7% interest rate?!

[DLgal]

A lot of them are late 30’s and early 40’s when they retire. I think they only have to do 20 years. Why wouldn’t you start a new career and collect your pension at the same time.

Yup. Double dipping. That's our plan. I can't imagine what my husband's mental state would be if he stopped working for good at age 44 and sat at home all day. He'd go crazy.

 

[dvcgirl67]

The average military retirement pension is between $2000-4000 per month. You get 50% of your highest 36 months of compensation at 20 years, then an additional 2.5% for every year over 20, to a max of 75% if you retire at 30 years. An 0-6 retiring after 30 years is loking at a $9500/month pension while an E9 at 20 is gonna be around $3250/month. So, it varies quite a lot.

My husband's pension will be around $6200/month and he will be 44 years old. That's only about 2/3 of what we need to maintain our current quality of life, so he will need to start a second career, although there is a lot less pressure to find a high paying job.

Many military retirees also receive VA disability payments as well, and that can go as high as $4000/month. So, they do "take care" of you after service. But it requires being pretty broken.

Well, one way to look at that pension is what you guys would have needed to save/invested in order to kick off that $75,000 per year....roughly $1,800,000 using the 4% rule at a true retirement age...lasting 30-ish years. You would have needed to save in excess of $2,300,000 using the 4% rule...to be able to pull 75K per year as income for *50* years that he will be drawing that income.

So that's how I'd look at it. No, you might not have a huge pile of money due to very high COLAs early in his career and because you needed to be a full time SAHM for the benefit of your children. But....that's a very good pension...*and*, at 44 there's *plenty* of time to pile up money to buy a house if you so choose. And he will also qualify for SS correct?

Again, not saying you don't deserve more, but those of us in the private sector need to save/invest a couple of million to throw off that income.

 

[DLgal]

Well, one way to look at that pension is what you guys would have needed to save/invested in order to kick off that $75,000 per year....roughly $1,800,000 using the 4% rule at a true retirement age...lasting 30-ish years. You would have needed to save in excess of $2,300,000 using the 4% rule...to be able to pull 75K per year as income for *50* years that he will be drawing that income.

So that's how I'd look at it. No, you might not have a huge pile of money due to very high COLAs early in his career and because you needed to be a full time SAHM for the benefit of your children. But....that's a very good pension...*and*, at 44 there's *plenty* of time to pile up money to buy a house if you so choose. And he will also qualify for SS correct?

Again, not saying you don't deserve more, but those of us in the private sector need to save/invest a couple of million to throw off that income.

That's exactly how we look at it. We will also draw SS, yes. We have also saved 7% of his income in the TSP (federal version of 401k) all this time, so we do have that money for retirement (after age 59.5), as well.

My husband is the one who wants to own a house, so that is his motivation to continue working right now. It will be possible for us in about 5 years, unless the market moves in our favor sooner.

 

[dvcgirl67]

That's exactly how we look at it. We will also draw SS, yes. We have also saved 7% of his income in the TSP (federal version of 401k) all this time, so we do have that money for retirement (after age 59.5), as well.

My husband is the one who wants to own a house, so that is his motivation to continue working right now. It will be possible for us in about 5 years, unless the market moves in our favor sooner.

That's great. And....in my world, there's a bit of being on the edge of our seat as we near retirement age. We have to keep our money invested for the most part. That 75K is guaranteed....making it even more valuable to you. As for the house, it's in our DNA I think as Americans. I'm jaded lately as it hasn't been the best performing asset in our portfolio, but it's another pile of money. And it's nice to own it outright...you do get that feeling that nobody can take it away.

 

[DLgal]

That's great. And....in my world, there's a bit of being on the edge of our seat as we near retirement age. We have to keep our money invested for the most part. That 75K is guaranteed....making it even more valuable to you. As for the house, it's in our DNA I think as Americans. I'm jaded lately as it hasn't been the best performing asset in our portfolio, but it's another pile of money. And it's nice to own it outright...you do get that feeling that nobody can take it away.

Exactly. My husband has PTSD and for him, it's about stability and having something that he can personalize to his own desires. He'd love to have things like built in shelves and stuff, things you can't do in a rental. I get that. I hope we can make it happen. He also wants to have a house to pass down to our sons one day. That's important to him. He wants to make sure they are taken care of.

