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Everything posted by tony

  1. I think Americans definitely suffer from this syndrome. They definitely form an irrational bond with their jobs.We probably spend more time working than any other industrialized nation. And we don't complain much but maybe a little more than we used to.. Problem is no-one on their death bed will wonder if they spent enough time working. I don't miss it. I enjoy reading your commentary.
  2. yea , same here, they now pay much more in and get much less out. Eventually, educational pensions may be a thing of the past. Maybe maybe not.
  3. Life is certainly unpredictable and no decision looking into the future is ever 100%,but you and me are in agreement. Your state pension is much more generous than Virginia's.
  4. Personally, I can't imagine anyone missing work in any profession unless it was stress free and full of perks. As a retired educator, all I can say is my blood pressure is way down now and I'm 12 pounds thinner too. I don't miss the stress and my doctor telling me I need to be on anti -deppressent which I refused And i don't have an identity crisis. But we are all different. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-are-the-bad-things-about-early-retirement-that-no-one-talks-about-2018-09-26?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
  5. MN GOPHER Good to hear from you. I am just offering my two cents not based on math or logic so I may be off because I am not familiar with accelerated payment concept. In Virginia, you can take a lump sum payment upfront upon retirement with a lower pay out through the life of your pension. Many teachers do that.I assume those that do don't have much retirement savings . And some make unwise decisions with it like buying new flashy expensive cars or taking expensive vacations with it.. I think they are rolling the dice.But if it were me I would not accelerate your pension if you are healthy and are taking good care of yourself through exercise and good nutrition and regular doctor visits. I guess if you truly plan to call it quits at a fairly young age of 57, you will possibly need more money to live on but since you have saved money in retirement accounts you could count on that or work part time. Also if you are married or have a partner that might be extra support. I bet if I had math skills the numbers would clearly show that an accelerated payout is not a good deal for you.But i will let the math gurus on this site correct me if i am wrong. You seem well covered with social security (you can take it early at 62) and retirement accounts and a pension so whatever you chose I think you are going to be O.K. I would hope you will have medical coverage through your school system at a group rate until you reach medicare age. That would also be a consideration. Now if you are in poor health, had to pay higher premiums for independent health insurance and didn't qualify for Social Security in your state than I might have a different opinion. I hope I understood your post correctly and I hope I have helped. Let us know what you decide. Tony
  6. Ed, unless you have actually taught over time in a K-12 classroom., it would be very difficult for you to accurately ascertain what it's like today to teach and the changes that are occurring because of technology overuse, bad parenting, poverty, and bad student behavior . Also , the issues mentioned may be more prominent and /or specific to certain school environments and communities than others. Now that I know where she taught, same place I also taught, I get where she is coming from. It could very well be though that she simply did not have the temperament to be a teacher in the first place but I do know my past school system presented and still presents some serious challenges.
  7. Yes I apologize if I caused confusion Ed. I read Moe's resignation comment and soon after ran into this teacher's facebook post from my school system that also resigned on Yahoo news. I did not know at the time how close to home this teacher actually was LOL! Both resignations were similar( somewhat) in sentiment. The local paper here picked up on her facebook post which has gone viral throughout the country which struck a nerve. I admire the candor she expressed in teacher frustration. And she is not wrong unfortunately. The 403b arena is only one area that needs improvement in Education. Other obstacles seem just as insurmountable unfortunately.
  8. FYI I realized today that the young lady teacher who wrote the above post I posted earlier is from my school system I retired from after 30 years teaching there and her comments have caused quite a reaction here. Didn't know that when I posted it. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/teacher-shares-why-she-just-120000511.html
  9. Moe I ran into this article right after reading your post. I still think in an ideal situation teachers have it pretty good but the leadership is not where it should be and there is so much bias toward academic learning over CTE learning which might not be appropriate for a growing number of students.. I have found so many of my past administrators lacking in employee management skills. I think most folks in education that are in leadership roles need to be made to take intensive human /employee management skills. They also need to spend more time in classrooms. Some don't have a clue. "Still, that only chips away at part of the problem. As for the rest of it, well, we've clearly got some work to do. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/teacher-shares-why-she-just-120000511.html In Virginia, if you quit, you can usually retrieve a current cash value of your pension based on past contributions. Do you have that option?
