Stocking Up On Gun Stuff Before Retirement.

[arakboss]

It's about time vs money vs health. Are you retiring at 55 in perfect health, no responsibilities and lots of $ in the bank? At my gun club I see retirees who show up regularly with expensive range toys. And others who come once a year to sight in their .30-30.

I can't say what my health will be when I quit working full time or how much time I will have left.

I do know that if I don't have it before I quit working full time, I won't be getting it after.

 

[The Heretic]

When we move out of this state, though, it'll be a royal PITA.

I have a lot more other stuff than firearms/ammo. I still have a big pile of stuff in the shop that I dumped there when I moved here, and I keep adding to it. Nature abhors a vacuum.

 

[Aught Six]

My ole man told me in 1966 that there will be an event in your lifetime that will change your world.
Make sure you are supplied up. I went to work on it, on Sept 12th 2001.

Went to all the guns shows and bought the same 50s and 60s stuff the ole man showed me with.
I stopped collecting when Barry became president.
Anyone ever see a brick of CCI-34s? Thats 6000 primers.
That one brick was $79.95

 

[gtivan]

Reloading supplies? Yrp, still stocking.
Guns? Mostly staying status qou but going down on that count. Last couple of years i may purchase 1 but give away 2 at same time to family members. Couple of nieces and nephews are gun poor and they have kids that will soon be shooting. So gifting bb guns, 22's, shotguns and whatever. Let them start the memories early.

Still wondering what I am going to be doing with around 400 lbs of linotype.
If i ever get time try to get some trades going for lead.

 

[gmerkt]

If you are considering retirement, you should be stocking up on money.

 

[CountryGent]

Is or has anybody here stocked up on firearm stuff ahead of retirement?

Part of retirement planning? That's a big "nope". I'm plowing as much as I can, legally and logistically, into our retirement vehicles instead. Also to the kid's UTMAs, so they can begin adult life with some assets, which I and most of my relation did not have. And I'm building an education fund for yours-truly to pursue advanced degrees in theology when nearing / in retirement.

We're on track to retire early, despite my past penchant for workaholism. One of the few good calls my early—20s self did was starting retirement planning right away and keeping at it every year. Consistent investments, even when it was hard to juggle, across time really pays off. I'd rather get closer to that goal than obtain some worthless bobble.

I plan to downsize firearms related to some degree when nearing / completing the goal of escaping Oregon (first) and then the grind (second). I've already started refocusing, though the nonstop anti-2A legislation in this dying state has held us back on major moves. I've found a comfortable spots of, generally though not always, selling off at least one (sometimes two) firearm(s) whenever acquiring a new. (I sold a revolver and carbine when acquiring a new hiking revolver recently, for example.) After we flee to a free state in the next few years, that will no longer be an issue, and the flushing can commence, guided by use rather than statutory bull-dink. With ammo, now I just buy what I shoot, and shoot what I buy, and feel no need for large stockpiles. How the collection will be distributed after we return to dust is spelled out in a family trust.

Ultimately, the most valuable commodity any of us have is time. I wish I had learned that lesson earlier in life. Unnecessary stuff is often a waste of financial assets and space, but even worse is it burns up that precious, irreplaceable asset. While most smaller acquisitions are unlikely to be a huge hit on retirement plans, it also wouldn't help either.

But to each their own.

 

[arakboss]

If you are considering retirement, you should be stocking up on money.

What will you do with the money?

 

[arakboss]

Part of retirement planning? That's a big "nope". I'm plowing as much as I can, legally and logistically, into our retirement vehicles instead. Also to the kid's UTMAs, so they can begin adult life with some assets, which I and most of my relation did not have. And I'm building an education fund for yours-truly to pursue advanced degrees in theology when nearing / in retirement.

We're on track to retire early, despite my past penchant for workaholism. One of the few good calls my early—20s self did was starting retirement planning right away and keeping at it every year. Consistent investments, even when it was hard to juggle, across time really pays off. I'd rather get closer to that goal than obtain some worthless bobble.

