Semi-Retire in Temecula in 2012

[AK]

It’s been a while since I’ve had close acquaintance with the video/computer gaming industry, but from what I remember it’s a tough way to make a living. I’m sure you earned every cent of your stash.

Here are some of my thoughts. This is no slam on Temecula, which is a nice town with some of my favorite restaurants. My thoughts reflect California and suburbia in general …

1. No car: Based on my experience in various parts of CA, you’ll be considered a freak or worse and you’ll draw unwanted attention from your neighbors and from law enforcement. Seriously, try being a single male walking around a suburb any time of day or night, especially if you fit some ethnic profile or another.

Most areas aren’t pedestrian-friendly. Where bike lanes and bikeways exist they tend to be for recreational purposes and are all but useless for functional transportation, though others have mentioned a few bike-friendly developments.

2. Utility bills: Expect to pay dearly for electricity.

3. Outdoor recreation: Look for an area with good air quality. Around here that means coastal areas.

4. Insurance: CA is a lousy place to get an individual policy.

5. FIOS: You lucky so-and-sos.

If you can live with a smaller house (also cheaper to heat and cool) you might be happier with something along the SR-78 corridor. There you’ll have better access to public transportation and recreational opportunities.

[patientrenter]

ice9,

My situation is not so different from yours. If you assume that your investments are now worth $500K, and you can buy stocks that pay dividends of 4% on average, that’s $20,000 of pre-tax income. Call that $15,000 after-tax.

Even if you got a home for free, you don’t have anything close to enough to retire or semi-retire. If you pay $300K for a home, then you will get that much less in dividend income, maybe $6K a year after tax. It’ll just pay for property tax and basic maintenance costs or HOA fees.

Last year, I had well over a million in dividend-paying stocks, throwing off over $75K a year in pre-tax income. Now, I have… less:) I still have $300K in separate cash funds for a home, and another $200K cash waiting for the right opportunities in more dividend stocks, but I don’t consider myself even close to being able to retire.

My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.

My advice is to keep working hard and saving and investing. And only buy a home in the near future when it’s cheap, doesn’t take much of your own cash, and you can get cheap financing at a fixed rate.

[patientrenter]

ice9,

My situation is not so different from yours. If you assume that your investments are now worth $500K, and you can buy stocks that pay dividends of 4% on average, that’s $20,000 of pre-tax income. Call that $15,000 after-tax.

Even if you got a home for free, you don’t have anything close to enough to retire or semi-retire. If you pay $300K for a home, then you will get that much less in dividend income, maybe $6K a year after tax. It’ll just pay for property tax and basic maintenance costs or HOA fees.

Last year, I had well over a million in dividend-paying stocks, throwing off over $75K a year in pre-tax income. Now, I have… less:) I still have $300K in separate cash funds for a home, and another $200K cash waiting for the right opportunities in more dividend stocks, but I don’t consider myself even close to being able to retire.

My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.

My advice is to keep working hard and saving and investing. And only buy a home in the near future when it’s cheap, doesn’t take much of your own cash, and you can get cheap financing at a fixed rate.

[patientrenter]

ice9,

My situation is not so different from yours. If you assume that your investments are now worth $500K, and you can buy stocks that pay dividends of 4% on average, that’s $20,000 of pre-tax income. Call that $15,000 after-tax.

Even if you got a home for free, you don’t have anything close to enough to retire or semi-retire. If you pay $300K for a home, then you will get that much less in dividend income, maybe $6K a year after tax. It’ll just pay for property tax and basic maintenance costs or HOA fees.

Last year, I had well over a million in dividend-paying stocks, throwing off over $75K a year in pre-tax income. Now, I have… less:) I still have $300K in separate cash funds for a home, and another $200K cash waiting for the right opportunities in more dividend stocks, but I don’t consider myself even close to being able to retire.

My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.

My advice is to keep working hard and saving and investing. And only buy a home in the near future when it’s cheap, doesn’t take much of your own cash, and you can get cheap financing at a fixed rate.

[patientrenter]

ice9,

My situation is not so different from yours. If you assume that your investments are now worth $500K, and you can buy stocks that pay dividends of 4% on average, that’s $20,000 of pre-tax income. Call that $15,000 after-tax.

Even if you got a home for free, you don’t have anything close to enough to retire or semi-retire. If you pay $300K for a home, then you will get that much less in dividend income, maybe $6K a year after tax. It’ll just pay for property tax and basic maintenance costs or HOA fees.

Last year, I had well over a million in dividend-paying stocks, throwing off over $75K a year in pre-tax income. Now, I have… less:) I still have $300K in separate cash funds for a home, and another $200K cash waiting for the right opportunities in more dividend stocks, but I don’t consider myself even close to being able to retire.

My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.

My advice is to keep working hard and saving and investing. And only buy a home in the near future when it’s cheap, doesn’t take much of your own cash, and you can get cheap financing at a fixed rate.

[patientrenter]

ice9,

My situation is not so different from yours. If you assume that your investments are now worth $500K, and you can buy stocks that pay dividends of 4% on average, that’s $20,000 of pre-tax income. Call that $15,000 after-tax.

Even if you got a home for free, you don’t have anything close to enough to retire or semi-retire. If you pay $300K for a home, then you will get that much less in dividend income, maybe $6K a year after tax. It’ll just pay for property tax and basic maintenance costs or HOA fees.

Last year, I had well over a million in dividend-paying stocks, throwing off over $75K a year in pre-tax income. Now, I have… less:) I still have $300K in separate cash funds for a home, and another $200K cash waiting for the right opportunities in more dividend stocks, but I don’t consider myself even close to being able to retire.

My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.

