[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^^That's Wifey. She'll be tired at 9PM but won't go to bed because it's too early.

Wow, 9:00 PM is waaaaaaay after my bedtime these days.....

[M_Six]

Wifey hardly ever sleeps more than 6 or 7 hours, so going to bed at 9 means waking up at 3 or 4. Hence her attempts to stay up until 10 at least.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Wifey hardly ever sleeps more than 6 or 7 hours, so going to bed at 9 means waking up at 3 or 4. Hence her attempts to stay up until 10 at least.

My wife is like that, in bed by 9:30pm. I'm usually up until 1am. We've both always been like this; her to bed early and me up late (albeit a little earlier when I was working), going on 50 years this July. Opposites attract.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Esteban

My wife is like that, in bed by 9:30pm. I'm usually up until 1am. We've both always been like this; her to bed early and me up late (albeit a little earlier when I was working), going on 50 years this July. Opposites attract.

I used to be like that, especially on weekends. I would often be up until 1 or 2. But after retiring, every day is a weekend and I didn't want to get into the late night habit, so I aim for 11PM at the latest. I'd love to be a morning person who gets to bed by 9 and is up at dawn, but that just doesn't work for me.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I used to be like that, especially on weekends. I would often be up until 1 or 2. But after retiring, every day is a weekend and I didn't want to get into the late night habit, so I aim for 11PM at the latest. I'd love to be a morning person who gets to bed by 9 and is up at dawn, but that just doesn't work for me.

Always been a night owl, wife has always been a morning person. Take my (almost) nightly walk at 9:30pm, when she's going to bed. I give her a kiss and say goodnight. We have our time together during the day. It's just the way we are.

PS - sometimes I wake her when I get home from my walk.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I used to be like that, especially on weekends. I would often be up until 1 or 2. But after retiring, every day is a weekend and I didn't want to get into the late night habit, so I aim for 11PM at the latest.

I am more or less in the same boat, being involuntarily retired with a DW that still works. Her current job has her working third shift, so my sleep schedule has changed to match hers. Hence, 5:00 PM is the new midnight at Chez Vreihen, and I'm awake all night until she gets home the next morning.....

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by unluky

When you are mad at the @#%#@$%#@ NEVER ENDING WINTER THIS YEAR!

Some of us LOVE winter!!

[Sutho]

Not going to read through 483 pages, so if this has been said before? i apologise.

In Australia, biscuits were purchased by the oz or lb. you could even get a bag of broken biscuits for threepence.

sorry to make you feel old.

[unluky]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Some of us LOVE winter!!

You can have it - Memorial day is for shorts, BBQ and boats - not thermal knits and rain coats. F this years never-ending winter.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by unluky

You can have it - Memorial day is for shorts, BBQ and boats - not thermal knits and rain coats. F this years never-ending winter.

ezaircon4jc is referring to our winters here in SoCal, which can be pretty nice.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Esteban

ezaircon4jc is referring to our winters here in SoCal, which can be pretty nice.

Not just here. Growing up here I was used to 9-10 months of summer. When we moved to SLC I cherished every winter. I remember sitting in the tower our 1st winter, watching it snow, then seeing the snow-covered valley and mountains afterwards thinking I'm getting PAID to see this view! Sure, shoveling my driveway got a bit old (that would have been rectified when those personal snowblowers were introduced), but I didn't mind the cold or walking through the snow to get to the terminal (the tower was on top of the terminal). I carried a lighter to heat my car key if it snowed overnight and the door lock was frozen. Now that I'm old, I'd have "a guy" to shovel for me

I also like the rain

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Not just here. Growing up here I was used to 9-10 months of summer. When we moved to SLC I cherished every winter. I remember sitting in the tower our 1st winter, watching it snow, then seeing the snow-covered valley and mountains afterwards thinking I'm getting PAID to see this view! Sure, shoveling my driveway got a bit old (that would have been rectified when those personal snowblowers were introduced), but I didn't mind the cold or walking through the snow to get to the terminal (the tower was on top of the terminal). I carried a lighter to heat my car key if it snowed overnight and the door lock was frozen. Now that I'm old, I'd have "a guy" to shovel for me

I also like the rain

No snow and freezing temps for me. SoCal native here, born and bred.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by unluky

You can have it - Memorial day is for shorts, BBQ and boats - not thermal knits and rain coats. F this years never-ending winter.

Our new neighbors have a boat that they were hoping to get in the water this past Memorial Day weekend. No such luck. The weather wasn't awful, but too windy and chilly for boating.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I am more or less in the same boat, being involuntarily retired with a DW that still works. Her current job has her working third shift, so my sleep schedule has changed to match hers. Hence, 5:00 PM is the new midnight at Chez Vreihen, and I'm awake all night until she gets home the next morning.....

Kudos. I couldn't do that.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Kudos. I couldn't do that.

