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The 'experts' claim you need almost as much as what you were making when you were fully employed. I say, BS. If you are smart and pay off ALL your debts, and live within a budget, you can live on less than half of what your income used to be. If you have the money, you spend it...as the saying goes. ...
I agree.
My income now is far lower than it was when I was working.
Pay off your debts, live within your means, and it all works.
I expect to need a lot less. My pension will more than cover my mortgage (for several years) and I will have paid off my other debts, incurred in building my little house and previously, years. of careless living.
I expect taxes and utilities and everyday things to only become more expensive. I have no plans to travel, etc., since I've been able to do a lot of things in my working life that a lot of people can only see being able to do in retirement, and of course, I haven't paid to raise kids. I have finally learned that being one income has its ups and downs!
I really look forward to simply not working. Not going to a difficult environment, working shift work and so on. I do worry about building a social life something that has gotten skimpy as I get older and people move on and away and all. I have basically no family.
I do have volunteer things I'd like to do (which would involve driving) and where my dream house is (a town in eastern Mass.) I am car-dependent, mostly. (Council on Aging has some van services to the hospital, downtown hospitals and supermarket). I am a mile walk from the supermarket and pharmacy, and less to the library and lake. I love where I live, but would consider moving to a trailer community if finances required. Not sure where I'd go- certainly no where more humid than Massachusetts, but I'd hate to be even more car-dependent.
I have thought of an Erickson community if/when I really need more help than living alone in a home. This presumes I can afford it by selling my house. In that case, I might consider moving to a Colorado one, since I love Colorado weather and if am not driving too much, would prefer to be out there, where I've never lived. Then, expenses would be a lot more set.
I worry about the large numbers of seniors (often widows) who live in pleasant but car-dependent areas, suburbs, rural. What happens to them as they become less able? Retirement, after all, isn't only living the high life at age 50s. It's getting OLD, wherever you are and however you live.
Maybe I worry too much.
I believe 1 mil would be ok. My plan is to live on 30k income a year. I figure maybe 8k for property tax, 5k for food, 3k for utilities. The other 16k use for whatever need at the time. My pension hopefully Will be 22k a year. So all I need is to add another 8k income to get to my 30k I need.
I'm 33 years old. I want to retire at 56 or 61. 25 or 30 years and out,got to see how it plays out. My plan is to put 20k a year toward retirement at 35 years of age. When I reach 45 years(house paid for hopefully),put 50k toward retirement until retirement. My goal is to have at least 1.25mil at retirement. Take 1mil in invest in simple interest account something like 1.5% return and use it as income with my pension. Sell my house in chicagoland and move to the carolinas to pay cheaper property tax and better weather.
WOW...that's quite a plan you have Booboy! As someone once said, "life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans..." I can't IMAGINE what the cost of living will be like when you get ready to retire...hopefully your plans will materialize...when I think of pensions these days, I wonder if they will still exist? as so many companies are terminating them...I do think your guesstimate of 1.5% return is realistic though. GOOD LUCK! at your age I certainly wouldn't count on Soc Sec....Instead of investing my my IRA I put my extra money into real estate and so far, it has paid off much better than the stock market. I like the fact that real estate is something CONCRETE that I can control. Sure the RE market is down now, but not everywhere. I bought a small 2-unit apt. and it's been a good investment for me. Best to you!
I believe 1 mil would be ok. My plan is to live on 30k income a year. I figure maybe 8k for property tax, 5k for food, 3k for utilities. The other 16k use for whatever need at the time. My pension hopefully Will be 22k a year. So all I need is to add another 8k income to get to my 30k I need.
I'm 33 years old. I want to retire at 56 or 61. 25 or 30 years and out,got to see how it plays out. My plan is to put 20k a year toward retirement at 35 years of age. When I reach 45 years(house paid for hopefully),put 50k toward retirement until retirement. My goal is to have at least 1.25mil at retirement. Take 1mil in invest in simple interest account something like 1.5% return and use it as income with my pension. Sell my house in chicagoland and move to the carolinas to pay cheaper property tax and better weather.
My future is looking bright.
I hope it all goes as planned. I would be very careful about relying on your pension. Pensions from a "business" standpoint is a horrible plan and they will eventually be gone. Be careful and save as much on your own as you can.
BTW, TN is much cheaper than NC.
Save 500K and put it into conservative stuff like inflation-linked bonds and CDs. Draw 5% a year. That's $25K a year forever. Your SS will add approximately another $25K a year. That makes $50K per year for as long as you live. Pay off your mortgage and any other major debts. Supplement your base $50K with part-time work/consulting/etc. and spend what you earn on travel.
