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Post by 950nancy on Jul 3, 2019 23:52:18 GMT
There is no way a number can be thrown around as what you’ll need for retirement. People need to have a complete understanding of what their current living budget is. What are your expenses now, how much does it cost you to live now? If you don’t know your current budget, learn it. You should be the expert at your own finances. A financial planner will help you understand, but you have to know first. Just because you won’t have a mortgage doesn’t mean you don’t have bills. For a lot of people, half the “mortgage” payment is property taxes, and homeowners insurance. Those bills will still be there later, but you will pay them direct instead of your bank. Many people enjoy retirement by eating out, traveling, treating themselves, etc. That costs money, often more than your pre-retirement budget showed. Health insurance will cost more, taxes will cost more, gas, food, phone bills, tv/cable, vehicles, etc....it all costs more. I won’t live frugally in my retirement, and have been working on saving as much as I can now. I’ll be 44 next month, and am on a good track to getting it done. The kids are both out of high school, college funds got set up when they were babies, and I divorced the XDH that pent more than I did  We live in one of those states where property taxes are minimal compared to other states, for sure. We pay $100 a month for taxes and insurance. Now our car insurance helps make up for that because of the hail and uninsured drivers. |
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Post by scrapperal on Jul 3, 2019 23:57:38 GMT
The $4,000/month is in reference to what a previous poster mentioned. I assume if you live in a high cost of living area, you'd need more and if you're extremely frugal, you'll need less per month. I know that I'll need more than that, unfortunately. For example, my current gym near my work is $200/year. The gym by my house that I want to join after I retire is $1000/year.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 4, 2019 0:16:54 GMT
The last time I attended an information session run by my superannuation provider, they showed us a chart on how much you need to have to retire, depending on your circumstances and lifestyle. There were 4 categories: single - modest lifestyle couple - modest lifestyle single - comfortable lifestyle couple - comfortable lifestyle I just googled to remind myself of the figures. For a couple, living a comfortable lifestyle, you would require $640,000 in retirement savings ($61,000 per year). Obviously this is $AUD not $USD. Retirement StandardHow much Super Will I NeedThe second link shows the difference between a 'comfortable' and a 'modest' lifestyle. It includes things like whether you can afford house repairs, or regular haircuts, fast or basic internet connection, dining out, heating and cooling etc. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 4, 2019 5:09:55 GMT
depending on what state you live in, i would say at least $1,000,000 in assets/accounts. This is what our financial advisor told us ten years ago, per person, and that was retiring at 65. I’m sure it would be more than that now. |
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Post by nlwilkins on Jul 4, 2019 8:15:47 GMT
About twenty years ago, ten years before retirement, the company paid for us to see a financial advisor. It really set us up for retirement. Because of them we got a long term health care policy on both of us. Then they looked over everything else and we were set to go.
The company (a big, international oil company) pays a decent pension plus our health insurance. Once each of us became old enough for medicare, we ere transitioned over to that with an complementary policy. Going on medicare cut our insurance expenses in half if not more. I would not recommend retiring until you are eligible for medicare. The long term health care policies will handle most of the expense of nursing home if one or both of us need it. Or even pay for someone to take care of us in our home.
We have stocks and an IRA that we really have not needed to touch. (Oops, we used some to purchase the home we are in now so no mortgage.)Each year the minimum required disbursement is enough to pay the house taxes and home owners insurance.
Paying for a financial advisor to check your readiness for retirement and to steer you in the right direction would be the way to go. There is so much involved in it all, that I would not recommend anyone trying to retire without it. If one cannot afford a financial advisor then they probably could not afford to retire. Just putting that out there cause if you cannot handle a unexpected big expense then you probably should think long and hard about retiring.
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Post by Patter on Jul 4, 2019 10:20:32 GMT
You really need to look at your current expenses as everyone has said. Where can you cut back? I have a spreadsheet with ALL of our monthly expenses including healthcare without being employed. Also, our house is paid off; we have no debt BUT don't forget property taxes. You still have those even when your house is paid off. If it's an annual payment, I just divide that number by 12 to get a monthly amount. Then I also have a section on the spreadsheet with current cash on hand. We are 54 and 56. Divide the amount of cash by 40 years (if we live until we are 96), and is that enough to live on our monthly expenses for the next 40 years? If not, what can we do? Where do we need to cut back and save? We have our plan, and it's working for us. We do have a financial advisor, and this is what is working for us. And $1,000,000 is not enough to retire IMO. I think that's an old number for sure. Spell it out in a spreadsheet and you will see. VERY helpful!
