Financial Situation:
Managing Wealth in Retirement
One of John Sellers' first jobs was spinning records as the host of an "American Bandstand" clone show at a small television station in Medford, Ore. He earned a small degree of fame as the "Dick Clark of the Rogue Valley." Today, the only thing that John spins is the story of how he and his wife Mary financed their retirement by selling off their home in upscale Washington County and moving to a more modest neighborhood in north Portland.
The new home was half the price of the old one for approximately the same square footage. John, a Korean War veteran, was able to swing a federal GI home loan, and the proceeds from the sale of their old house allow the Sellers to live at approximately two-thirds of their previous income.
They hardly touch the money they have stocked away in an IRA (a portion has been set aside in a money market fund that they use like a checking account). Their other sources of income include the standard Social Security payments, plus Mary's profit-sharing pension from a medical group and John's payments from the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System.
John had to take an early retirement from state government because of a sleep apnea disorder; he now wishes he'd had a doctor and an attorney aggressively pursue his case with the Social Security Administration as being eligible for disability payments. But it isn't that great of a loss, as the Sellers -- by their own admission -- don't need a lot of money to make them happy. "By our own choice, we live frugally," says John. "We like to go out to eat. That's our big expense. Breakfast four times a week and dinner three times. And there's no shortage of good restaurants in Portland."
Expert Advice for John and Mary
The Need to Plan
Asset Allocation
Required Distribution of an IRA
Preparing for the Home Stretch, from our sponsor, Merrill Lynch
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