Last time I wrote on my finances from the past few years and of today, but now its time to go personal (if only for myself to write it all out for myself). 

So, start with the good or with the bad?   Hmmmmm.....

Get the bad out of the way?  **SIGH** Ok, lets do it.   (NOTE: If you don't want to hear the whining, just drop down a few paragraphs to the heading of GOOD THINGS IN RETIREMENT)

Well its my relationship with the GF.  Don't know how much detail is good to discuss about it, but... yeah, it has gone downhill (lots).  I knew shortly before she moved in things were starting to spiral down but I kept telling myself this would pass, that it could be worked out.  Of course I said that in my prior marriage, and yeah... that didn't really happen.  And so it played out here as well.  We've kept things going, but really it has been, at least in my mind, a failed situation.  I think we are really suited to having a long distance relationship at best.  You know, I can take her in small doses at best.  Its a shame, but that's how its played out.  I would love to go into details, but its for the best if I stop here.

Another bad thing is I am getting older.  Yeah, not too old, and I do work out to keep in shape, and I certainly am in good shape for my age and all, but time marches on and little things are creeping up on me.  I don't sleep as well as I did, though I think I still sleep enough.  I heard of people sleeping less as they get older, now I am seeing it first hand.  Naps are my friends.  I never had headaches, yet now they are fairly common.  I think it is due to eye strain, even with the glasses I have.

*** GOOD THINGS IN RETIREMENT ***

So what have been the good things you have found in retirement?  (from least to favorite)

I now have time to do chores about the house with no rush.  "Don't want to do it now?  No problem, do it when the urge strikes."  And it usually does at some point.  I hate sitting about too much, so usually after a bit I will get annoyed with something and then up I go and deal with it.  No more rushing to get things done on the weekends.  Now weekends are very relaxed.  With this I have been slowly fixing up my house (probably too slowly, but whatevah).  I will fix it up faster as my money starts flowing in again.  I have been doing more on outside things like removing old trees. And getting free mulch and dirt to fill in various holes.  Yes, the yard does look better.

Travelling during less busy traffic times is great, especially in the DC suburbs.  Also I can get out of town and only have short tie ups instead of hours stuck in traffic leaving town. 

With the free time I have picked up a new "job".  Well, not much of one, in fact I have only worked three times.  I have been an election officer.  I figured I would give it a try as they are always posting for new people to work this job.  And now I know why!  Yes, it pays nice for a day of work, but oooooh boy, is it a long day!  I get up just after 4:00 AM, show up at 5:00, the polls open at 6:00 and only close at 6:00 PM.  And then there is closing up which takes hours.  So far I have gotten home after 9:00 each time.  So a 16 hour day.  For what you get paid it is less than minimum wage, but it is easy (and mostly boring) to be honest.  Just take along a book and enjoy the mostly free time.

With my electric car I have fueling the car up for free.  There are nearby free charging locations and with my limited driving my needs are easily filled with these chargers.  With a Tesla I can park, charge, and watch a variety of streaming services on the large tablet dashboard in the car - I usually watch YouTube videos.  These can be entertaining, instructive, or just interesting.  I might watch them at home anyway, so since I can watch them and fuel my car at the same time, why not?  In fact I am typing this up while the car is charging.

Do I go out for the "senior specials"?  Not really, but I can (and do) take advantage of the freedom to make my own specials.  My favorite is determining the time at nearby grocery stores when the markdowns on perishables are made.  I can go there at those times and see what has been marked down and get fresh items cheap (as long as I will use them of course).  The stores are only a mile or two away, so its not a long trip.

And the best for last.  I have been doing major travel trips with my mother (well that's something I never thought I would say a decade ago!).  Yep, this has been crazy, but a good crazy.  As our relationship has improved over the last decade, I was hearing about her trips to Europe in the past years (she started a few years after the second husband died).  She (with a local friend) did one of those all-inclusive trips you see advertised and during that they struck up a friendship with other travelers.  Turned out one of them likes to arrange her own European trips but that only made sense financially with small groups (not by herself).  Well my mother started doing trips with her instead of these all-inclusive trips.

All this to say two months before my end date at work I went on a ten day trip to Italy with my mother and two other women from the other side of the USA.  That was an amazing trip.  From Venice to Florence to Rome and finally to Napoli (Naples).  We did such things as stayed in very old small hotel right on the grand canal, rode the water buses with the natives in Venice, saw where the Merchant of Venice was based on, saw lots of statues throughout Florence, went to an opera in a church built in the 1500s, took a gelato and pizza class on a local farm, went to where the horses are raced in Sienna, went through the Vatican, stayed a block from the Pantheon where we walked to the Trivoli fountain, the Pantheon, the Forum and Colloseum, I got lost in Rome (literally - I was trying to walk and meet the others at a restaurant and arrived two hours late! I was soooo tired that night!), stayed in a hotel (in Sorrento) overlooking the Mediterranean and Mount Vesuvius, and had a private boat tour of the Amalfi coast (stopping in Amalfi and Portofino).  We even hired private drivers to take us between each city.  Wow, writing it all out really makes it sound great. 

