NerdWallet Published 10:00 a.m. ET Aug. 8, 2017

Millennials, this is how you can fix your YOLO financial mindset. USA TODAY

At the risk of sounding like a Facebook friend trying to fold you into my latest direct sales venture: Early retirement is possible.

If you read the Internet, you might already know this is true. Its been done; in fact, retirement at age 30 or 40 has become a trend of sorts, largely led by financial bloggers. But you might not know what it takes. Do you need a blog? To live with your parents for the next 10 or 15 years? To join a direct sales company yourself and pitch life-changing leggings, essential oils or protein shakes?

The answers are pretty much across-the-board maybes. Retiring at a young age takes a commitment; how you make that commitment can vary. One thing you need for sure: money. Heres how to figure out how much, where to find it and what to do with it.

When youre sweating your way through another nine to five, sitting around watching Real World reruns sounds pretty ideal. After a few days of watching drunken teenage fights, you might find those reruns arent as fulfilling as you expected.

Retirement means something a little different to everyone, so the first stop on the early retirement journey is to figure out what youre after. If your goal really is to lounge for 50 or 60 years, no judgment here but youre going to need more money. If your goal is to travel work-free, you probably need even more.

More: Here's what Social Security pays the average American

On the other hand, you might be looking for something a little less drastic. Maybe you still plan to work but on your own terms, or you want to travel but plan to pick up work at each stop. In that case, you may be able to retire on less because youll have a continued source of income.

Knowing how you plan to spend retirement will give you an idea of how much of your current income you need to replace.

The general retirement rule of thumb is to replace 80% of your pre-retirement income. That 20% reduction accounts for payroll taxes youll no longer have to pay and the 10% to 15% of your income you were presumably saving for retirement. Early retirement shakes up that math. As youll find out in a minute, youll need to save much, much more pre-retirement, which means youll be accustomed to living on much less than 80% of your income.

Lets say youre 25 now, earn $50,000 a year and want to retire by age 40. According to NerdWallets retirement calculator, you can do that if youre willing, and able, to save 48% of your income for the next 15 years. That will give you roughly $1,333 a month in retirement, which is your current income adjusted down for taxes, savings and those general work-related expenses that will disappear.

More: 5 top habits of the best retirement savers

If youre doing one of those half laughing-half crying things right now, you might want to adjust your plans push out that retirement age a little bit or plan to continue bringing in some kind of income in retirement.

In other words, brush off your blogging skills. Everyone loves a good early retirement story.

Saving 15% of your income is hard. Saving close to half of it is a different game entirely. It requires major cuts to your spending.

To make those cuts, start with the big things. Can you lower your rent or mortgage payments by refinancing or moving or, yes, living with your parents, though be sure they understand the impact of a long-term houseguest on their own retirement. Can you trade in your car for a cheaper version that still gets you from point A to point B?

Then look at smaller, recurring expenses. The cable goes. (I did this and found it completely painless, thanks mostly to the Bravo app.) The internet speed gets downgraded. Running outside replaces the gym. Any debt that can be refinanced student loans, credit card balance transfers should be. And yes, you will probably never eat avocado toast or drink a latte again.

We are living in a time when its relatively easy to pull in money on the side. There are those direct sales jobs mentioned earlier, though the jury is out on how much they actually bring in for the people at the bottom of the pyramid. There are side gigs like renting out a room on Airbnb, dog sitting through a site like Rover, folding laundry via TaskRabbit or freelancing on Upwork.

More: Her parents taught her to save, now she plans to retire at 40

Also, consider whether youre being paid fairly at your day job and if the time is right to ask for a raise or to start shopping around for a company that pays more. No matter how the money comes in, the more you earn, the more you save. Every extra dollar goes toward retirement.

Finally, you need to make the most of the money you save. That means putting it into your 401(k), if your employer offers a match, so you can grab that free money. If you dont have a 401(k), max out an individual retirement account like a Roth IRA, then shovel money into brokerage accounts.

It also means investing. Millennials seem loath to jump into the stock market, but doing so is the way to build real wealth. A recent NerdWallet analysis found that avoiding the market could lead to $3.3 million in lost retirement savings over 40 years. Over a shorter time horizon, that number would be smaller but still significant.

