Surviving On Part Time Income Before Retirement.

[dangerranger60]

I took an early medical retirement. The first three years I made only a couple hundred less than what I made working. And then this year I qualified for SS benefits.
When I first quit working I got an unexpected raise. I was no longer paying to commute 70 miles a day, I was no longer paying union dues, I was no longer paying a Payroll tax, But my health ins. cost was triple. It went from $300 a month to $900. My commuting gas bill was $600 a month. So that was washed out by the health care ins.
I had always kept several jobs going at a time. and when I retired I had two small retirements and a Cal Pers Retirement. Together with SS, I make more now than I did working. I have time to do the things I want and the income to do it. Our only bill is our mortgage. Everything else is paid for.

So many friends ask why I stayed in CA so long? The truth is it's the only place I could feed a family of 8 on a single income. Now I'm looking to cash out and find a cabin like the Op's and live a simpler life.
I may get a teaching credential and give CCW classes. That would let me write off all my travel expenses. And earn a little along the way. DR

 

[Cavedweller]

I think you have it backwards. I believe there's no limit for disability.

For normal ss benefits,

"To get SSI, your countable resources must not be worth more than $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. We call this the resource limit. Countable resources are the things you own that count toward the resource limit. Many things you own do not count."

And

"How much money can you have in the bank when receiving Social Security?

WHAT IS THE RESOURCE LIMIT? The limit for countable resources is $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple."

SSI is Supplemental Security Income. It is for people with a disability or their children. It is not the same as Social Security. The only commonality is that both programs are administered by the Social Security Administration.

Social Security is an insurance program that one pays into during one's working life (AKA payroll tax). Upon retirement you receive a benefit based on how long you worked, how much you earned, and therefore how much you payed into the system. There are no asset limitations on those recieving a benefit.

SSI is more like a welfare program. You need not not have paid anything in if you qualify based on other criteria (i.e. disability). There are probably asset limitations, although I haven't looked into it. But wife and I both get SS based on our previous employment and I can assure you that there is no factor that affects receipt of benefits other than how long you worked and how much you contributed to the system, either through the payroll tax or self-employment tax.

 

[RogerJ]

My 30 year journey to financial independence:
1. Pay off credit card balance and then pay monthly CC charges
2. Pay off car loan
3. Pay off Mortgage
I have never had so much disposable income in my life

 

[mm93]

Not sure what works for one is viable for others? Since I started planning for retirement in my late 20's, I was pretty well prepared by my 50's, and decided to retire early at 60 yrs. old. We knew we'd have to wait until 62 to collect social security, and we'd take a hit on my pension by going early at 60. But since we'd invested well, and those funds were doing well, we could use some for two years until social security started.
My advice for anyone whose still young enough is to sacrifice a little by putting money away while you're young. Far too many of my friends played, and spent money when they were young, and didn't think about investing, or saving until they were in their 50's, when it was far too late to help much.
Looking back now I'm glad we did invest at a young age, and could simply pull the plug and not suffer for whatever years we had left in life.

 

[Mike7b]

Another thing to consider is you will probably need a supplemental policy to pay what medicare doesn't. Unless you invested young and wisely, keep working. My wife's been nagging me to retire, but after this little hiccup of inflation, I haven't heard much talk about retiring. But I'm lucky, I like what I do. I would like to go to forty hours a week, four ten hour days a week would be sweet. While I have planned for retirement, I'm not planning to retire, as long as health and physical ability don't go down hill.

 

[Defense Minister]

My 30 year journey to financial independence:
1. Pay off credit card balance and then pay monthly CC charges
2. Pay off car loan
3. Pay off Mortgage
I have never had so much disposable income in my life

I'll just say this: Congratulations on living in Florida!

While my house isn't paid for yet, my mortgage is only $345/mo, but keep in mind that's only for the loan. I don't have an escrow account, so I still pay about $600/mo combined for my taxes and insurance in addition to that. It's a stark reminder that taxes should NEVER be tied to the roof under which one keeps his family safe. I don't mind paying reasonable taxes, but for primary residential properties, property taxes should be illegal!

 

[arakboss]

I am revisiting this plan of working part time in my younger years (I'm 52 now) and extending retirement to 70 at the earliest or more likely until death.

My latest thought is to continue working like a dog (two jobs) until my child support obligations our over (Jan 2025).

During the next two years I will focus on the following.

Paying off debt (again)

Saving up emergency fund (again).

Paring down monthly expenses to as little as possible and while still being able to enjoy life (again).

Create a consistent retirement contribution plan that I can maintain even while working part time.

Once these four parts our firmly in place and maintainable, I will start looking into dropping (correct use of dropping) the second job and working part time at my primary job or maybe get a different job closer to home.

In addition to the four financial parts of the plan, I need to decide what I will do with more leisure time if I create it. It wouldn't make much sense to work less so I can sit around and do more of nothing.

My wife could retire at around age 58 but she thinks she'll keep working until 65ish (if her health allows), so she can maintain medical insurance provided to us buy her employer. She gets tons of vacation time and honestly has trouble using it up ( I wish I had that problem).

