What's the number?

[4matic]

inflation can destroy savings.

It would be great for my strategy. Plenty of cash for a ten year treasury @4%.

An outlier strategy is buy Chinese treasury. I’m bullish Yuen.

[XXX-er]

Enjoy it while you can. There were protests in Barcelona last year and recently. Seville is passing laws. I don't blame them. I probably contributed a little bit to a middle class Italian not finding an affordable apartment with my month in Verona rlast year. Sure can be cheap, though, especially having a full kitchen.

No worries here at Espanya roundabout cuz there are a couple of policia standing just 50 ft away 7/24, at the police station, sometimes the girl is holding the assault rifle and sometimes she lets the guy hold it .

Spent some time in Portugal which was not so crowded, Barcelona was fucking crowded on some areas and the bnb host said it was worse in July/ August, which would be pretty fucking hot, it's t shirt weather now ... May is the time to be here imo

[Benny Profane]

I'm thinking October November further south. Andalusia. No tourists then. It's a great time for euro travel, and still warm, especially there. Good biking.

[wooley12]

I'm going bass fishing near Quincy in my canoe.

[Benny Profane]

The point of what? Her book is not about retiring early. Indeed, I don't recall that she even mentions it. Why would she? She was 18 y.o. when she wrote it. The book is about living a good rich life on very little money.

Maybe you're confusing Possum Living with another book, Your Money or Your Life, which is about retiring early via simple living.

Well, actually, my wife has paid SS premiums at or near SS maximum most of the past 20 years, and will likely pay max the next 8 years (when we'll both take SS), thus her SS benefit schedule will look very similar to mine. In our case it's about her being younger, not about a history of lower earnings.

ETA: Another factor: The calculation of taking SS at an early age has dramatically changed in the past 20-25 year. In 1995, if you had a chunk of money in savings and retirement at age 62, you could invest in super safe debt instruments with 5-6% or better return. Back then, taking SS at 62 sometimes penciled out because the return on the debt instruments more than made up for the value of delaying SS election. It's a different world now.

You know what isn't different? We're all gonna die. Yup, universal. So, clichéd as it sounds, get it while you can. Do you know anybody who's eighty? Maybe one or two, but, c'mon. And, are they mobile? Sharp of mind? Skiing? That's a rare bird. Anyway, all this "you're gonna live ten more years than your parents" is, maybe true, but, do you wanna be 88? Tinkaboutit. Joint replacements, I'll concede, make my old age look much brighter than someone who was born twenty years before me. But, I can't really see much else.
It's marketing hype by the financial industry, our giant leech on the side of capitalism. More for us, less for you. And no place do I hear, stop fucking eating already, lay off the beer and whiskey, exercise, exercise, exercise, and love somebody. Nooooooooo, can't take 1% off the top of that.

[XXX-er]

Biked the Camino in northern Spain in September and it was great weather, still lots of green , we met a pilgrim who had been doing the walk in 40C during August which sounds pretty hot, june/July/August might be too hot altho biking further narth in France during August was great

[Benny Profane]

I think southern Spain is only tolerable in the summer if you live on the water. I'm going to visit Alicante, to check it out. Still ok biking. The Spanish RE market, especially there, is fucked up, in good and bad ways. Good that's it's affordable, and, since the coast down there to Gibralter is 1/3 Brits, a two to three decade culture, Brexit could really fuck that up. I think the Spanish are on top of this, and will create incentives to stay, because it's money, but, without the free movement, you have to wonder. Health care costs, too. So, more stuff on the market. But, bad, in that, that country was hit the hardest during the crisis because of their ridiculously levered RE market. You think it was bad here? Pffffffft. I just read that 1.5 million units started then remain vacant, BUT, the banks are now offering 100%, NO MONEY DOWN loans for NEW CONSTRUCTION. Madness. It's like capitalism in its death throes.

[GeezerSteve]

Do you know anybody who's eighty? * * * And, are they mobile? Sharp of mind? Skiing?

Yes, I know a couple dozen people in their 80s who are mobile, self sufficient and skiing (downhill and/or XC). I know another couple dozen non-skier octogenarians who hike, fish, golf, jog and/or bird. Outdoorsy old timers are not so rare out here. Maybe it's the Scandinavian blood, maybe it's the environment, maybe PNW clean living, maybe a mix of the foregoing.

I'm not worried about 88 because I'll be dead before that. OTOH, I have an obligation to make sure that Honey is set up when I die. We're right on track. I'm semi-retired, work 1/4 time, glad to use my experience and talents to help small biz people through the legal process. Honey works 4 days a week w/ lots of vacation time, a satisfying job and is respected in the community. Life is good. 8 years from now she'll retire and we'll hit the road.

Joint replacement surgery? I will be having one of those as soon as the insurance approval comes through.

[Benny Profane]

Medicare pays for it. There's hundreds of old ski instructors marking the calender to 65.

[GeezerSteve]

Yeah, well, it's 3+ years until Medicare kicks in for me and I need a new knee now.