More on retirement

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by Forbes.

The article Millennials, Heres How to Retire By 40 originally appeared on NerdWallet.

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Millennials, here's how to retire by age 40 - USA TODAY

Former San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers announced his retirement Tuesday.

He thanked the owners of the Chiefs and Chargers in an Instagram post and wrote that he's ready "for this next chapter in my life."

Flowers, who turned 31 in February, played the past three seasons with the Chargers but was placed on injured reserve in December 2016 after suffering a concussion in Week 10 against the Dolphins. In six games (all starts) last season, he finished with one interception and five passes defensed.

Flowers started 30 of the 31 games he appeared in with the Chargers, but was released by the team on March 7, freeing up $7 million in cap space.

Flowers had a tryout with the Arizona Cardinals recently, but the team decided to sign cornerback Tramon Williams instead.

He spent the first six seasons of his career with the Chiefs and was selected to his only Pro Bowl in 2013. He had 17 interceptions and 92 passes defensed in his time in Kansas City.

Original post:
Veteran CB Flowers says he is retiring from NFL - ESPN

Theres no shortage of retirement advice from financial professionals to regular folk whove retired and are now sharing their perspective on retired life.

5 ill-conceived pieces of retirement advice

With These Two Moves, You Can Retire Well No Matter What the Market Does

But heres the thing to keep in mind as you consider retirement recommendations. What seems perfectly logical on paper doesnt necessarily play out in person.

Thats the point Paul B. Brown of the New York Times makes in a recent post: Three Things I Should Have Said About Retirement Planning

I had co-authored a couple of books on the subject one when I was in my 30s and another in my 40s but now that I am north of 60 and retirement is a far less abstract concept, I look back on what I wrote in a different light, Brown wrote.

Hes got more perspective, he says. Hes more empathetic. Typical advice: You can work longer to save more. Browns take now: I wrote it was just a no-brainer to work until age 70, if you can. While my math was right, what I now realize is just how hard it is to keep working as you age.

Typical advice: Once you eliminate the expenses for raising your children, you can save more for retirement. Browns take now: I used to believe that people edging closer to retirement usually had the ability to save more, since child-rearing expenses were no longer a factor. So, I blithely wrote, you could take all that money you had been putting toward college, for example, and invest it for retirement. Well, our baby graduated five years ago, and now all that tuition money is going to home repair.

Typical advice: Spend on the big things now before you retire and transition to a fixed income. Browns take now: Our oldest got married 3,000 miles away in Sonoma Valley, Calif., a couple of years ago, and not only did we fly in various family members who would have otherwise been unable to attend, but we rented a huge house for a week and hosted anyone and everyone who wanted to come by. I wouldnt have had it any other way.

I loved that Brown revisited his advice acknowledging that life can get in the way of the best of plans. So as you prepare for retirement, factor in a lot of what ifs.

What if you cant or dont want to work until youre 70? I dont want to be tied down to a job until my 70s. Id like to spend my 60s, traveling and doing financial ministry work at my church and in prisons.

My husband and I are in our preretirement planning phase and have realized that our children are still going to need some financial assistance beyond the undergraduate college expenses weve saved. Starting this fall, we are covering graduate school for our oldest. Yes, thats money we could put toward our retirement, but we want to make sure she and her siblings should they also decide to go to graduate school dont start their young adult life off with debt.

When it comes to advice, I tend to put more weight on the wisdom from people whove been there and done that and have come out okay. So with that perspective, read this from NerdWallets Liz Weston: Retirement Advice From Retired Financial Experts

Retirement rants and ravesIm interested in your experiences or concerns about retirement. Did you retire early and if so, how did you do it?

Is retirement everything you hoped for? Are you scared youll run out of money?

Sharing your storymight help others. So send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Please include your name, city and state. In the subject line put Retirement Rants and Raves.

I heard from a lot of you who were forced to retire.

