Retirement Dreams – How ’bout you?

by | Jul 29, 2021 | Economy, Finance, Open Post | 253 comments

I want to retire in three to five years – preferably three.  So, I am currently making sure I have everything organized to be sure that I can afford to do it in that time frame, and that I won’t run out of money before I die.

Do I have enough to retire?

Getting long term care insurance

Deciding where to retire – overseas, or in the U.S.

Setting up a revocable trust and advanced medical directive.

And worrying about the effect of inflation.

Making sure my family knows where to find information

I’m also dreaming of what I want my retirement to be like – I want to focus on my hobbies, volunteering, and travel.  I want a little house with a big garden and room to have dinner parties.

How are your retirement plans coming along and what does retirement look like to you?

About The Author

Tulip

Tulip

She is mythical.

253 Comments

  1. CPRM

    I need you Patreon fools saints to step up your game if I’m ever going to get to retire.

  2. Animal

    7-8 more years and I’ll be in a good position to mostly shut down my consulting business. I’ll probably still take the odd short-term gig now and then, especially if it involves travel to someplace cool.

    By the end of this year we’ll be mortgage-free. By the end of 2023 we should be debt-free. That factors heavily into our plans.

    Then – fishing, hunting, camping, writing, playing with grandkids. That will be our life, baby.

    • Fourscore

      Mortgage free and debt free are probably the nicest words in English, life only gets better at that time.

      • Animal

        And boy howdy, it’s been a long time getting to this point.

        Part of the debt calculus depends on the pickup I’m going to have to buy to handle camping/boat towing chores. I could go cheap and buy an older truck and have to replace it in ten years. But I’m leaning towards just ordering up a new F-450, which, if I maintain it proper (and we maintain vehicles scrupulously) may well be the last truck I ever have to buy.

        But that’s an $80k purchase. Still thinking that one over.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m within two years of having paid off all my debts (mortgage included) provided nothing goes off-track too badly.

      • Fourscore

        You are doing well, the mortgage is an albatross. When it’s gone you have a lot more flexibility and grey hair.

      • Fourscore

        “less”, where applicable.

      • Gender Traitor

        Our house is paid off, and TT refuses to have any debt on it, so no home equity line of credit for us. My Subaru is scheduled to be paid off in April, but I’ve been throwing extra money at it lately. I could pay it off now, but I rather like having a cushion of cash.

        I’d retire as soon as I could get even partial SS if not for the need to have health insurance.

    • R C Dean

      We’ve been debt-free for awhile. You don’t know the pressure of having to make payments until its gone.

      We could be mortgage-free now, but I’ve got a chunk of cash coming in five years. We’ll pay it off then.

      • Animal

        Who knows, in five years your balance may be pocket-change thanks to inflation.

      • R C Dean

        If my mortgage is pocket-change due to inflation, then so will my savings. The only way to beat inflation as a retiree* is to invest aggressively enough to outrun inflation. I am not excited about having a risky portfolio as a a retiree.

        *If you have to work (again) to pay the bills, you’re not a retiree.

      • Animal

        If we get that kind of inflation, there will be no retirees.

  3. Lord Humungus

    But I’m already retired – at age 50.

    I have zero plans to enter the daily grind workforce again. The past 9 months have taught me the joys of being home, doing what I want to do to turn a buck.

    • Lord Humungus

      It should be noted that I’m lucky EF has a good paying job, allowing me to try out something different. Also some other factors makes me worry only a little about future $$$ when I get old-old.

      • Fourscore

        Retired at 55 but so quickly to old-old. Everything was going well until one day…

    • CPRM

      I would love be a kept man or stay at home dad; but that ain’t playing out so far.

    • Zwak, jack off, all trades

      I am in the same position. 50, retired due to medical issues, with a high performing wife. Oddly, I am not eligible for disability benefits due to owning rental property, not sure if that is a good thing these days or not.

      Now we need to get her retired by at least 55, with maybe a consultancy to pay for medical, which is her biggest worry.

  4. Yusef drives a Kia

    If I ever can I want travel a bit more, Ill never retire,

  5. Sean

    President AOC is going to seize my 401k and ship me off to a gulag.

    Carefree living!

    • WTF

      Yeah, our 401(k)s and IRAs at this point should leave us with plenty to retire on to a state with lower taxes and cost of living, unless Uncle Sam decides to grab them for our own good.

      • R C Dean

        As we look at our varied funding sources, I plan to spend those down first, precisely because at some point the feds won’t be able to keep their mitts off them.

  6. Ownbestenemy

    I am probably 15-20 years off from retirement. Though I would much prefer to not work past 55 except like LH said above, doing what I want to do to turn a buck.

  7. B.P.

    I’m within a year of dropping out of the workforce to hang out with my teenager more. I’m completely debt free. I’ll probably take up a menial job in a few years just for some kicking-around money, because although I have quite a bit, I hate to erode my holdings. I like the idea of driving around delivering packages while listening to podcasts, or moving luggage around at the airport for a little physical activity. I guess I’ll cash fund health insurance.

  8. R C Dean

    Do I have enough to retire?

    We should, by the end of next year. But, see below, inflation.

    Getting long term care insurance

    Done.

    Deciding where to retire – overseas, or in the U.S.

    Currently not planning to move from our house in Tucson. Aside from TEOTAWKI, the only thing that will get us out of this house is inflation – we may have to sell it for money to live on.

    Setting up a revocable trust and advanced medical directive.

    Excellent advice. I would say do a medical power of attorney and a living will – they may seem redundant, but they are not. Many states have depositories for these where hospitals, etc. can check and see if you have one. If your state has a depository, I recommend using it.

    And worrying about the effect of inflation.

    By far the biggest threat to my retirement funding.

    Making sure my family knows where to find information

    All the paper is in one place – the safe, under, I believe, the .308 ammo. Stuck on my to-do list is making a list of financial, etc. websites with my credentials. I know, its a security no-no, but I don’t see a realistic alternative.

    I’m also dreaming of what I want my retirement to be like – I want to focus on my hobbies, volunteering, and travel.

    Travel is usually pretty expensive. Lots of people plan to do a lot of travelling when they retire, and have a rude shock. We’re not big travellers, so I don’t know that we are planning to do much travelling.

    • WTF

      By far the biggest threat to my retirement funding.

      The way things are going I fully expect fedgov to inflate us into penury no matter how much we save and invest.

  9. UnCivilServant

    My retirement plans depend on which of my potential sources of income have been crushed by commie corruption. Each one would have to be replaced my some other form of income, and reflect minimum number of hours in a new job.

    On the flip side, I might hit the lotto, or my books might take off…

    Without knowing what my finances will look like, I can’t really plan anything. I am doing my best with savings and deleting debts, but never underestimate the power of malicious envy to destroy a nest egg.