  10. You should give them a final exam before cutting them loose. Chances are though many will come back for additional advice .
  11. Yea, you should spend anything you pull out of a Roth IRA on retirement or you start the tax process all over again unless you just leave it in a checking account that pays no interest.
  12. That's much more impressive than my once in a blue moon cost of living increase.
  13. You have a lot of faith in your fellow man. Most folks I've known struggle with the simplest of financial knowledge. One afternoon would never do it. This is the consequence of no exposure in school or home to financial literacy or basic economics. Ed amazes me and I like his attitude that basically a mutual fund should be clear of any fee, PERIOD. But it's not realistic for many people who need some guidance especially in their early years of investing. Many need some handholding and are willing to pay for it. What we should aim for is keeping them away from the sharks who simply are out to gouge them out of every penny they can under the cover of being a guiding light.
  14. BJackson, Anthony (Tony ISOLA) is currently heading the Educator/403(b) Division at Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. So he does not work for himself privately. He has resources at his disposal of a big firm that you may never have. Personally l think your business model makes no sense to me but if profit isn't important than you will have at very least a good time helping others. I hope you prove me wrong and succeed at your venture . I agree with Ed that I am paying much much less than what you portend to charge clients but then again, .62 % is a move in the right direction for teachers because most are paying much more. I think that is more than reasonable for most average people. For us here that's way too high to pay for a basic index fund but you are also giving advice which is worth something. Please keep us informed of your journey. You have my support for what its worth. What do I know? Incidentally Tony Isola just got back from Italy and he states " In Italy older workers are covered by a pension that replaces 77% of their salary, In America, you need to save for yourself. I'm Italian too and was born there. I can tell you what Tony is saying is not the whole story. Salaries are much lower there overall and taxes are much higher. If they didn't have that pension security most Italians could not survive. You are better off here if you are a saver . Unfortunately ignorance abounds in finance here. My relatives are all living on a very fixed income .They are amazed at the benefits I have-teacher pension plus social security plus roth/403b/IRA savings vehicles. But Italy is more fun place to live if you are wealthy enough. I think the clincher is Italy has free health care for everyone and markedly cheaper college tuition subsidized by the government. So it might even out. Definetely better sense of financial security in Italy as not many Americans have defined pensions like teachers do anymore .
  15. Dang, if those figures are accurate than I am doing better financially than I thought. Those guaranteed pensions are a gold mine. Problem is statistics show most teachers don't stay in the profession long enough to collect a substantial pension. If you can stand it, staying in teaching 25-30 years can pay-off. But since most teachers don't retirement supplementation through a 403b-457b-IRA makes sense. I always count on Ed for my numbers. I hope you are as good with math as you seem. Yes cost of living adjustments are included in most teacher pension plans. I just got notice of a 4.44 % increase starting in a few months.
  16. The most important thing to do once you transfer all your money over to Vanguard is establish a primary and secondary beneficiary. That way that person or persons or charity will have rights to the money. This designation I believe acts like a will for your accounts and supersedes any written will. So this is extremely important to do. It can be done online and it can be changed online. Vanguard has an information packed website unlike any I have ever seen. You would be good to get familiar with it. It talks about every possible issue. I believe upon your death the beneficiary can claim the account and transfer it over to themselves. At that point they pretty much take over the tax liabilities involved. This might help as different accounts may have differences in procedures and requirements. I can't speak about about a California teachers pension but here in Virginia, once you retire you must declare if you want your pension transferable to another person upon your death. If you don't, you get a larger monthly payout and if you want a transfer upon your death the payout is lower. You will have to read the specifics of your plan. I took the non transferable payout as it was significantly more money . When I die it stops. My wife has her own pension and we have a healthy nest egg so she will be fine.
  17. Yea I agree with Steve. I am guilty here too. We can sometimes go off the deep end thinking we are helping but in fact we may be confusing you further when presenting more options to consider when you are just trying to clear up your current concerns. Baby steps are a good thing. Sorry . This is something frequent posters need to remind themselves of. Keep It Simple Stupid. And I am referring to us frequent posters and not the original posters asking questions. My apologies but you must notice the passion we share to help you. P.S. I do also agree with Ed, and MNGOPHER. I agee owning different kinds of accounts gives you some flexibility and all have positives and negatives but since you have Vanguard in your 403b, you can't go wrong maxing it out in a tax advantaged/sheltered account.