Catherine C. from Gaithersburg, Md., wrote, I retired early at age 58 due to my mothers failing health stroke and Parkinsons disease. I was the only one of her four children who lived near her and could help. She had been widowed at age 50 and went back to work as a legal secretary after having been a homemaker for 20-plus years. I had planned to go back to work once my mother was stabilized in a continuing care facility. However, her health was precarious and it fell to me to take her to medical appointments, fill her pill dispensers (morning, afternoon and evening), keep her apartment stocked with the foods she liked and wash and iron her clothes. I did this for 16 years. She died 1 week shy of her 97th birthday. I do not regret one moment of this. She was a spectacular mother who put four kids through college and encouraged each of us to follow our dreams.

Catherine and her husband saved well enough that retiring early didnt impact their retirement.

We consider ourselves fortunate, she wrote. We learned a lot from our parents. My mother was Michelle Singletary before there was a Michelle Singletary! She believed in living below your means. We have followed in her steps in our home for 30 years, older cars on the driveway, no bling, no designer clothes. We do splurge on trips to see friends around the country and the occasional dinner out. We are in pretty good health, but we know that could change in a second. My husband retired four years ago at 63. His company was going through a reorganization and he took a buyout. We are enjoying retirement, but we keep a close watch on our pennies. Its wonderful to get up in the morning and have the day unfurling before us. We both do volunteer work, which keeps us busy and connected to our community. We have a dog and walk her several times a day. Have found some amazing parks that way. We are reconnecting with old friends from college and other volunteer work we have done in the past. At some point, we will downsize to a smaller place in a lower cost area ,but were not there yet.

Chuck Butler of Fenton, Mo.,was forced to retire. Hes 62.

The company that I helped start in 1999 was bought out and the deal closed this year, Butler wrote. I was told I was to retire the day the deal closed. I was no more ready to retire than the man on the moon, but I had prepared, savings and investments wise for this day for years, and I do not have a fear of running out of money before Im 95. I doubt I live that long, as I was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic renal cell cancer 10 years ago. I have battled cancer for 10 years, all the while working. I was given a fair severance that included some payment for continued insurance through COBRA. But that runs out in a year. The main problem I have is that at 62, my COBRA insurance will run out before I hit 65, and be eligible for Medicare. I have about a year of private insurance that Ill have to pay for my wife, and me and youngest son that is in college. And THAT is something I did not plan for. So, I would warn all people that are getting ready to retire early, to check out the cost of insurance before they make that move. Its an eye opener.

Retirement blog I believe that wealth happens intentionally and that means for me reading as much as I can about all things financial, especially retirement. In this section of the newsletter, Ill feature postings from various retirement blogs.

This post caught my eye: 5 Countries Where You Can Retire for $1,000 a Month

As my husband and I plan for retirement, we havent considered whether we would be willing to move overseas.

Id like to hear from any readers who have made the move to live abroad. Hows it working out for you? Or are you planning to retire overseas? Tell me about it.

Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com

Newsletter comments policyPlease note it is my personal policy to identify readers who respond to questions I ask in my newsletters. I find it encourages thoughtful and civil conversation. I want my newsletters to be a safe place to express your opinion. On sensitive matters or upon request, Im happy to include just your first name and/or last initial. But I prefer not to post anonymous comments (I do make exceptions when Im asking questions that might reveal sensitive information or cause conflict.)

Have a question about your finances? Michelle Singletary has a weekly live chat every Thursday at noon where she discusses financial dilemmas with readers. You can also write to Michelle directly by sending an email to michelle.singletary@washpost.com. Personal responses may not be possible, and comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writers name, unless otherwise requested. To read more Color of Money columns, go here.

If youre viewing this newsletter online sign up to receive Michelle Singletarys free newsletters right into your email box: Your Retirement on Mondays & Personal Finance on Thursdays http://wapo.st/personalfinance

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What if the retirement advice you're getting isn't quite right? - Washington Post

The Office of Personnel Management saw an uptick in its retirement claims backlog in July after it broughtthe inventory down to its lowest point in the year just a month before.

The inventory of unprocessed retirement claims stands at 17,091, about 4,000 claims away from the agencys own steady state benchmark for its backlog.

