Wait, You Told Me You Knew How to Fly This Thing!

~ snakesinthegrass2014
Source: Microsoft Designer

Bylaw 1.7(a)(4-3) of this blog’s charter states: “A topical post relevant to retirement must be published at least once a year”

No matter what the weather is like where you live, the calendar is telling us that spring is definitely here. Garden and planting preparations are currently being schemed (peering over your way, Ms. Judy), closets for many of us are being sorted and cleaned, and even opening day has come and gone already (“Play ball!”).

It’s also the time of year when the bean counters at this blog’s HQ have a mandate that I write an update about my retirement journey. Or as I prefer to call it, the accounting of another year’s effort in avoiding responsibility.

This coming August will mark ten years since I retired at age 55. It was necessitated partly for health reasons (thankfully resolved), but also because I literally woke up one day — and with sincere apologies to the late, great Conway Twitty — I realized I no longer had any professional want to. Whatever career zen I once held was fast disappearing right behind any remaining vestiges of ambition. Escape fantasies became a daily and mindful presence. So with a buyout offer on the table from my employer, along with a path to continuing health coverage at a rate I felt I could afford, I made the decision to take early retirement after a 32-year career.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I failed to mention being married to a working spouse who I also viewed as a very attractive and sexy ATM machine. A sibling of mine pointed out that our dad also retired at 55, aided no doubt by his own full-time working spouse (a/k/a Mom). It goes without saying that any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

But enough history. I can hear fingers being tapped by those annoying bean counters…

The primary change for us over the past 12 months is in deciding to part ways with our financial advisor. We had signed up with him beginning in 2019 with an annual agreement that included two reviews, each at six month intervals. The timing turned out to be prescient. He helped us to navigate the pandemic period, followed by the tumultuous stock market drop that happened afterwards. His allocation models prevented deep losses while at the same time allowed for recovery when equities snapped back again last year. Viewed from on high, ignoring one bond fund for Gorgeous (a victim of high interest rates), he fulfilled his contractual duties with little-to-no financial complaint from us.

Source: Originally obtained from Open Clipart

Where we did both find some displeasure was in his bedside manner, or rather the lack thereof. His email responses in answer to follow-up questions, while to the point and (mostly) punctual, we nevertheless found to be needlessly curt and devoid of much emotion. We also felt the same when speaking to him on the phone or in the rare video session. I don’t want to be pals with my financial advisor, but I am looking for a smidgen of warmth, a pinch of patience, and a absolute show of interest in my financial affairs. We chose not to renew with him at the end of the last term.

We’ve decided to take our time in looking for a replacement. Experience has given us a few pointers on what we want the next time around. Since last summer, I’ve slowly started to compile a list of candidates who I will make contact with later this year or early next. I’m not comfortable going too long without some professional oversight, but I also don’t feel any great need to rush into another arrangement either. It’s more important that we find the right person.

In the meantime, I’ve taken the wheel myself to monitor and make incremental changes to our savings. Except for my very brief and unfortunate dive into the live cattle commodities market, which tragically resulted in our arriving home one evening and finding a trailer filled with Holstein Friesians outside our front door, I have mostly stuck to the cash, stock, and bond mix that was in place. It hadn’t changed very much in the previous three years anyway, so at the moment I’m satisfied staying on roughly the same course.

One rather consequential milestone is approaching later this year, though: I will be signing up for Medicare late this fall, to take effect when I turn 65 in December. Because I robbed the cradle in marrying my lovely bride, I will need to stay on our current health insurance plan for her sake until she also pulls that milestone lever in two years. This particular policy from Blue Cross coordinates quite well with Medicare, but I know there are less expensive choices out there to have as our secondary coverage after she turns 65. So starting next January, health insurance becomes more robust for me personally, just with a higher monthly cost.

As for Social Security, I am continuing to wait until either my full retirement age (FRA) of 66 and ten months, or sometime up to the age 70 cutoff date. For each year one holds off from applying for benefits, there is an increase of approximately eight percent in the monthly amount one can receive. This is assuming Congress doesn’t allow the system to become permanently underfunded, of course. Fortunately, I am in a position to be able to delay; especially since that sexy ATM machine of mine shows no desire to stop working. Diabolical? Well, yes, actually.

So that’s the score for this year, fellow nest egg nestlers. The only figurative difference between myself and Fed Chairman Powell is that he’s landing an Airbus and I’m doing the same in a canard biplane. Feel free to leave a comment here about your own journey. Contact Mr. Powell directly, however, if you’re upset about the price of chicken thighs. I ain’t touchin’ that one.

Until next time…

Source: Target

33 thoughts on “Wait, You Told Me You Knew How to Fly This Thing!”

