OT: Retire in CA?

[an]

[quote=Aecetia]Why would anyone want to retire here, except for the weather.[/quote]
Why would anyone what to retire anywhere else that doesn’t have weather like we do? :-).

With regards to the OP, I don’t think I can make the number work with just ~$1M-$1.2M (w/out a paid off house) when I’m only 39. I personally think a $2M, a paid off home, and age 50-55 would be more realistic. Especially when I want to make sure I’ll be able to help my kids w/ their college tuition.

[UCGal]

I’m a little older (ok a decade older) and have been running the numbers for my own plans… The big kicker in every retirement budget I come up with is health insurance.

My husband is older than me, and will qualify for medicare in 6ish years. I’ve got 16 years. Kids (2 of them) will need insurance through college.

My goal is to get my house paid off early. (If things go well in 5 years or less.) After that, the other big budget item is health insurance. For a family of four, using a lower cost insurance (Kaiser Permanente HMO) it’s still over $13k/year. That’s a big chunk of money on a limited budget retirement.

If you use Quicken – they have the “financial overview” feature that you can plan all of your expenses vs savings/investments… You can put in stuff like college for the kids, when social security kicks in, when you can start drawing your 401k/IRA funds without penalty. You can play with the rate of return, etc… The key is coming up with a reasonable budget in the first place… then adding overage because…well, $hit happens in real life.

[UCGal]

I’m a little older (ok a decade older) and have been running the numbers for my own plans… The big kicker in every retirement budget I come up with is health insurance.

My husband is older than me, and will qualify for medicare in 6ish years. I’ve got 16 years. Kids (2 of them) will need insurance through college.

My goal is to get my house paid off early. (If things go well in 5 years or less.) After that, the other big budget item is health insurance. For a family of four, using a lower cost insurance (Kaiser Permanente HMO) it’s still over $13k/year. That’s a big chunk of money on a limited budget retirement.

If you use Quicken – they have the “financial overview” feature that you can plan all of your expenses vs savings/investments… You can put in stuff like college for the kids, when social security kicks in, when you can start drawing your 401k/IRA funds without penalty. You can play with the rate of return, etc… The key is coming up with a reasonable budget in the first place… then adding overage because…well, $hit happens in real life.

[UCGal]

I’m a little older (ok a decade older) and have been running the numbers for my own plans… The big kicker in every retirement budget I come up with is health insurance.

My husband is older than me, and will qualify for medicare in 6ish years. I’ve got 16 years. Kids (2 of them) will need insurance through college.

My goal is to get my house paid off early. (If things go well in 5 years or less.) After that, the other big budget item is health insurance. For a family of four, using a lower cost insurance (Kaiser Permanente HMO) it’s still over $13k/year. That’s a big chunk of money on a limited budget retirement.

If you use Quicken – they have the “financial overview” feature that you can plan all of your expenses vs savings/investments… You can put in stuff like college for the kids, when social security kicks in, when you can start drawing your 401k/IRA funds without penalty. You can play with the rate of return, etc… The key is coming up with a reasonable budget in the first place… then adding overage because…well, $hit happens in real life.

[UCGal]

I’m a little older (ok a decade older) and have been running the numbers for my own plans… The big kicker in every retirement budget I come up with is health insurance.

My husband is older than me, and will qualify for medicare in 6ish years. I’ve got 16 years. Kids (2 of them) will need insurance through college.

My goal is to get my house paid off early. (If things go well in 5 years or less.) After that, the other big budget item is health insurance. For a family of four, using a lower cost insurance (Kaiser Permanente HMO) it’s still over $13k/year. That’s a big chunk of money on a limited budget retirement.

If you use Quicken – they have the “financial overview” feature that you can plan all of your expenses vs savings/investments… You can put in stuff like college for the kids, when social security kicks in, when you can start drawing your 401k/IRA funds without penalty. You can play with the rate of return, etc… The key is coming up with a reasonable budget in the first place… then adding overage because…well, $hit happens in real life.