  10. Mojeaux

    I never, ever thought I would retire, not once I learned that social security was a Ponzi scheme (at the tender age of somethingteen). Back then, there weren’t such things as 401ks for people like me (i.e., poor). So anyway, for various reasons, I spent many years subsisting. Then I got married to a man who ALSO didn’t think he could ever retire for the same reason I did. We had kids, and all financial benefits of marriage went into the kids. So we were still subsistingbut now we were doing it with a 401k, which seems like it has a lot of money in it, but is not enough to retire.

    So anyway, that brings me to my point: I don’t want to retire. My gma was “retired” (she never worked) and on social security and all she did all day was sit and watch Good Morning America, then Price is Right. TV goes off. She read the newspaper. Then she went out to buy Little Debbies. She had my intellectually disabled aunt to care for, so there were actually 2 of them, doing nothing all day for years on end.

    I have almost always had a second job in my adulthood. School/work, then work/moonlight. I didn’t know what to do with myself when I wasn’t working.

    Even now, when my kids are older and when I work for myself, I can manage my workload well enough that I have a lot of free time and still make a good living and I get bored, even when I’m indulging in my hobbies. It’s one reason I keep my night gig medical transcription job. I HAVE to be making money somehow, even if it’s not a lot, or else I just can’t justify spending time on myself when I’m really just … bored.

    • CPRM

      …doing nothing all day for years on end.

      I’ve been doing that AND working…

    • WTF

      Yeah when I say “retire” I mean from my full-time daily obligation stress job. I’ll always need some sort of work to do though, to keep myself occupied.

      • Ownbestenemy

        ^^^ my mom retired last year at age 70 and she is already out hunting for a small job to keep her moving.

      • Mojeaux

        I like my (day) job so not retiring isn’t a hardship. I thought I was done with transcription, but circumstances forced me back and now that I don’t need it, it’s still just a nice little cushion I have in case I DO need it again.

      • Mojeaux

        Oh, and to keep from feeling like I’m a bum.

      • Nephilium

        For me… working as a bartender at a craft cocktail bar or tap house. Relatively low stress, decent spending cash, and both things I can talk about for hours at a time.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        The old guys at golf courses being starters…not a bad gig.

      • CPRM

        Try making a cartoon and spending months on end trying to figure out who the Jersey Devil is. It makes the time fly by.

      • Mojeaux

        Try writing 11 doorstopper novels.

      • CPRM

        Did that help you figure out who the Jersey Devil is?

      • Ghostpatzer

        He visits my realm from time to time. Closely related to STEVE SMITH.

      • Fourscore

        Retirement doesn’t mean end of work. You’ll be amazed that you found time to work in your previous life. Priorities like fishing, etc will find the honey dew list always waiting.

        Remember that collector car you were going to restore? You should have done that when you were still working and had more time, you’ll be too busy after you retire.

      • R C Dean

        I noticed Pater Dean’s schedule was packed after he retired. Weird.

      • Mojeaux

        Well, this is one reason I’m going to take art classes, something I’ve always wanted to do and next month I’ll be in a room full of 18yos.

        If not now, when?

      • Ownbestenemy

        So it isn’t about the art, it is to gather new material for your books…

      • R C Dean

        These euphemisms are getting surprisingly literary.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s like you don’t even read us anymore.

      • Mojeaux

        Naw, I’m done writing.

        I said I’d quit when I started to repeat myself, and I have–several books ago.

        I also have slivers of ideas but no real compulsion to flesh them out.

        Considering my singular inability to market the books and make more than candy money, I also have no financial motive. I’ve resigned myself to dying in obscurity. Most famous people do.

        I said I wanted to learn to draw to illustrate my books, but maybe not even that. I want to lose myself in a creative endeavor that is not writing. I am currently a 1-trick pony.

      • UnCivilServant

        Don’t sell yourself short. After a hiatus, you might come up with some new material.

      • Mojeaux

        Thanks, UCS. I’m still percolating my gender-swapped Krampus.

  11. pistoffnick

    I want a big ass sailboat (40 foot center cockpit ketch fitted with a wind generator and solar panels).

    I’ll sail wherever the gypsy winds take me.

    *wakes up from day-dream*
    *looks at pitiful savings*
    *looks at two college tuition bills this year*
    *goes back to the grindstone*

    • Ownbestenemy

      I am no sailor but the idea of going port to port throughout the world, finding odd jobs to pay for fuel, food, supplies, etc and then head off again is so captivating. I guess we can do that in an RV sorta.

      • R C Dean

        Pretty much what Yusef did for awhile.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Thats my version of travel, fuel up the Kia, and go! I have never seen the Atlantic ocean, for example, and theres a lot to explore between Manistee and New york

      • The Hyperbole

        Plus you can get in to exciting adventures at each port helping the locals with gang issues or the corrupt government, come up with some witty catchphrases and it’ll all wrap up nicely before the eleven o’clock news.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I can maybe pull of a Captain Ron vibe

    • Zwak, jack off, all trades

      Except for the center cockpit part, Three Thumbs UP!

  12. Ghostpatzer

    Thanks for the post, Tulip! Lots of useful lynx to examine in more detail.

    I am not looking to retire so much as moving – NJ cost of living is untenable. Want to stay near the east coast because beaches and proximity to family, maybe SC (freedom, low taxes) or Delaware (low taxes). Steadily clearing junk from storage to facilitate a move when the time comes.

    When/if I actually hang it up i’ll need to fogure out what to do with spare time. Leaning towards getting some good camera equipment, learning to use it, and finding as many birds as possible. Following in the footsteps of a distant relation:

    https://www.blockislandtimes.com/article/bird-lady-block-island/24229

  13. juris imprudent

    Thinking about retirement is what keeps me sane. I have agreed to hold off one year and retire at 65, since that will make for an immediate transition to Medicare vice having to carry a full medical plan for a year. That will also allow me to hold off claiming SS until FRA rather than looking at a reduced benefit.

    The only issue now is that the wife doesn’t want to move. We can afford to stay here (with the G&^D#$&^ property taxes) but I prefer to use my money on better things.

    • R.J.

      You and me both. Wife doesn’t want to move. In ten years the property taxes will be sky-high and we will not be able to afford the same house. Property taxes will be higher than the mortgage payment.

  14. hoof_in_mouth

    I have my retirement date set for 70 1/2, and I’ll probably make it. I’ve got a significantly younger wife and a 3 year old… can’t be seen slacking off. That said, I am working 3 small jobs instead of 1 big one and it gives me way more schedule flexibility for the same money. If you’re going to travel, do it before you retire/turn 65 or whatnot – my parents planned on traveling a lot, but health issues and general discomfort with sitting on planes for a long trip quickly curtailed their ability and willingness to travel to maybe 1 trip per year and after 72 even that is hard.

    • Fourscore

      My wife has traveled extensively since we retired, me, not so much. I did my traveling as a younger man. We’ve reached that point now where traveling is work. I’ll put the Missus on the plane again soon but to visit her relatives, they are old and don’t travel much.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, traveling is work. I don’t have that bug at all.