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Jul 4, 2019 14:16:33 GMT
I live in MA, which has a high cost of living. I save to both a 401(k) and a Roth. I can retire at 67, but I don’t think I will. I thought I was on track until I had to move my Dad into assisted living and take over his finances. Assisted living started at $5,200/mth and that’s without adding services for med assist, helping dressing/showering, etc. It was very eye opening. Now I’m in saving overdrive. I think one of the best things you can do for retirement is to make sure you own your home before retirement and are as debt free as possible. Medical expenses are the biggest concern because they’re unknown. My company puts $3k/year into a RHRP (Retirement Health Reimbursement Plan) annually that I will be able to access for medical costs when I retire. When I factor what I will need for retirement, I never count social security because you just don’t know what’s going to happen there.
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georgiapea
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Post by georgiapea on Jul 4, 2019 15:57:18 GMT
We are retired in the 4k a month bracket and doing fine. Our house is paid for, we have 3 paid for vehicles and our property taxes are reasonable.
Property taxes and medical costs vary widely. We chose to retire to Florida with no state income tax.
We dine out a lot less now but enjoy being home together so much the 'dining experience' is not missed.
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Post by papersilly on Jul 4, 2019 16:54:04 GMT
depending on what state you live in, i would say at least $1,000,000 in assets/accounts. This is what our financial advisor told us ten years ago, per person, and that was retiring at 65. I’m sure it would be more than that now. Yes, per person. Years ago, our planner said that if DH died at that point , I would need $2-3million to make it through to retirement if I didn't wind up remarrying. I think i was in my mid to late 30's then. |
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AnotherPea
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Post by AnotherPea on Jul 4, 2019 18:11:42 GMT
These numbers that you all are listing- I’m assuming they do not include pensions? I’m retiring at 59, probably. Dh will probably retire at 56. He may get a second job until I retire, but maybe not. We’ve run the numbers but hadn’t planned on meeting with an advisor for a year or so. We won’t have 2 million in savings before retirement but expect our pensions to cover what we need and want. If y’all are saying 2 million PLUS pensions, I need to meet with someone right away! Lol
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Post by mikklynn on Jul 5, 2019 12:28:40 GMT
It depends on your situation. Do you have a defined pension plan? Neither DH nor I have pensions, so we had to save in our IRAs and 401Ks.
We have worked with a financial planner for about 15 years. We would meet annually in the beginning. When DH had to retire due to his health, we started meeting quarterly.
We could not live comfortably on $4,000/month. Our taxes and insurance on our house are $600. Our medical insurance is $1000, plus the out of pocket expenses for DH's drugs.
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Post by jassy on Jul 5, 2019 14:41:20 GMT
DH and I are both 47. He hopes to retire between 57-59 - I'd like to retire at 59, but can see going until 62. , S we will be meeting with a financial planner fairly soon. Right now, we are working on eliminating all of our debt.
When my DH retires at 57 (or 59), he will be eligible for a pension that is $4500 per month, and with very good health benefits. It makes me slightly nervous to depend on pension/benefits through his employer but he's part of the biggest, strongest union in the country with the largest employer so godwilling, it will be there and stay there. He deserves it - he's physically worked his ass off for close to 30 years already! His goal is to life long enough in retirement that his pension pays him at least a million dollars. Additionally, he has a mid-size 401K and stock in his company.
I have a pretty healthy 401b that is projected to provide me with approx $2000 per month in retirement.
We hope to live off pension/401b/401k and hopefully, social security will be there for us as well!
