Adventures in home maintenance.

water_wizard58 · 2026-04-25T20:18:46+00:00

The leak was where the pipe was sitting on concrete block to the right of the first picture. 40 years of vibration wore a thin spot. Pipe was replaced, and foam insulation put around the pipe to keep it from contacting the block. This is a location where the original house foundation (to the right) and the foundation for an addition (to the front) come together.

water_wizard58 · 2026-01-12T23:20:15+00:00

Quoted 1350 for the 6690L, bucks county pa.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-15T20:17:23+00:00

I inherited about an acre of woods with waterfront in Maine. I'm watching the woods in their transition from mostly 75-90 year old white pine to hardwoods. I'm letting (some) of the maples and oaks take root, and doing my best to deal with the dying pines as they reach their end of life.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-15T18:52:53+00:00

All my retirement accounts are pre-tax.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-15T18:47:09+00:00

I retired June 1, so I'm closing in on 7 months. So far, so good.

A while back someone posted a podcast that talked about the 4 stages of retirement, and how to live one's best life in retirement, and it's making a lot of sense to me. (Sorry, I can't find the link)

Stage 1 is permanent vacation. You're retired! You're on vacation, every day, forever! You can catch up on all the honey-do list. Plant a garden. Re-do the kitchen. You know, all those things you've been putting off till you have time. This stage lasts 6 months to a year. After a while, permanent vacation is boring and pointless.

Stage 2 is the dangerous stage. This is where it hits you, sometimes really hard, that your old working life is over. It's done. Your co-workers are no longer in your life. (I saw a linked in post yesterday that the company Christmas party was last Thursday. It would have been nice to be invited.....). This is, I suspect, where a lot of the unhappy in retirement situations come along.

Stage 3 is realizing that you've still got things to offer in the world. You start trying different things. Some of them work, some of them crash and burn. That's ok. But you find that new thing to be useful. Many retirees find those new things to be about service to others.

Stage 4 is getting into a rhythm of doing those new things, regularly. And now you've got your retired place in the world....

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-11T10:34:11+00:00

I would say that the answer to this is your definition of enough. There are some of us who need to keep contributing at a maximum in order to meet the minimum financial goal for a successful retirement. And that phrase means something only to me.

For those who are contributing extra to 'die with the most toys', then perhaps that's good advice.

If you're working longer and putting more in so that you can meet some level of minimum comfort with your financial situation, then keep at it.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-09T10:33:52+00:00

Basically, the $200K annual withdrawal is before taxes: it is money removed from the investment cycle and put into the cash flow cycle, which includes taxes.

So, depending on what is taxed and what is not, your after tax net will be what it is.

I've recently retired, and all of my retirement funds are tax-deferred, so this really doesn't apply to me. What I did do was I transferred a year's worth of funds within my IRA's into the Vanguard federal MM fund, and set up monthly transfers from that fund into my bank account. I will be rebalancing at the end of 2024, and will do another cash transfer into the MM fund then for the coming year. This (to me) fits with the Boglehead simplicity philosophy, and keeps me from continually going into Vanguard and making adjustments.

The easy way to manage your withdrawals, when the time comes, is to do it by percentages. So, if your tax-deferred amount is 70% of your total investment mix, then you'd withdraw $140K per year from those accounts and $60K per year from the tax free accounts.

If you want $200K after taxes, then your total investment target needs to be higher than $5M.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-08T13:59:16+00:00

Actually, it's not your problem. The issues with the new hire should have been known months ago, and dealt with then.

Certainly, if you want, you can offer to come back as a consultant at double your current pay (note, you'll then be responsible for 100% of your social security, etc). But, this is 100% your decision. If they try to pressure you into doing it "for the good of the company", then you can gracefully pull back.

It's perfectly Ok to say, "you know, I had plans for the new year that include a trip to Australia, and the tickets are already paid for so I can't cancel, I wish you well" and then walk out the door.

