(A client sends this in and with his permission I am sharing it here)
I feel so free! It’s like my life is now my own!
I am so grateful to you for the two zoom meetings regarding my retirement finances as well as your videos on youtube that I watch daily. The fees I paid for your expertise was the best financial investment I have made in my entire life.
I retired from the local school district this past summer. I turned 65 years old last month and am now eligible for Medicare. I have original Medicare paired with a Plan G for the best insurance I could find because I feel it’s important to have good health insurance for myself.
For my retirement income I went with the state offered/backed annuities (SPIA’s) for retired state employees. Along with annual COLAs, the annuities have a provision in that I was able to list a beneficiary in case I would die before the premiums I paid are exhausted.
I haven’t had to start my social security benefits because at this time I have money left over each month so I’m just going to wait until I’m 70 years old to get the max payout. I still have my Roth and a decent amount iin my savings account as a cushion. Since my house is now paid off and I don’t have many bills. My life is good!
With my personality being so paranoid about not having enough money in retirement, it really was best for me to just do SPIAs so I wouldn’t have the stress I would put on myself. I grew up so incredibly poor and don’t ever want to go back to living that way. The pension and SPIAs give me the security blanket that I mentally needed. However, I am keeping my state and national credentials current in the rare case that the state would go to Hades in a hand basket with their pensions and annuities……..one thing growing up poor taught me – always have a plan B.
My current spendable/fun money is now more than when I was working because I was putting away about 30%+ into my retirement accounts which is now a moot point.
Another advantage in me retiring is that this state governor has mandated that all state employees are now required to get the covid flu vaccine. I am choosing not to get the vaccine based on discussions with my physician as well as research of findings. I normally don’t get the other flu shots and feel it needs to be a personal decision between the informed patient and their physician.
No Car Loan!
I guess it was a good idea after all to drive my old car for 15 years during which I had no car payment so I could put that extra money towards paying off my home loan alot faster which in turn allowed me to increase my retirement savings. A friend of mine used to jokingly give me a hard time about me driving my old car for 142,000 miles. It was in excellent mechanical condition though-. Sorry if I sound like I am bragging – I guess I am. I’m just so darn proud of myself – Proud to be a middle class retired person!
Your client,
Jimmy