  15. LCDR_Fish

    Really hoping I can lock in some land out west next year. Once I’ve got that…I can wait a little longer before building something. TSP, 50/50 Mil Retirement (once I turn 60), whatever else I wind up in the next 20-25 yrs.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That reminds me…I haven’t looked at my TSP account in a few years.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Nice being able to keep adding to it for a while too. 15% (of reserve salary – ie. not always every month), but 10% of that is going into a Roth alternate now.

        If I pay off my first TSP loan early, I’ll take a 2nd one for the land purchase.

  16. juris imprudent

    Hahaha – it will be fun to watch the Democrats spin to take credit for this.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that the agency would keep interest rates near zero. The agency will wait for further “progress” on inflation and employment before raising interest rates.

    Narrator: The Fed will figure it out about two years after it happens.

    • CPRM

      When was the last time the Fed rate was above 1%? Seems since before 9/11. This must be their answer to stagflation, just never raise rates! Free Money!11!11!

  17. The Hyperbole

    About five years ago I figured I could either bust my ass for the next 25 years and comfortably retire at around 70, or cut my expenses low enough that so I could get by working on average 20 hours a week. I choose the later, I still think it was a good decision, now.. when I’m 70 and can’t do carpentry anymore and have to get a job at Walmart’s I may regret it, but I may also get hit by a bus next Tuesday.

    • CPRM

      Yeah, at work since we’re short staffed they act like the over-time is a great thing. I’ve already saved half of what I made there in the first year +. I don’t want a pittance more and the taxes that come with with it, I want to have time to live my life. Outside of that job I already edit a TV show and make cartoons for scoundrels that net me even more than a few hours of overtime.

    • Fourscore

      “Get hit by a bus next Tuesday”.

      I’ll be the first one to tell you that the unexpected is unexpected. In retrospect, I’m glad I did what I wanted to do, it makes life a little easier to have the memories. Still I have the desires to keep on keeping on but reality never goes away.

      Don’t wait, the calendar never gives up !

    • Zwak, jack off, all trades

      If my then girlfriend hadn’t come down with a case of the preggers, I would have done exactly that. Except with used books as opposed to carpentry.

      But alas. And probably a good thing as my medical issues would have killed it. Or, not.

  18. R.J.

    Will be debt and mortgage free at 65. At 54 now. I had too many adventures in my youth, so no great retirement savings. My retirement will involve moving to a smaller home (instantly paid off) in a lower property tax bracket, and having some kind of low-grade job, preferably self employed again to make ends meet. Or just snuff it and die in a ditch.

    • Mojeaux

      I do not want to ever own a home again. I want an apartment where I don’t have to keep a lawn mower or snow shovel or tools.

      • CPRM

        Just pay that nice boy across the way to a shiny nickel to do all that.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Our park provides lawn mowers and gas, in a storage unit by the river, and we have a plow service in the Winter. I may pay for it in space rent, but I don’t have store the stuff either.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I don’t have to keep a lawn mower or snow shovel or tools.

        Looking at my neighbors, it appears you are not alone. I’m not exactly in the most affluent part of town, and everybody has a lawn service and a landscaper and pest control and a handyman on speed dial. Not sure how they afford all of that, but I’m one of the few who actually still mows their own lawn. A couple of the older folks are out in the morning tending garden, but I think that’s a hobby for them.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Hiring outside help is one of my vices. I have all the equipment and it’s not that expensive to pay a guy to mow the lawn or weed eat. Our mortgage plus having someone here one day a week to take care of all yard related stuff is less than $1k/month combined. Also does things like putting up fences or trimming up fallen trees blocking the hiking trails. I imagine the cost for labor is much higher in cities though, especially if hiring a service with their own equipment.

        I at least do all electric work myself. Usually pay someone after hours in cash for plumbing and HVAC.

      • Zwak, jack off, all trades

        I am probably going to hire a Mow, Blow, and Go next month, as the wife is pushing me to let someone else do it. But I will always do my own electrical and HVAC. Fuck plumbing though, anything more than a simple swap gets a pro.

  19. Jerms

    I worked for NYC and loved my job. I planned on doing 30 years and retiring down south somewhere but they forced me out after i needed a double fusion on my lower back. Absolutely devastating. Im 46, been retired 2 years been keeping busy working on my house and raising 3 girls. Cant uproot them and go South yet, have to wait until theyre older or in college.
    Worst part is that i can still physically do the job i had—and much better that the people they are letting onto the job lately.

    • R C Dean

      Cant uproot them and go South yet

      Why not? If you move, they’ll be fine.

      • Jerms

        They are in their early teens. Wouldnt want to take them away from their friends.

      • R C Dean

        I’m not sure when children’s social lives became the determining factor in their parent’s major life decisions, but it was certainly after my parents moved my brother and I when we were in junior high. Brief transition period, new friends and social circle before our first semester was done. Of course, your call, and there are a lot of parents who make the same decision, but I find it odd how much things have changed.

      • Jerms

        Yeah i hear you, plan was always to go down to a warmer climate after kids left and i was retired. I would like to stop paying $1000 a month in property taxes and get away from NY winters but overall life is good and im not so eager to get down there that im going to upset the applecart.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        They’ll make new or better friends. Or hate you for the rest of your life.

      • Fourscore

        Watching my kids/grandkids and they have few old friends from high school and even the besties from college have moved on. Kids grow, same as we did.

        I had the good fortune of moving when I was about 15, the last years of high school were the best but then its over. Life goes on.

      • slumbrew

        Don’t underestimate that dang ol’ internet, man.

        My brother moved his 3 kids from NY to NC when the oldest were tweens – they still have their friends in NY, since their lives are online.

  20. Timeloose

    I’m looking at a 10 year horizon for retirement. The last 5 years might be a consulting or contract gig, but at some point I need to get long term care insurance. My wife will be ready around the same time as that is where her pension will max out.

    It will depend on how the economy turns over the next 10. I just burned through 10 years at my current company, but it seems like yesterday that I started.

    It creeps up on you. Enjoy life while your young and healthy enough to do the things you want to do.

  21. EvilSheldon

    My retirement plan involves shooting, drinking cocktails, playing guitar, and going on backpacking trips. Maybe a little motorcycle riding in-between.

    I may take over Dad’s gunsmithing practice, just to have a little cash inflow and to keep my hand in the industry.

    • CPRM

      playing guitar, and going on backpacking trips

      Might want to do those when you’re younger, arthritis can be a bitch.

      • Tulip

        That’s why I’m looking 3-5 years. I want to be young and healthy enough to do stuff

      • EvilSheldon

        I do those things now, I’m just going to keep doing them when I retire.

      • waffles

        I took 4 non-consecutive years of my life off to be a ski bum. I’m mostly preserved but perhaps too old to fully do it it today.

      • blackjack

        I’m 55 and I still skate pools and vert. I get tired way faster and am way less adventurous about it (because crashing sucks way worse, now) , but I’m doing it.

      • blackjack

        I’m 55 and I still skate pools and vert. I get tired way faster and am way less adventurous about it (because crashing sucks way worse, now) , but I’m doing it.

