I'm going to go with a considerable amount of nagging and control issues for starters. I'd be weary of this one, seems like a trap.
Mid-fifties? So you don't plan on living past 60? Remember, even at 60, a % of your money won't be used till later years( At 70 and a half you have min. distributions, you have to withdraw a %). If your leaving monies to your kids, you want to figure in at their ages of the monies use. I tell people to be careful with annuities, is needed by only a small % of the people. A steady income for most do well. It's done wel for me. 0bama should do a better job of handeling this, but as with everything hes done, its a fail.
I have no children to leave an inheritance to and no wife either, at present. My retirement plan maximizes annual income rather than wealth protection. Between a pension, timber sales, rental income, and the annuities, I will have a guaranteed income stream until age 99 that is about 120% of my working income including inflation regardless of the market. And that doesn't include any income from a respectable investment portfolio and a small business. Even if I lost everything in the market, which is highly unlikely, I will still have an adequate income stream. So the investments are cushion against unforeseen disaster, serious illness, long-term health care, etc. If the annuities seem conservative for a middle-age guy, it is because they allow me to be more aggressive in my market investments. I'm not risking my retirement, my kids college education, or the welfare of any dependents in a market crash or another great depression.
First you say you have no kids and wife, then you talk about risk with kids college education? I tell people all the time, you can finance certain things in life (Only if you have to), you can't finance a retirement. I have retired at a young age, well, younger than most. My investments have rode the ups and downs in the markets over the years. A good mix has done well for me. Once things clear in the market, I may move money into other parts, but for now, I can't complain.
Read it again, I said I can take more market risk because my fixed income is adequate and I'm not burdened with having to provide for dependents that I don't have. Whatever blows your hair back, Pops. I retire next year with zero debt, significant income, and a healthy nest egg, so I feel pretty good about how I handle my money, too.
I was raised by parents who grew up during the Great Depression. They lived frugally their entire lives. Even when they were old and more affluent they always lived in fear of "hard times" returning. They lived within their means, borrowed little, and saved a lot. I have also lived frugally. It was the only way I knew how to live. But I have noticed some in my generation and many in the succeeding generation who have always seemed to live life at the edge of their borrowing power. The last recession was the tipping point for a lot of these folks who had far more debts than assets, if they had any assets at all. Some are desperate now and one I know moved back into her elderly mom's house at age 48.