When we moved to IL 23 years ago, my first job was at the Univ. of IL OpCenter. I worked four days a week from 2PM to Midnight. An hour commute each way. So I got home at 1AM-ish and then sat around for a bit to unwind. Wifey was up and gone long before I got up. We'd have lunch and then I'd be off to work again. The good part was my schedule was Sun-Wed, then 4 days off, then Mon-Thu, then 2 days off. So every other weekend was 4 days. It actually wasn't too bad. Then they moved me to the 6AM to 4PM shift. It was nice being home every evening, but those 4AM wake-ups were rough.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by M_Six

When we moved to IL 23 years ago, my first job was at the Univ. of IL OpCenter. I worked four days a week from 2PM to Midnight. An hour commute each way. So I got home at 1AM-ish and then sat around for a bit to unwind. Wifey was up and gone long before I got up. We'd have lunch and then I'd be off to work again. The good part was my schedule was Sun-Wed, then 4 days off, then Mon-Thu, then 2 days off. So every other weekend was 4 days. It actually wasn't too bad. Then they moved me to the 6AM to 4PM shift. It was nice being home every evening, but those 4AM wake-ups were rough.

We had a rotating schedule that I really loved; 1400/1500-2200/2300, 1300/1400-2100/2200, 0600/0630-1400/1430 (or another 1300-2100), 0600-1400 then 2200-0600 or 0600-1400, so swing, swing, swing or day, day, day or mid. When we had a week of straight days for training, I wanted to open a vein by Thursday! Once you get into the routine, it's great. Working a mid means getting off at 0600 on (your) Friday and not having to return until (your) Monday afternoon! It was also possible to work 2 overtimes in the same week!

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Kudos. I couldn't do that.

The alternative is to be awake and sneaking quietly around our modestly-sized house while she sleeps, so at that point I might as well just crawl into bed so that I don't disturb her or OCD psycho dog.....

[vreihen16]

So, I went on my now-former employer's retirement plan web site, to see what the procedure is to start drawing on my (severely under-funded) account. When doing its estimation of my monthly payouts both before and after taxes, it started a hard sales pitch for a loan against my retirement account instead of withdrawing money. The biggest benefit is that a loan isn't taxable as income, whereas a withdrawal would be. The pitfall is that you need to pay back the loan at some point, and withdrawing from your retirement account to do so would probably be taxable. They didn't say what the loan interest is, but I can't imagine the percentage being higher than the income taxes on an equivalent withdrawal. Plus, the retirement account should still be accruing value, assuming the market doesn't crash.

Has anyone heard of this option before? In all of my dealings with retirement account options, it has never come up as an option before today in anything that I've read.....

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

So, I went on my now-former employer's retirement plan web site, to see what the procedure is to start drawing on my (severely under-funded) account. When doing its estimation of my monthly payouts both before and after taxes, it started a hard sales pitch for a loan against my retirement account instead of withdrawing money. The biggest benefit is that a loan isn't taxable as income, whereas a withdrawal would be. The pitfall is that you need to pay back the loan at some point, and withdrawing from your retirement account to do so would probably be taxable. They didn't say what the loan interest is, but I can't imagine the percentage being higher than the income taxes on an equivalent withdrawal. Plus, the retirement account should still be accruing value, assuming the market doesn't crash.

Has anyone heard of this option before? In all of my dealings with retirement account options, it has never come up as an option before today in anything that I've read.....

I have not heard of it in retirement but 401(K) loans for active participants are a pretty common feature for plans. Generally, for one of those, I believe the borrowing is from yourself and the repayments and interest are to yourself. But it has been a while since I have seen one of those as I have been self-employed for 25 years and the features could have changed. At the time I last saw them, I discouraged employees from using them because they effectively slow down savings and usually created a repayment demand or taxable event if you leave the company.

However, they might be more interesting as a means to tap into retirement savings if they are structured as borrowing from yourself with no repayments until final demise (just speculating / talking out loud here). At that point the “loan” might convert into a taxable distribution but you won’t be paying any taxes once you are gone. The question would be how much of the balance can you borrow/withdraw? Obviously the devil is in the details but maybe worth it to get the details. If the plan is to leave something for someone when you are gone, that might not work out for them.

[wdb]

I have heard rumblings about taking out loans against assets being the way the uber-rich fund their lifestyle and avoid taxes. I don't know how it works but it strikes me as just a way to kick the can down the road. But then I'm hyper-conservative when it comes to finances.

[BS9000]

Can't speak for 401k loans after retiring, but if you're not happy with your former employer's plan/platform, you should be able to transfer your account to an IRA with an investment advisor of your choice.

Regarding loans against investment assets, I work for a bank with a substantial wealth management arm, and we offer investment credit lines to our clients. They can borrow against a portion the value of their portfolio and the bank has their investment account as collateral. The client gets a favorable rate since the line is basically cash collateralized, and the bank gets interest income and retains the assets under management in the clients portfolio (also generating fee income for the bank). Client can access their asset value without having to liquidate and realize a potential taxable capital gain (as the previous poster mentioned).

There's tons of strategies to avoid taxes when you're rich...

[Lady Jane]

When you can get away with your opinion.