I am in retirement pre-launch.  I am on the launch pad ready to take off.

  First let me give you my definition of Official Retirement.  Retirement is 

1. no income from a job
2. Receiving income from either social security or retirement savings accounts and/or some kind of pension

As of this blog posting I would consider myself in pre-retirement.  I no longer have income from a job but I am not receiving monies from social security or a retirement savings account.  I am on the launch pad though, ready for take off. The countdown has started:

FIVE> I’ve been getting a pension for years now.  It’s a really nice chunk of money.

FOUR> I’ve set up my annuity payment and I received my first payment January 23rd.  It’s not much but it will cover a couple of bills.  

THREE> I’ve set up Social Security payments finally.  After playing phone tag with my case worker, we finally connected, cleared up the questions and I have now gotten the official letter saying approved.  My first payment will be on March 14 and it’s a pretty decent payout.  

TWO> I’ve set up medical, dental and vision insurance and have already paid two months of premiums.

Combine the annuity, pension and SSA, I’ve got a nice little base nest before pulling from my retirement accounts.

 ONE> I have set up quarterly payments from my Individual Retirement Account (IRA).  That first withdrawal is March 1st. Based on my savings withdrawal needs, I believe I can pull from that IRA for 5 years before having to touch my 401K (the big money pool) for living expenses.  Not to mention the wife has her IRA.

BLASTOFF! Set for March 1st.

As both me and my wife get on Medicare, reducing health insurance costs, our expenses will continue to go down each year.  And she will start receiving social security payments next year which will add a nice extra chunk of money.  With the diminishing expenses and, hopefully, the stock market continuing to grow, my 401K should sustain us until we pass from this earth.

At this point we have been living on residual paychecks from my ex-company and part of our existing savings.  January and February have been on those two pools of money and a couple of annuity and pension payments but it’s time. It’s time to Blastoff into Retirement and see how my financial plan works.

Check out my YouTube Channel video where I discuss this further.