  1. I was having a quiet maybe even boring afternoon looking up shrubs I want to purchase and along came Marty, and I got to enjoy several laugh out loud moments especially the cows and the chickens. Thank you! 🙂 The Medicare statements are always good for a laugh when you read the amount charged versus the amount allowed. My husband retired at 55 with a buyout and the company insurance, and it was a great benefit until they started the funneling process. First, we could choose any insurance we wanted, then there were maybe a dozen, down to a half a dozen, and last year we got the notice that there would be one choice unless we wanted to drop it and go off on our own. I guess we didn’t die off quickly enough so now they’ll push us off the cliff. 🙂 We’ve been paying the same company for financial advice for a long time. The first person retired, the second person retired, and now we’re on our third person who does answer our emails and is pleasant but not much beyond that. I’d like to find someone else, but I’m too lazy and don’t want to engage my brain that hard. It was GREAT hearing from you, and I only wish I had an ATM at home. 🙂 If you need any plants for the yard, let me know, I’ll look them up. 🙂

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    1. All in the way of public service, Judy! Your spring activities are actually harder, just to clarify. 😉 Yeah, taking the health coverage into retirement, pre-Medicare, was definitely the big enticement to scoot out the door. We actually draw from the same pool active workers are choosing from (I’m a federal retiree), but so many of the plans now are high deductible ones aimed at younger workers. So the actual number of plans relevant for retirees is much fewer. No cliff pushing yet, but I always fear Congress will do that to all of us eventually anyway. 😫

      One thing about that human ATM machine: it often rejects withdrawal attempts!

      Thanks again for all the inspiration, Judy!

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  3. We’ve been through a few financial advisors, one so smooth it was scary, another so bull-shitty I cannot even. I realize that we need them whilst navigating the world of retirement, but also am skeptical. That being said we’ve landed on a firm and a person who seems to have her act together, so there is hope, my friend. Nothing about retirement is straightforward other than don’t spend money…   

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  4. Marty, thanks for the laughs! However, I don’t feel that I am a “fellow nest egg nestlers”; rather, I feel I am a “fellow nest eggler.” Or I could just be cracking up at my own bad yoke. In any case! I appreciate your annual report of the state of the Marty. For all things finance, I mostly follow the advice of Clark Howard. He has saved me so much money that we were able to purchase an RV which Clark refers to as a “lifestyle” choice. Which is his polite way of saying it’s a waste of money. But, like I said, I mostly follow him. If I recall, there are 2 organizations one can refer to to find financial advisors who are fiduciaries. I believe he recommends interviewing two or three of them before deciding. Also, at times, he recommends going to a fee only based advisor for just a “check up” – if circumstances are more conducive to just a check up rather than oversight. You can check out Clark.com for articles or perhaps send him a question to be answered on his podcast. Although – I don’t think you’ll find any articles about sexy ATMs. Like you, there are some things he doesn’t touch!

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    1. Smart man he would be to avoid that topic! It’s always good to follow someone national who offers great advice. For me that would be Jill Schlesinger. I’ve got three in mind at the moment who specialize in an area with my retirement benefits specifically (federal employee), but there are a few more to consider. Like everything else in life, it’s a process. Thanks, Betty!

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  5. We’ve often question the value of financial advisors. Fortunately, my husband actually likes the hokus pokus of the markets… or, maybe I should say “liked.” He is getting less and less interested as time goes on.

    Hubby just started to take social security when he turned 70 early this year, and I will do the same when my time comes. I hope that if the government ever becomes functional (haha!) and tackles the funding issues of social security and Medicare, we will be grandfather in.

    I think I just had my 10-year retirement anniversary too. Life is good!

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    1. The previous next door neighbor was a retired stock broker. I thought it would be interesting discussing the market with him, but it turns out he’s had a lifetime of changing the subject because people were always looking for advice or tips (similar to doctors, I suppose). The man who moved into that unit after the stock broker sold and moved is a retired professor of finance. What are the odds?! I told him about the prior resident and he said, “I only taught about markets; I never gave advice, so I’m always happy to discuss.” We go out for coffee once a month and have interesting conversations. I enjoy reading about it all, but that doesn’t make me proficient. So I will want someone to look over everything again at some point.

      Good for Hubby! Waiting to you turn 70 really is the smartest way to go. I always say there’s a “sweet spot” at 68, if one is itching to get those funds, but I hope to wait till 70 also.

      Happy anniversary, Janis!

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  6. Financial advisors! OMG! I was navigating just fine when my husband suggested we go with a good friend of his who had retired from a career as an electrical engineer. I was skeptical. We had a few sit downs. I liked him and knew him well. Perhaps too well. His background was not in anything financial. I ignored those little hairs standing up on the back of my neck and signed the dotted line. It was hard to extricate myself and took a few years. We found someone who made their entire career on financial stuff and have done much better. That old friend is still a friend of my husband but not so much me. That’s ok. I am always cautious about mixing business and friendships especially when we are talking about money. Take your time and find someone you like (and hopefully isn’t a retread from another career).

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    1. Oooh, yeah, that would have been a dodgy situation for sure, Kate. Friends and money aren’t usually the best combination (I could say the same thing about family too). In fact, I’ve discovered it’s not even a good idea to really ask friends about who their financial advisors are (lots of potholes on that one). A good friend of mine (Hi, H, if you’re reading this) told me that he and his spouse made a point of finding someone much younger than them, so that they’d always someone working for them as they aged. I’m keeping that nugget in mind too. I feel no real pressure to find anyone at the moment; I want to make sure this is a good decision.