My advice is to keep working hard and saving and investing. And only buy a home in the near future when it’s cheap, doesn’t take much of your own cash, and you can get cheap financing at a fixed rate.

[AK]

[quote=patientrenter]My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.[/quote]

Well put patientrenter …

Or as this recent article from BusinessWeek puts it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28814777

“The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.”

[AK]

[quote=patientrenter]My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.[/quote]

Well put patientrenter …

Or as this recent article from BusinessWeek puts it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28814777

“The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.”

[AK]

[quote=patientrenter]My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.[/quote]

Well put patientrenter …

Or as this recent article from BusinessWeek puts it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28814777

“The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.”

[AK]

[quote=patientrenter]My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.[/quote]

Well put patientrenter …

Or as this recent article from BusinessWeek puts it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28814777

“The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.”

[AK]

[quote=patientrenter]My brother-in-law, who is retired, gave me this advice even last year, when I had much more: It’s a lot more expensive than you think to retire. (He’s doing fine, but he knows what it’s like to have lots of time and the desire to travel, play golf, and engage in other amusements, and he knows it costs money.)

Don’t let the nostrums of the financial planners catering to the baby boomers fool you. Assets won’t earn enough in the foreseeable future to let you retire for most of your life for less than the cost of an average home.[/quote]

Well put patientrenter …

Or as this recent article from BusinessWeek puts it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28814777

“The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.”

[socrattt]

I am also in a similar position as far as an early retirement, but I am quite a bit younger, so I my thoughts differ quite a bit. My money is out of stocks and invested in commodities and other investments that should move in a positive direction as we hit a steep inflationary period. I find it hard to fathom retirement in a market such as this regardless of my financial situation. I think you should concentrate more on the short term with your finances rather than looking at a future early retirement. I say this because America is on the brink of a collapse. It may not be apparent to someone in the video game industry, but trust me your financial situation will change within the next year and your stocks may end up taking another big beating, which could put you in a completely different situation.

Just a quick background on Temecula. I had the opportunity of attending school in Temecula in my youth and really enjoyed the town. Unfortunately now it is extremely overbuilt, but I believe that may be a bonus long term. $200K homes area a dime a dozen in that town and to have 2500sqft with a nice yard at $1,500+/- per month is a no brainer.

There are plenty of activities in town and the local government does a great job of keeping things moving! As much as I love living on the beach, I have actually contemplating moving back to Temecula to save money. I work out of the house as well, which makes things much more intriguing.

Good luck!

[socrattt]

I am also in a similar position as far as an early retirement, but I am quite a bit younger, so I my thoughts differ quite a bit. My money is out of stocks and invested in commodities and other investments that should move in a positive direction as we hit a steep inflationary period. I find it hard to fathom retirement in a market such as this regardless of my financial situation. I think you should concentrate more on the short term with your finances rather than looking at a future early retirement. I say this because America is on the brink of a collapse. It may not be apparent to someone in the video game industry, but trust me your financial situation will change within the next year and your stocks may end up taking another big beating, which could put you in a completely different situation.

Just a quick background on Temecula. I had the opportunity of attending school in Temecula in my youth and really enjoyed the town. Unfortunately now it is extremely overbuilt, but I believe that may be a bonus long term. $200K homes area a dime a dozen in that town and to have 2500sqft with a nice yard at $1,500+/- per month is a no brainer.

There are plenty of activities in town and the local government does a great job of keeping things moving! As much as I love living on the beach, I have actually contemplating moving back to Temecula to save money. I work out of the house as well, which makes things much more intriguing.

Good luck!

[socrattt]

I am also in a similar position as far as an early retirement, but I am quite a bit younger, so I my thoughts differ quite a bit. My money is out of stocks and invested in commodities and other investments that should move in a positive direction as we hit a steep inflationary period. I find it hard to fathom retirement in a market such as this regardless of my financial situation. I think you should concentrate more on the short term with your finances rather than looking at a future early retirement. I say this because America is on the brink of a collapse. It may not be apparent to someone in the video game industry, but trust me your financial situation will change within the next year and your stocks may end up taking another big beating, which could put you in a completely different situation.

Just a quick background on Temecula. I had the opportunity of attending school in Temecula in my youth and really enjoyed the town. Unfortunately now it is extremely overbuilt, but I believe that may be a bonus long term. $200K homes area a dime a dozen in that town and to have 2500sqft with a nice yard at $1,500+/- per month is a no brainer.

There are plenty of activities in town and the local government does a great job of keeping things moving! As much as I love living on the beach, I have actually contemplating moving back to Temecula to save money. I work out of the house as well, which makes things much more intriguing.

Good luck!

[socrattt]

I am also in a similar position as far as an early retirement, but I am quite a bit younger, so I my thoughts differ quite a bit. My money is out of stocks and invested in commodities and other investments that should move in a positive direction as we hit a steep inflationary period. I find it hard to fathom retirement in a market such as this regardless of my financial situation. I think you should concentrate more on the short term with your finances rather than looking at a future early retirement. I say this because America is on the brink of a collapse. It may not be apparent to someone in the video game industry, but trust me your financial situation will change within the next year and your stocks may end up taking another big beating, which could put you in a completely different situation.

Just a quick background on Temecula. I had the opportunity of attending school in Temecula in my youth and really enjoyed the town. Unfortunately now it is extremely overbuilt, but I believe that may be a bonus long term. $200K homes area a dime a dozen in that town and to have 2500sqft with a nice yard at $1,500+/- per month is a no brainer.

There are plenty of activities in town and the local government does a great job of keeping things moving! As much as I love living on the beach, I have actually contemplating moving back to Temecula to save money. I work out of the house as well, which makes things much more intriguing.

Good luck!

[Author]

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