A good bud and former biz partner has been teaching skiing for 10+ years with two fake knees. We climbed Mt. Olympus for Honey's 50th birthday with a chick with 2 fake hips. There is life after joint replacement surgery.

[Benny Profane]

Oh yeah. My one day at Bridger this year was following an older ski host through the trees on an 8 inch powder day. Skied old school Stein style. It was beautiful. Fake hip and knee, no complaints.

My ortho surgeon in Colorado, a man who has spent his career mastering knee repair, told me, eh, take care of it, nurse it, and just go fake late in life, so you don't have to do it twice. They don't last forever. He doesn't do replacements, that's a new generation of doctors. Technology replaced him.

[GeezerSteve]

My ortho surgeon in Colorado, a man who has spent his career mastering knee repair, told me, eh, take care of it, nurse it, and just go fake late in life, so you don't have to do it twice.

All true, although TKAs are lasting much longer these days due to advances in material (plastic, mostly) technology. I wish I could delay my left knee TKA, but I have no choice. I'm currently crippled, had to shut down my ski season 2 months ago. I can't even bicycle these days. It's patellofemoral arthritis, the legacy of a smashing my knee cap against a rock on a mountaineering traverse in 1993.

[Shredhead]

Dav had his knee replaced in October and I skied with him in February. Which was five years post op, of my hip replacement.
I’m currently around 160+ days on skis this season.
Life goes on!

[BFD]

timely bump some good advice. Go back to work next week and right now am not feeling it. Good thin I am self employed. Checked my social security I can get as much now as 66.5 if I am disabled. My arthritis in my hands is limiting my ability to pick large amounts of fish. I wonder if that will work. But yea stay in shape it gets harder all the time. I agree with Benny on the replacement just to get back in physical condition after the surgery could be a year.

[stalefish3169]

5 BTC

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using TGR Forums mobile app

[XXX-er]

I think southern Spain is only tolerable in the summer if you live on the water. I'm going to visit Alicante, to check it out. Still ok biking. The Spanish RE market, especially there, is fucked up, in good and bad ways. Good that's it's affordable, and, since the coast down there to Gibralter is 1/3 Brits, a two to three decade culture, Brexit could really fuck that up. I think the Spanish are on top of this, and will create incentives to stay, because it's money, but, without the free movement, you have to wonder. Health care costs, too. So, more stuff on the market. But, bad, in that, that country was hit the hardest during the crisis because of their ridiculously levered RE market. You think it was bad here? Pffffffft. I just read that 1.5 million units started then remain vacant, BUT, the banks are now offering 100%, NO MONEY DOWN loans for NEW CONSTRUCTION. Madness. It's like capitalism in its death throes.

Was in Spain 5 years ago riding across the north, I would see many construction projects started and just left with the crane still up, car dealers gone under, rode thru a golf community with nobody on the course and 90% of the lots not built on, but the medieval village next to the project was still there

Barcelona looks pretty happening, nothing is falling down and everybody is working hard building shit

it's a cool city with alot of livable things

[liv2ski]

Zero is a bit severe, but, yeah, not much inflation for a decade or two, and inflation can destroy savings.

Low inflation? What rock are you guys living under? Do you never buy groceries, go out to dinner, pay for health care and I could go on and on. Thankfully most of our income will come from rentals, which means as shit gets more expensive, the rents are going up too. In about 10 years, if I can find a safe non callable long term bond to invest in at 5%+, I will likely sell the rentals.

[garyfromterrace]

Pulling the pin in Sept. My wife in Sept 2019. Plan to take a couple of years off then ultra part time ( a couple months/yr for a few years). Our financial guy says we can do it easily if we can live off 60k/yr (without working at all) starting in 2020. Figure the part time work for both of us will pay for a bunch of travel. He built some nice things into the plan like new vehicles every 10 years and a 100k reno on the house.

I think it's very do-able, and I'm excited as hell.

[BFD]

^^ right on are you a surveyor?

[XXX-er]

Pulling the pin in Sept. My wife in Sept 2019. Plan to take a couple of years off then ultra part time ( a couple months/yr for a few years). Our financial guy says we can do it easily if we can live off 60k/yr (without working at all) starting in 2020. Figure the part time work for both of us will pay for a bunch of travel. He built some nice things into the plan like new vehicles every 10 years and a 100k reno on the house.

I think it's very do-able, and I'm excited as hell.

Moving back to T town ?

[Bobby Stainless]

Thankfully most of our income will come from rentals, which means as shit gets more expensive, the rents are going up too. .

Kind of a inflation proof investment.

[swissiphic]

......... and a 100k reno on the house.

I think it's very do-able, and I'm excited as hell.

is 90 000 bucks of that dedicated to the new tennis court in the back yard, Gary?

For the record, really lookin' forward to You and better half move back to T town... Thornhill just ain't the same without you around...neither are the Trippple G movie nights without the polish porch peeler vodka Caesars!

[iceman]

There's no money in the budget for clam juice.

[garyfromterrace]

^^ right on are you a surveyor?

No, Civil Project Manager.

[garyfromterrace]

Moving back to T town ?

Yeah buddy!