Retiring without a plan

[bjl584]

A neighbor near to where our cabin property is located, will be retiring this summer.
He basically said that he hopes all will be well and that he will be able to afford things once he stops working.

That got me to thinking just how many people out there actually retire without really knowing what the future holds or if things will work out.
Most people here on these boards are different. We all save and invest, analyze data and scenarios, meet with advisors and CPA's, create wills, and the list goes on.
But is the average person really just "winging" one of the most important decisions of their lives?

[disneysteve]

Yep. We on this site and on the ER site are unicorns. Most people haven't got a clue and make no effort to get one. They retire at 62 or 65, claim SS, and go from there. They have no idea how much they have or how much they need. It's mind boggling that they put little to no time into figuring out how they will fund the final 10-30 years of their lives.

[ua_guy]

This is a lot of people, I think. Figure it out when the time comes, or just keep working.

[kork13]

It’s definitely a fairly typical mindset. They just keep working until they feel they can’t or don’t want to, then see what SS can offer, and figure out if they have other money that can keep them eating.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Selling a house is a huge plan for many. Selling their home and using the proceeds to live on is a big one people forget about until they have too. And social security replaces a lot of income for most people. Especially a couple. They can live on $60-80k of SS income.

[Drake3287]

"But is the average person really just "winging" one of the most important decisions of their lives?"

I think it depends on whether someone has a pension (and a savings) like myself vs someone who's simply planning on living off what ever they've saved or invested over the years. Many of us that are luckily enough to have a pension retire at basically the same income level while people that are depending on investments are rolling the dice to a certain degree, some win while some lose. Many times those people that lost are the people we see working well into old age still.

I'm guessing most people simply wish to be able to live at the same income level that there use too. If you happen to have more, more power to you. At the same time, I think many of us that are lucky enough to have the financial means in retirement sometimes have problems with all of a sudden living a more lavish life style than what were used too. This would be me.

[pacerob]

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[myrdale]

Retirement without a plan can feel uncertain, and many simply “wing it,” but combining thoughtful financial prep with holistic wellness can make a huge difference.

How so?

[Fishindude77]

Having a plan for what you are going to do is not that big of a deal. Most can figure it out and keep themselves entertained.
Not having the finances to be able to live some kind of a decent lifestyle is a far worse problem.

[ua_guy]

I'm not so sure on the plan, having something to do in retirement I don't think is as easy as it sounds. That's not just a contrarian perspective either, mortality soars for workers who suddenly stop working and do nothing in retirement. I've literally heard guys say they'll never stop working - one, because they don't have much more than social security to look forward to, but the other reason, they know people who arrived in retirement only to die shortly thereafter and they don't want that to be them. This was when I worked in construction, different mindset, a lot of lower incomes and stronger headwinds to accumulating wealth.

Totally agree on the means - people need money to retire AND have things to do. But having a plan, and being aware of the mortality rates transitioning from career to retirement, and having a plan for self-care, I think, should be pretty high on people's priorities.

[Fishindude77]

Agreed, if you are the type of person whose life revolves around your work and you don't have a lot of other interests, retirement could be miserable. Best thing to do is just keep working if that's the mindset, and there really isn't anything wrong with that.
Could also transition into a lower stress, less physical, less hour job to keep your foot in the game as you evolve into a retirement life.

I've got a couple good buddies that don't seem to ever want to quit working, and not because of shortage of funds. Also have a couple that went into part time work in retirement.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We haven't seen retirement without the majority of the population having a pension. Even many gen xers (myself) still have some sort of pension. I am just saying that we haven't seen the wave of retirements of people with two legged stool of SS and 401k and no pensions. So many people still state, federal, and military and private pensions. And the pensions left are much less generous. So more savings needs to be done but no one has seen the effects yet of fully funding your own retirement without the pension leg.

FWIW my DH is at wits end in about 9 days. He will be on a week long forcced vacation from work that they are shutting down the company so people will take a vacation. He's like what am I going to do? I wasn't going to tell you LAL. I was thinking of even going into work. But he had too. he's like i don't want to do home repair. I said go on vacation, go do something. But no one is going with him or doing anything. Kids are in school and in the thick of it. They won't miss a day and are busy on weekends with stuff. Me? it's tax seasons and the busiest time, leave me alone! So he's literally going to be at home twiddling his thumbs and nothing to do. This is a one week mini retirement.

After his freakout i am guessing that he really will work another 4 years until 2030 when our youngest retires and i'm ready to play and the kids are off to college. He just can't sit here waiting for us. He jokes about following the oldest to college, but i point out we have a younger one whose still at home and then he's like i guess so. I can feel him unsure what the future holds. And it's not about the money.

It's about having something. I don't know what he needs but my guess is it'll be some other sort of work. he's 48 and will be 52 in 4 years. I planned on him being done at 45, so we're a little over, but not terribly so. But now it's work for purpose and not money.