OPMmade steady progress in reducing its claims backlog since February, when the backlog spiked at more than 23,000, the highest accumulation of claims since at least October 2015. The agency in June had brought the backlog down to 14,530 claims, the lowest point in 2017.

Processing times remained mostly unchanged since June. So far in fiscal 2017, OPM has processed 55 percent of claims within its 60-day standard timeframe, and in the month of July, the agency processed 59 percent of claims within the 60-day window.

Download our free ebook to find out how agency CIOs and CHCOs implementing the president's reorganization executive order.

It took OPM 98 days on average in July to process claims that took longer than its 60-day benchmark, one day shorter than the average calculated in June.

So far, OPM has followed the pattern that playsout every year, where the agency sees retirement claims peak in January and February since they are the most popular months for federal employees for retire thenspends the spring and summer months driving down the backlog, when fewer workers retire.

See the original post:
OPM sees retirement claims backlog uptick in July - FederalNewsRadio.com

Danny Monteverde, WWLTV 1:35 PM. CDT August 08, 2017

Cedric Grant

NEW ORLEANS -- Sewerage & Water Board Executive Director Cedric Grant, who came under fire in recent days after he blamed two weekend flood events on global warming, announced Tuesday he will retire this fall.

He said that information he learned in the last day indicated that some parts of the drainage system did not work as designed. "It contradicts information that I was given to provide to the public. Our staff was not forthright, which is unacceptable."

Watch live: City Council holds special meeting to discuss response to weekend flooding:http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/watch-live-1-pm-city-council-meeting-about-flood-response/462819677

On Monday, S&WB officials first said seven of the 121 pumps were not working. They later said eight were offline.

"Rather than be a distraction to the hard work of fixing the system, earlier today, I notified the mayor of my retirement later this fall," he wrote in a prepared statement. "It is also clear to me that there are additional personnel actions that are needed to restore confidence in this organization. I look forward to helping our Mayor, this Council and the Board identify what specifically needs to be done to rebuild this organization and our critical infrastructure."

Stay with Eyewitness News on WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this breaking story.

2017 WWL-TV

Read the original here:
Cedric Grant announces retirement from S&WB - WWL

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We pride ourselves on our ability to help guide and shape future coaches to be able to offer a truly valuable service in regards to personal development and enacting positive behaviour change. Offering a range of qualifications and opportunities for advancement, our academy has worked hard to become the leading resource for life coaches throughout Australia.

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A new life coaching business, Tranquility, has opened in Klamath Falls and offers guidance and workshops, according to a news release.

The business, operated by life coach Angeline OConnor, offers services to help clients build self esteem, create self conflict resolution and inner strength, achieve balance, learn life skills and more.

Tranquility teaches clients the skills to find direction in their lives through one-on-one coaching where clients are taught how to design life goals and how to achieve them.

We are there rooting clients on every step of the way, the news release states. We offer numerous fun workshop classes teaching our clients things such as guided imagery, relaxation, life skills, positive vs. negative, relationship building and more. Although we are not a counseling facility, we like to think we are a great addition to many treatment programs offered here in the Basin.

Tranquility also offers Business Morale Seminars designed to help businesses boost morale within their company. Weekly community mixers are offered through Tranquility for singles and senior citizens. A singles dating mixer is offered Thursday evenings, and a senior citizens mixer, to meet other seniors in the community, is offered Tuesday afternoons.

Senior, military, low-income discounts and scholarship programs are offered as Tranquility does not currently accept insurance. Tranquility has Skype capabilities for clients, and online booking for appointments for further convenience.

Read more:
Life coaching business, Tranquility, opens in Klamath - Herald and News

Linda Lanker has had a 48-year nonstop association with track and field.

The longtime area community college and high school coach has been to China and Miami as part of USA Track & Field teams. And shes a three-time masters national hurdles champion.

Additionally, Lanker was inducted in January along with former Washington State coach John Chaplain into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Nothing tops her recent experience, though, as the womens head coach for the U20 Pan American team that won the team championship in Trujillo, Peru.

Its the best experience Ive ever had as a coach, the 61-year-old Coeur dAlene resident said.

