AK Retiree Club

I'm going out with a bang. No dying in my sleep. Probably going to get killed on my motorcycle at a track day or get ate by a Great White.
 
I've spent the last month or so getting the house ready to put on the market, and am almost ready.
However, today I find that the property on one side has been sold in the last month....and that the property on the other side is also on the market.
I guarantee both will be torn down shortly.
If I don't hurry, I'm going to end up with construction sites on both sides of the house at the same time.

On the other hand, if I wait a bit, I'll undoubtedly end-up with $1.5 million properties on either side of the house.
Which will, by default, increase my assessed value even if the properties aren't exactly comparable.

In this state, assessed value is, by law, directly tied to market value. The two figures are required to be, within a few percentage points, essentially the same or the County can be fined by the State.
Which really only points to the fact that the State wants it's damn tax money. No fudging allowed.
But this situation does often work to the favor of a seller, in the sense that a non-pressured seller can always say, I'm not selling for less than assessed value.
And in the 25+ years I've lived here, I've never seen the assessed value decrease. Not even after the two previous market crashes.

On the third hand, there's definitely a case to be made for having the cash-in-hand and getting on with it.
I do rather dislike "holding-patterns" which is what I've been living through for the last several years.
 
You are on target with these of reported stats. Not sure how they were measured or who gave/took the survey. As already pointed out, until I find out more about this research, it's up in the air for me. In contrast, really high mortgage debt is highly controlled and shared by the lending institutions.

Q

Yesterday I saw a similar stat on U.S. federal employees who missed paychecks in the shutdown. The basic assertion intuitively makes sense to me, but I don't know how they measure to get to a precise number like 46. My guess is they poll what they consider a statistically significant sample, and go from there.

EDIT FOR OBLIGATORY RETIREE STUFF: My wife and I are off to see our first grandson this morning, Pennsylvania roads permitting.
 
I am soooo close to retirement that I can smell it! My company is going to close my facility in 2020 or 2021. So, my decision to retire has essentially been made for me. I will be @ 63yo when I call it quits. Scares me to death. What am I going to do with my self? Do my wife and I have anything in common anymore? I am in pretty good shape, physically. I have plenty of money and no debt. Lots of "projects" waiting in the wings. I have been reading a few blogs about how to plan psychologically for retirement. It seems that some (even though finances are available for 40 years or more) become obsessed with running out of money too early. I must admit that I feel a moderate level of anxiety regarding retirement.
 
Fortunate enough to retire a few years ago at age 59.

For now, my day consists of listening to music, reading, walking the "hounds" (mine and some locals as well) and FINALLY finishing writing my book.
 
Yesterday I saw a similar stat on U.S. federal employees who missed paychecks in the shutdown. The basic assertion intuitively makes sense to me, but I don't know how they measure to get to a precise number like 46. My guess is they poll what they consider a statistically significant sample, and go from there.

EDIT FOR OBLIGATORY RETIREE STUFF: My wife and I are off to see our first grandson this morning, Pennsylvania roads permitting.


And me thinks, that they the statisticians, tend to skew the results with a forethought in their minds. Then there's the interpretation side, in which I've had the misfortune/fortunate to be part of it in my past. I think at times that "arbitrary" comes into the formula in which intent is the key word.

Thanks for the heads up, cc.:thumbsup:

Q
 
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Here's a great way to spend your days, shoveling snow!:bs:
I have a big snow blower but I figure the exercise will do me good.
Still -3 with a wind chill of -24 at 10am. Not sure how bad it was overnight
 
A heads-up for you California retirees - there is a little known tax law in CA that allows people over 55 to sell their primary residence and transfer their property tax base to the new residence.
Not too bad!!!

A good friend just took advantage of this and will be saving about $7000/year in property taxes. Technically it's called a 'Tax Base Transfer', and is covered by Props 60 and 90.
Prop 60 is within the same county. Prop 90 covers between counties, but there are only about a dozen counties that have opted in and accept a tax base transfer.

https://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/prop60-90_55over.htm

Spent a lot of time looking at this, and then decided to buy a house in Nevada for retirement.
 
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If you live slightly below your means you would have more money when you die than you have now, I'm planning to leave little or none.

There is something in:

1. Live slightly below your means during your working years.
2. Spend your savings during retirement.
3. When you die, have your last check bounce.......

Of course, it's all in the timing.....

;)
 
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Here's a great way to spend your days, shoveling snow!:bs:
I have a big snow blower but I figure the exercise will do me good.
Still -3 with a wind chill of -24 at 10am. Not sure how bad it was overnight

What is all that white stuff?????

I moved from Michigan to Dallas in 1982. Graduated from college and wanted to move anywhere they didn't have snow shovels.

Here, one inch of snow shuts down the city.
 
There is something in:

1. Live slightly below your means during your working years.
2. Spend your savings during retirement.
3. When you die, have your last check bounce.......

Of course, it's all in the timing.....

;)
I like the way you think!!
 
What is all that white stuff?????

I moved from Michigan to Dallas in 1982. Graduated from college and wanted to move anywhere they didn't have snow shovels.

Here, one inch of snow shuts down the city.
This week it's the cold & wind that's got everything shut down. So cold the salt won't melt the snow and so windy when they plow a road it just drifts back in as soon as they are done. Today was the lowest high temp (-4) in 25 years. I'll be in FL next week
 
Lest we forget-
Retirement allows for an afternoon bong toke and some delightfully raw Tull over DQ-10’s with Benny. This is a good thing after 43 years of engineering toil. I’ve been looking forward to it for 43 years as well.
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What's that furry thing attached to your leg? If that's a Poang ottoman watch out, they're known pet magnets.
 
Quick fix on the dining room table. I needed a table. For a proper job, I'm going to have to take it apart and have a wood shop plane and join the planks. I also need to build a more stable and aesthetic frame for the legs. That will come after I finish remodeling the rest of the house.

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