      • slumbrew

        All that repeating yourself – are you wearing a helmet when you skate? 😀

      • blackjack

        No, but I probably should. I never did the first time around, either. My computer is acting crazy with Glibs, lately. Squirrels everywhere I turn.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Joey Two-Times!

        I’m still getting the Hawaiian hijacking, fwiw.

      • slumbrew

        A serious brain injury is one of things that scares the crap out of me – I could deal with anything else but dealing with some sort of serious cognitive damage and _remembering_ that I was fine would be torture.

      • blackjack

        My head has been bashed around a bunch of times. It keeps on ticking. I doubt skating could cause a hard enough hit really mess anything up, but you never know. I’m more worried about breaking a wrist or something. Getting hurt while not at work will be pretty costly for me.

      • blackjack

        My head has been bashed around a bunch of times. It keeps on ticking. I doubt skating could cause a hard enough hit really mess anything up, but you never know. I’m more worried about breaking a wrist or something. Getting hurt while not at work will be pretty costly for me.

      • Mojeaux

        Your comments plugin for Glibs is probably not the problem…

      • blackjack

        I know. I know. I’m thinking I might reload my browser next. I’m thinking I might reload my browser next. But I have to redo all of my passwords, which is a pain. But I have to redo all of my passwords, which is a pain.

        Double redundancy! I feel like Robocop in that one scene.

      • blackjack

        I know. I know. I’m thinking I might reload my browser next. I’m thinking I might reload my browser next. But I have to redo all of my passwords, which is a pain. But I have to redo all of my passwords, which is a pain.

        Double redundancy! I feel like Robocop in that one scene.

      • Ownbestenemy

        If you are using Trashy awesome plugin, it usually relates to the Avoid Page Refresh option….paging Trashy

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Yeah, don’t use “Avoid Page Refresh”. I need to turn that off.

      • Fourscore

        I thank dog I’m still able to exhibit a semblance of cognitive behavior. The present physical problems should, hopefully, lighten up as time passes, just in time to fit into Joe’s staff, where something awry would not be noticed .

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        As long as you remember to go get the papers, ___ ___ ______.

      • Fourscore

        I thank dog I’m still able to exhibit a semblance of cognitive behavior. The present physical problems should, hopefully, lighten up as time passes, just in time to fit into Joe’s staff, where something awry would not be noticed .

    • Nephilium

      I’d like to be able to retire early enough I can do some multi-day bike riding trips. I still hope to do the Ohio to Erie trail or the Great Allegheny Passage. Both have options of hotels or camping along the way.

  22. Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

    I don’t know when I’ll retire, but I’ll consider it when my daughter finishes college. We plan to buy a house or an apartment in my wife’s home country and downsize our house here. We’ll split our time between the two. Maybe buy an RV or trailer for travel around the US. I’d be perfectly happy with a sprinter van, but my wife probably wants more comfort. Maybe I will too by the time I’m that age.

    Long term care insurance is a good idea. It has been very helpful for my parents. It didn’t pay for 24 hour care, but covers enough that they really didn’t need to dip into their savings.

  23. kinnath

    Retirement means turning in the paper work to start social security and the measly pension that I have coming.

    I can’t imagine that I will actually stop working.

    The only good think about the pandemic lockdown is that it has proven that I can be a fully employed engineer without leaving my house. So contract engineering looks totally doable.

    • Fourscore

      You’ll be able to sell your produce for a goodly sum and make folks happy at the same time. Do you need some yellow raspberry vines? Mine need a clean up, the drought this year and my non-attendance but they should grow even better in your climate. We can did some in needed.

      • Fourscore

        dig; if some…

      • kinnath

        Do you need some yellow raspberry vines?

        I would love some. Don’t know where I can put them right now. Need to think about it.

  24. The Hyperbole

    I’ve giving in, I’m off to get the jab. If I don’t survive, I want you to know it was nice being acquainted internet-ally with you people.*

    *with a few obvious exceptions, they know who they are.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Watch, two weeks from now he becomes an affable and respectful member of society, who’s Golden Girls DVD collection is as edgy as he dares tread.

    • Sean

      Who are you and what did you do with the real Hyperbole?

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      What do you mean, “you people”?

  25. blackjack

    We have defined benefits retirement, and I pay 11% into it. I can’t retire and get much of anything until at least 65. I’ll only have around 15 years in at that point, so it still won’t be a huge amount. My kid is eight and I probably will need to keep working just to keep up with his needs. I don’t mind it much, but I might start trying to weasel my way into a desk job with more money. Assuming I keep my job at all with the mandatory drug experiments they are pushing on me.

    • UnCivilServant

      Currently, I’m 13 years accumulated towards my defined benefit pension. With the rules for my Tier, I could theoretically retire from the state at 56 with 60% of my final average salary.

      Because the Comptroller is an independantly elected official who defends his fiefdom, it hasn’t been plundered yet by the legislature. So for the time being it is still fully funded. That could always change, especially as New Yorkers keep tanking the state.

      If the legislature raids the pension fund, I’ve got no reason to stay.

      • blackjack

        I’m probably going to get 50-60% even if I wait until 65. Length of service is a major factor in the final calculation. I probably ought to be pushing hard for promotions to get my salary number up, but I hate management, and I’d have to spend all my time with them.

      • UnCivilServant

        Shit, if I waited to 65 and the fund isn’t raided, I’d be at 73.5%. And since New York taxes don’t get applied to state pension payments, that would be more take home pay than when working. But that would also mean I’d have worked here for 39 years. Fuck that noise.

      • blackjack

        I’m probably going to get 50-60% even if I wait until 65. Length of service is a major factor in the final calculation. I probably ought to be pushing hard for promotions to get my salary number up, but I hate management, and I’d have to spend all my time with them.

  26. blackjack

    We have defined benefits retirement, and I pay 11% into it. I can’t retire and get much of anything until at least 65. I’ll only have around 15 years in at that point, so it still won’t be a huge amount. My kid is eight and I probably will need to keep working just to keep up with his needs. I don’t mind it much, but I might start trying to weasel my way into a desk job with more money. Assuming I keep my job at all with the mandatory drug experiments they are pushing on me.

  27. trshmnstr the terrible

    Goal is retiring around age 50 if we do the traditional retire into leisure path or, more likely, “retiring” in my early 40s if I find a good off-ramp into a more enjoyable job that pays less. Worst case, as long as the current investments continue to double every 8 years, we hit our target at age 62. Every penny invested from here on out scoots that date just a little bit closer.

    The only major financial variable (excepting unanticipated macro and micro events) left to nail down is a permanent home. The framework is in place for everything else, even if I only get cost of living raises the entire rest of my career. It’s tight enough to derail if we get too sloppy with the budget, but it’s not a Ramsey-style “beans and rice” budget like when we were paying down debt.

    We have a number we are targeting (that may move if inflation takes hold more than expected), and retirement begins the day we hit that number, whether or not I decide to go into work the next day.

