A big focus on this site has been the need to seek out ways to supplement income during retirement in order to relieve the burden placed on the portfolio. For people willing to spend some time being creative and laying some ground work early on there are many ways to achieve this in such a way that fits any given situation.
I mentioned the other day that Joellyn went up to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with a couple of her dog-lady friends. Sticking only to the pertinent details a friend a friend of Joellyn's is in her mid-60s and does copy-writing for the sanctuary. She lives up near the sanctuary but is moving, coincidentally, to Prescott and can continue to do the job via telecommute.
Presumably she has some knowledge of animals and writing which makes this a good fit for her. Not knowing this person at all it is safe to assume that she will be able to do the work for quite a while. Obviously it doesn't pay $10,000 a month but it does provide benefits so it putting this in your terms how much would you need to make to relieve your portfolio's burden? And how much more would that be worth in exchange for benefits?
If something that was in your wheelhouse (you can do it and enjoy it) paid just $10 per hour for 25 hours a week and your portfolio need was $4000-$5000 per month then I would submit that the $1000 in this example would be huge. Even if you needed $10,000 a month the job in this example is helpful.
Depending on what you read about social security, potential stock market returns and any other related topics it would be very easy to get disillusioned by the whole thing. This may a personality thing but we are all going to have to address this in our own lives (or maybe you already are). As there is no avoiding it I think it is more useful to view it as a problem to be solved--a challenge of sorts. Hearing or reading positive stories is encouraging as is, I believe, trying to proactively take the bull by the horns.
The picture is of a barn on the Best Friends property built by Disney for a movie.
18 comments:
a couple of her dog-lady friends. I hope they're not reading the blog, Roger. :O
Back on topic though, I'm the ripe old age of 34 but love what I do. But I've given this some thought because I honestly think I'll work until I'm dead, not because I have to but because I want to.
However, in my experience so far, you've found a bit of a sweet scenario. In most businesses I deal with, a remote part-time employee in a professional services type setting rarely exist. Maybe that will change in 10, 20, 30 years, but I don't think it's something most can count on. To me, it's like social security, if it's there, woohoo.
Bill, you are hitting on a key point to this that I have made before and I guess did not get to this time which is it is unlikely that something like this will fall into our laps. i believe these sweet scenarios will have to be the product of thoughtful pre-planning, ingenuity and a bit of luck.
Like you I have a job I think I can do to the end, but I'm not sure how many people will hire me when I'm 97 even if I can still help fight a wildfire.
Ah, sorry about that then. I may have read it before, but I have a mind like a steel grate.
Steep yield curve?
http://tinyurl.com/mhufvy
RR, I've got some experience with Best Friends, having done some writing and editing for their magazine in the past--nice group of good-hearted folks in an absolutely gorgeous location. And as I'm sure Joellyn tells you, the stories will make you teary-eyed, both happy and sad.
WRT to Joellyn's friend's approach, and I'd reckon it's applicable to anyone in a creative field as their sweet scenario: I've been a full-time freelance writer/editor for 10 years now, and I would never count on a single job, or even on a few. (I'm not saying that she is, but it could very well be the case.) The primary risk is this: As soon as a publisher, editor, or art director leaves, your relationship will be severed, regardless of how beloved you are by anyone underneath them. That's what happened with me at Best Friends, and it's not a matter of if, but when. No hard feelings, no more work...
Looking farther down the line, one of the risks I'm trying to get a handle on is technology evolution. I'm about to turn 42 and on top of things now, but is that something I can count on in perpetuity? It's not necessarily wielding a Pulaski, but it's not 100% different either.
Roger,
I realize that some people may want to or have to "work" in retirement but there are those of us who take a very different approach to retirement. As someone who quit work in my early 50s to retire I think the key to success (and I've been retired about 10 yrs now) is to PLAN AHEAD and live below your means. My wife and I have weathered two terrible bear markets yet we are still retired and not working. How do we do it..... We planned ahead to live below a 4% withdrawal rate and we are willing and have cut discretionary expenses (like big vacations, new cars, etc) during these downturn years. I don't want to work in retirement as I keep plenty busy without working and this plan works for me and my wife. Just another point of view.
you have overcome something that i am sad to say many people cannot; poor spending decisions.
the planning comment is spot on but living withing your means is an obstacle for so many people.
OT, but read Irishscot2's post on the recessionary trend based on oil consumption in the last few years.
http://tinyurl.com/loqhxs
RIP, congratulations. This is exactly where I want to be. I say I want to work into retirement but the market, the service I provide, my 'ideal' job, my health, etc may change and make that impossible. To me, it all falls back to the fundamental question.
Q: What does a rich man do when he wakes up in the morning?
A: Whatever the hell he wants.
RR- an article on Chile that may be of interest to you...
http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/05/wsj-prudent-chile-thrives-amid-downturn.html
Roger- prepare for whipsaw as this market is heading to its 233 EMA of 960 range and than will head lower....
The 200 DMA is so widely followed that it is absolutely meaningless.
I think cash is a great place to be however at some point in the next 12 months buy and hold will be back in vogue for a few years anyway...
Roger,
First time poster and visitor to your blog via Seeking Alpha. I apologize if this question is redundant for you however I am currently searching for a RIA for my family's portfolio and was curious what type (if any) of "alternative investments" that your consider for your clients? I did use your blog's search function and believe at times you have used gold, commodities, managed futures (RYMFX). If possible please advise what alternatives that you consider?
Thanks,
Patti
for now I have three OEFs in my ownership universe (written about many times before)RYMFX, DLSAX and NARFX.
Roger- I realize the significance of your use of the inverted yield curve, is there any merit to the steepening curve foreshadowing an economic recovery?
generally yes but I do not trust that now given the totality of the current circumstance.
Hey great advice!
I'm to start writing a comparision about the great 2008-2011 financial crash to American war crimes in Iraq.
We can try to keep sweeping it under the rug as we move from waterboarding (drowning people) to rape to electrocutions to who knows what comes out next, ...
It would have been easier and safer for America to just take the pain all at ounce - try Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and then execute them for war crimes so that we can move on as a country -
same for the economy, let truth out into the market, take the deflationary depression and re-build.
Hi...This is a random Test
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