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caangel
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Post by caangel on Jul 5, 2019 15:53:43 GMT
These numbers that you all are listing- I’m assuming they do not include pensions? I’m retiring at 59, probably. Dh will probably retire at 56. He may get a second job until I retire, but maybe not. We’ve run the numbers but hadn’t planned on meeting with an advisor for a year or so. We won’t have 2 million in savings before retirement but expect our pensions to cover what we need and want. If y’all are saying 2 million PLUS pensions, I need to meet with someone right away! Lol I have had a financial advisor my entire adult life. Since my dad made me open a retirement savings account when I was in college. We meet or talk with ours every 6-12 months. I'm in my early 40s. |
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Post by scrapbookwriter on Jul 5, 2019 21:22:54 GMT
You need to talk to a financial advisor. But I will warn you, before you have your eye on spending your savings on travel, make sure you have enough additional money saved for you and/or your husband to be in nursing care for an extended period of time if you need it. My parents saved money and lived simple. They thought they had saved enough money for retirement. They didn't travel after retirement. Then my dad got Alzheimer's. It became too much for my mom to handle his care so he was moved to an entry level memory care unit that cost $240 per day. After 6 months his dementia really progressed so he was moved to skilled nursing memory care. Cost is over $460 per day. There are people in his unit that have been there for years. At the current rate, we'll spend over $168,000 per year for his care. His medications are expensive and he used to be able to get them for free from the VA, but now that he is in this unit they require that he get his meds prepackaged by a local pharmacy and it's costing us over $3000 a month for just his meds. At current rates, if dad would live for 5 years in his unit, it would cost us close to $1,000,000. That doesn't include mom's rent for an apartment at the retirement community or any nursing care she may need in the future. And this is at one of the lower cost retirement communities in our area. They are a non-profit so if they run out of money they will be able to get help from their benevolent fund and possibly some from the state. If they were in a for-profit facility, it's possible they could be forced to move. Bottom line, retirement is a heck of a lot more expensive than what anybody thinks it will be. Have you checked into a Veteran's Hospital for your dad? The one near me has a multi-story skilled nursing facility with a memory care unit downstairs. The facility and the hospital are on the same campus. All healthcare and drugs are provided by the VA hospital. Costs for veterans were extremely reasonable. |
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Post by stampinchick on Jul 5, 2019 22:06:57 GMT
You need to talk to a financial advisor. But I will warn you, before you have your eye on spending your savings on travel, make sure you have enough additional money saved for you and/or your husband to be in nursing care for an extended period of time if you need it. My parents saved money and lived simple. They thought they had saved enough money for retirement. They didn't travel after retirement. Then my dad got Alzheimer's. It became too much for my mom to handle his care so he was moved to an entry level memory care unit that cost $240 per day. After 6 months his dementia really progressed so he was moved to skilled nursing memory care. Cost is over $460 per day. There are people in his unit that have been there for years. At the current rate, we'll spend over $168,000 per year for his care. His medications are expensive and he used to be able to get them for free from the VA, but now that he is in this unit they require that he get his meds prepackaged by a local pharmacy and it's costing us over $3000 a month for just his meds. At current rates, if dad would live for 5 years in his unit, it would cost us close to $1,000,000. That doesn't include mom's rent for an apartment at the retirement community or any nursing care she may need in the future. And this is at one of the lower cost retirement communities in our area. They are a non-profit so if they run out of money they will be able to get help from their benevolent fund and possibly some from the state. If they were in a for-profit facility, it's possible they could be forced to move. Bottom line, retirement is a heck of a lot more expensive than what anybody thinks it will be. Have you checked into a Veteran's Hospital for your dad? The one near me has a multi-story skilled nursing facility with a memory care unit downstairs. The facility and the hospital are on the same campus. All healthcare and drugs are provided by the VA hospital. Costs for veterans were extremely reasonable. Dad had been going to the VA for his doctor visits for years. The hospital is not very close to where my parents lived. They have several nursing homes in our area that are approved for veteran care where the VA would pay for at least some of his care. We know of people that have been in those nursing homes and would never want to place him in them - they typically have more problems than other homes. He is in a good home now that provides excellent care. Moving him to a different facility would really mess with his dementia. The less change, the better. |
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 6, 2019 0:37:34 GMT
Thanks! I meant it as more of a general question. Adding that personal info sounds like I was asking how much I need to retire. I know everyone's situation is different. Just wondering what the general consensus is of how much you think someone needs to retire or how much you need to retire. Everyone's answer is different.  Wish I could answer you but I have a great retirement through NYS teachers. But I also have a 403(b). I would see a financial person. so I stuck and we've always put the max in at dh's work because they match. (Not really pertinent, but anyway) Did you have a choice as to which plan? My district offers a 403b and something plus I could also do a 401k or a 457. |
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Post by christine58 on Jul 6, 2019 10:47:32 GMT
Did you have a choice as to which plan? My district offers a 403b and something plus I could also do a 401k or a 457. We manage our own 403(b) accounts so yes we can choose the specific money market accounts. |
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Post by librarylady on Jul 6, 2019 13:54:22 GMT
DH has been retired 15 years. I have been retired 9 years.
