Can You Retire?

My 401 took a hit but is ok, I still have a pension, my IRA took a hit but is ok, I don't have a house because I sold it (for a decent price). I think about retirement often.

I will have enough to retire, but I will probably still be working with pumps when I am a geezer.

What the heck has this to do with pumps? This is a problem which is facing everyone, in most countries. One advantage we, as engineers, have is the ability to ply our professions/trades, at a reduced, level into retirement. The big problem facing everyone is our own success at longevity. With a life expectancy in the "western world" somewhere up in the 80s we may have to make our retirement funds, whatever they may be go a long way. My Dad lived to 95 so I'll have to tread very carefully.

A friend found a health site that calculated an life expectancy taking into account all the factors they could get (he had just turned 70, and still in the harness). He said to his wife "hey Nicki, this reckons I'll live to 89!", she, without a pause, replied "Oh, we can't afford that!"..........scary hey!

Live long and prosper

Chas

401K? IRA/ Retirement? What are those?

Us under age 40 types are not likely to get those sort of things.

I only hope to some day die doing what I love!

(Or at least die at work and make a big mess for someone else to have to clean up and explain!)

You under 40 types need to be putting money in 401k's and IRA's now, even if it is only a little bit every pay day.

We would if there was anything left after everything else is paid.

A rich man telling a poor man to save money is easy. Getting the rich man to willingly walk in the poor mans shoes is impossible.

If you have two arms you can not fully relate or understand what its like for the person that does not have any. Especially when you keep telling him that if he just tied his shoes he wouldn't keep tripping over the laces!

Someone with a job in engineering does not fit your description. I am not speaking to people living in a card board box under an over pass. I am speaking to engineers and technicians that have computers and access the internet.

A rich man does not get rich by squandering his money.

An engineer that does not have the discipline to control his spending and put aside at least a little money every pay day is a fool.

I'm not retiring until they close the lid on me.

I tried to blow the whistle on the Feds so now I'm retired.

You know your investment return; to calculate your investment risk figure the standard deviation.

Investments with a poor return/risk ratio can be eliminated from your portfolio.

Making provision for retirement or making provision for anything has absolutely nothing to do with how much you earn. It is dependant on what you do with the money you earn and living within your means. We all have "a standard of living" which is different. On retirement the idea is to maintain the standard that we are accustomed to. The fact of the matter.... whatever you earn, live well within your means and make provision for the future and for your retirement whatever your income so that you can maintain your standard of living. As engineers we should all be able to do reasonable projections and work the figures, if not there is plenty of help out there to assist us with our requirements with respect to projected retirement incomes. A low income earner who is able to retire and maintain his standard of living can be considered well off whereas a high income earner who can not afford to retire or who retires and has to drop his standard of living is definitely not well off. At the end of the day it all boils down to bad planning or no planning at all which if you think of it is an absolute shocker for engineers!

I worked a canadian company (manufacturing) closed...offer option as to transfer company pension or lock in pension which calculation base on the first 10 years interest 3.2% and 2nd 10 years 5.3%, any one know if i transfer out to lock-in pension to buy mutual funds with better retuns, since current interest is way to low.

any one has advise/sugestion/comments please? thx