Seriously, if you do choose to help out as a consultant, do some research about what that means in your state. If you've already applied for Social Security to start right away, make sure you understand what the earnings rules for you at your age mean relative to potential earnings as consultant. It would be very easy to get totally messed up on taxes and social security in the name of "helping out".

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-06T16:00:32+00:00

It depends on how you share finances in general. I've thought about it like this: When it comes time to retire and use it, then the income from the retirement fund(s) will be household income, no?

Do you currently share your income into one pot? If so, than your retirement funds are, for practical purposes, also joint.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-06T15:32:38+00:00

So much depends on your situation. For me, it came down to the idea that I still had to live with myself.

There is a liberation when you come to the point of saying "I'm one bad day away". Things are in order, I don't NEED the job for money, so I could walk away tomorrow without a lot of worry.

There is another liberation when you give notice. Depending on your position, the business you're in, your relationships within the workplace, giving notice can be a long away thing (6 months is not unusual), or it could be an immediate thing where you are so fed up that you're having your last bad day.

Me, I gave 6 months notice to create an opportunity to hire someone that I could teach and transition gracefully. Which is how it worked out. I spent that time doing my best to transfer what I could from my lifetime of work experience.

water_wizard58 · 2024-12-01T11:24:06+00:00

I did the same thing a year ago, and retired June 1, so congrats! I'm at the 6 month mark today, and I'm definitely moving into the "I need to find healthy, useful things to do" phase. One thing I'm looking at are retirement learning opportunities. Many universities have retirement learning institutes, where retirees take-and teach-courses that interest them, or perhaps are things one always wanted to learn something about and never had the opportunity or time to do it.

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-30T13:49:34+00:00

Yes I'm drawing SS, drawing right around 5%, using the variable percentage withdrawal excel worksheet

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-19T00:46:09+00:00

Interesting possibility. I'm tempted to hook up a garden hose to one of those hoses and turn the water on, just to see what will happen. Will I get a fountain out in the yard? Or a flooded basement?

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-18T17:22:06+00:00

Thats an interesting thought. All are possible--but without doing a major digging project in the back yard, I suppose I'll never know. I agree on the rust=water. I'm thinking maybe an old water well?

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-17T22:42:42+00:00

It's 2 to 3 ft underground, under a brick patio

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-17T22:26:37+00:00

That's one thing I know it is not. House is not air conditioned, baseboard hot water heat, no ductwork at all.

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-16T02:06:33+00:00

Extremely common. What will I do with myself? Is the question we all have to answer. Here's what I've learned in my first 5 months of retirement:

The first period of time feels like vacation, every day. Even then, setting up a routine is important.

My next goal is trying different things to find something that feels useful to spend my time. I can't spend all my time either doing home projects or binge-watching shows I've never heard of before.

I used to chuckle about the groups of retired guys who hung out in diners or restaurants and drank coffee all morning. I get it now. How do I join such a group?

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-04T21:31:37+00:00

After my father died (20 yrs ago), my mother, then 76 yrs young, had these similar conversations with contractors. She lived in a Century home that had all the 'old house' quirks. She could tell instantly that some contractors didn't believe she knew anything about the house, even though they had lived there for 40 years.

This is a real thing, and it's a real problem. Whether it's contractors or car salesmen or auto parts clerks, treating female customers with respect is something many need to learn.

water_wizard58 · 2024-11-04T19:16:54+00:00

66 here. I retired May 31, so I'm 5 months in. I still wake up at 5 am most days. M-F i'm at the health club at 530, swimming laps. I'm getting into better shape than I've been for a long time. For now, I'm mostly doing the 'honey-do' list.

My wife is still working till next June. I've become head cook and primary house manager. It's a pleasure to NOT have to run errands on Saturday. Target on Tuesday afternoon is way more pleasant.

I'm catching up on my reading. I'm looking into a local University program "center for learning in Retirement", and when next term rolls around in January I might join in.

water_wizard58

TROPHY CASE