# Ok I did it. No turning back now OT/NT



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

AT 10:30 this morning. I applied for SS Starting this month.

I am officially retired.

I will continue to Fix Industrial Printing presses to supplement my income .

My SS income will make the house payment and alll my untilties and leve me some left over.

I feel much better right now Know ing I do not have to worry about the house payment.

If things go right I plan on making some tirps to see guys layouts.

JJ


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Wunnerful, ah wunnerful, John. Glad you made it.


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Know ing I do not have to worry about the house payment 
I hate to rain on your parade (and I'll be 65 too in a couple of years,) but wait until those new Congressmen start balancing the budget with your SS dollars. . .


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I always feel bad telling people how much I like being retired... it just seems so unfair and discouraging to the younger worker that still has to trudge off to work.

I wish I had retired 40 years ago! (Granted, If I had I'd be in a cardboard box under a bridge now, but, well, I guess I wish I had started a more (MUCH MORE) agressive savings plan when I was still a pre-teen!)


----------



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

It was always hand to mouth. Never much for Savings. If I had some savings some disaster always came a long to empty the savings. Like finding out your paycheck bounced and going dow to work to find a padlock on the front door of the company. Then about a year later finding out they never paid the income tax they deducted.


----------



## GaryR (Feb 6, 2010)

Savings? What's that. SS and a few bucks from the VA. The rest comes from my work shop. I like to tease these guys and say it's all play, but I think they know better. Would I do it again? Yup, in a hot second. 
At least now I can set down when I know I should. That wasn't the case before I retired, and one of the main reasons I did retire. 

As I told my old boss at the company pick nick. "All the skills you wouldn't pay me for, now serve me very well in deed." 


Oh, and I'm 63. (evil grin ) 



GaryR


----------



## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

Congratulations! I will probably never have this opportunity


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Pete Thornton on 22 Nov 2010 03:52 PM 
I hate to rain on your parade (and I'll be 65 too in a couple of years,) but wait until those new Congressmen start balancing the budget with your SS dollars. . .


----------



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I retired two years ago.

I now get 5 government checks each month.

I also work part time at my old job. That is all just extra, some of which I spend on this hobbie. 

This past week I used it to buy new tires for my car and a new water heater. I am saving up for a new furnace which i expect will go out sometime in the next couple of years.

However, I finally got smart. I now have about 7 savings accounts here I funnel a certain amount into each month to cover some of these unexpected expenses. It makes it a lot less stressful that way.

John


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

but wait until those new Congressmen start balancing the budget with your SS dollars. . .Congress has been raiding the SS fund since it was it was transferred to the General Fund under Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" program. That and the addition of the two new entitlements of Medicare and Medicaid, also part of the "Great Society", and subsequent expansion of these eneitlements, is largely responsible for digging the debt hole we find ourselves in today.


----------



## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dwight Ennis on 22 Nov 2010 11:27 PM...
Congress has been raiding the SS fund since it was it was transferred .... 


OK...so, when one takes the WHOLE SS fund to spend otherwise...is it still considered raiding? I mean, the deficit is > than the SS income. Right?


OK OK...I'll just keep doing my stretching exercises...and be quiet.


JJ...congrats on "doing it".


----------



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

They have to be careful what they do. There are a lot of Old People with Canes, crutches, Walkers and other object that can inflict pain and break bones.







And these people know where congressmen live









Have you been to ACE Hardware? Have bought a new tourch? Or maybe a new Pitchfork? Get a Garmin so you can enter thier address







That way when the time comes you are ready


----------



## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dwight Ennis on 22 Nov 2010 11:27 PM 
but wait until those new Congressmen start balancing the budget with your SS dollars. . .Congress has been raiding the SS fund since it was it was transferred to the General Fund under Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" program. 

Exactly, and if any private retirement account was run thiis way, the managers would be in jail....