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      1. Good idea but…our next guy retired. He had brought someone in to transition and we liked the young guy (who was a real math wizard) but he left to do something else. We like the guy we have now but he is not like the old young guy (did you get that? need a chart?)

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  7. Having thus fulfilled your bylaw requirement, you are now free to shoot the breeze on your blog without guilt! HA! As for myself: I’m waiting to resume posting until after I complete my site migration to another host…kind of the same as replacing a financial advisor, well no not really!
    🙂

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  8. Hi Marty,

    At 58, with retirement looming I have contemplated working with an advisor. I haven’t had great luck with professionals such as attorneys and such, so I think I may not end up going that route.

    I do agree with wanting to have a more friendly professional. At work, I deal with some professionals that lack any real personality. Always so curt and so serious. I don’t understand why the lack of

    Unlike Gorgeous, I cannot wait to retire. One of the things that keep me from early retirement is health insurance. Here or in Brazil, insurance plans are so expensive and confusing.

    As for Social Security, I go from wanting to start collecting at 62 to waiting as long as I can. We shall see.

    I always enjoy these posts about retirement.

    Blessings!

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    1. I completely understand your hesitancy, Ana. I’ve now been twice-bitten with advisors (though again, in fairness there was nothing wrong with this guy’s actual advice). I’m fine managing things on my own again for now, but I know I’ll eventually feel better (sleep better?) with a little professional oversight. Everyone has a different comfort zone, though.

      Oh, believe me, Gorgeous is ready to retire. 😂 But she wants to keep adding to that earnings record for her Social Security payments. That 8% is awfully alluring.

      Be well!

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  9. My hubby is comfy with the financial market stuff AND I have an outside advisor my Dad recommended years ago. Fortunately he provides good advice, has a sense of humor and is at least 10 years younger than me. Plus, hubby likes to bounce things off of him. Since we are newly-ish weds with separate portfolios, this works well for us. I think I’ll keep them both!

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  10. You made me positively chortle over the image of Gorgeous as a very attractive and sexy ATM machine 😀

    My toy boy is still working, although he has now turned the big 6 0, there’s a way to go before he gets to retirement age as well. So we’re both still working – and one of us still enjoys it 🙂

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  11. Sadly (or maybe not… it depends how you look at it!), I’ve got another 20 years or so to go until retirement age… that’s assuming the UK government doesn’t do away with it all together (they keep upping it!).

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  12. We’d be lost without our financial planner. We are now dealing with two inheritance situations and he’s made me feel comfortable that we’re doing the right thing with our new funds. He’s very tax conscious so tries to balance things (gains and losses) out each year. We’re also building a new house and trying to determine how we can buy it before selling ours, so we can avoid the inevitable uncoordinated timing issues. My husband is starting social security next month at FRA, but I’m waiting until 70. At some point, we could have a big tax problem to figure out!!

    We also have Fed employee health insurance and have stayed on it even though we’re both on Medicare. Are you saying we could be saving more by switching to something else? Our coverage is good and they reimburse each of us $800/year to cover Medicare premiums. I’m comfortable with it and hate to change but if we could save a bunch, it might be worth it.

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    1. Linda, pre-Medicare (and during one’s career), we pick the best coverage we can afford that sometimes is also one of the most expensive. Post-Medicare, all those same policies are available but they might not be the best choices Medicare becomes the primary payer, and the FEHB plan is secondary payer. As long as that plan fully coordinates with Medicare (see section nine of each plan’s brochure), one doesn’t necessarily have to stay with that same coverage. For instance, we are currently covered under Blue Cross Basic. But there are other plans that also coordinate with Medicare which are less expensive (such as GEHA), plus there are now those new ‘fed-friendly’ Medicare Advantage plans that are even more cost conscious. I’ll be staying on Blue Cross until Gorgeous also signs up for Medicare in a little over two years; after that, we’ll definitely be looking for a less expensive FEHB plan that coordinates with Medicare. There are a multitude of webinars on the NARFE website on this very subject, or feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Oh, and kudos to you for waiting until age 70 for your Social Security — smart choice!

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      1. Thanks, Marty. We also have Blue Cross Basic but I don’t remember having many choices. I’ll research further. We will not be going with an Advantage plan. After having responsibility for my parents’ for four years, I’ve learned they’re only good if you’re healthy. Thanks for the information!!

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  13. Marty, I would have no idea where to start with looking for a financial advisor! I was with my first one longer than I was with my husband. When he (FA) retired a couple of years ago, he hand-picked a replacement for me, because he really did understand me, and hubby too by that time. I’m OK with the new guy as he responds to my calls quickly and can explain things to me so I understand them. Also, I never realized how similar our paths were… I retired early as well (54!) and am approaching the 10 year retirement mark; my intro to Medicare is 6 months after you! Unfortunately, no lovely ATM machine in my household. 

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    1. It’s nice that you have such a reliable relationship with the new guy. Referrals from financial advisors are sort of rare, so that was a blessing for you both; referrals from friends and family are almost non-existent — too many pottential landmines to the relationships., I guess. My ATM machine has an “Out of Order” sign on it more than I’d like! 😆

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