Almost a year later this past March we went on another trip, this time a cross country drive going from Pennsylvania to Arizona.  My Tesla made it a relatively easy trip as it can do most of the driving for me especially on the highways.  This was great way to see so many parts of the country.  We were able to stay with a friend of my mother's in Arizona for a month, so it was relaxing there.  While there I went to the Antelope Canyon, Grand Canyon, Kitt Peak Observatory, Lake Powell, Tombstone, and spent some time in Phoenix, Tuscon, and Williams.  Some days driving in Arizona we would see a 50 degree temperature change from the start of the day's travels to the end of the day. We saw tons of Cacti and she loved to see them everywhere.  We got caught in an unexpected blizzard in Flagstaff (oh yeah, it will be just a small amount of snow.  Suuuuuuuure...).   On our way back east we drove through a national forest that included what I believe is called the Upper Rim.  It felt like I was driving up the side of a moutain (just like my drive up to Kitt Peak to be honest), but at the top it was a level plain thousands of feet higher than before.  On the trip back we stopped at places along Route 66, then in Tennesse we were a few days in Gatlingburg in a motel room that was right over a creek that goes through town.  It even had a fireplace in the room.  From there on the way back at one point we got stuck on a back mountain single lane road in West Virginia for an hour (it was due to the main road being closed for electrical wire work and someone towing a massive boat ahead of us got stuck!), and then we made our way to Shanksville to the memorial there.  The day at Shanksville was our only bad weather day on our drive out or back, and it sort of fit the somber mood of the memorial honestly.  In all, it was an amazing trip.

Now my mother and I are scheduled to go back with the same group to Rome, Germany and France for two weeks in October.  Once back I have to get ready for my yearly trip to Florida in November.  And now, in the past week we (my mother and I) have scheduled another trip (for next Spring) with the same group to Europe, this time on one of those Viking river cruises you see advertised.  This is to go on the Danube from Hungary ending in Germany.  I think my calendar is booked up for now.  Hopefully I can keep up.

Not sure what I expected to happen when I retired, but these trips are sure not it.  I mean, I did talk about a cross country drive, so there is that.  But I used to say I was not a traveler, yet here I am going to a crazy amount of places.  I guess there are worse things in the world, right? 

... LaLa La-La LaLa La... ok, so I don't know the lyrics.  Have to say I do love the tune though.  Its just when I think on my current status, its the tune that keeps popping into my head.

So after three years (yikes), am I saying good bye to anything?  At first I was going to say no, but now that I think on it, maybe it does make sense (but I'll have to get to that later), but for the moment I think I will talk finances and go from there.

Well I see last I was here my finances had hit a high point.  Since then they went down, then down more, then up, then down, then up, and down, and now up.  And that puts me.... just about where I was three years ago.  Roth IRA down $60k-ish, 457 up $60k-ish, brokerage down $10k-ish, HSA up $10k-ish, savings account down $20k-ish, and DRIPs up $10-ish.  Soooooo... overall pretty flat.  But really that was an all-time high for me. perhaps call it irrational exhuberance?  And one thing that is hidden in those numbers that makes a big difference, back then my 457 was maybe 35% Roth and now it is 59% as I have been doing large in plan roth roll-overs.  So that's an extra $75k-$100k of value hidden in plain sight.

So what have I said goodbye to?  My job for one.  Yeah, finally, I have retired.  A year ago to be specific.  Due to banked sick leave I could use for time of service, I was able to retire Dec. 2022, though I stuck around until June 2023.  There were a number of financial incentives to stick around as long as I did.  I was able to contribute extra to the 457 for those months, so I did.  So, answers to some questions. 

(1) Do I regret retiring?  Uh, NO.  Hey the paycheck was nice but I had a pension awaiting me (more on that shortly), but even so my finances would have been better sticking around this last year.  Turned out they gave everyone in my department a long overdue raise months after I left (grrrrr....).  Even so, when I talk to my buddy at the job and hear of what is being worked on, I DO NOT want to go back.  

(2) You have a pension.  How much did you end up getting? Well... first off the pension has a cost of living adjustment every July, so this number will continue to change, but right now it is about $5,600/mo.  

(3) That much?  Wow, you're golden, right?  To be honest, yes and no.  How's that you ask?  Well... yes I am getting $5,600/mo., however that only lasts until my Social Security Full Retirement Age (i.e. when I turn 67), which is in late 2029.

(4)Oh man, so it cuts off then?  No, I still get a pension, but it will be different.  At that point my pension amount is cut by 1/3, meaning if the pension is at $6,000/mo. then, it will drop down to $4,000/mo.  Still will have a COLA, and no more changes going forward.  This will be the pension for the remainder of my life.  Not pure gold any more, but some of the gold is replaced with silver.  Not bad at all, but it does lose a bit of its luster.

(5)Anything else good/bad on the pension?  I have a $400 deduction for health/dental insurance, so there's that. 

Lets see, what else have I done financially?  I migrated all my DRIPs but one to my brokerage account.  Helps to simplify my taxes, and just keeping track of things to be honest.  That last one is one of my original ones, and it gives discounts to reinvest, and the stock has done ok for a utility, so I am leaving that one standing.

And oh yeah, I bought a Tesla Model Y in 2022.  I post it here as it is/was a large financial entry.  I am still paying it off at $1,300/mo, but I did get it when interest is low, so I am only paying 2% interest at this time from my credit union.  At the current rate of payments I should have it paid off in 2027.  Yeah, I could pay it now, but 2% interest is nothing to sneeze at, and if I take anything out of my brokerage to pay it off my taxes will go up as eveything right now has positive growth.

And the best(?) for last, I have been doing Roth conversions in my 457 plan while tax rates are lower.  Also because IRMAA issues will come into play in 2026 for me, so the sooner I do this the better.  However due to the large conversions I have done, I have just updated my pension to have over 90% of it go to taxes(!!!) meaning from here until the end of the year I will be living off of savings(!!!). I have enough for a few months, but after that... well I have CDs maturing in October, so my plan is to not renew them and use the funds to live off of.  Doing this keeps me from needing to sell out of my brokerage, which lowers my tax bill which means ... my life is too d@mn complicated!

OK, that is it financially.  On the personal front, well that will be for next time.  Maybe next week???  (Spoiler: There is good and bad there as well.)