That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it. Good luck to you!
Save 500K and put it into conservative stuff like inflation-linked bonds and CDs. Draw 5% a year. That's $25K a year forever. Your SS will add approximately another $25K a year. That makes $50K per year for as long as you live. Pay off your mortgage and any other major debts. Supplement your base $50K with part-time work/consulting/etc. and spend what you earn on travel.
That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it. Good luck to you!
1. You're assuming that you can get 5% on your money. I haven't seen that guaranteed for a couple of years and the near future isn't looking any better. You also have to pay taxes on the interest you make.
2. Social Security. LOL. That won't be around much longer.
14 years ago i researched many countries about "official" retirement requisites.
From memory, most had some form of minimum deposits, income levels etc.
This is done to protect your new "home country" from having to keep you if you go bust, run out of money, get seriously ill, have a big accident, or whatever.
For 8 years, i "lived" in Malaysia without complying with the "MM2H" program, just exiting the country every 3 or 6 months - returning to Australia to see my kids, travelling, etc.
That was before the days of low cost airlines. Now, a fare from Malaysia to Jakarta (eg) is around $50.
Living costs were around $600 per month.
After 8 years i decided that it was "the best country on earth" in my opinion, so i then applied for the "second home' program and got it.
5 years later, i still live on around $750 per month + cost of overseas travel.
There are tens of thousands of people doing the same things as i did 13 years ago.
Naturally, the G'vt wants you to bring in $3,000 per mnth and buy a $300K house but VERY few bother.
You can have your cake and eat it too.
Many people are scared of leaving their comfort zones - understandable too.
The Oz G'vt used to have a slogan - "You never never know, if you never ever go".
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,698 posts, read 58,012,579 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hhe1982
How much money in your retirement account do you think is enough to live comfortably after retirement...
And what about healthcare...? Usually you guys mention that up front,
That will be sinking my retirement 'budget' boat. I'm not holding out great hope for a viable solution coming from the gov, but getting equivalent coverage to my 'ex-job' would cost me about the same as my property taxes ($1000 per month).
Obviously there are cheaper ways to survive, and I'm working on that...(I still live on $10/wk spending money, as I have since 1980, and drive a $35 car that gets 50 mpg)
Casa Grande will become a Casita ASAP; (but that may be awhile).
Once fixed costs are under control, I figure I can live pretty well on the inflation adjusted equivalent of $35k/yr. Looking at the next 40 yrs in retirement, I better be a bit more prudent on my investment income than I was this yr
I assume the 'Malaysia' Connection requires paying cash for medical care. I have spent quite a bit of time in Malaysia since I was living / working in Singapore and most of my contract manufacturers were in JB and Penang. While I liked it, I'm not so sure I could call it home. I would hope there are some nice spots that are not "urban central". Even Melaka was not great on my last trip (2005). The people are generally pretty nice, but there were some difficult times with 'expectations / assumptions'. One really needs to be ready for 'culture shock', and to let stuff 'roll-off', as it won't be 'like home' for quite awhile. i.e. things like 'expressions' I could definately handle living in Singapore for most of the time, but it is expensive!!! As a 'prairie' kid I get island fever and tired of people, but the parks are beautiful, and usually empty ! I often go to the park for an entire day and read / work, and see only a few people.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 12-28-2008 at 08:29 PM..
1. You're assuming that you can get 5% on your money. I haven't seen that guaranteed for a couple of years and the near future isn't looking any better. You also have to pay taxes on the interest you make.
5% is not tough to earn. Even in the midst of the current economic mess, CDs are paying 3% - 4%, and money market funds are paying 3%. Inflation-linked bonds are down about 2%. In good years, those conservative forms of investment will pay more. Inflation-linked bonds will always be a good buy -- particularly when the inevitable inflationary pressures begin to buildm over the next decade. The taxation on pre-tax insturments is only pegged as regular income when you draw from your mutual funds or index funds. $25K per year does not constitute much tax liability; most of your SS is not taxable.
Quote:
2. Social Security. LOL. That won't be around much longer.
Yes it will. Current funding is good through about 2030. Then we'll have to remove the $101K cap on SS taxation and up everyone's contribution by about 1.6%. SS should be part of everyone's retirement calculations.
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, but getting equivalent coverage to my 'ex-job' would cost me about the same as my property taxes ($1000 per month).
I could definately handle living in Singapore for most of the time, but it is expensive!!! As a 'prairie' kid I get island fever and tired of people, but the parks are beautiful, and usually empty ! I often go to the park for an entire day and read / work, and see only a few people.
