Nevin's Data "Points"

  It’s hard to believe that I’ve now been “retired” for three years. That said, there are some things that, in hindsight, I wish I had known and/or acted on sooner. And a couple that I actually did - but might easily have overlooked.  Here they are: Do More Roth — Sooner I’ve long been a huge fan of Roth. It’s not hard to look at the federal government’s finances, the current tax brackets, and figure out that the rates aren’t likely to get any lower in the future. And yes, for the last decade or so of work, I went all Roth, including catch-ups. In fairness, Roth wasn’t an option for most of my retirement savings career. Even so, in those first years, recordkeepers weren’t really ready — and I, like most of my generation, had by then been so thoroughly coached on the advantages of pre-tax accumulations — well, it was easy to shrug off Roth as one of those things of which only the wealthy could afford to benefit. But — and particularly as I got closer to retirement — the questio...

Are you scared of retirement? Well, if you are, you have some company. And, at least according to one of those  click-bait survey headlines , 40% of some 800 individuals surveyed claim to be more afraid of retirement than … death. And more than half—52%—of those younger than 39 claim the same. Now, as silly as that seems, could those survey respondents simply be more ready to meet their maker than most? Now, as it turns out, they have some pretty concrete concerns about retirement—or more specifically what they are afraid they will lose; things like income and employment-based healthcare benefits. So, they aren’t scared of retirement, per se—but of the things they fear they will lose because of retirement. [i]   I get it. Anyone who has changed jobs, a home, even a boss—can appreciate a certain level of anxiety around the unknown—even when it’s a result of your choice. And when it’s not?        Despite that level of concern, this is a group in whi...

My “retirement” isn’t even a year old—and for the most part, it’s played out pretty much as planned.  There was, however, an area that caught us a bit flat-footed. For us (and this has very much been a joint effort between me and my wife), that surprise was…Medicare.  Don’t get me wrong; to date the coverage has compared favorably with what we had pre-retirement—mostly because we coupled “standard” Medicare with a Medicare Advantage plan (which has actually provided some nice enhancements over our pre-retirement coverage).  That said, here are some things we’ve learned along the way that we either didn’t know or hadn’t thought about “before”: Medicare isn’t free.  Well, technically speaking, some of Medicare comes without additional premiums/cost, at least if you’ve worked at least 10 years and paid into that system.  There are two “core” parts to Medicare; what are affectionately referred to as Part A (hospital coverage)—which is “free” (in that y...

I’ve been honored with a lot of praise and congratulations over the past couple of months about my “retirement” (and not a little skepticism about my understanding of the term) — but in quiet moments, there’s been one question that keeps coming up. That question — and it generally arises once topics like “what are your plans,” “are you going to move,” and “can your wife really stand having you around all the time” have been broached — is, quite simply, “how do you know when it’s time to retire?” Honestly, it’s a complicated question, and one to which the answer is deeply, even intimately, personal.  For many it’s not their choice, of course. Surveys suggest that for significant minorities the timing is imposed on them by external factors; a job layoff, a physical impediment, or perhaps caretaking responsibilities. While none of those were factors in my decision, at the outset, it’s worth bearing in mind that the “when” is not always in your control. For most peop...