Many moons ago, I planned to retire at age 65.
That was before Mary ran into ageism in the employment market, and my retirement portfolio shrank under Trump 1.0.
I decided to keep working to max out my Social Security entitlement. My plan has always been to establish a perpetual, index-linked revenue stream for my base income, with additional spending as needed from my retirement investment portfolio.
I decided to apply for Social Security in December 2024 after Trump was re-elected, on the grounds that if the new administration was going to fuck with the Social Security system, it would be better for me to be on the inside, rather than on the outside looking in. That started paying me from February this year.
I also received good news from the UK that having lived there from 1978 to 1998, I am entitled to a State Pension. It is not a lot of money, but it is guaranteed and index-linked.
My base retirement income stream will therefore comprise my US Social Security payment, my UK pension payment, and a frozen pension scheme from the US from 1998 to 2005, which I am going to convert to an index-linked annuity. This will add up to only about $400 less than my current net income from employment. Then we can use the money from the retirement portfolio to buy additional items, and fund travel. Under US law, minimum distributions kick in in 2027 for my US retirement portfolio, which will send our income well into 6 figures.
When Mary retires from work in 2 years’ time, she will also get a Social Security pension. It will not be a lot, but it will nicely augment our guaranteed income.
The annual income stream looks like a good base. I will be able to transition to writing full-time and traveling without worrying about becoming destitute. Of course, if Trump 2.0 fucks over medical systems, then we might have to consider a Plan B, like moving to the UK.
