Q.O.D> 6/1

Hi there to all my friends here. I am still upstate with my bestest friend. We are going shopping today for clothes. I enjoy this very much. I am going to get some new stuff for working out. Let me try to ask a good question for the day. . 1) Have any of you guys thought of any retirement ideas? I have been thinking of retiring here in upstate N.Y. 2) Have you discussed your plans with your hubby or family? I have discussed this with my daughter and she thinks I won't like it. 3) Have you prepared yourself financially for retirement? I am a very poor saver so I have only my social security and my pension, I have not saved anything. Well guys off to have fun. Retuning this evening to Long Island and back to work on Thursday. Friday is my big day for weigh in, MY 6 MONTH CHECKUP.....HOPE I DO WELL. Lorraine

Lorraine, Retirement wow no i have planned or saved.....i just trying to find a job and a date.....I guess i better find a rich man with good retirement and stuff so i will be supported when i retire........lol just joking on that but good idea tho........lynda

Hi Lorraine, My hubby and I have discussed where we want to live once we retire.... and I miss Georgia so that is it for me. He wants to live by the ocean (preferably by Myrtle Beach) but we'll see what happens once we get a little bit further along. Saving... not too much there yet but I am in school again... trying to get my Masters. Once we leave the Army... everthing goes into the bank...lol! ~Rachel

Welcome to another work week, at least it's short! Nothing like making us think responsible thoughts on a psuedo-Monday. 1) Have any of you guys thought of any retirement ideas? We've talked about what we want to do some, but no big plans yet. Our favorite ideas are moving out west to the mountains, or Tasmania. Seriously. If you ever get to that part of the world, you have to spend some time there. Wherever we end up, it's gonna be someplace that we can keep horses at home. 2) Have you discussed your plans with your hubby or family? Of course, every time we go on vacation and find a new favorite place, we start talking about how it would be so great to retire here. 3) Have you prepared yourself financially for retirement? We've been working on it. 401K, IRA, an annuity, general brokerage account... Our best savings come from automatic payroll deductions. It's hard to miss money you never see. Sleeping with my broker doesn't hurt. If any of our accounts lose money, he gets sent to the sofa. Have a great week everybody! Deb

1) Have any of you guys thought of any retirement ideas? Yes...My wife wants to raise alpacas so we are going to invest in land....about 160 acres in Colorado or California. 2) Have you discussed your plans with your hubby or family? My wife and I talk about it a lot. She knows that I won't take care of the animals...but I will take care of growing the feed. 3) Have you prepared yourself financially for retirement? Yes...Lots of investments...coins, 403b, two houses, two 5 acre parcels in Arizona, Roth IRA's, Traditional IRA's etc...Not much cash on hand though. With about 15 to 20 years left to work..I hope to have at least 750,000 to retire on.

Hello lovely Lorraine, Retirement...well, I am a ways off so there is not really much planning going on. As for saving...Not much there either..just my hubbys 401K plan and a hope to win the lottery soon! (I guess I better start playing the lotto, if I ever plan to win it, huh?) We are 38 now but I have mentioned wanting to get a huge Winnebago and go cross country seeing everything. Just do the drive and stop for a while. Sounds cliche, but I like the idea. Of course, if I do win the lottery, it won't be Winnebago and the US, it will be a Leer Jet, the finest Hotels and the WORLD! Actually, I'd like to do that while I am young...anyone know a Sugar Daddy that can take me traveling??? Tracy

We save with 401ks.......Also working on saving cash, turning them into CD's......we have a long way to go.....I am 26 hubby is 28, so no real plans.....just making sure we have plenty of money to do what we want with!!! Have a great day Jesi

1) Have any of you guys thought of any retirement ideas? I think about it all the time because it means I can devote all of my FREE time to travelling and not worrying about how much VACATION time I have!!!!! 2) Have you discussed your plans with your hubby or family? Hubby and I discuss it a LOT. Financial planning, reading, visiting places and talking about how nice it would be to spend more time there. 3) Have you prepared yourself financially for retirement? PROBABLY more so than most 30/31 yrs old unless they are trust fund babies! In fact I think we have enough right now that even if we never ever put in another dime --assuming decent returns on investment we could retire on what we already have saved. Of course we won't quit saving and we assume that Social Security won't be around to help us and I don't trust that pensions will be stable or pay enough either..maybe cover some groceries but not enough to pay the rent. I imagine with job changes and kids starting in a year --we will be saving a LOT less than we do now. But we always try to max out our company matching plans and do some sort of IRA if we qualify that year. We may be moving next year to a place that is considered a #1 place to RETIRE so in that case we would never have to leave! BUT I have too much wanderlust. (Charlottesville VA) I have to agree with the TASMANIA comment from DEB. Assuming she means the one next to AUSTRALIA!! IT was our FAVORITE spot on our honeymoon. We would love to retire and spend a few years in Australia travelling around. We also LOVE Canada as well. WE hope that the exchange rate will stay in our favor when it comes times to purchase a 2nd home. We have talked about it recently but can't decide where to do it and I don't want the upkeep. Since my parents live at the beach and have a Mtn Cabin in Georgia near the NC border ...no point in duplicating those anywhere else. PLUS I can't imagine vacationing at the same place every year. I am toooo much of an adventurist.

Shannon, Is there any other Tasmania? Besides being beautiful, the people there are sooooooooooo nice, even by Aussie standards. Someone even came out and opened a gas station for us the night before we left, because we weren't going to have enough to get back to Hobart. And the food...well, I can still enjoy a few bites. If I were ever to move out of the US, it would have to be to Australia. Deb