[UCGal]

I’m a little older (ok a decade older) and have been running the numbers for my own plans… The big kicker in every retirement budget I come up with is health insurance.

My husband is older than me, and will qualify for medicare in 6ish years. I’ve got 16 years. Kids (2 of them) will need insurance through college.

My goal is to get my house paid off early. (If things go well in 5 years or less.) After that, the other big budget item is health insurance. For a family of four, using a lower cost insurance (Kaiser Permanente HMO) it’s still over $13k/year. That’s a big chunk of money on a limited budget retirement.

If you use Quicken – they have the “financial overview” feature that you can plan all of your expenses vs savings/investments… You can put in stuff like college for the kids, when social security kicks in, when you can start drawing your 401k/IRA funds without penalty. You can play with the rate of return, etc… The key is coming up with a reasonable budget in the first place… then adding overage because…well, $hit happens in real life.

[scaredyclassic]

Ok I’m over my fear of homeownership but I will never ever get over my fear of retirement. I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided almost no one but especially me can ever retire. I will always work. It’s much more relaxing than looking at spreadsheets plugging in numbers and wondering what would have to happen to run out of money. I firmly believe in work until death or very close to death. My wife worked way into her pregnancies which is different but similar. Retirement is a very bad and dangerous concept like getting rich in real estate. It is so risky I would never relax also I am certain it’s bad for your health.

That said I’m sure you could do it. Buy a cheap house in temecula pay cash get the tightwad gazette the complete edition online send your kids to community college ditch the cars and get bikes drink cheap beer do yoga actually fuck it maybe I’ll do that…

[scaredyclassic]

Ok I’m over my fear of homeownership but I will never ever get over my fear of retirement. I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided almost no one but especially me can ever retire. I will always work. It’s much more relaxing than looking at spreadsheets plugging in numbers and wondering what would have to happen to run out of money. I firmly believe in work until death or very close to death. My wife worked way into her pregnancies which is different but similar. Retirement is a very bad and dangerous concept like getting rich in real estate. It is so risky I would never relax also I am certain it’s bad for your health.

That said I’m sure you could do it. Buy a cheap house in temecula pay cash get the tightwad gazette the complete edition online send your kids to community college ditch the cars and get bikes drink cheap beer do yoga actually fuck it maybe I’ll do that…

[scaredyclassic]

Ok I’m over my fear of homeownership but I will never ever get over my fear of retirement. I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided almost no one but especially me can ever retire. I will always work. It’s much more relaxing than looking at spreadsheets plugging in numbers and wondering what would have to happen to run out of money. I firmly believe in work until death or very close to death. My wife worked way into her pregnancies which is different but similar. Retirement is a very bad and dangerous concept like getting rich in real estate. It is so risky I would never relax also I am certain it’s bad for your health.

That said I’m sure you could do it. Buy a cheap house in temecula pay cash get the tightwad gazette the complete edition online send your kids to community college ditch the cars and get bikes drink cheap beer do yoga actually fuck it maybe I’ll do that…

[scaredyclassic]

Ok I’m over my fear of homeownership but I will never ever get over my fear of retirement. I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided almost no one but especially me can ever retire. I will always work. It’s much more relaxing than looking at spreadsheets plugging in numbers and wondering what would have to happen to run out of money. I firmly believe in work until death or very close to death. My wife worked way into her pregnancies which is different but similar. Retirement is a very bad and dangerous concept like getting rich in real estate. It is so risky I would never relax also I am certain it’s bad for your health.

That said I’m sure you could do it. Buy a cheap house in temecula pay cash get the tightwad gazette the complete edition online send your kids to community college ditch the cars and get bikes drink cheap beer do yoga actually fuck it maybe I’ll do that…

[scaredyclassic]

Ok I’m over my fear of homeownership but I will never ever get over my fear of retirement. I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided almost no one but especially me can ever retire. I will always work. It’s much more relaxing than looking at spreadsheets plugging in numbers and wondering what would have to happen to run out of money. I firmly believe in work until death or very close to death. My wife worked way into her pregnancies which is different but similar. Retirement is a very bad and dangerous concept like getting rich in real estate. It is so risky I would never relax also I am certain it’s bad for your health.

