to ever retire in CA.?

[ezbtr]

and Im only 49, plan on having townhouse paid off in 15 yrs I guess (bought a year ago) 401K is good, not so much loving job last year or so (new kid boss) no bills, pay good, credit getting great (697 like 4-5 mos ago) no car pymts, 3 more years child support, nice girlfriend (nurses make great $ here) but hell almost any other state and perhaps countries are sooooooo much cheaper.......my 3/2.5 1400 sq ft 1 car garage w/ deck valued at 235K and I got it for 210K last Oct., so I guess that a good thing, any thoughts?

 

[dingbat]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

A lot of people think they're doing OK until they do a reality check.

Are the kids college funds fully funded?
Do you have 1 years salary in the bank?
Is 401K fully funded (15%) + catch up contributions starting next years?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, you have some catching up to do.

Something else to think about. If you want to maintain your existing life style in retirement your going to need money, lots of it. Experts recommend that you have save 20 times your annual salary before retiring. For a person making $60K a year that's $1,200,000 dollars? The good news is that you have another 18 years to catch up

FWIW: The grass isn't greener on the other side. The cost of living in CA is middle of the pack (#21) compared to other States. The US is one of the "cheaper" places to live in the world......unless you want to live in a hut and eat worms for dinner.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

and Im only 49, plan on having townhouse paid off in 15 yrs I guess (bought a year ago) 401K is good, not so much loving job last year or so (new kid boss) no bills, pay good, credit getting great (697 like 4-5 mos ago) no car pymts, 3 more years child support, nice girlfriend (nurses make great $ here) but hell almost any other state and perhaps countries are sooooooo much cheaper.......my 3/2.5 1400 sq ft 1 car garage w/ deck valued at 235K and I got it for 210K last Oct., so I guess that a good thing, any thoughts?

you need to keep working . . . Probably for 15-20 more years . Wait until the elderly care expenses kick in later on in life

 

[southkogs]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

... no kiddin'. Everytime I start thinking I've gotten a slight gain on the world, reality strikes. At the moment, I don't really plan on every truly "retiring."

 

[bruceb58]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

Are the kids college funds fully funded?
Do you have 1 years salary in the bank?
Is 401K fully funded (15%) + catch up contributions starting next years?

^^ +1

One thing my father stressed to me is always max out my 401K. Been doing that since I started working out of college.

You can do the 401K catch up in the year you turn 50. This year the max with catch up is $23k

 

[garbageguy]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

Retirement, ya right...

I'm in NY, will be 50 on Halloween, finances, credit, savings, etc. all pretty good. But I don't think Ill ever be able to completely retire

Maybe my company will be "shut down" and I won't (can't) go to work, then they'll decide to pay me retroactively for the time I didn't work.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

Retirement, yeah right!

Last ten years. 4 major surgeries, heading into the 5th one tomorrow. 5 job changes with 3 of those no longer in business. Had to burn up one 401k to cover mortgage and medical bills. Previous hospital stay, one night, cost. $55000.00, insurance covered $38000.00 and haven't seen the bill for the last one which was 4 days in 2 different hospitals!

I don't see retirement anytime soon in my future. I just hope my health holds up for another 3 years just to make it to early retirement age.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

As bonz_d points out health is another big bugaboo. My father who has tons of retirement money has full time care at home so he doesn't get to enjoy it. In his case he can't help it because he has dementia. On the other hand, I have seen many retirees that have smoked all their life and/or not stayed fit and can't do anything once they retire. It pays to be physically fit as well as financially fit. Need to do both.

 

[12vMan]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

Health has to be the number 1 issue with being able to enjoy retirement. Without it you're extremely limited, and probably have extra expenses related to it. If you decide to sell the house and move, don't we get a 1-time tax exemption on the capital gains in CA?
I'm in CA as well (Southern). I refi'd to a 15 year mortgage that will be paid off the year my youngest graduates H.S. in 4-1/2 years, which is when I plan to retire. College is funded. Everything else is paid for. I still don't think I'll do a full retirement here though, but I will keep my house to be able to return to occasionally. It's too expensive here. I think we're headed to AZ for residency, but I want to sail the Caribbean!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: to ever retire in CA.?

If you decide to sell the house and move, don't we get a 1-time tax exemption on the capital gains in CA?

You get a $250K exclusion and $500K if married but that is a federal law and applies to anyone. Its not a one time thing either.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/rea...-home-sale-tax-break-a-boon-for-owners-1.aspx

As far as CA is concerned, you can transfer your property tax standing from one county to another if the destination county has that arrangement. This is good if you have a low Prop13 induced property tax value.