u/Mid_AM

Over the years, my bed times have changed a lot. Back when I was working and attending customers on site, I might be getting up as early as 5am, although I'd generally prefer to travel the night before and stay in a hotel, waking at 7am.

Then in my last decade of working, I worked from home. I needed to be logged on by 9am. A sensible waking time was 7:30 to 8am, to let me shower and have breakfast; but on occasion, it could be 8:45 and "I'll shower at lunchtime".

Since retiring, my alarm has generally been set for 9am, with the option of "snoozing" until 10am; with equally late bedtimes.

Recently I have been making sure to go to bed at a reasonable time and have moved my alarm to 8am, but frequently waking naturally before then. It has taken me 4 years to get to this, though! 😄

It was an effort, at first, but now I am more used to it, I feel more energised in the morning. It also means on the odd days I am doing something, my morning routine is normal and not a great effort.

So... once retired, and if there are no immediate demands for you to worry about, when do you wake up?

Been reading around the net on this subject, and I've been alarmed at the number of retirees with a large percentage of their net worth in equities. Concerned because a prolonged bear market could really sting and reduce these retirees' quality of life. Haven't seen many threads on this topic here, so I thought I'd poll the group. What percentage of your portfolio is in stocks and which percentage in safe assets?

A few weeks ago I met a guy who said he’s a wine importer. He used to work on Wall Street.

I was thinking last night that a “wine importer” sounds like a great fake job for someone who is retired but just drinks a lot of wine! I’m pretty close to RE, and I think I might just refer to myself as “in the ice cream business”. Or, “chocolate taste tester”.

No stars. The rainy dark day just crept into night

The air is thick with moisture and to... still

The stream of crickets' song is uninterrupted and unwelcomed

A critter, maybe a mole, is in the yard. The bushes rattle as they move in protest.

Will I see the coyote walking down the street? It has been a few days since I heard their howls

I turn in bed, the other side now

Start to think once more about everything

And this will repeat itself again and again until I finally lapse into slumber from the exhaustion of it all.

I have a home office that is rarely used now and quite honestly - I do not like to be in there. There were too many moments that I pushed through to keep working and get to financial security.

I am looking for transformative ideas, I bought a laptop that is more than enough for what I need. I plan to paint it and replace the carpet to visually change the look. What did you wind up using your former home office for?

I am thinking of rolling my 401K which has a mix of mostly Roth and the company match in pre-tax into my existing Rollover IRA and Roth IRA. It seems like it will be simpler to manage and I will be able to see exactly how much Roth I have (today I have to do some math). I know there are some protections with the 401k from creditors that might not exist in the IRAs (I’m in NJ).

The 401k is at Fidelity with all my other accounts and has decent investment options and fees.

I just wanted to get other peoples thoughts whether to roll over or not. I am not sure I am thinking of everything.

Hello, hoping someone has experience in this.

Back in 2022, my child who was 17 at the beginning of the year, was receiving ss survivor payments via deposit.

When she turned 18 that summer, evidently they sent a paper check. It was not cashed. Sometime later (sorry I do not have it in front of me) - she/we received a letter stating there was an outstanding check and to let ssa know by signing/sending back a form. We did so.

Moving in time. I came across the letter in my paperwork near our taxes. Talking to my child and looking back at bank info - they never received the reissued check.

So I was not sure next steps for them. Things tend to be more tricky as survivor benefits (like in person office appt to apply ). Is my child due this money as it was years back? And steps - a form? I thought they should make a local appointment…

Thank you !