S/O-when did you retire? How much $ do you need to retire?

[FairestOfThemAll37]

This is a spin-off of the running out of money in retirement thread.

When did you/when do you want to retire? How much do you think you'd need to retire at 30,40,50, etc.?

This could be actual or hypothetical. If I had $X, I'd retire by Y type thing.

I'm very curious as I've read a lot about retiring by 40 and the wildly varying amounts people have said they've had and done that.

 

[pryncess527]

You might find this site interesting: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

He's a big fan of learning to live on as little as possible so that you can retire as early as possible. I find his methods a bit extreme, but fascinating and learned a lot.

Honestly, I love my job and it's the kind of work I could do well into old age (if they let me!). We are planning/saving for retirement but have no age in mind, and if we won the lottery tomorrow I'm still not sure I'd stop working.

 

[tvguy]

My goal is to have my 401k's and IRA's invested in a way that produce income equal to DW and my take home pay now. The unknowns are the cost of healthcare, since we plan to retire at 62 1/2 to 63 and will need to buy private insurance for about 2 1/2 years. Medicare, at current prices, with a supplement, is much cheaper than what we pay via our group health plan. So at 65 we should be ahead of the game there.
And our expenses should be lower since we won't be putting 11,000 miles on our cars commuting to work.
But I hope my trip budget will be going up. I also am thinking about scaling back from 4 cars to 3.
When we met with our financial adviser 2 years ago we were on track, actually about 5% above target. We meet with him in August for an review. We plan to retire in 3 years.

 

[mnrose]

In my opinion, someone hoping to retire early (before 60) needs to have enough cash on hand to last until any pension/SS kicks in AND without touching any 401K type funds. I retired at 50 and had investment accounts outside of 401K, plus cash on hand, plus a pension. I have a tidy amount in a 401K as well.....none of which will need to be touched until mandatory withdrawal must begin. That's the plan anyway. In terms of how much cash, figure your expenses per year (is it 60K, 40K, something else?) then multiply by the number of years you need that money to last....that's how much you need (and be generous because interest rates on "safe" investment vehicles are in the tank, while inflation is still a thing). In my case, my home(s) are fully paid for, I own rental properties which produce a steady stream of income, and I get a pension check. So far, we've had to touch very little of our savings (I'm talking the savings outside of the 401K) in the last decade. Because our homes are paid for, and DH works part time with full medical and dental coverage for the family, our expenses are relatively minimal. Property taxes, food and insurance (homeowners, etc) are our primary expenses which are "must" spends....we probably also spend a disproportionate amount on vacations and travel, but this is discretionary and easy to forego if we need to be "leaner".

To pay for college for our twins (the next and "last" big expense), we will sell our second home (which we purchased to be close to where they go to school). That will more than pay for college for both at a reasonably priced institution.

We've got 7 more years before we collect social security. That will become our "mad money" for travel, etc (if we ever, in fact, receive anything). DH will also get a pension check...not a big amount, but, heck it all helps.


If I was to retire by 40, I'd need a minimum of 25 or 26 years worth of money....either in cash in hand or some reliable stream of income. Very difficult to get any sort of "pension" by then because of years of service requirements, etc. Even with modest "needs" (let's say 40,000K per year in a relatively low cost area), that's 1,000,000 That's a lot. Plus, of course, that takes you only to 65. With retiring that early (40), your social security draw isn't going to be great. So, where's the money going to come from to live on after age 65? I'd say the answer is many multiple millions....at least for me to feel "comfortable" that I wasn't going to be destitute at the end.

 

[morgan98]

This is an interesting question and it does vary a ton. My husband and I never had children and are hoping to exit the workforce before full retirement age. As a matter of fact, he is quitting ("retiring") from his heavy travel career this Friday at age 58 to pursue other interests. He intends to do some consulting, but also pursue some other part time work at a much reduced salary.

I am 10 years younger and in a great spot in my career so will continue to work. i also get great health insurance.

What we struggle with is how much do you really need? Since we do not have children, there is no one we are particularly motivated to leave a huge inheritance for. Instead we would like to find balance between enjoying a more simply, but earlier retirement. We would also like to potentially live in Italy for a few years too.