I plan to downsize firearms related to some degree when nearing / completing the goal of escaping Oregon (first) and then the grind (second). I've already started refocusing, though the nonstop anti-2A legislation in this dying state has held us back on major moves. I've found a comfortable spots of, generally though not always, selling off at least one (sometimes two) firearm(s) whenever acquiring a new. (I sold a revolver and carbine when acquiring a new hiking revolver recently, for example.) After we flee to a free state in the next few years, that will no longer be an issue, and the flushing can commence, guided by use rather than statutory bull-dink. With ammo, now I just buy what I shoot, and shoot what I buy, and feel no need for large stockpiles. How the collection will be distributed after we return to dust is spelled out in a family trust.

Ultimately, the most valuable commodity any of us have is time. I wish I had learned that lesson earlier in life. Unnecessary stuff is often a waste of financial assets and space, but even worse is it burns up that precious, irreplaceable asset. While most smaller acquisitions are unlikely to be a huge hit on retirement plans, it also wouldn't help either.

But to each their own.

I agree time is a commodity. To me, it's only worth what a person does with it.

This weekend, I am going to take another run at practicing what retirement will be like for me. I suspect that I'm going to find no shortage of time in a day.

I asked my wife what she plans to do with all her free time when she retires. She doesn't know yet. My guess is she'll be watching tv all day like she does now, when she's off work. I don't knock her for that, as she really enjoys watching tv.

Time is great if you're doing something enjoyable.

 

[gmerkt]

What will you do with the money?

The usual things, but in retirement, people tend to have less of it. So it's a good idea to have some socked away for retirement time when your income tends to be less.

 

[Sawtooth58]

I collected one of each over the years after the last kids college was paid for and I was done paying their car and medical insurance. I still reload, enjoy and shoot them and have enough components to last for a long time. I also still hike, bike, downhill/cross country ski, hunt and fish from my boat or fishing kayak and so does my 70 year old neighbor. The trick is getting out of bed everyday and moving, it hurts for the first hour or four, but that's been the case since I was 25 and only had 3 orthopedic surgeries under my belt. Fast forward a lot of years and I lost count of how many times I've been under the knife. I always get patted down by TSA, a lot of metal in my bones. The kids will likely end up with a lot of my stuff but who knows, the wife and I might sell everything including our homes and go turn into prunes on the Big Island. A little condo on the beach with no yard work sounds like a good idea some days.

 

[arakboss]

I would consider putting away money for after retirement firearm related purchases, if I could pigeon hole that savings for that purpose. Not sure of a good way to do that? Maybe something like a purpose trust.

Edit: And bucketed savings ain't going to work me.

View: https://youtu.be/5GpB4fBSAzw?feature=shared



Let's say somebody says

"You want to go to Hawaii, bask in the sweltering heat, pay outrageous prices for everything and risk getting attacked by sharks?"

My answer would be:

"Sorry but I don't have a vacation savings bucket."

Their reply would be:

"Can't you take the money from the $1000s in your firearm savings bucket?"

My reply would be:

"Again I'm sorry but that money is reserved for firearm related purchases only"

I can see this situation not going so well.

What if I had already spent the money before I retired. If the person wanting to go to Hawaii knew I didn't have the money, they probably wouldn't even ask me to go. That would save me from going through a lot of grief, everytime they were going to ask me to go somewhere or do something I wasn't thrilled about doing.

 

[The Heretic]

What will you do with the money?

I will pay for shelter, water and food.

 

[Stomper]

Don't get stuck on 'female logic' (it's only priced at half of what it would be new so I'm really saving $XXX amount of dollars by buying this)

Woman-
"BUT, it was ON SALE!! I saved you money."


Man-
"Yeah, but we're still out the $50 you spent, and we already have three".


Woman-
"Yeah but.... it was ON SALE"!


Man- (facepalm)

 

[The Heretic]

Woman-
"BUT, it was ON SALE!! I saved you money."


Man-
"Yeah, but we're still out the $50 you spent, and we already have three".


Woman-
"Yeah but.... it was ON SALE"!


Man- (facepalm)

I do buy a LOT of stuff on sale (either used on FB MP or Woot or Amazon, etc.). Preps and other stuff. Often $500-$1K per month. Lately been stocking up on tools (not just my shop tools, but also tools to go into my vehicles).

 

[CountryGent]

I would consider putting away money for after retirement firearm related purchases, if I could pigeon hole that savings for that purpose. Not sure of a good way to do that?

