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Home > Goodbye Yellow Brick Road....

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road....

July 16th, 2024 at 11:39 pm

... 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.)

5 Responses to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road....”

  1. Turtle Lover Says:
    1721217832

    congrats on the retirement! good to hear from you!

  2. Dido Says:
    1721256294

    Congrats on retirement. Nice, having a pension with a COLA no less--even if there is the SS offset. And nice on the Roth conversions and having CD $ to live off of. Sounds like retirement is off to a good launch!

  3. PatientSaver Says:
    1721346098

    Congrats on joining the Retirement Club.

    Pension sounds great, even if it's temporarily at the higher number. It's still better than having none at all. I received a notice from the SSA that I "may have a pension due me, now that I'm on the cusp of official retirement age, from a former employer many, many moons ago. I contacted the employer as well as some regulatory agencies, and no one could find any records for me indicating a pension. (The employer merged with another agency shortly after I left, changed its name, moved, etc.) It's possible they made me some kind of payout when I left, but I was in my early 30s and don't remember anything. So it was very disappointing to get that notice but then get nothing.

  4. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1721531193

    Congrats on the retirement and great to hear from you!

  5. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1721764717

    Congrats and good luck!

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