    All that said, I’m aiming for a “set and forget” mentality. I’m tired of slicing the budget six ways to Sunday trying to squeeze out another couple pennies to pay off priority X just that much faster. I want to set up the contributions automatically, set up the sinking funds automatically, and only worry about the budget/financial picture a couple times per year when I adjust costs for inflation. Anything more than that starts getting obsessive. Obsessive was good when we were implementing new habits. Now it’s just unhealthy.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I’ve never liked that “beans and rice” advice; health is wealth. (Or have I been taking him too literally?)

      Never cared for the “¡We’re debt-freeee!!1!” call-ins either. No offense to the ordinary Joes: I’m sure it’s cathartic for them, but it isn’t compelling radio.

      • UnCivilServant

        I will cathartically celebrate when I am debt free… but I don’t owe it to some radio host. I’ve managed it all on my own.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Or have I been taking him too literally?

        Yes. We did not literally eat beans and rice every night. We did, however, eat very cheaply and get creative. Lots of bulk cooking with cheap ingredients so that we could buy in bulk when things were in sale.

        I don’t listen to Dave’s show anymore because it has gotten rather repetitive and canned. He doesn’t seem to enjoy it anymore, he rushes through answering the same 20 questions he has been getting for 30 years, and he’s getting lazy about showing his work. He gets dangerously close to “because I said so” on a daily basis. His system is great. His shows (TV and radio) from 2005-2010 are high quality. Today, it’s a shadow of its former glory, IMO.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Not merely rice and beans, obviously. But if diabetes runs in one’s family, what would frugal low-carbing involve? Many eggs, I suppose.

        Haven’t heard him in some years, at least not on local radio.

      • UnCivilServant

        Portion control.

        Even if you have full-blown diabetes, keeping the quantity down will avoid the glucose spikes.

        Source – have a family history of diabetes, lived with multiple diabetics.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Oh boy, just like Cuba!

        Nah, thanks for the reminder, de veras.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m not really sure how to parse that response.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (+1 “Catskills resort” joke, or would if I didn’t have l’esprit d’escalier…)

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Er, didn’t mean to sound so smartass. A serious concern. See my allusion to hackneyed “terrible food, and such small portions” joke below.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        what would frugal low-carbing involve?

        Cooking it yourself, buying in bulk, etc.

        Dave’s point is 80% “restaurants and fast food is off limits” and 20% “don’t replace restaurants and fast food with expensive pre-made/convenience crap from the grocery store”.

        I vaguely remember somebody calling in who literally ate nothing but rice and beans for some number of days per week, and Dave came very close to letting a “dumbass” slip out.

      • Mojeaux

        Frugal low-carbing is a difficult thing to do if you want to get the requisite protein and fat and calories from the aforementioned, especially at the beginning when you’re eating your way out of your carb cravings,

        Once you are in the low-carb zone, you will naturally pare back as fat sates you. However, the danger then becomes that you do ‘t eat enough calories to lose weight.

        In short, low-carb food is expensive.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Thanks, youse.
        /semi-frugal, semi-LC

      • Mojeaux

        ❤️❤️❤️

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Yeah, observed much about LC while watching the ex for years. I am mostly herbivorous though (which shouldn’t be an insuperable barrier…).

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Frugal low-carbing is a difficult thing to do

        I’m always a bit skeptical when I hear that [insert diet here] is hard to do frugally. Convenience is antithetical to frugality, but meat is not. Whole chickens can occasionally be had under 50 cents per pound.

      • Mojeaux

        It can be done with certain veggies and berries, but make sure you load your veggies up with some type of fat (butter, bacon grease, lard, olive oil) and protein (e.g., chef salads or cheese on broccoli).

      • slumbrew

        I suspect I could (mostly) live off of Cobb salads.

      • Mojeaux

        occasionally

        ding ding ding

        I said nothing about convenience foods.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        uh, avocados? should I ask Chafed?

        Didn’t mean to derail the topic: sorry. Hinnnt.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes, avocadoes are good fats.

        Note: some of my assertion that’s it’s not the most frugal diet in the world is that at the beginningand for quite a while, you eat so MUCH. Again, you end up eating a lot to get through the carb withdrawal.

        Also, I am going with the Atkins method.

      • Mojeaux

        Chafed is a vegetarian, IIRC. He might have more insight than I would, as I am mostly a carnivore.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I said nothing about convenience foods.

        The point was that boneless skinless chicken breast is much harder to use frugally than whole chicken. It also can’t nearly as easily be repurposed into 3 or 4 different meals and then turned into chicken stock.

        It’s convenient and expensive to buy boneless skinless chicken breast for a low carb meal or two. It’s inconvenient and frugal to buy a whole chicken and use it 4 times over the week and then freeze a gallon of chicken stock to be used as a soup base a month later.

        Convenience foods are a whole other level of trading money for not having to do stuff in the kitchen.

      • Mojeaux

        The point was that boneless skinless chicken breast is much harder to use frugally than whole chicken.

        You’re putting words in my mouth and not seeing what I am saying about volume.

        Sure, ONE whole chicken cut up and repurposed for stock and whatever else is great—unless you’re one person who can down that chicken and its byproducts in one or two meals. And when you are trying to get through the carb dump, you eat A LOT.

        It does, as I say, go away eventually so you eat more modestly.

        That is not even taking into account whatever exercise routine you have going on, when you have to supply energy via fat versus carbs.

      • Mojeaux

        Look, I don’t really want to argue about this because it’s just not that big a deal. She asked, I answered via my own experience.

        Low-carbing is hard and, IME, not frugal.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        You’re putting words in my mouth

        I’m genuinely trying not to. I just don’t understand how low-carb interfaces with frugality negatively. Yeah, meat is more expensive than veggies and carbs, but frugal doesn’t have to mean you’re eating the bare-bones cheapest foods by weight, which, admittedly, tend to be carby.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        it isn’t compelling radio.

        It stopped being compelling, IMO, when they started queuing everybody up for a pre-planned spot, filtering out the people whose stories didn’t perfectly fit the message, and started emphasizing the people who were paying off their mortgage over the ones who were paying off their other debts.

        The original debt free screams were genuine and heartfelt and much better radio because Dave wasn’t reading off a stupid script. Now, there’s an intake process that takes a few months and it has all become bureaucratic, so people don’t have that primal “I just conquered the mountain” excitement anymore.

      • Nephilium

        I could pay off the mortgage today. Looking at the interest rate (locked in) on it, I don’t see the benefit, and have been putting more money into investment accounts. If inflation hits, it’ll make the payments cheaper, and the investment accounts should continue growing.

  28. mexican sharpshooter

    I’m at least 25-30 years away from entertaining the idea of retirement. I figure as long as there are Boomers who have no idea how to operate these fancy computer thingys and still have yet to begin retirement planning, I will remain employable.

    • waffles

      45% of baby boomers have no retirement savings according to something from October 2020. That’s pretty bad.

      • UnCivilServant

        Aren’t they supposed to be at or past retirement age by now?

      • kinnath

        As a mid-boomer at age 64, you are half (maybe two-thirds) correct.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah I was a late start on putting retirement money aside and I’m kinda amazed that I’m so much better off than average now.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        45% of baby boomers have no retirement savings

        I, uh…. How? What?