You can have more than one IRA account. (My wife and I each have a Roth and a Traditional, for example.) The annual contribution rate, however, remains the same, so you can't sock away more than that across multiple IRAs. Or you could have one IRA with multiple funds in said, with one or more earmarked for whatever purpose.

There's other options, but either of those would be pretty easy to setup.

 

[arakboss]

You can have more than one IRA account. (My wife and I each have a Roth and a Traditional, for example.) The annual contribution rate, however, remains the same, so you can't sock away more than that across multiple IRAs. Or you could have one IRA with multiple funds in said, with one or more earmarked for whatever purpose.

There's other options, but either of those would be pretty easy to setup.

What I would like to see is an investment option that locks up the funding so it can only be spent on a specific purpose.

I could start up another IRA and commit to myself to only spend it on firearm related stuff. Pressures from others could try to persuade me to use the money elsewhere. That means the potential of having to say no because I only want to spend that money on firearm related stuff.

If the money was only available to spend on firearm related stuff, I could answer with I can't instead of I won't.

That all seems complicated and it would probably be easier to just stock up ahead of retirement.

 

[The Heretic]

You can have more than one IRA account. (My wife and I each have a Roth and a Traditional, for example.) The annual contribution rate, however, remains the same, so you can't sock away more than that across multiple IRAs. Or you could have one IRA with multiple funds in said, with one or more earmarked for whatever purpose.

There's other options, but either of those would be pretty easy to setup.

What I have done is two IRA, "traditional" and Roth.

Each year after I retired I have moved $20K-$30K from the traditional to the Roth to get the low tax rate (10-12%) while I can, before the RMDs have to kick in. Both IRAs are currently appreciating at roughly the same rate, although the Roth has a higher percentage of "safer" investments (bonds, etc.).

I pull about 0.2% per month (a little over 2% per year), as an automatic disbursement, from the traditional, to add to my SS benefits (which pays for most of my living expenses, including my mortgage). That little bit extra lets me spend at least half on discretionary expenditures (preps, hobbies, etc.) - unless something unexpected/unplanned comes up, and then it goes towards that.

Last year I pulled $20K from my Roth to buy my Hilux - I did not have to pay tax on that. If there is an emergency or other unexpected large expense, I have the option of pulling from either IRA.

Most years the IRA balances increase by 5-7% (after the 2% I take out for spending). At that rate, the balance will generally double every ten years. That should leave plenty for my daughter (if I kick the bucket tomorrow, between the IRAs and my real estate, she would have plenty - but I have to allow for increased medical expenses over the next 10-20 years as I get older).

 

[CountryGent]

What I would like to see is an investment option that locks up the funding so it can only be spent on a specific purpose.

I could start up another IRA and commit to myself to only spend it on firearm related stuff. Pressures from others could try to persuade me to use the money elsewhere. That means the potential of having to say no because I only want to spend that money on firearm related stuff.

If the money was only available to spend on firearm related stuff, I could answer with I can't instead of I won't.

That all seems complicated and it would probably be easier to just stock up ahead of retirement.

I'm not familiar with anything like that under the current tax code. There are those for education savings (e.g., 529s), kiddos (e.g., UTMAs), retirement years (e.g., IRAs, 401k/403b/457b, et al.), etc., but nothing specific to firearms or a hobby. Perhaps an attorney could draft up a trust or some such, but it would take some time and investment.

Wouldn't self-discipline just be the easiest route? Make a budget / plan, stick to it, and done.

 

[The Heretic]

What I would like to see is an investment option that locks up the funding so it can only be spent on a specific purpose.

I could start up another IRA and commit to myself to only spend it on firearm related stuff. Pressures from others could try to persuade me to use the money elsewhere. That means the potential of having to say no because I only want to spend that money on firearm related stuff.

If the money was only available to spend on firearm related stuff, I could answer with I can't instead of I won't.

That all seems complicated and it would probably be easier to just stock up ahead of retirement.

The only person who can "pressure" me in this fashion is my daughter (e.g., I have paid for a lot of her expenses that she could not cover easily, medical, a new roof, a car, etc.).

I do spend quite a bit on discretionary stuff each year for myself.

 

[Bobbygun]

Wouldn't self-discipline just be the easiest route? Make a budget / plan, stick to it, and done.

Are you having an attack of lunacy here or something? We're talking about our friend @arakboss here.