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This is why I’m looking at a continuous care retirement place with a buy in. If my finances run out they will still keep me.

This is what we did for my mom, and it's ether that or retiring abroad for me (which is not at all out of the question -- my friend, Dave, and I have always talked about it... my husband can come, too. Or building the commune my friends and I always talk about.) She didn't run out of money, but if she had, they were obligated to keep providing care.

David, I've seen several posts recently from crafty people who have installed paper mache or crochet wasps nests to keep the real (very territorial) ones away.

David, I've seen several posts recently from crafty people who have installed paper mache or crochet wasps nests to keep the real (very territorial) ones away.

I bet I could buy one from a craft person on Etsy!

I am still in the "La la la not time to think about it" stage of even vaguely thinking about retirement plans. Bluntly, our household is fucked. There's no such thing as retirement for freelance artists, and I know I'll eventually age out of tech.

And I KNOW part of this mindset is growing up poor, where planning for the future was not a thing. Getting through the month was a thing.

And I KNOW part of this mindset is growing up poor, where planning for the future was not a thing. Getting through the month was a thing.

This is still a big part of my psyche. I freak out at the idea of moving money -- that was budgeted for, and is *supposed* to be moved -- from checking into the retirement account, because it feels like then the money is gone forever. It's literally still our money; it's just in a different bucket. I'm still adjusting to having multiple buckets.

My rational brain is all, "Compound interest; right on," but my lizard brain wants to lie, Smaug-like, on top of a pile containing all of our money and hiss at anyone who wants to move any of it anywhere other than under my butt.

My retirement plans are pretty much hoping that a miracle will occur. I am still working on getting through the month being a consistent thing (I mean, it pretty much is but not without constantly thinking about it to make sure it happens). I do have an auto deduction going to a 401k but very likely not as much as would be wise.

My rational brain is all, "Compound interest; right on," but my lizard brain wants to lie, Smaug-like, on top of a pile containing all of our money and hiss at anyone who wants to move any of it anywhere other than under my butt.

Totally rational! Now I kind of want to buy a rambling Victorian and stuff it full of aging, eccentric Buffistas.

Just took them five tries to get a blood draw! Undelightful!

Of course, retirement age is a whole other kettle of fish. I don't see it happening for a long, long while. I'm literally banking on both of us being able to work for at least another ten years. Minimum. God willing and the creek don't rise.

Now that it seems I am unlikely to make it to retirement age, I have the opposite issue. Social Security is just, "oh well, guess I'm paying for you guys." But my 401K has like 200K and I'm still contributing with every paycheck. I need to figure out ... how to figure out at what point I stop contributing and try to look into early withdrawals. That money would pay for a lot of travel since living into my 90s has been taken off the table.