checking of my financial health. I'm always logging into my account to see if I have enough to retire. In addition, I'm scrambling to fund a healthy emergency fund, for the just in case moments. Also, taking stock of my health at this time. I have not been running or working out as usual. I walk alot but it's not quite what I find as good. Sleeping hasn't been any easier, for years, I don't sleep a full 6 hours. If anything, much less. Wonder if it's because I'm getting older and "we" old people don't sleep like our days of going to clubs at late ni...

I'm taking in the stormy weather we've been having in the Northern California area to stay in to do a little writing. It's been a few days after Christmas and I'm really feeling the sense that my desire to retire in 2025 is literally around the corner!  As I select July 1st as my last day in the office, standard protocol in submitting a retirement/resignation to my employer is generally 3 months. This allows all the paperwork to be processed just in time before I walk out the door. So starting in April I'm letting my director know I'm leaving.  Personally, I still feel the anxiety and wonder if it's the right time, will I make a mistake by retiring too early, all these crazy thoughts start to surface in my head and making me second guess my decision.  But as there is constant rain pouring outside my window, I'm given some calmness that all my preparation has been more than enough. I've crossed all my T's and dotted my I's, and it's really...

Photo Credit  As of today, I'm merely 9 months away from calling it, to retire. I've prepared for years to pull the trigger and retire. Somehow, I feel I have this anxiety that it may not go to plan. As much as I prepared financially, socially, and strategically, the emotional aspect seems to be a recurring challenge.  Anxiety. Definition:  a feeling of worry,  nervousness , or unease, typically about an  imminent  event or something with an uncertain outcome. I can't seem to manage this feeling. I would ask myself did I prepare well? Did I save enough? Am I doing the right thing to retire at 60? Some of these questions become issues of self doubt and just outright anxiety.  People say, "control what you can" and not worry about things you can't control. I believe this is sage advice. Whether your planning to retire, or move to a new location, choose to be in a new relationship, all comes into play of what you can control.  Having said that, here ...

  This has been such a common and important question many soon to retiree(s) need to make a decision. Do I stay or should I go? Sounds like a song lyric, but the truth is, yes where do I decide to live after retiring?  City Living  Here's my predicament, I live and work in the city where my job is so, it makes sense to be centrally located to where my job is - right? But, when you decide to leave, should you relocate? I live in an apartment in the city that has rent control. Many say once I leave, I can't come back as the cost of living for housing will never be the same. On the other hand, I also have real estate property outside of the city. This will be paid off soon. I could live there and forego any additional rent paying in the city. But I don't want to live in a remote setting. For me, I'm a city slicker, I love the city vibe, the convenience of walking out my door and getting a cup of coffee and sit and take in the city setting. Where as living in a remote locat...

I didn't plan on it, but it happened. Earlier this year, a tree fell on my home and I ended up paying for repairs and dealing with the costs after deductions are accounted for. This leaves me with a little debt on my credit cards. My normal approach with credit cards has generally been to pay them in full at the end of each month. Unfortunately, I have to deal with some additional budgeting to pay off a larger balance than usual. I was hoping to keep this streak of not having any consumer debt as retirement nears and of course, when I'm fully retired. But these things happen.  Fallen Tree  One way I could combat these in the future is to have some of the following in place.  EMERGENCY FUND - I'm told from others and reading financial posts, is 3-6 months of monthly expenses saved. These are hard to have on hand as I tend to invest more with my extra money. I need to probably divert some into this account to avoid any "emergencies" hence a tree falling on my roof a...

My last blog post was last December, come to think of it, I'm technically able to tap into my retirement accounts. I believe for those who are 59 1/2 years old, your able to draw from these types of accounts without any penalty. But do I need it as this time?  As I gear up for retirement next July, I feel I'm in a bit of a speed bump in saving for retirement. Earlier this year, I was hit with a huge tax bill as well as liability on my home insurance. Apparently a tree fell on my home during the winter season. I had to pay for the deductible and that set me back. Tapping into my emergency reserves was hard, but I'm glad something was in the reserves to tap into, that really helped. Also, for some reason, I didn't withdraw enough in taxes and I ended up paying, that also put me in a pickle to tap into my emergency reserves.  As a result of these sudden expenses, I had to also finance some of the portion on a credit card. Good thing, I was able to snag a couple of credit c...

As I write this post mid December, I wonder what things I need to gather and prepare for the coming year in terms of retirement planning which also includes tax preparation.  Certainly, I need to organize my paperwork for my finances, and also get all my "to-do" list planned out.  Here are a few points I need to make as the year closes and prepare for 2024.  CHECK LIST Review your net worth statement - It's good practice to compare how you did this past year and last year. Add all of your assets minus your liabilities. From there you'll have a sense of what you have to work with and help you navigate for the new year. In addition, you can make some nice improvements going into the new year.  Review your savings strategy - Are you saving enough? Is there a goal in place to get to where you want to be? What are you saving for, are you on target? These are just some of the questions you should answer to guide you to better saving as you are close to retirement.  Sa...