Hi RockyOutcropI wonder if your friends dad worked with the...

Hi RockyOutcrop

I wonder if your friends dad worked with the government in Canberra. After my retirement we travelled the world regularly for the decade until covid hit.
It was astounding the coincidences that happened when meeting people from around the world. Freakish, not just once but regularly. We were in Kyoto in a coffee shop because it was raining, sitting next to an American couple with whom we started a conversation. As it turns out he works in IT with Google after a little while I mentioned that one of my son's best friends works with Google in Australia and mentioned his name. He said I talk to Andrew almost weekly. Just one of many such incidences.

It maybe obvious from my handle I built Statistical systems as my occupation. My super when I retired was directly linked to my retirement pension and my lump sum. Before making the switch it was very simple for me to build a spreadsheet to calculate with the number of months before my retirement what my retirement pension and lump sum would be if I pulled my super into cash (with no exposer to the markets) at a rate of 4.5% per annum. I looked at what the pension and lump sum would be and asked would that be enough. It was and my calculations we completely accurate. I pulled the plug on my investments and my mums at the same time.

The rate of growth in my super for the five years preceding this had been outstanding.

The reason why I asked about your friend's dad is that three of my work colleagues where at around the same stage of their careers as me. Retirement was pending and their super balances were similar. When I told them what I was doing they asked me to plug in their numbers into my spreadsheet to show them their prospective pension and lump sum with no element of risk attached. It was enough for all three of them and they pulled the plug when I did. I see them only rarely, but to a man they still thank me gratefully for the guidance.

The differences after the GFC to both the pension and lump sum were astounding. The difference in lump sum was impressive. I retired at 54 and 11 months difference in the indexed pension for my lifetime and then for my wife (for she will easily out live me) was astounding when you add up all the numbers.

I wonder if your friends dad was one of my colleagues. Unlikely but possible. What makes it more feasible is the timing of the switch, exactly the same.

cheers Lies