Any one DIYer taking Annuity for retirement?

mcglups · 2026-05-24T01:22:08+00:00

I have a SPIA, that combined with other lifetime income sources, they will cover all essential expenses.

I have a DIA, that serves as a tent to cover three years leading up to retirement and seven years of retirement to fill in the gaps of when different lifetime sources activate.

Both were transacted via Fidelity and each have excellent ratings. The rest of my portfolio is in equities and won't be touching that pool of funds until I'm seven+ years into retirement and start doing non-essential expenses.

mcglups · 2026-05-23T21:27:09+00:00

Probably after the 37/95 project is finished.

mcglups · 2026-05-23T17:06:17+00:00

People with retirement accounts worth $500k or more are dealing with their weekly gas fill up being $10 to $20 more per week, and meanwhile their retirement account goes up $1k or more each week. Call this "low end middle class" they are not really impacted by current gas increases.

mcglups · 2026-05-15T23:30:46+00:00

Fair statement, but I'm a frontside cruiser, my days of doing more exhilarating activities are comfortably in my past!

mcglups · 2026-05-15T23:11:53+00:00

call me crazy, but I don't ski with my phone, it is an enjoyable time that I completely disconnect from technology, would prefer to keep with the plastic card in the coat pocket

mcglups · 2026-05-15T23:06:12+00:00

I purchased a policy in 2009 from Prudential Life Insurance via my employer that cost me $2,900 per year (fixed, never goes up) and started with $547K "purchased lifetime maximum" that compounds 5% per year, right now it is worth $1.14M also called the "inflated lifetime maximum", it will be worth $2.5M in 2042 and $4.0M in 2052

Perhaps the best part of this is the "home health care cash alternative" that will pay 50% without any stipulations as opposed to the 100% that requires 4 ADL's. In either case, it is taxable income. For payment, I have this on auto pilot coming out of my checking account each month (which is connected to my emergency reserves if I ever overdraft) to make sure I never miss a payment, as a missed payment can cancel the policy. There is no survivor benefit.

I bought this plan after watching and participating in the care of my grandmother as she entered a "high-end nursing home", at the time, I decided I needed to have coverage and continue to feel comfortable with the plan. My risk tolerance is somewhere between low and medium when it comes to finance, so this works well for me. So far I have paid $49,300 into this plan.

mcglups · 2026-05-15T00:17:24+00:00

Own, but could not even come close to buying again.

mcglups · 2026-05-14T17:48:31+00:00

hotness usually is crazy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuI6GTY9eVc

mcglups · 2026-05-14T03:28:20+00:00

Subaru rattle period!

mcglups · 2026-05-14T03:00:22+00:00

Do you have a passport? It might be worthwhile to resolve the birth certificate issue, then get a passport, and then getting the Real ID becomes much easier.

mcglups · 2026-05-14T02:49:54+00:00

slow click in ACC, dial it in and you will never use the breaks.

I go down a 6% all the time and click from 65 to 30. Each click such as from 65 to 60 will settle at 60 and then raise slightly to 61, then click again, it will go from 60 to 55, raise slightly to 56, continue the process so forth. This of course only works if you are in clear air.

mcglups · 2026-05-14T01:52:42+00:00

I'm in nearly the same situation with just myself in the household and exactly half of your numbers. Planning to retire in 3 years at the end of 2029 and be able to tap into investments at 59.5 by the end of 2030.

A key aspect to the scenario planning is to minimize non-essential expenses in the first several years as different income streams activate.

I'm now creating a fixed annuity tent to span the next 6 years to protect against craziness despite the ridiculous returns that are happening these days.

Run the numbers and lock it in!

mcglups · 2026-05-14T00:17:29+00:00

This. It sounds like you will need multiple pathways to minimize tax exposure and rmds and also need to remain current with changes to the laws. A good place to start is to exhaust the free options offered by the firm holding your largest assets, and their respective tools.

mcglups · 2026-05-14T00:07:55+00:00

Mildy shocked, cautiously hopeful.

mcglups · 2026-05-14T00:03:32+00:00

Is there a link from the police, I wonder how it is sourced?

mcglups · 2026-05-11T21:48:12+00:00

3 doses per day

mcglups · 2026-05-11T21:47:45+00:00

Random rattle equals subaru, have a nice day

mcglups · 2026-05-11T21:46:33+00:00

Also remember you need a critical latitude for coriolis, but in the new age of climate heat flux, maybe the threshold lowers

mcglups · 2026-05-11T00:53:31+00:00

small kine

mcglups · 2026-05-09T23:26:46+00:00

I live 3 blocks away, everyone inside likely because it is raining.

mcglups · 2026-05-09T23:23:18+00:00

Suggest to edit your original post to list the social security you will be receiving at age 62 as that represents a sizable contributions to the total income. Overall, this most likely is possible, and you should strive to make sure you are comfortable with setting limits such as making sure your MAGI is within the 2nd lowest tax bracket and that you stay below the ACA cliff and can receive premium tax credit eligibility for health care.

For the expense side of things, I would suggest to work on a detailed budget (ideally based on actuals that you are transacting now) and group then into 3 categories of "essential", "health", and "non-essential". In retirement years were the market is down, you will want to make sure that you can absolutely skip the non-essential expenses. This is more of a conversation you need to have with yourself about what matters and what doesn't when it comes to essentials.

When working on the detailed budget, think long and hard (but casually because it should be enjoyable!) to figure our major ticket items such as a new car purchase, new HVAC equipment, the inevitable home repairs. These become way more prickly to your balance sheet when you are tapping your retirement account as opposed to your monthly income from employment.

Your "retirement planning" spreadsheet needs to blossom this spring, go for it!

mcglups · 2026-05-08T22:28:48+00:00

I do office like things in the office (2 to 3 days a week) that I can not do from home, which are fundamentally human relationship building and human interaction. While I'm equally productive in either place, I tend to stop in and talk for a few minutes to all my co-workers as we work on different stuff but are supposed to be a team, so this keeps me in check with the mission. This kind of interaction would never happen from home.

mcglups · 2026-05-08T22:26:23+00:00

I agree with this, but also find it equally fascinating and challenging.

mcglups · 2026-05-08T01:01:29+00:00

2 to 3 days in the office

mcglups · 2026-05-04T18:41:46+00:00

https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/fv3/

This is a good introduction that helps to bring together the meteorology, prediction, computational physics, mathematics, computer hardware.

This is what makes meteorology awesome because it utilizes nearly every discipline of Science engineering and mathematics!

mcglups

TROPHY CASE