We have been diligent savers and have a general plan. In the next few years we will really focus on how much is enough.

ETA: There are plenty of retirement calculators that give a 4% withdraw rate that is often considered to conserve principal. I want to be conservative, but not THAT conservative. As with others, our plan is to not touch 401k funds until we absolutely have to and we have saved and will continue to save outside of retirement funds for flexibility.

 

[BLAZEY]

Both DH and I plan on retiring at 65. We both contribute to company pension plans. His is a group plan, mine a individual personalized pension plan with employer match to 6.5%. We both have been topping up our RRSP's above what our pension contributions are to maximize out personal limits. I also have a TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) We are 41 & 40. Our home will be paid off in 9 years. When DH retires we will switch to his union's extended medical plan, and I also have a retirement group plan option (This may change in the next 25 years). We are in Canada, so routine doctor visits, hospital stays and such are covered by the government plan. If we keep contributing to our retirement as is, our income will go up and expenses will go down upon retiring. All our retirement savings are in addition to our CPP and OAC benefits.

 

[Minnesota!]

I am out at 55, no matter what. I have been saving towards that since I entered the work force at 19. The company I work for offers killer retirement benefits. If I need to take a small, part time job to supplement my fun money, I will. But, the day to day, up at dawn, run till dark, and do it wearing nice clothes? Nope. 16 years...counting down the days already

 

[QueenIsabella]

It really depends on your particular circumstances. In our case, DH plans to work until 65 at a regular job, then work part-time as a consultant for a few years after that. We're in our mid-fifties, and will hit the $1M mark on our IRAs very soon (this year or next, depending on the market). We'll both collect Social Security and DH has a small pension. There will also be a substantial inheritance coming DH's way, that will take care of college for the kids who haven't started yet.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I think the best guess I have for that answer is $2 million. We are both 39 and no where close to that, and also will have 2 kids in college this year, so savings aren't ramping up anytime soon. We both currently have private sector, non pension jobs, so that will all need to be in 401(k) and IRA. The goal is to delay SS until 70, if the same rules are still in place in 30 years. I see myself retiring first, as DH just has more of the drive to climb the corporate ladder, but someone is going to have to work until 65 simply for the health care. The only people I see around me really retiring before that age have government pensions and benefits.

 

[leebee]

DH turns 57 in August, and I'll be 61 in a couple of weeks. I have no idea what is "enough." We owe about $150K on our home and about $8000 left on the car loan. We have no debt for DD's college but we are helping her (splitting the loan payments, so we have about $140 a month for another 8 years). We have about $300,000 in retirement accounts, to which we'll continue to contribute. I will have a small pension from the state of Maine (I've been teaching for 10 years, but my income only averages about $20K a year) and we both have social security. DH is a professor, doing research and teaching, and I can't imagine he'll ever fully retire. He loves it too much. Our health insurance is through his work (and I've recently learned that I need to do something about Medicare, but I don't understand the rules and what I have to do... time for another thread?) Me? I'll keep working for as long as I can. My teaching is one-on-one through special education, so the physical demands aren't great. It's the emotional demands that take it out of me!

Sigh... we may never retire.

 

[tvguy]

It really depends on your particular circumstances. .

This sums it up soo00o well. Circumstances, some by your choosing, some not.
My neighbor has been in his house 38 years. He paid $79,000 for it, and owes $130,000. He chose to pull equity out and spend it. Now at age 86 he is moving in with his daughter because he no longer wants to live alone. He'll probably get $400,000+ for the house, which will be a nice inheritance for his kids. He worked into his 70's, and juggled a house payment. Finally, he won't have a $1,000 house payment, and he will have cash in the bank. But how he juggled that for so many years I don't know.

 

[aprilchem]

I am shooting for $2 million in total assets (excluding our home) when we retire at age 65. DH is 47 and I am 42 and we are on track to get there by age 65.

My plan is that we would liquidate most of our possessions at 65 and downsize to an apartment, paid for with the cash we'd make from the sale of our home. I'd like to live off the drawdown from the retirement accounts and not touch the principle, so our yearly income would be about $100k on a 5% drawdown. I think we will probably be able to cover expenses, healthcare (which will be partially subsidized by my employer), and travel off of that amount.