 

[mrodgers]

Yup. Double dipping. That's our plan. I can't imagine what my husband's mental state would be if he stopped working for good at age 44 and sat at home all day. He'd go crazy.

Time to work on the cars, work on the house. I couldn't imagine being able to retire in my 40's and can't imagine if I could, being bored at all. I'd be building a car, doing remodeling around the house, woodworking, all kinds of stuff I would do but don't because work takes up so much time.

Those are just normal common things. My ex father-in-law is in his 70's now. He raises the beef I eat. Someone is going to have to take over that if the rest of them want to keep having the same quality food and no one is. That would be what I did if I could retire, buy a piece of property (I'm looking/wanting that property anyways) and raise beef. All rotationally grazed, grass fed, organic, though I couldn't say the organic thing if I did it. His property was his parents, which was the school house his mother was the last graduating class of with never a chemical or pesticide sprayed for almost 100 years that would be known.

I would also do what I always hoped he would do and raise hog as well. I already did the chicken thing for years so that actually comes should I ever get owning my own place again working or not. Then with the garden, I wouldn't have to step foot in a grocery store ever again.

 

[barkley]

Think about it. You get a pension in your 40s. And then, you get to work 25 more years in another profession and create more retirement funds. If you do this properly, you're in great shape financially.

We have a lot of retired Air Force in our IT networking department.

A lot of them are late 30’s and early 40’s when they retire. I think they only have to do 20 years. Why wouldn’t you start a new career and collect your pension at the same time.

i get it with the younger retirees b/c we had plenty of double, some even entering into their triple-dipping status. what i'm talking about is much older career military retirees. i dunno, maybe they were disabled but never qualified for that financial aspect but we had so many that were in their 50's and beyond, seemingly in dire need to get into a job with solid benefits and decent pay.

We can't leave the area. We are tied to the special education services for adult transition for our 2 autistic kids, at least for the next 6 years (youngest is a HS junior). Husband retires in a few months. He's likely to find a second career/job right in our area, so no need to move. Moving away is not something we are considering at all. This is our kids home and the disabled adult support services are wonderful here. That is the most important consideration for us even well into our later years. We will need to continue to support them both in some capacity forever.

i totally get it-my oldest is asd and has utilized transition services as well. i know that san diego has a tremendous reputation for the services it has available-we had a new neighbor a few years back who had moved from san diego with a minor child on the spectrum, she spoke glowingly of the services he had previously received. one of our considerations in choosing to live where we do is b/c of the services and providers we have available for our son.

 

[DCLMP]

Yup. Double dipping. That's our plan. I can't imagine what my husband's mental state would be if he stopped working for good at age 44 and sat at home all day. He'd go crazy.

He might drive you crazy too.

 

[DLgal]

He might drive you crazy too.

No doubt! I'm already hyperventilating at the thought of him landing a remote work job (a very real possibility).

 

[DLgal]

i get it with the younger retirees b/c we had plenty of double, some even entering into their triple-dipping status. what i'm talking about is much older career military retirees. i dunno, maybe they were disabled but never qualified for that financial aspect but we had so many that were in their 50's and beyond, seemingly in dire need to get into a job with solid benefits and decent pay.




i totally get it-my oldest is asd and has utilized transition services as well. i know that san diego has a tremendous reputation for the services it has available-we had a new neighbor a few years back who had moved from san diego with a minor child on the spectrum, she spoke glowingly of the services he had previously received. one of our considerations in choosing to live where we do is b/c of the services and providers we have available for our son.

We actually live in Orange County, which is even better than San Diego for services. We are never leaving.

It's not unusual to have military retirees in their 50s. Just means they did 30 years instead of 20. I don't know of many who retire for good right after military service. Most people continue to need an income. They wouldn't need health insurance, as far as benefits go, as that is provided to retirees at a very low cost, but you can always have a second insurance so you reduce your out of pocket costs even further. You could also have been dealing with partial reservists who won't be able to begin collecting pensions until they reach age 60. People often detach from active duty service before 20 years but then finish out in the reserves, but retirement pension and benefits are handled differently for those people. They don't see a penny until age 60.

