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Anyone close to retirement? / when do you start counting the days?

Look2Sea

By Look2Sea,
in 55+ Cruisers

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read52

Posted
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We sold our home. It was big, 4000sq. feet and only the two of us. We wanted to travel. Sold it, put everything in storage (8X8X16 container), and travelled for seven months. We only used 3 rooms so why pay the taxes, utilities, and insurance.

 

Feels so liberating to downsize

 

Back now, renting. Looking to buy a condo or something that we can lock the door and walk away from. Next five out of seven months we will be travelling so that purchase may have to wait until next spring.

 

Moving away from our children? One has moved away. The other is back in town but has worked overseas. Who knows where he and his SO will end up.

 

We may in fact continue to rent and buy something in a warmer climate instead.

 

We live in a small house. In fact, it was built in 1951 after the war for families needing housing. It never had an addition like some in the neighborhood. When we bought we had 3 kids and planned to add on but we thought Catholic school would be the best so we had tuition. Then college, we only paid for 1. Two years ago I cashed in an annuity and we redid our basement so we now have two bathrooms, storage, a family room and extra bedroom. Two of our sons moved to other states (but we did that too when we were younger) but our daughter lives here. Now we have room when people come to visit and room for our two grandchildren here. We did get rid of a lot of things because most of the basement was used for storage.

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I live in the UK. I have put in a claim for my state pension as I am eligible to receive it soon. Anyone claiming state pension during a qualifying period receives a one off payment towards cost of heating in the winter. I will also be able to claim a bus pass for free travel at certain times of the day. I think I will be able to use that anywhere in England, but not Wales or Scotland.

 

Everyone pays national insurance, which goes towards all social security benefits.

 

 

 

There are some advantages to getting older! I have been getting free prescriptions since I was 60. It's good to get into the cinema etc at a discounted rate.

 

I will get a pension from the school system that I work for and social security from the Federal government. We get health insurance too but not all things are covered so we need supplemental insurance. We get a lot of prescriptions and they are not free. Thankfully, the most I have to pay is $60 for a 3 month prescription. We get all kinds of discounts after 65 in stores.

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Got information on my pension yesterday -- looks like I filled out all the paperwork correctly! Now have to figure out the Medicare for DH starting in December. Then nothing else to do until I turn 65 next October. Whew!! There is a lot to do but now the payments will be automatically deposited into my checking account. That sounds nice:)

 

BTW, went to what would have been my new school last week. The school is beautiful and, for a change, nothing was skimped on the classrooms. But everyone was going crazy! Schedules for teachers seem to be changing on the hour, no paper of any kind, no working copiers or printers, technology all messed up. I left with a smile on my face making sure that no one could see! Katherine

 

 

Sounds like a normal school. My schedule has been changed 3 times since last Wednesday. Our smartboards will not be here until Sept. 14. But my classroom is ready for tomorrow.

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zlacruising

zlacruising

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Got information on my pension yesterday -- looks like I filled out all the paperwork correctly! Now have to figure out the Medicare for DH starting in December. Then nothing else to do until I turn 65 next October. Whew!! There is a lot to do but now the payments will be automatically deposited into my checking account. That sounds nice:)

 

BTW, went to what would have been my new school last week. The school is beautiful and, for a change, nothing was skimped on the classrooms. But everyone was going crazy! Schedules for teachers seem to be changing on the hour, no paper of any kind, no working copiers or printers, technology all messed up. I left with a smile on my face making sure that no one could see! Katherine

 

Aren't you glad you are not one of the crazy ones??? And they expect them to actually teach with all that going on.

 

Don't remember if I mentioned it on here, but I took a $30,000 cut in pay for the next 5 months until I retire to be a PreK aide in a classroom. This will not affect my retirements benefits. No stress, no responsibilities, and no take home work or work after school. Everyone says I'm the happiest person at school...lol....compared to last year I am. Things only got crazier this year, but I'm on the outside looking in. Give thanks everyday for doing this!!!

 

Deb

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internetwhiz

internetwhiz

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Aren't you glad you are not one of the crazy ones??? And they expect them to actually teach with all that going on.

 

Don't remember if I mentioned it on here, but I took a $30,000 cut in pay for the next 5 months until I retire to be a PreK aide in a classroom. This will not affect my retirements benefits. No stress, no responsibilities, and no take home work or work after school. Everyone says I'm the happiest person at school...lol....compared to last year I am. Things only got crazier this year, but I'm on the outside looking in. Give thanks everyday for doing this!!!

