More Retirement Stuff

[hrj]

Today I had a long, productive session with my Fidelity Guy. We rolled over my 401K into an IRA, then set up 4 different instruments to move the money into. I'm putting about half my money into two different types of annuity which, together with my Social Security (still waiting for approval) should cover my current monthly budget (which includes allowances for "special topics" and adding to my emergencies fund). Most of the rest goes into a managed investment fund that shouldn't need to be touched currently. Then a small chunk goes into a cash account that will be available for "topping off" my checking account, if necessary, to keep it at my safety target.

Let me explain "safety target". Currently my "ordinary" credit union accounts (i.e., separate from my IRA funds) include:

* A "pretend this doesn't exist" savings that is for major unexpected costs.

* A couple of smallish IRA accounts from previous jobs that are functionally part of my "pretend this doesn't exist" money.

* My "saving for special projects/trips" savings account. The plan is to have a "safety threshold" that it shouldn't get below, so the target is to keep it at "safety threshold + known projected special project costs". For example, for Worldcon the projected costs include transportation, hotel, and food budget (higher per diem than when eating at home). My planning spreadsheet includes the next year's worth of special projects with estimates of cost. When things settle out, the idea is that if I add a future special project I block out the projected cost and need to make sure I save for it.

* My checking account. This is where routine expenses come from. It also has a "safety threshold" that it shouldn't fall below. Right now, I dumped all my "extra payout" funds (bonus, vacation payout) because I need to be able to work from it until I have the Social Security and annuity money coming in. (The annuity payouts don't start until July. The Social Security will include back-pay back to February when it gets approved, but in the mean time I'm working from my existing balance.)

The take-home lesson for those of you thinking about retirement planning, is that when they say you should have X months of cash in the bank, that includes because there may be a gap between stopping your paycheck and starting drawing from your retirement funds. It really really helped for my peace of mind to get a big bonus check and a big vacation payout right around my retirement date.

And how does retirement feel? Well, I've been back from Kalamazoo for 3 days now and each day has felt like one of those weekend days when I'm running around getting things done that I don't have time for on working days. Still working on the daily routine, but so far the constants have been a bike ride, reading/writing for the blog/podcast, yard work, and housework/organization. Which leaves me fairly tired at the end of the day, but I've been trying to avoid going to bed early because somehow I've started waking up around 5am and I simply don't feel like getting out of bed that early.

I think the rest of May will play out similarly. I have non-routine events scheduled almost every day for the next week and a half. No chance to feel at loose ends yet.

Comments

[heleninwales]

You are very well organised. I found I needed a few regular things to give some structure to the week, but you'll soon find out what works for you.

[julesjones]

A colleague who retired this week used his "Thank you for the card and gift, I will miss you all but here's how I plan to spend my time" speech to talk about his beekeeping plans. :-)

[hudebnik]

I expect to retire in the next few years, and shalmestere retired almost a year ago, so I'm giving more thought to "how do I manage my time?" (Also "how do I manage my money?", but I've always been better at that than at time. And after eleven years at Google, the money situation is pretty secure.)

I made one financial change in April, in response to Trump's attacks on the economy, the rule of law, and the US's standing in the world. I didn't want to actually sell assets when they were down, but I reallocated 20% of future 401(k) contributions to international funds, figuring the US will never again (in my lifetime) be as good a place to do business as it has been. Considering taking Social Security early on grounds that the current administration is kneecapping it and the Musk-rats may have figured out how to siphon off its remaining assets. This Times article says I'm not alone in that concern, but they still think delaying it is a better investment than most annuities.

Anyway, I'll need to give serious thought to daily and weekly routines: I don't want to turn into Jabba the Hut playing video-games in a hoarder house.