You also have to remember that you can enlist up until about age 40 in most branches. So you could have a 20 year retiree who is 60 and still needs a job. Not everyone joins young. My husband's boss is 55. He is only at 26 years.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Word is the rates could come down to around 4.5 in the 1st quarter next year. Price increases in general have definitely stabilized, so the increased rates are working. Your timing might be good….

That's what I like to hear! Regardless, I need to move when my lease is up in March and I really don't want to go to the expense of moving to another apartment and take on a higher month to month lease and then pay to move everything again when I find a house. I'm not as young as I used to be and I don't enjoy moving my furniture multiple times and living out of boxes! I'm praying that the prices continue to trend downward in my area and if the interest rates come down too that would be awesome!

 

[DCLMP]

That's what I like to hear! Regardless, I need to move when my lease is up in March and I really don't want to go to the expense of moving to another apartment and take on a higher month to month lease and then pay to move everything again when I find a house. I'm not as young as I used to be and I don't enjoy moving my furniture multiple times and living out of boxes! I'm praying that the prices continue to trend downward in my area and if the interest rates come down too that would be awesome!

If interest rates come back down what makes you think prices will?

 

[GAN]

If interest rates come back down what makes you think prices will?

They said they're praying they continue to go down ...does anyone actually know what will happen? Personally, I don't think even if rates go down it will be necessarily good for the overall economy -things may tighten up significantly. I wouldn't bet on much of an increase in real estate -especially with news of significant layoffs on the horizon.

 

[goofyernmost]

I'll let you folks decide for yourselves but in the 80's interest rates were 14% to 16% and, quite frankly the world still turned on it's axis, and businesses still survived, people bought houses and financed entrepreneurial ventures and incomes were way smaller then they are today. Things always run in cycles and are relevant to the time period that one was living in.

 

[DCLMP]

I'll let you folks decide for yourselves but in the 80's interest rates were 14% to 16% and, quite frankly the world still turned on it's axis, and businesses still survived, people bought houses and financed entrepreneurial ventures and incomes were way smaller then they are today. Things always run in cycles and are relevant to the time period that one was living in.

Its very simple it’s the 31 trillion government debt. Rates like that aren’t sustainable it would lead to debt market crash and liquidity Crisis Our economy is a lot more fragile then the 80’s.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

The pandemic taught people they want a space they can set up for a home office or schoolwork space and for new homes that was largely already the case. I rarely saw a new house plan in my area that didn't have a flex room. Sometimes it was an actual office or den where it wasn't counted as a bedroom, sometimes (like it is at our house) it's counted as a bedroom because there is a closet in there.

Over the years the formal dining area went away replaced by either that flex room or was switched to an open to the rest of the area office space but it was also quite normal to have a flex room as well.

That's exactly how our neighborhood was built. Most plans had a flex room near the kitchen that was advertised as a dining room or office. Our next door neighbors used it as a bedroom (no closet though) when her kids moved back home.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Today I got a surprise promotion with a 10% raise. It's not anything huge but I'm grateful for it and after spending the last week agonizing over my life choices I'm choosing now to take this as a sign that buying a house is the right decision. I wish I had made the move to working a corporate job much sooner! I will still be praying that the home prices go down more, but I'm feeling much better about the interest rates now that so many people have educated me on what truly high interest rates are!!

 

[goofyernmost]

Its very simple it’s the 31 trillion government debt. Rates like that aren’t sustainable it would lead to debt market crash and liquidity Crisis Our economy is a lot more fragile then the 80’s.

That would be because large corporations and billionaires paid their fair share of taxes. Hell, we were even able to send men to the moon, built all kinds of highways and infrastructure and had good schools.

 

[DCLMP]

That would be because large corporations and billionaires paid their fair share of taxes. Hell, we were even able to send men to the moon, built all kinds of highways and infrastructure and had good schools.

It doesn't really matter when you continue to spend and print money out of think air. I have a deeply held belief that debt based economies will always fail.

 

[GAN]

It doesn't really matter when you continue to spend and print money out of think air. I have a deeply held belief that debt based economies will always fail.

Right… we just had an election. Don’t know about anyone else, but did you hear anyone talk about the debt?