I haven't factored any social security income into my calculations (I think it'll *probably* still be around when we retire, but who knows?).

 

[Minnesota!]

I had a dream last night that I won the lottery today, and was able to report on this thread that retirement would be easy living for me, at the age of 39. Sigh. Quite disappointing when I woke up...

 

[jen7233]

We haven't retired yet. We will probably retire at 60, and most likely one of us will sooner than that. We are looking at 10 or so years timeline to retirement, not much longer than that. I've played a little bit with various calculators out there. We have so many variables to our future situation. Right now, I'm just setting a goal of remaining debt free, maxing out ROTH IRAs, saving for kids' college in their 529s, and also trying to save another 10-20% monthly in taxable accounts.

 

[runwad]

I don't know?? We are 50 & 53 and still have 2 in college and one more starting in 2 years. I feel like I can't even think about retirement until the kids get out and start their own lives. DH has a government pension so he could go at 58 but then our family wouldn't have medical coverage as I only work part time with no benefits. Financially we will be fine, our house is paid off and we have no other debt; so between pension, 401k, deferred comp, ira's, ss we'll be set (probably have more $$ than we do now).

The big elephant in the room is health care. We'll just have to wait and see what the current environment is with that in the next 8 to 9 years. DH would like to retire at 61, he said I need to go to work for my own benefits, ugh I hope not. I hope we can afford to private pay, we'll see.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I work from home, I'm single and no kids (and no plans to have any). I will probably work till I'm about 70 or maybe even a few years past. But ideally, I'd like to have about $1,000,000 saved up (free and clear from taxes, in my bank account).

 

[osopecoso]

We have been planning for a while. Right now I am on goal for retiring at 50. We already purchased our retirement home in Medellin, Colombia which is where we have family. We have 2 rental properties here for income and we do not owe anything on them. Mortgage is paid off on home. No debt other than daughters school and student loan which will be paid off in 5 years. By 50 we should have 1.8 million which should carry us very far in Colombia. Healthcare is great there and much cheaper than here in the US. Schools are great. We started a long time ago. Parents always pushed to save as much as possible. Dad was a financial planner and mom a cpa so they knew the best way to retire early.

 

[DawnM]

I pay into the state pension. It is a formula of years of service and age and once you hit the magic numbers, you can get a certain amount for life. DH wants to retire at 65, but since I took a lot of time off to raise kids, I think I will be there until close to 70.

 

[bdcp]

DH and I have a combination of retirement incomes coming our way. 401K's, investments, pensions, ss all which currently come close to about 80% of our current income. I'm working 3 more years and DH plans to work 5-7 more. I'm 57 and DH is 60. We will have about 2 million in investments plus our pensions at that time (his is from 9 years working for one co, plus his US Navy retirement and mine will be for 26 years as a Federal employee) plus ss. Most of the rest is from our 401K's. But, we live in a high cost of living area. We do plan to downsize our home in a year or two but we'll still have a mortgage. Our two DS are grown (31 and 33) so we're well past college. We're in very good shape for retirement. DH is a retired Navy reservist and besides his retirement pay, we have access to Tricare which takes care of our health insurance needs. If you had told me 30 years ago that we would be in this situation, I wouldn't have believed it. We were month to month, living in a townhouse with a mortgage we could barely afford with two small children. DH was a drilling navy reserve officer and that income helped tremendously. He stuck it out for 30 years and retired as an O-6.

What amazes me is I, personally, have more saved in my 401K than the average american and I went back to work after 14 years at home with our boys and I work part time (32 hours/week). Not everyone plans for retirement. We do have some debt, but DH was just offered a job that pays 18% more than his current one (he's a Federal gov contractor) and we'll pay off all debt besides our mortgage in 1 year or less.

Our two DS (31 and 33) both have more saved in 401K's than the average american. They also work with our financial planner. He is more than worth what he is paid (percentage of our accounts) and makes more the more we make. A good certified financial planner can make a huge difference and help you figure out what you can and can't do and when.

 

[tabby1881]

We've always been very careful with our spending, doing all we can with 401Ks, keeping debt way down. And then my husband got sick. He stopped working at age 55. I work two jobs now hoping that I can keep this up until I retire in 16 years.