        We’re fucked. As a culture, we’re fucked. They’re going to have to raid retirement accounts to pay for all the welfare, and 45% of the prime demographic for repelling that kind of bullshit have no reason to complain about it.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Frankie Roosevelt says we gotta stick together.

        (Sorry: Paper Moon was on last night.)

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Whatever happened to the saying “Cash is the cheapest way to pay”?

  29. waffles

    I am 30-35 years from retirement. I have, however, “retired” two or three times due to adventures in extended unemployment.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Same with the time frame. I’d like to cash out of a defined benefit plan before it goes tits up so might “retire” in five years, but will be working long after that. After seeing what my MiL went through, my goal is to keep my wife off Medicare as long as I can.

  30. Drake

    I need to talk to my investment advisor brother about converting to the back-door Roth IRA and cheating the IRS. I’m probably 5 to 10 years from retirement – unless.the vaccine becomes mandatory to work, then it’ll be next month.

  31. hayeksplosives

    I will work until I’m dead or 67, whichever comes first.

    My savings are in two 401k accounts. If the feds come to raid it, I’m hosed. Pretty sure seizure (or punitive taxation) of 401k and IRAs would not go well among the US population.

    Then again, I never thought Americans would roll over for >year long “medical emergencies” that negate personal Liberty.

    I guess if politicians and “community organizers” succeed in portraying individuals with savings as fat cats who need to pay their fair share for the common good, they might get away with it.

    I’d like to own a house at retirement unless I’m too decrepit, in which case I’ll do the condo or apartment thing.

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      It’s not that community organizers will portray everyone with savings as fat cats. Only the stinking rich will be portrayed as such. It’s just that the regular savers will be the ones that pay the biggest price. Like how we had to close our bank account in the old country due to the FATCA reporting requirements because we had a few thousand euros there.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I’m amazed that wasn’t repealed during the Trump administration. Maybe I shouldn’t be.

    • juris imprudent

      If the feds come to raid it

      Yeah, I hope they think that through – life in prison isn’t just as threatening as it used to be, or death for that matter. No one is going to steal like that without paying for it.

      • Chafed

        That’s the reason I don’t think it will happen. If the feds tell the middle class their IRAs/401ks/etc are being seized or taxed in a way substantially different than the existing rules then all bets are off. We have seen riots in other countries over that sort of thing. Thank doG we have the Second Amendment. It won’t be just a riot. It will be a shootout.

  32. kinnath

    A year ago, I was ready to up my 401k contributions to the max (per the IRS catch-up rules). Then the government began extreme measures to destroy the economy, and those measures have been accelerated under current administration.

    Now, I am thinking “durable goods”. I don’t see any other rational way to beat the stagflation that is well underway.

    • Akira

      Now, I am thinking “durable goods”. I don’t see any other rational way to beat the stagflation that is well underway.

      That occurred to me as well… What kind of goods did you have in mind?

      • Not Adahn

        Guns. Lots of guns.

      • Penguin

        They’ll hold their value in real terms.

      • kinnath

        Sorry, got distracted by work.

        Short answer is anything you know you will need in the future, but it now before gets more expensive (cash only, no credit).

        Longer answer. I need to clear a lot of trees from a corner of my lot to put in a garden to feed myself when the world goes to shit. There are many trees 12 to 18 inches in diameter — oak, cherry, walnut, ash. So good wood.

        I am thinking about buying a portable bandsaw mill (low end for hobbyists). Instead of turning the trees into firewood, I can turn it into lumber. Later, I can sell the mill at some inflated price or actually try to make a few bucks milling lumber for other people.

        One example.

      • slumbrew

        I’d like to pull the trigger on the fancy stove I want but I’m not ready to install it yet (need a gas line run) and have no place to store it.

        I should probably think about replacing the 2009 Fit sooner rather than later (but it still runs like a top).

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      We’re accelerating our buying plans. The new van was bought when it was because of the threat of inflation. The house purchase timeline is being accelerated because of the threat of inflation. Any other big purchase that comes up will be fast tracked to get it done while my dollars are high value.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We are considering getting the land/home that we want now…and rent it out but that with the CDC You Don’t Ever Have to Pay Rent shit, it has given us hesitancy.

      • Nephilium

        Yeah. Back near the end of 2019, I was considering mortgaging some houses near me as rentals (near a college town). The eviction moratoriums and the like really cooled my thoughts on that.

  33. Yusef drives a Kia

    I am glad to be buying my little house, for me, it’s just about right, and I’ll pay it off in less than 5 years. After that, I can relax a little, but right now, I’m going all in on the Art thing, and try to make some money that way.

  34. Semi-Spartan Dad

    My wife asked me about retirement yesterday. I’ll probably retire around 65, but I’m not sure. I enjoy what I do (consulting), value increases with experience (so no age-related pressure/risk), and I’m able to adjust my workload if I ever want to deaccelerate to part-time. We’re saving 20%/year and should have the mortgage paid off and be debt free by 45 or so.

    I have no idea what retirement will look like. I don’t care about traveling. I’m good fishing with a beer in hand, but will need other things to stay busy. I’d really like to retire on a lake or river. I look at homes up and down the Tennessee River, but none that I could afford had any kind of acreage. Not surprising but thought it was worth a look.

    • CatchTheCarp

      That is my dream – to have a place where I can just walk a short distance to wet a line. That means moving and while my wife is not adverse to that she wants to be “close” to our children/grand kids. We just need to define what approximate distance is “close”.

      • Fourscore

        Kids/grandkids follow their dreams, same as we did. Mine are scattered, life goes on… Technology has a way of keeping close…it’s the best it’s gonna be…

  35. waffles

    The thing I don’t get is that ten years ago we had article after article worrying about the coming crash of retiring boomers and how they needed to save. Today…crickets. The problem didn’t go away, we just ignored it. And now it’s upon us and no one wants to talk about it. Every says OK boomer but no one asks are you ok, boomer.

    • UnCivilServant

      Thing is, I never feel it’s appropriate to meddle in someone else’s personal affairs, and their finances are their personal affairs.

      • juris imprudent

        This is what is so un-natural about this here community of people – the absence of the desire to tell other people how to live. It’s just sad that there are so few of us.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Would you like to see a simpler way to do that?”

        I’m not offended by tactful unsolicited advice, as long as it isn’t pressed upon me.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        In fact I welcome it. I probably sound like Adam Carolla…

      • blackjack

        No, Adam Corolla always mentions doing construction in North Hollywood.

      • slumbrew

        Thing is, I never feel it’s appropriate to meddle in someone else’s personal affairs, and their finances are their personal affairs.

        I’m in total agreement, until the point when they have their hands out to the government to make up for their poor planning. You know that’s coming.

  36. robc

    I have a 13 year plan. In 2034, my daughter graduates HS, I turn 65, and that gives us 12.5 years to pay off the new house once its done.

    The latter is the big retirement factor, I am not retiring with a house payment ( or any other debt). Homeless and debt-free really isnt all bad.