Lanker met her future team members at the U.S. National meet in June in Sacramento, California. A week later, she called each of the 48 team members.

Then when the team flew to Peru, she had four days to get to know the athletes better before they competed.

As a USATF coach, youre there to serve, Lanker said.

Lanker was appointed head coach in December 2015. She was nominated based on her past experiences with USATF.

Ive always gotten high recommendations from the athletes, Lanker said.

USATF coaches are asked to simply encourage and support the athletes, Lanker said. Its off limits for coaches to talk to athletes about their technique unless the athletes request assistance.

For Lanker, this is where she encountered one of the highlights of her involvement.

Quincy Hall of Raytown, Missouri, a hurdler on the mens team, asked Lanker for some technical help. She told Hall he had to ask his individual coach for permission.

Halls coach knew of Lanker and gave his blessing.

Quincy told me he had terrible form, Lanker said. I noticed he was struggling with his alternate leg, sort of stuttering going over the hurdles. So I showed him a drill I had taught it to (former WSU standout) Jeshua Anderson years ago. Its a four-step drill that forces you to use both legs going over the hurdles.

He had three days to prepare for his heat in the 400-meter hurdles.

Quincy was so coachable, Lanker said. There were just a couple technical things that we worked on.

It made a huge difference. Hall won his heat and the next day captured a gold medal, winning in a personal best time of 49.51 seconds and setting a Pan Am record.

He looked absolutely beautiful, Lanker said. All I said to him before the final was, Youve got this. Give it all you have and the last 150 meters give everything going home.

Hall will be a sophomore at College of the Sequoias, a two-year community college in Visalia, California. Lanker said several NCAA Division I schools are recruiting him.

Hall posted on Instagram his gratefulness for Lankers help.

God sent me an angel. Coach Lanker, thank you for everything, Hall wrote.

Hall plans to spend a week in Coeur dAlene in October getting additional training from Lanker.

Lanker said there was a big police presence around the athletes at the stadium and hotels.

Trujillo is the third-most dangerous city in Peru, Lanker said.

The opportunity to coach the U.S. womens team allowed Lanker the chance to see the best of the up-and-coming athletes. The team consisted of juniors and seniors in high school and freshmen in college.

Theyre next in line for the Worlds and the Olympics, Lanker said.

Two other people with ties to the region also assisted the womens and mens teams in Peru Spokane chiropractor Dru Lopez and University of Idaho assistant track coach Cathleen Cawley, who was an event manager for the women.

Lanker was allowed to keep the Pan Am womens team championship trophy. She plans to find a place for it in her home office.

She wants to continue coaching for another nine years and will welcome any additional opportunities with USATF.

I feel so blessed, Lanker said. Who would have thought at 61 I would have had this opportunity?

Link:
Linda Lanker had time of her life coaching US Women's Track and Field team at Pan American Games - The Spokesman-Review

SANTA BARBARA, Calf. Twenty years ago, Virginia Tech gave Bonnie Henrickson her first head-coaching job.

She's a long way from Blacksburg these days.

Henrickson is heading into her third season as the women's basketball coach at UC Santa Barbara.

UCSB plays in the Big West Conference, which lacks the prestige of Henrickson's previous stints in the Big East and the Big 12. But Henrickson is loving life on the California coast.

There are palm trees outside her office. Some of the dormitories on campus overlook the Pacific Ocean.

Henrickson was hired by UCSB in 2015, six weeks after being fired by Kansas. She has never unpacked her winter coat and boots, which remain in a box in her garage.

"I feel very fortunate," Henrickson, 54, said in an interview at her office last month. "When I finally met the players, I'm like, 'You guys really go to class, right?

"In Chicago [at the women's Final Four this year] I saw Geno [Auriemma, the Connecticut coach] and we talked for a while. He was saying, 'You've landed in a good spot, haven't you? and I said, 'Yes."

UCSB does not have a football team, so Henrickson can't bring visiting recruits to home games like she did at her previous two schools. She takes them to the beach instead.

Henrickson also takes advantage of her locale on her days off. She lives about a mile from the ocean, so she takes long walks on the beach on the weekends.