Posted By John J on 23 Nov 2010 01:06 AM 
They have to be careful what they do. There are a lot of Old People with Canes, crutches, Walkers and other object that can inflict pain and break bones.







And these people know where congressmen live









Have you been to ACE Hardware? Have bought a new tourch? Or maybe a new Pitchfork? Get a Garmin so you can enter thier address







That way when the time comes you are ready










Why the future of Marco Rubio may be a nationwide litmus tes?


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Congrats JJ on coming to the retirement side. Been there since 2005 and did it when I was 62 and have never looked back. It's a great life and no longer answer to anyone except the wife







. I know a lot of folks that have retired but now have gone into consulting work, well then why retire? They do not need the money so they are bored. Just stay busy and enjoy what you have worked all your life for. Later RJD


----------



## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

When I tell people that I am retired, the first thing they always ask is, "What do you do with your self all day?". My stock reply is, anything I darned please!







Enjoy it JJ, I love it. I've put my time in at the "coal face".
Rod


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Congress has been raiding the SS fund 
Guys, it is a 'pay-as-you-go' operation, so the 'Fund' only exists as a place to temporarily keep the income before you hand it out. The idea is that current worker's SS payments fund the retirement income of SS benificiaries. 

It works when you have 10 workers for each retiree, as we did while us Baby Boomers were earning $$, but when we all retire, there will only be 3 workers per retiree, and the income ain't going to keep me in the style enjoyed by the previous generation. Hence the 'Fund' starts heading towards a negative balance, and Something Must Be Done. 

Congress will have to cut benefits or raise SS income - I wonder why they only collect it until you've earned $105K? Surely people earning more could carry on paying the monthly contribution all year round? Another benefit for the rich!


----------



## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Congrats JJ, hope I can join you one day. 

My profession can best be described by an old ancestrial saying, " We're Scottish, we die in the mines"


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

OK...so, when one takes the WHOLE SS fund to spend otherwise...is it still considered raiding? I mean, the deficit is > than the SS income. Right?My point exactly Mikey. Heard an interesting bit of info last night. Historically, every time Congress raises taxes, spending increases to exceed the new revenue. Guys, it is a 'pay-as-you-go' operation, so the 'Fund' only exists as a place to temporarily keep the income before you hand it out. The idea is that current worker's SS payments fund the retirement income of SS beneficiaries. Yep... the biggest pyramid scheme ever conceived, and it's legal. I wonder why they only collect it until you've earned $105K? Surely people earning more could carry on paying the monthly contribution all year round? Another benefit for the rich!According to the Tax Foundation, between 1991 and 2004, the top 10% of American earners account for 37.6% of income, but they already pay 67.7% of all Federal income taxes. The top 5% earn 27.5% of all income but pay 55.2% of taxes. If you include Social Security taxes in the mix, the top 10% still pay 50% of all taxes collected by the Feds, all while earning far less than 50% of the income, and the top 5% pay 38.5% of all Federal taxes collected while earning 27.5% of the income. These figures don't include other taxes collected by states and local governments, etc. and are independent of local geographic economic realities. For example, someone earning $150 thousand/year in the Bay Area or New York City is far less "rich" than someone earning the same amount in Arkansas. The mortgage deduction is one of the few deductions remaining that begin to equalize that playing field, and now they want to eliminate that as well. 

I guess it comes down to how one defines "a fair share."


----------



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Who was the dumb dinghowdy who eliminated the deduction for Credit Card Interest......That sent the economy into a tail spin back then.

Do the Morgage interest and it will do it again.

JJ


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Do the Morgage interest and it will do it again 

JJ, 

Not only is mortgage interest on your first home deductible, but also on your second home. Guess how many Congressmen keep a second home in DC? Nice investment too. 

Does the average middle-class family earning less than $250K own a second home? I doubt it. 

Mortgage interest relief helps people with large mortgages. Most of the tax reform proposals I heard about have offests - so you get more tax relief elsewhere and the net result is no change - in theory.


----------