    My spreadsheet thinks thats when I will have enough saved to retire too. My plan is for my money to run out on my 120th birthday.

    • juris imprudent

      Yeah, my investment adviser has me planning for 30 or so years of retirement. I’ll have one fund growing while the other is drawing down. The former is to take care of the back end years – god willing.

      I understand that others see it different, but a mortgage is no different from rent – you pay for where you live. And sure, if you flat out own it, then you are paying opportunity cost of having that money being productive.

  37. slumbrew

    Like Trashy, if my investments do the double-every-7(or 8)-years thing, I can probably retire in about 7 years (58). If my risk tolerance were greater / I cut my expenses, I might even be able to punch out now and be OK – no debt other than the mortgage and that _could_ be payed off, but it’s under a grand /mo at this point and the rate is less than what an index fund returns.

    Things are about split between a 401k & a taxable account, so if the Feds go nuclear on the 401k I’m not totally hosed – but they’ll be inflating everything away regardless.

    Like some others, I’d like to move somewhere cheaper, but my wife does not. We’ll see if that changes over time.

    Ultimately, I may be too much of a pessimist to stop working before I have to. As an over-50 tech dude, it may end up not being my choice, should this current job end for some reason.

  38. CatchTheCarp

    My company had a defined pension plan when I started working there in 1998. The company was sold in 2003 and one of the first moves of the new ownership was to nix the pension plan for all new hires. Current employees were grandfathered in. In 2014 I got a call from HR and was told I was no longer eligible to be in the pension plan – I didn’t lose what I had but the company could no longer make contributions on my behalf. Seems I now fell into a highly compensated employee category and there is some sort of Fed Gov regulation that there must be a ratio of low to highly compensated employees. There was one side benefit to being kicked out of the pension plan – the company decided to pay me a bonus each year equal to the amount they would have contributed to the pension – something they were not obligated to do. The only drawback is this “special bonus” is taxed. The pension is decent – I have my choice of a lump sum payout or I can set it up as an annuity. I am likely doing the lump sum payout which is a sizeable amount. I have contributed to a 401K most of my working life and my wife has small IRA. Overall we are in good shape financially if I decide to retire at the end of year – which I am considering. My only concern is medical insurance. No idea how much it would cost. My wife and I are both the same age (63) and in good health.

  39. kinnath

    As long as we are on this topic, my wife and I need to decide what to do about Medicare.

    Medicare Part A (hospitalization) is free at age 65. We can keep working and keep company health insurance, so Med Part A becomes secondary insurance. However, you cannot contribute to an HSA while on Part A.

    So, the choice is 1) sign up for Part and kill HSA contributions, or 2) keep contributing to HSAs and defer Part A until actual retirement.

    What to do?

    • robc

      But you have to sign up for Part B anyway, right?

      • Ghostpatzer

        I signed up for Part A (free, and I do not have an HSA) when I turned 65, but not Part B (not free). As I understand it, there is no requirement to sign up for anything as long as you are still working (and I hope I’m right since I don’t like to pay penalties…). I suspect RC Dean would have the definitive answer, don’t take my word for it.

      • kinnath

        If you are in a qualified private plan, you can defer signing up for Part B which is expensive a shit.

    • Swiss Servator

      Option 2 – you need to dump ever $ into that HSA you can, and stay on what coverage you do have. That HSA will come in handy down the road…

      • kinnath

        That is the direction we are planning.

        I was looking for an independent confirmation. So thanks.

        We have been putting the max allowed amounts into HSAs for as long as we had them.

    • R C Dean

      My rough cut is, since you will still have the company health insurance, the benefit of having Part A as a backup is probably not that great. Most likely, if you are hospitalized, it will help reduce your co-pay and deductible out of pockets. I’d probably pass on it and keep feeding the HSA.

      • kinnath

        That was my guess.

        So the big shock was how much Part B costs and the “penalty” the applies to high earners.

        Given our current income we would be paying roughly triple the “normal” price for Part B.

        The Part B premium/penalty is based on the last two income tax filings which lags a year. So it is based on your income two and three years ago.

        So our current plan is wife will retire at age 67 and sign up for Part A. I will retire age 70 and sign up for Part A. Both of us will sign up for Part B at that time.

        Part B premiums will be based on my income age 68 and 69 which means we will only have to pay double the normal rate at that time.

        Fuck every mutherfucking socialist that stuck their hands in Medicare.

  40. prolefeed

    OT: There isn’t a search term I could find on google that would result in an article on the first page of results unambiguously saying getting the COVID vaccination is a bad idea, and giving the reasons why. “Why covid vaccination is a bad idea” gets you results like:

    “Spread the word: Skipping the COVID-19 vaccine is a bad idea”

    “Why compulsory Covid vaccination may not be such a bad idea”

    “How to Talk to Someone Who’s Hesitant to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine”

    “The Truth Behind Common COVID-19 Vaccine Misconceptions”

    “What Are No-Vaxxers Thinking? – The Atlantic”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Once again, COVID messaging is all over the place and this time, it is Biden Admin doing it – it is just no one knows cause the media is putting out articles like what you just put down.

      I have seen it written that the new mask-mandate will encourage more people to get vaccinated. I have seen this line of logic before and have used it…on my two-year olds in a sad parental attempt at reverse psychology and even they saw right through it

    • rhywun

      That means Google is doing what they are told.

    • R C Dean

      on google

      I think I see your problem. And, since its Google, that search has probably got you flagged as a white supremacist insurrectionist bigot.

      • R C Dean

        Clicked too soon.

        I never use Google for anything. I won’t touch their search engine, email, anything else they do except very, very occasionally I will use Google Translate. Google is the debbil.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I got off Chrome and gmail but haven’t found a way around Android for my phone. I’m not convinced Apple is any better.

      • R C Dean

        Apple has at least some record of protecting user privacy.

        More importantly, to me, harvesting and monetizing user data isn’t their entire business model.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I switched to Apple simply because Fuck Google.

      • Tres Cool

        I still use Gmail for a couple things, but I wont use their search engine unless I know Im behind a VPN. DDG is for me.

        I use Apple products because I feel that their response to the phone password in the San Bernardino mess is indicative that they value at least a bit of privacy. I tell myself that to feel better.
        Nothing of mine gets saved to their “cloud”. All texts, pics, etc stay on the device.

      • Tres Cool

        Also- google docs, workspace, etc. is for work only. Nothing personal goes on there.

        And brave browser (opening in private mode) on every device.

      • R C Dean

        I issued a ruling awhile back that we would not use Google Docs. Too insecure, not HIPAA-compliant.

      • Tres Cool

        In your industry I understand. In the world of environmental testing, once you submit a compliance test report to the appropriate EPA agency (local, state, federal) it becomes pubic record anyhow.

        Ive had quite a few clients with proprietary manufacturing processes that make it very clear to me that I explain things in the blandest of terms, and was submitted only after review by their legal dept.

