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AK Retiree Club

madwing said:
what years were you there? was here did you bivouac?
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I worked for the UC system -- Office of the President -- for seven years (2003-2010) before settling in @ UC Santa Barbara exclusively @ economics department.

As for my stays @ UCLA, I usually stayed w/ friends who (still) have a place in Pacific Palisades.
 
Mystic said:
I worked for the UC system -- Office of the President -- for seven years (2003-2010) before settling in @ UC Santa Barbara exclusively @ economics department.

As for my stays @ UCLA, I usually stayed w/ friends who (still) have a place in Pacific Palisades.
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cool. i had some good times at ucsc with ucop folks, working on systemwide contracts. graduated ucla in 1990 (dad taught there 1967-1982, mum was a nurse there 1967-2000).

my son graduated ccs physics in 2020 :)

glad your friends’ place is still there after the fires!
 
Been looking for a good planning tool to map out the best way to fund travel over the next 20 years. Tried all the tools, Monarch, ChatGPT, Origin, Boldin, ProjectionLab, Fidelity’s planner, etc. None of them would look at my actual holdings, analyze them, and give me a plan how to best cover taxes and travel from RMDs and dividends.

Then I discovered Evergreen.ai, and signed up for their beta. Wow! I added my accounts, and started asking basic questions. Now I have a complete, simple plan, which our CPA agrees is perfect. So flipping simple. It’s being built by the same guy who created Personal Capital (now Empower), which I’ve been using for many years.
 
What's the level of detail involved in the info you must provide? I'm more than leery of providing anything beyond investment name, purchase price and number of shares.

Hmmmm, I just looked at Empower and I'm not giving any third party "links" to my accounts and really don't want to deal with anyone selling annuities.
 
Andyman said:
What's the level of detail involved in the info you must provide? I'm more than leery of providing anything beyond investment name, purchase price and number of shares.

Hmmmm, I just looked at Empower and I'm not giving any third party "links" to my accounts and really don't want to deal with anyone selling annuities.
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Up to you, of course. They use Plaid to connect, which never actually sees your login, it just gets an OAuth token, and it's view-only, so no way that they can move any money. Also, both my Vanguard and Fidelity accounts are locked down pretty tightly, won't allow any transfers to outside accounts without a lot of hassle, and of course I get instant texts and emails any time any money moves. Same thing for my bank and CD accounts.

Yeah, Empower is a pig, but they bought Personal Capital a few years ago, and, thankfully, kept the tool free. I never get any marketing from them. I've used Personal Capital / Empower Dashboard pretty much since day one without issue.
 
Yeah, if I can plug raw postions in and forecast that's doable, but I don't trust a lot of financial companies to be straight forward.

I just got a newsletter from Schwab about Social Security strategies, including waiting to collect and get a bigger check. Sadly, they like so many, didn't mention or address the foregone income component which for someone getting a $3,000 check amounts to $108,000+ ignoring COLA adjustments, debt payoffs, and investment returns. Using the the straight $3000 number it takes 12.5 years to break even.so you really don't get ahead until you're 82 1/2, if you make it that long and are able to enjoy it.
 
Andyman said:
Using the the straight $3000 number it takes 12.5 years to break even.so you really don't get ahead until you're 82 1/2, if you make it that long and are able to enjoy it.
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I did the same calculation in 2015 when I turned 65, and came up with about the same answer. Being I had a heart attack and bypass surgery at 55, I wasn't going to bank on making it to 82.

Show me the money!!:biggrin:
 
Andyman said:
Yeah, if I can plug raw postions in and forecast that's doable, but I don't trust a lot of financial companies to be straight forward.
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ProjectionLab is probably the one you want, then. It's (IIRC) about $129/year, but you can create a lifetime plan the first year then don't renew. Rob Berger has reviewed almost all of them (except Evergreen.ai, so far), and is pretty straightforward, has a YooToob talk every week, no nonsense.
 
I took mine 3 months early in my FRA year as there was no cap on my earnings for holdback, but opted for 4 extra checks to pay down CC debt. I used the money to pay off high interest debt and fully fund a couple of Roth IRAs for me and my wife. In February of 2023, 4 months after turning 70 I had a serious heat attack and could have passed. Had that happened, I would have received 4 checks had I opted for the larger check, and not the 44 I had and have over $100,000 less cash for my wife.

I'm OK with what I did...
 
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As a business owner, I have always handled my own finances.

I took my SS in 1965, and used it to help purchase a piece of rental property in 2018. I sold (1031 exchange) that property in 2025 for a 300K profit, and bought another rental property. That property is now worth $200K more than I paid for it.

Of course, I'm cash poor, bur will leave my wife and kids something better than debt.:thumbsup:
 
My twenty-something neighbor came over yesterday, and offered to mow my lawn because he "feels so bad for me, seeing me mowing in the high heat and humidity". While I'm thankful for the offer, I'm also a bit upset by it, because it means that he sees me as an old man.
I politely declined.
 
gberchin said:
My twenty-something neighbor came over yesterday, and offered to mow my lawn because he "feels so bad for me, seeing me mowing in the high heat and humidity". While I'm thankful for the offer, I'm also a bit upset by it, because it means that he sees me as an old man.
I politely declined.
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Hafta hand it to the kid for offering.
And, yes, he sees an old man… taking care of himself and getting it done.
 
usedto said:
I did the same calculation in 2015 when I turned 65, and came up with about the same answer. Being I had a heart attack and bypass surgery at 55, I wasn't going to bank on making it to 82.

Show me the money!!:biggrin:
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Yep. Anyone seeking advice on SS needs to look at foregone income. If your "advisor" fails to mention that, find a new one.
 
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