That said I’m sure you could do it. Buy a cheap house in temecula pay cash get the tightwad gazette the complete edition online send your kids to community college ditch the cars and get bikes drink cheap beer do yoga actually fuck it maybe I’ll do that…

[temeculaguy]

If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.

But if you are just looking to avoid snow, perhaps central california or northern california might suit your needs better. You can live in a more remote place if you are trying to live on the cheap.

I have never lived in central or northern california but there are places that have gotten whacked by foreclosures up there and the cost of living and the median income is lower. One example is Merced, now before everyone jumps on me, let me say I’ve never been there, I have no idea what it is like but it has a few things going for it. Massive foreclosures, a UC school and a household income of less than half of Temecula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temecula,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced,_California

Of course Merced was ranked #370 out of #373 cities in the sperling guide of places to live, so maybe it’s California’s Detroit. But the fact that their home prices peaked at 330k median and have lost 2/3 of their value makes me think the OP can probably buy a place for almost what his equity is. Paying cash for a house and being protected by prop 13, retirement is an option.

I only offer other options because I live in Temecula and I don’t see how I could live and raise kids on the numbers the OP is quoting.

[temeculaguy]

If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.

But if you are just looking to avoid snow, perhaps central california or northern california might suit your needs better. You can live in a more remote place if you are trying to live on the cheap.

I have never lived in central or northern california but there are places that have gotten whacked by foreclosures up there and the cost of living and the median income is lower. One example is Merced, now before everyone jumps on me, let me say I’ve never been there, I have no idea what it is like but it has a few things going for it. Massive foreclosures, a UC school and a household income of less than half of Temecula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temecula,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced,_California

Of course Merced was ranked #370 out of #373 cities in the sperling guide of places to live, so maybe it’s California’s Detroit. But the fact that their home prices peaked at 330k median and have lost 2/3 of their value makes me think the OP can probably buy a place for almost what his equity is. Paying cash for a house and being protected by prop 13, retirement is an option.

I only offer other options because I live in Temecula and I don’t see how I could live and raise kids on the numbers the OP is quoting.

[temeculaguy]

If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.

But if you are just looking to avoid snow, perhaps central california or northern california might suit your needs better. You can live in a more remote place if you are trying to live on the cheap.

I have never lived in central or northern california but there are places that have gotten whacked by foreclosures up there and the cost of living and the median income is lower. One example is Merced, now before everyone jumps on me, let me say I’ve never been there, I have no idea what it is like but it has a few things going for it. Massive foreclosures, a UC school and a household income of less than half of Temecula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temecula,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced,_California

Of course Merced was ranked #370 out of #373 cities in the sperling guide of places to live, so maybe it’s California’s Detroit. But the fact that their home prices peaked at 330k median and have lost 2/3 of their value makes me think the OP can probably buy a place for almost what his equity is. Paying cash for a house and being protected by prop 13, retirement is an option.

I only offer other options because I live in Temecula and I don’t see how I could live and raise kids on the numbers the OP is quoting.

[temeculaguy]

If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.

But if you are just looking to avoid snow, perhaps central california or northern california might suit your needs better. You can live in a more remote place if you are trying to live on the cheap.

I have never lived in central or northern california but there are places that have gotten whacked by foreclosures up there and the cost of living and the median income is lower. One example is Merced, now before everyone jumps on me, let me say I’ve never been there, I have no idea what it is like but it has a few things going for it. Massive foreclosures, a UC school and a household income of less than half of Temecula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temecula,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced,_California

Of course Merced was ranked #370 out of #373 cities in the sperling guide of places to live, so maybe it’s California’s Detroit. But the fact that their home prices peaked at 330k median and have lost 2/3 of their value makes me think the OP can probably buy a place for almost what his equity is. Paying cash for a house and being protected by prop 13, retirement is an option.

I only offer other options because I live in Temecula and I don’t see how I could live and raise kids on the numbers the OP is quoting.

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