 

Deb

 

 

Good for you. A great choice. Well, classes start this week at the college where I was. Sigh. But, no I don't wanna go back. As of Friday, I finally have all the insurances and coverages squared away. Only took. SEVEN weeks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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HImom

HImom

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One thing to keep in mind for folks who are selling their homes if there is a significant capital gain exceeding the one-time exemption, it may make sense to purchase a new principal residence before you are taxed on the excess. It's worth discussing the matter with a tax advisor, CPA or attorney so you don't get hit with a surprise huge tax bill that could have been avoided with a bit of planning.

 

It sounds like folks are happily moving towards a fulfilling and reduced stress retirement. H is loving his retirement and we are happily finding that the pension and required minimum distributions are working out very nicely for us to meet and exceed our expenses.

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Since I have gotten a lot of good info about retirement on this site, here is another question. My mom is in her mid-80's. My sister reworked her will when my dad died. Her lawyer said that she can give the kids gifts of $13,500 while she is living to avoid us paying inheritance taxes if we got it latter. One of the teachers at school said that there is only inheritance taxes on large amounts of money. I always thought their was that tax no matter how much you inherited.

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Lady Hudson

Lady Hudson

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Hmmm . . You should check with a professional but I believe the teacher at your school may be correct. Your parent being able to "gift" anyone -- children or anyone else -- a certain amount each year tax free is correct also. (This amount may be changed from year to year by the government.) Care should be taken not to drain the finances of the parent, however. But I would definitely seek professional advice. :)

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Hmmm . . You should check with a professional but I believe the teacher at your school may be correct. Your parent being able to "gift" anyone -- children or anyone else -- a certain amount each year tax free is correct also. (This amount may be changed from year to year by the government.) Care should be taken not to drain the finances of the parent, however. But I would definitely seek professional advice. :)

 

 

According to my sister who talked to her lawyer, he said that if I inherited $13,500 from my mom after she died, I would have to pay taxes. But if she gave it to me before as a gift there are no taxes.

 

The teacher at my school said that when her mom died (at the age of 102) she inherited money but did not pay any taxes. She said that it has to be a large amount of money to pay inheritance taxes.

 

Just checking for people who have had experiences with it.

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zlacruising

zlacruising

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According to my sister who talked to her lawyer, he said that if I inherited $13,500 from my mom after she died, I would have to pay taxes. But if she gave it to me before as a gift there are no taxes.

 

The teacher at my school said that when her mom died (at the age of 102) she inherited money but did not pay any taxes. She said that it has to be a large amount of money to pay inheritance taxes.

 

Just checking for people who have had experiences with it.

 

I would check too. I bet it varies from state to state. It is called estate taxes here and I know it has to be A LOT to be taxed. (More than I've got..lol)

 

Deb

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beshears

beshears

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Well this WINTER may make me retire. :confused: I just read where we are to have a BAD winter, and in Missouri, it generally is. I could have retired a few years ago, but I really like what I'm doing, and our company is either to move or build, so I was waiting to see what they were going to do, and then retire. Time will tell.

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zlacruising

zlacruising

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Well this WINTER may make me retire. :confused: I just read where we are to have a BAD winter, and in Missouri, it generally is. I could have retired a few years ago, but I really like what I'm doing, and our company is either to move or build, so I was waiting to see what they were going to do, and then retire. Time will tell.

 

I'm friends with a cruiser I met and we have stayed in touch. She is from Minnesota and the winters there sound absolutely horrible. Missouri must be bad too.

 

Deb

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zlacruising

zlacruising

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18 days until Royal Caribbean Grandeur from Baltimore to Bermuda...its my pre-retirement cruise using up unused vacation days. when I return from that cruise, just 3 more weeks to retirement!

 

>>>Happy dancing<<<

 

Good for you!!! If you haven't been to Bermuda you will love it. One of my favorite places.

 

Deb

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zlacruising

zlacruising

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18 days until Royal Caribbean Grandeur from Baltimore to Bermuda...its my pre-retirement cruise using up unused vacation days. when I return from that cruise, just 3 more weeks to retirement!

 

>>>Happy dancing<<<

 

Doing my pre-retirement cruise in November. Never thought to call it that til I read yours!!

 

Deb

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homeschoolmama

homeschoolmama

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I am a lawyer and whoever told your sister she would pay estate taxes on 13, 500$ is not giving the whole picture or there is more than you are reporting. It is correct that amount can be gifted without fed tax. There may be state tax as it varies by state. Same is true for passing it at death. If that is the whole value of her estate then no fed tax but again state law varies on whether it would be taxable or subject to probate. Taxation is dependent on total value, what kind of property it is, how it is titled and many other things. I say all this to make the point that a cruise critic thread is not the place to practice law. Every state is different, and every situation is different. Find a good estate planning lawyer and get the full truth as to your specific situation. Using this board is dangerous place to get legal advice.

 

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Forums mobile app

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