Her and I need to find cheap to free activities that we both enjoy, otherwise working part time, retiring, etc will be disappointing and pointless.

I am starting to get more concerned about environmental issues and might want to volunteer in that area. Not sure the wife gives a hoot about that though.

 

[nwslopoke]

My current concern is the absolute Flux in America. It changes week to week. Banking, taxes, inflation. I think I am looking to half my income or maybe just above that in retirement, hopefully at 62.

Working in a corporate environment sucks what little enjoyment there is. People my age are literally dying off or leaving due to stress or cancer. Happy talk is the language of the day or figuring what your, spirit animal, is to start out a pointless meeting. What are they teaching in college?

So I plan to take my half pay. Enough to pay my mortgage and drive my two paid off cars into the ground. I'll figure the rest out or move to Ohio if needed.

 

[arakboss]

My current concern is the absolute Flux in America. It changes week to week. Banking, taxes, inflation. I think I am looking to half my income or maybe just above that in retirement, hopefully at 62.

Working in a corporate environment sucks what little enjoyment there is. People my age are literally dying off or leaving due to stress or cancer. Happy talk is the language of the day or figuring what your, spirit animal, is to start out a pointless meeting. What are they teaching in college?

So I plan to take my half pay. Enough to pay my mortgage and drive my two paid off cars into the ground. I'll figure the rest out or move to Ohio if needed.

I am fortunate to work by myself at my primary job so if my coworker (me) starts talking about spirit animal nonsense, I will slap the bubblegum out of him

 

[saw2]

On the SSI that is indeed for a disability. You can have no more than $2k in bank. On the social security for retirement there is no limit. As of now the SS you can choose to take at age 62 at a reduced rate or wait until your NRD ( normal retirement date) which goes by a formula on what year you were born. In my case being born in 1962 my NRD is age 67.

If you decide to take SS at 62 at the reduced rate there are income limits on how much you can work. I‘m not exactly sure of the amount but I believe it’s approximately $19,200 per year with no penalties. If you go over that amount I think but not for sure the penalty is for every $2 you earn over the $19200 your SS benefit is reduced by $1. I worked with several guys who retired at 62 and then worked a part time job for extra $ but stayed below the income limit.

If you work or wait till your NRD to draw your SS there is no income limit. A few of the older boys kept working after their NRD. They then were able to draw full SS rate plus their regular paycheck. We called them or should I say they called themselves (double dippers). There are lots of things to looks at when deciding on when to draw your SS.

I worked at the same decent job for 41.5 years. Worked there since I was 18 and just retired at age 59.5, actually 59 as I had 6 months vac saved I had to use up. I am lucky to have a pension plus where I worked had a good 401k plan. I am a planning kind of guy and planned for years to get out a few years early. Getting medical insurance through my wife so I thought I had most things covered. Been retired almost a year and a half and it’s been great.

But like someone said above be ready as your plans can change and rather quickly. I always have watched my health also and have been pretty good there too. But just 3 weeks ago after my yearly physical I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Talk about a kick in the head. Never a sign before. My PSA levels had went up quite a bit from the prior year and sure enough prostate cancer was detected after further testing. The only thing I guess I got lucky on was it was detected extremely early (lowest on scale) and still now talking with doctors on the next steps.

So needless to say my plans and daily regiment will be different than thought. I’m still lucky that I was able $ wise to retire but this a whole different issue to work on. My saying is get out if and when you can. I’m glad I did anyway.

Now I told the wife I’m going to blow some cash on just whatever I want. She commented since when haven’t you. So the gear has been rolling in. But now with Oregon 114 passing that may put a kibosh on some of that too. But for now I’m taking advantage of that while 114 is on hold.

 

[nwslopoke]

On the SSI that is indeed for a disability. You can have no more than $2k in bank. On the social security for retirement there is no limit. As of now the SS you can choose to take at age 62 at a reduced rate or wait until your NRD ( normal retirement date) which goes by a formula on what year you were born. In my case being born in 1962 my NRD is age 67.

If you decide to take SS at 62 at the reduced rate there are income limits on how much you can work. I‘m not exactly sure of the amount but I believe it’s approximately $19,200 per year with no penalties. If you go over that amount I think but not for sure the penalty is for every $2 you earn over the $19200 your SS benefit is reduced by $1. I worked with several guys who retired at 62 and then worked a part time job for extra $ but stayed below the income limit.

If you work or wait till your NRD to draw your SS there is no income limit. A few of the older boys kept working after their NRD. They then were able to draw full SS rate plus their regular paycheck. We called them or should I say they called themselves (double dippers). There are lots of things to looks at when deciding on when to draw your SS.

I worked at the same decent job for 41.5 years. Worked there since I was 18 and just retired at age 59.5, actually 59 as I had 6 months vac saved I had to use up. I am lucky to have a pension plus where I worked had a good 401k plan. I am a planning kind of guy and planned for years to get out a few years early. Getting medical insurance through my wife so I thought I had most things covered. Been retired almost a year and a half and it’s been great.

