What are you up to these days? My primary hobby (avocation) is writing. I've published eight books and many hundreds of articles. My most recent writing project is creating a non-monetized website,
www.DoubtersParish.com, which helps thinking people navigate faith in the twenty-first century. I also write a column for my local paper. And I volunteer with SHIP (
State Health Insurance Assistance Program), which helps people navigate Medicare. My wife loves gardening, music, dancing and art. We take special joy seeing our two young grandchildren almost every day. They live less than a mile down the road. In fact, my wife is pretty much a rockstar grandmother! They call our home "wonderland."
Sweet! What's your saving and investing philosophy? In the 30 years before we retired, we saved/invested an average of 27.5% of our gross income. I maxed out my 403(b) pension account and we both maxed out our Roth accounts. We invested additional money into non-qualified funds. We were able to save a lot by 1) not going into debt, 2) buying Toyotas and keeping them for at least a decade (my current Camry is 11 years old and her Celica is 21 years old and they both still drive fine!), 3) limiting other expenses and 4) investing in boring index funds, mostly with Vanguard. Today, we keep three years of needed cash in a money-market bucket in case the market tanks. The rest is placed in a 55/45 stock/bond portfolio, mostly with Vanguard index funds.
We never felt like we missed anything by not spending too much. Instead, we had a very rich life. And we still do.
Nice! Any advice for folks preparing for retirement? When I was a young minister, still in my 20s, an older pastor who was a mentor talked to me about finances. He said, "Martin, you'll never make a lot of money in this profession. But if you will stay out of debt, give 10%, save 10% (and a lot more if possible) and live on the rest, it will serve you well." He was right.
Money itself never motivated me very much. However, saving a significant percentage of our income did give us some wonderful options in life, including going to seminary, leaving a job for doctoral work and having adequate funds to comfortably retire at age 62. We plan on taking Social Security at our full retirement age or later.
We use a Vanguard money manager to help us with our finances. They provide excellent service at a small fee (about one third of one percent). It's well worth paying for the professional help.
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