  18. Tnewin The fact that you are single and have no children is like having a few hundred grand extra in the bank, trust me. I think the fact you will have a pension and money in a 403b makes me feel you are on a good course. Just keep saving the Vanguard way. Your pension is like an annuity. I'm discovering that I covered all my bases, reach my goals and I have more money than I'll ever need. I'm not even using my social security benefits. Do California teachers qualify for SS?.You will be fine. That pension is worth a pretty penny.I feel the financial industry often uses fear to get you to save more in the same way they sell life insurance. It's a good message but its often insincere. They just want your money. I do understand the cost of living in California is quite high however. Ed may disagree but in my humble opinion Taxable and Roth accounts are a superior way to save. Taxable accounts are not taxed as income so you have some flexibility with losses and lower taxable rates when you sell .And certainly you'll have better choices even if the money isn't tax differed since you are not limited in choices.Ax Roth 403b money on the other hand is free and clear once you retire. Tax advantaged is what I wish I didn't own because the tax man comes after you at 70 and beyond. Had I gone Roth more than I did I would not have to worry about the taxman because you've already payed the taxman. The Roth 403b was late to the party unfortunately for me or every penny would have gone into a Roth.
  19. I do know some school systems (like my old one) would have in-service days and on occasion would pay folks to come in and do an inservice. So maybe that would be a way to help teachers and school systems see the light. You will have to sell yourself, network and make contacts. Unfortunately I remember some of the folks they called in to do the financial inservice at my school system where annuity salesman LOL!! representing the well known names in the industry. And, I doubt the school systems would pay you much. The salespeople probably didn't care about collecting any payment for their inservice because after all you get to speak to large audience at once. KA-CHING!!! KA-CHING!!! $$$$$
  20. tony


    Please ignore this.
  21. tony


    please ignore this too. not sure what happened.
  22. TNEWIN, So, how do you think you will proceed? Did we help?
  23. P.S One other thing. If you max out your 403b, have an IRA account that you max out, perhaps you should avoid a bad 457 plan and just invest in Taxable accounts in a very low fee fund like Vanguard or Fidelity index funds. That way you have more control over fees. Just know Taxable accounts work differently than retirement account investments.
  24. Your questions are far from elementary and many people find themselves in the same quandry. I would say absolutely take the surrender fee (if any)and transfer every last penny you have into a Vanguard 403b !!. I really don't care about your Advisor guy and what he says. Most of it is rubbish and self -serving advice thats not in your best interest. He is looking after himself. While he is telling you you payed most of your fees upfront , that is simply not true.Did you pay upfront Loads? If you did you got hit twice.Your expense ratio keeps pounding you for as long as you own those funds and the cost only goes up as you accumulate more assetts. GET OUT NOW. I would stay away from your 457B if its littered with insurance companies. Are you maxing out your 403B? Wife? Does the wife work? If you already have Vanguard you already have a good choice on your vendor list. As far as your 457B can you share the choices? The fact Mass Mutual oversees it is NOT a good sign. Your payroll manager is probably lacking the knowledge to right out tell you that you cannot add better choices to your 457 plan. She is a low person on the totem pole. Go higher and ask questions. You should be able to go online to check your 457b fees but if they are not clearly stated THAT'S ANOTHER RED FLAG. So 1. Max out your Vanguard 403b 2. Contribute to a Roth IRA through Vanguard(or possibly Fidelity-index funds only) If you are married wife can contribute too) You are doing that by what about wife? 3. Avoid commisioned advisors . Don't believe what they tell you. Their interests are not aligned with yours!!!! 4. See if you have a state sponsored 457 that could be added to your provider list. It may be possible. Bypass your payroll person. 5. The fact Mass Mutual runs the 457 is not a good sign but please share your choices plus stated fees so we can take a closer look If you need info on how to Transfer to Vanguard. i can help with that. Just ask Also since you from California, someone like Steve Schullo can probably have better details on options since he is very familiar with how California school plans work. You may hear from him.
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