But like someone said above be ready as your plans can change and rather quickly. I always have watched my health also and have been pretty good there too. But just 3 weeks ago after my yearly physical I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Talk about a kick in the head. Never a sign before. My PSA levels had went up quite a bit from the prior year and sure enough prostate cancer was detected after further testing. The only thing I guess I got lucky on was it was detected extremely early (lowest on scale) and still now talking with doctors on the next steps.

So needless to say my plans and daily regiment will be different than thought. I’m still lucky that I was able $ wise to retire but this a whole different issue to work on. My saying is get out if and when you can. I’m glad I did anyway.

Now I told the wife I’m going to blow some cash on just whatever I want. She commented since when haven’t you. So the gear has been rolling in. But now with Oregon 114 passing that may put a kibosh on some of that too. But for now I’m taking advantage of that while 114 is on hold.

A winning attitude is needed. I just got out of the hospital and it was unbelievable how many people were Debbie Downers.

But I am relying on an ever shrinking 401k plus my wife's job to initially get thru the first few years. Hopefully the economy will not collapse so we can always down size the house, which we always talk about.

I'll drink one to your recovery and happy to hear you caught it early.

 

[saw2]

Slopoke Thanks on the issue. Yes on positive attitude.

 

[Certaindeaf]

On the SSI that is indeed for a disability. You can have no more than $2k in bank. On the social security for retirement there is no limit. As of now the SS you can choose to take at age 62 at a reduced rate or wait until your NRD ( normal retirement date) which goes by a formula on what year you were born. In my case being born in 1962 my NRD is age 67.

If you decide to take SS at 62 at the reduced rate there are income limits on how much you can work. I‘m not exactly sure of the amount but I believe it’s approximately $19,200 per year with no penalties. If you go over that amount I think but not for sure the penalty is for every $2 you earn over the $19200 your SS benefit is reduced by $1. I worked with several guys who retired at 62 and then worked a part time job for extra $ but stayed below the income limit.

If you work or wait till your NRD to draw your SS there is no income limit. A few of the older boys kept working after their NRD. They then were able to draw full SS rate plus their regular paycheck. We called them or should I say they called themselves (double dippers). There are lots of things to looks at when deciding on when to draw your SS.

I worked at the same decent job for 41.5 years. Worked there since I was 18 and just retired at age 59.5, actually 59 as I had 6 months vac saved I had to use up. I am lucky to have a pension plus where I worked had a good 401k plan. I am a planning kind of guy and planned for years to get out a few years early. Getting medical insurance through my wife so I thought I had most things covered. Been retired almost a year and a half and it’s been great.

But like someone said above be ready as your plans can change and rather quickly. I always have watched my health also and have been pretty good there too. But just 3 weeks ago after my yearly physical I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Talk about a kick in the head. Never a sign before. My PSA levels had went up quite a bit from the prior year and sure enough prostate cancer was detected after further testing. The only thing I guess I got lucky on was it was detected extremely early (lowest on scale) and still now talking with doctors on the next steps.

So needless to say my plans and daily regiment will be different than thought. I’m still lucky that I was able $ wise to retire but this a whole different issue to work on. My saying is get out if and when you can. I’m glad I did anyway.

Now I told the wife I’m going to blow some cash on just whatever I want. She commented since when haven’t you. So the gear has been rolling in. But now with Oregon 114 passing that may put a kibosh on some of that too. But for now I’m taking advantage of that while 114 is on hold.

If I'm not mistaken, every male dies with "prostate cancer", not of.

 

[wolfcreed]

My uncle died when he waited too long to treat his prostate cancer. It eventually spread and he was miserable the last three years of his life.
My prostate levels jumped quite a bit last year and I went in to see if it was cancerous and the biopsy marking showed aggressive and I elected to have my Prostate removed in November. It throws a wrench in things for awhile, but things should be back to normal for me this year.

You can opt for radiation for treatment of the cancer, but if you choose radiation first it damages the tissue and you cannot safely remove the prostate. If you have your prostate removed first you can still opt for radiation if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

If I'm not mistaken, every male dies with "prostate cancer", not of.

This statement is true.

 

[gryghin]

But like someone said above be ready as your plans can change and rather quickly. I always have watched my health also and have been pretty good there too. But just 3 weeks ago after my yearly physical I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Talk about a kick in the head. Never a sign before. My PSA levels had went up quite a bit from the prior year and sure enough prostate cancer was detected after further testing. The only thing I guess I got lucky on was it was detected extremely early (lowest on scale) and still now talking with doctors on the next steps.

So needless to say my plans and daily regiment will be different than thought. I’m still lucky that I was able $ wise to retire but this a whole different issue to work on. My saying is get out if and when you can. I’m glad I did anyway.

I have prostate cancer that we found early 2021. I'm post surgery and have a few more years of scans before they claim I'm free.

Private message me if you want to chat about this.