"This just happens to be icing on the cake that it's this beautiful," said Henrickson, who grew up in Minnesota. "But if we win, it wouldn't really matter where I live."

Henrickson coached the Hokies from 1997-2004 back when the team played in the Atlantic 10 and the Big East. The "Bonnie Ball" era produced the glory years of the Tech women's basketball program.

Henrickson was 158-62 with five NCAA tournament appearances in seven seasons. The Hokies advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 1998-99 season, when the team averaged a school-record 5,221 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

"It was fun," she said. "It was the place to be there for a while.

"For me to get a start there at a place like that will always be special for me."

Henrickson had been a Tech assistant for seven years, followed by a two-year stint as an Iowa assistant, before then-Tech athletic director Dave Braine made her a first-time head coach.

She was 34 years old when she took over the Hokies. After winning just 10 games in the final year of the Carol Alfano coaching regime, Tech went 22-10 in Henrickson's first season at the helm.

"The first trip we ever took, we played in the St. Mary's tournament [in California]. I vividly remember being on the bus going to Roanoke to fly out, thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm not mature enough. I'm responsible for everyone right now and we're going to fly and go to the West Coast," Henrickson said.

Henrickson not only has fond memories of some of her NCAA tournament games but also of attending Hokies football games. Former Tech football coach Frank Beamer called her when she got the UCSB job.

"So many good friends in the department and the community and former players. Facebook is for old people, so that's how I catch up with those guys," she said with a chuckle. "I need to go back and see some people."

Lew Perkins, then the athletic director at Kansas, hired her away from Tech in 2004.

Henrickson was 186-171 in 11 seasons with the Jayhawks, including Sweet 16 berths in 2012 and 2013. But those were her only two NCAA bids at the school, and she never had a winning Big 12 record. Perkins' successor, Shehon Zenger, fired her in March 2015 after back-to-back losing seasons.

"Injuries affect success. Success affects recruiting," Henrickson said. "The ability to maintain the level of recruiting at the level it takes to be successful in that league, we didn't get it done."

Henrickson landed her current job the following month. Perkins knew UCSB athletic director John McCutcheon and recommended Henrickson for the Gauchos' vacancy. UCSB needed a replacement for Carlene Mitchell, who was fired after a 2-27 campaign.

Henrickson had recruited in California a great deal when she was the coach at Kansas, so she already had the AAU and high school connections in the state that UCSB was seeking.

When Henrickson visited the campus for her interview, she was impressed.

"The place sells itself," she said.

She also liked the fact that USCB has been to the NCAAs 14 times since the early 1990s.

"At that time, being 52 [when] taking the job, it was really important for me to find a place that I really felt like we could be successful. Because we don't get it done here, this is it for me," she said. "I'm not going to get another chance. For me to be able to land at a place that had so much success and is built to have continued success as long as we do our job, I couldn't have asked for a better situation.

"Sometimes we don't recycle as much on the women's side as we do sometimes on the men's side."

The Gauchos went 12-20 in Henrickson's first season after winning just 10 games in the previous two years combined. The team went 8-8 in Big West play her first season.

Last season, the Gauchos were 16-16 overall and 9-7 in Big West play. They lost to Long Beach State 56-55 in the Big West tournament title game.

"There's no reason we can't be successful here," she said. "There's so much talent in the state of California and [on] the West Coast."

Competing with the beach isn't easy when it comes to luring fans, though. The Gauchos averaged just 673 fans at home last season.

Henrickson looks different than she did during her reign at Tech. She had short, brown hair when she was in Blacksburg, but she now has long, blonde hair.

Her coaching style is a bit different, too.

"All the former players, if they were around me now, would say I've gotten soft in my old age," Henrickson said.

Although Henrickson is still an NCAA Division I coach, she is no longer in a major conference.

"Big-time's not a place. It's a state of your heart," she said. "I think we can be big-time here.

"I love it here. And I think we can win."

Read this article:
Former Virginia Tech coach Bonnie Henrickson enjoying life at UC Santa Barbara - Roanoke Times