    • blackjack

      It’s all propaganda, all the time. There’s a few cost/benefit analysis articles out there, but they all work from the assumption that everything the government says is true and skip the idea that we don’t really know what might happen long term. They just say that long term side effects are “rare.” Well, long term effects from Covid are rare as in .02 percent or so. Is “rare” more or less than that when considering side effects? Nobody can or will say. If .03% of the vaxxed have serious illness or death, then we should not be using them.

      • R C Dean

        They just say that long term side effects are “rare.” Well, long term effects from Covid are rare as in .02 percent or so.

        We don’t have the remotest clue what the long term side effects are from a vaccine that underwent 3 – 4 months of clinical trials, and has been given to the public for a little over six months.

        Not. A. Clue.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Exactly this.

        Also in that vein, this morning I heard a report from one of the agencies that stated, “We’re still researching whether you need a COVID shot if you’ve recovered from COVID. The research isn’t finished yet, so you should get one just in case.”

        I promptly treated my passenger to a litany of cursing at the radio.

      • R C Dean

        Well, they’re reporting a lot more “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated people than reinfections in recovered people. Now, some COVID cases are probably reinfections of people nobody knows were ever infected in the first place, but still.

        And they’ve confirmed that immunity to SARS-1 is very durable.

        So, no, more research isn’t needed to make this call. The answer is plenty clear enough, especially for an experimental vaccine.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Cleveland Clinic made it as clear as they could about two months ago that reinfection is exceedingly unlikely. Then they issued a follow up statement that hedged on the results because obviously somebody higher up got pissed off like maybe a large pharmaceutical company that donates to the clinic?

        “Cleveland Clinic recommends those who are eligible receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

        We recently shared research that provides insight into how the immune system protects the body after a confirmed COVID-19 infection. The study followed Cleveland Clinic caregivers over five months as the vaccination process was beginning. The data showed that the vaccine was extremely effective in preventing COVID-19 infection. In addition, we found that none of the previously infected employees who remained unvaccinated were re-infected over the duration of the study. This information could help guide vaccination efforts should there be a shortage of vaccine supply and in countries where vaccine supply is limited.

        This is still a new virus, and more research is needed. It is important to keep in mind that this study was conducted in a population that was younger and healthier than the general population. In addition, we do not know how long the immune system will protect itself against re-infection after COVID-19. It is safe to receive the COVID-19 vaccine even if you have previously tested positive, and we recommend all those who are eligible receive it.”

      • blackjack

        Unfortunately, the breakthrough infections are being framed as the virus getting more virulent and not a failing of the vaccine. Maybe more testing would have shown that the vax isn’t as foolproof as they thought. Maybe just ignoring the virus and taking the .02 hit, especially amongst the older and sicker elements of the population and allowing people to get infected and develop natural immunity was a smarter move, overall.

      • R C Dean

        Maybe just ignoring the virus and taking the .02 hit, especially amongst the older and sicker elements of the population and allowing people to get infected and develop natural immunity was a smarter move, overall.

        Sweden’s stellar results would support this.

      • waffles

        Hail blackjack, king of squirrels.

      • blackjack

        Do you mean squirrels? Or squirrel squirrels?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Given it is this late in the day, I am surprised that Biden hasn’t dropped his Federal Employee Mandated Get Vaccinated Program yet. Wonder if its because all the GovSec Unions all said fuck you. They will all cave eventually but the mandate or program would have to have a 60-day or longer lead time to even be implemented and actionable.

    • blackjack

      It’s all propaganda, all the time. There’s a few cost/benefit analysis articles out there, but they all work from the assumption that everything the government says is true and skip the idea that we don’t really know what might happen long term. They just say that long term side effects are “rare.” Well, long term effects from Covid are rare as in .02 percent or so. Is “rare” more or less than that when considering side effects? Nobody can or will say. If .03% of the vaxxed have serious illness or death, then we should not be using them.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        +8% p.a., per Calpers?

        BJ, Ch, et alia, do you listen to the Radio Free CA podcast?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Calstrs. Whatever it takes.

      • blackjack

        I do not. Maybe I should. I generally don’t associate CA with anything free.

      • blackjack

        That looks cool. Maybe I’ll try one on my drive time, if I ever get off of quarantine.

  41. prolefeed

    Retired. Debt free. No mortgage on primary residence and one of two rental houses.

    Now, working on getting my wife to where she feels she can retire, too.

    The best way to counter inflation is to avoid fiat money and own assets that will rise in price to more or less match inflation – houses, stock mutual funds, etc.

  42. Tres Cool

    At this station in my life, Im not as near retirement as Id like to be. However, the note on the Palatial 2X-Wide® will be paid off in the next couple years, which will free-up more ca$h for me to sink into my RA’s.

    Word. I plan on consulting with these guys.

    *NSFW language (unless you work at DeathRow records)

  43. Stillhunter

    Retirement?! Lol

    Unless cooler heads prevail nationally, I may not make it that long anyway. No way am I or my kids getting the injection. And this appears to be just the beginning of the shit coming on multiple fronts.

  44. Ownbestenemy

    When a reporter asked “Is Kevin McCarthy a moron, and if so, why?” Pelosi responded “I said earlier in my comment, science, science, science, and science.”

    “On almost every subject that you can name, science is the answer,” Pelosi added, without actually giving any scientific explanation as to why vaccinated people have to wear masks that do not protect them or other people against anything.

    “Whether it’s the climate crisis, whether it’s a health crisis, whether it’s our preeminence in the world and technology, science, science, science, science,” Pelosi bizarrely barked.

    Uh…seriously can we get the ball rolling on breaking up. I have been through a couple drawn out relationships and the longer they go, the uglier the breakup is.

    • blackjack

      Did you notice the phrase, “without evidence” seems to have been memory holed? It was a Trump specific slur, apparently.

    • R C Dean

      Uh…seriously can we get the ball rolling on breaking up.

      Word.

      Isn’t going to happen though, at least not in my lifetime. Probably.

      And if/when it does happen, there will be a body count, probably a pretty sizable one. Our Masters will be utterly ruthless in dealing with the breakaway provinces.

    • Ghostpatzer

      “science, science, science, and science.”

      Silly bint. Everyone knows you only need to say it THREE times to summon the angel of the flattened curve

  45. Penguin

    I have my retirement all planned out. One of them Powerball tickets is gonna hit, I know it.

    • blackjack

      Can’t lose, if you don’t play.

    • rhywun

      Shit show.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Literally, a shit show

        I still have my doubts. Wouldn’t be the first time a shitty customer got something “extra” with his order.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Coopted private companies doing the government’s business.

      • slumbrew

        We should have some sort of snappy name for that.

      • blackjack

        Whatever we call it, we could start a street gang that pretends to be against it, but actually fights tooth and nail to bring it about. It’ll be fun.

  46. Fourscore

    If the covid is a mutation of the flu would not the annual flu shots give some sort of protection? For those who have had the flu, wouldn’t that also give some natural immunity?

    /Inquiring minds

    • kinnath

      Different family of viruses. Covid is coronavirus — so super cold not super flu.