The cost of our medical insurance is the largest money drain so far. The increasing premiums have really taken a big bite out of our
retirement money. I'd say toss in some extra money for that.
I have a policy for nursing home care. I purchased it before I retired. Costs me $1,000 per year, but that beats what a facility will cost. (My mother and her brother had Alzheimer's so I feel that is a concern).
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Post by myboysnme on Jul 6, 2019 14:21:57 GMT
I saved just over $600K but I should have saved a million. I also will get my retirement about $35K a year, social security and a VA disability check. All of that equals what I made by working. If I need a bit I will eventually supplement it with substitute teaching or something. DH is going to keep working until full retirement.
Ultimately I would like to sell my son my house for 50% of value, give that money to my other son so he can have a house downpayment, and move to a rental apt or townhome. That's my 10 year plan.
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kelly8875
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Post by kelly8875 on Jul 6, 2019 14:57:10 GMT
For everyone who says they’re maxing our their 401k, are you really?
To truly “max out” your contribution, you can contribute $19,000 annually if you’re under 50. Over 50, you’re allowed another $6,000 as a “catch-up contribution”.
I just offer this reminder up because I know several people, in real life, who think the employer match percentages are the max.
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milocat
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Post by milocat on Jul 6, 2019 18:40:28 GMT
This is what our financial advisor told us ten years ago, per person, and that was retiring at 65. I’m sure it would be more than that now. Yes, per person. Years ago, our planner said that if DH died at that point , I would need $2-3million to make it through to retirement if I didn't wind up remarrying. I think i was in my mid to late 30's then. $1 million has been floating around for 20 years at least and I feel like people were less spendy back then so the number really has to have changed. A million for 30 years is only $33,000 a year that's half of what the average retired person lives on in Canada and would be about around our poverty line. |
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Post by papersilly on Jul 6, 2019 19:35:21 GMT
Yes, per person. Years ago, our planner said that if DH died at that point , I would need $2-3million to make it through to retirement if I didn't wind up remarrying. I think i was in my mid to late 30's then. $1 million has been floating around for 20 years at least and I feel like people were less spendy back then so the number really has to have changed. A million for 30 years is only $33,000 a year that's half of what the average retired person lives on in Canada and would be about around our poverty line. absolutely. a million doesn't go as far these days. there are lots of regular joe millionaires who lead very modest lives because a million isn't what it used to be. |
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Post by katlady on Jul 6, 2019 20:02:09 GMT
I think the $1million savings to retire is also assuming you have that money invested and you are earning about 5%-8% on that (which is what you earn from stocks in the long-run). So that is about $50,000 a year, plus social security. Of course it all depends on how the market is doing, your rate of withdrawal, and other emergencies.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 6, 2019 20:08:54 GMT
I think the $1million savings to retire is also assuming you have that money invested and you are earning about 5%-8% on that (which is what you earn from stocks in the long-run). So that is about $50,000 a year, plus social security. Of course it all depends on how the market is doing, your rate of withdrawal, and other emergencies. I actually think it came from historic returns on government bonds - but same idea. You put your retirement in treasuries and lived on the interest. Now that was before interest rates hit historic lows. But I agree that you can't complete ignore return on investment when planning for retirement. |
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Post by ~summer~ on Jul 6, 2019 20:11:20 GMT
I am targeting $2m or $1m each- which I don’t think is enough. Our house is paid off but we want to retire early (I’m 45 and want to stop working by 50 or even sooner) and travel a lot....
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Post by rockymtnpea on Jul 6, 2019 22:06:41 GMT
I agree with katlady...I think that figure comes from people living off of the interest of their investments and not touching the principal.(coupled with either a defined pension or ss)
The amount someone may need is so indidual.
The posters talking about the cost to care for their parents is so heartbreaking.
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Post by chedanemi on Jul 6, 2019 22:27:39 GMT
We both retired at 50, but we have very good pensions and did indeed max out our both our traditional and Roth IRAs our entire careers.
One thing I can't stress enough is to get your children saving for retirement as soon as they start working. Our girls had investment accounts set up through our financial advisor by the time they were 14. We funded the initial $1000 it took to open it, but they have been faithfully contributing every month since then. Of course the contributions weren't large when they started, but they've increased them with every increase in salary.
My younger daughter summed up retirement savings quite nicely when she was encouraging her cousin to contact our advisor. She said to him, "do you want to retire with decimal points or commas?"
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