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It's actually amazing what you can live on when you retire (if you have no debts).
What do you think you'll need to live comfortably?
What do you think you'll need to live comfortably?
How many $$ will you need when you retire to live on?
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Without going into actual numbers, we are living on about 1/3 of what we made while both of us were still working full time.
I honestly do not know. Of course the financial advisor thinks a million is a good number, but I think DH and I frustrate him because we don't agree. Of course he goes along with us and has for years. We have always been of the opinion that if we have no debts then we will live with what we have at the time we retire. This does not mean that we are not planning for it. It is a high priority for us. We have always wanted to retire early (due to health issues in dh's family and now my family) so we could enjoy a few nice trips. We will be very happy to have enough put away for that and to just pay are expenses as they come up and not be a burden to are dd's.
We haven't thought about it that much....since it is awhile away. but we have family that are living on aroun $1500 a month. They have no car payment, no morgage...but it seems medical & prescriptions eat up alot of that. It's something to think about...
With over 1 million and no debt, not even a mortgage, we thought we were safe; then the value of our portfolio dropped drastically in the recent fall of the stock market and I have huge medical costs. (Dh is retired and on medicare) We are squeezing by hoping to hang onto our stocks until they recover. I can't work because I am disabled, and am in the waiting for a hearing hold; plus even when I get my check it will only offset the costs of my health insurance until I get medicare, then there is a 2 year wait for that. DH can't work because of his own disabilities. Now I think you can never know how much you truly need for retirement!
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I agree with this. There are too many unknowns. I think all we can do is provide as much as we can and hope for the best. A friend, very knowledgeable financially, sent me last summer to her financial advisor to get his input. When he asked what my monthly expenses were, he just looked at me incredulously and said, "That's all?" I think that, aside from the killers like huge medical costs, we can live on a lot less than most of the experts think we can. For my part, I will be very happy to sit in a chair a crochet cheap yarn and read library books in my retirement, if that happy but increasingly unlikely day ever comes. It all depends on expectations and lifestyle choices.
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13,930 Posts
Well our mortgage will be paid off in 1-2 years and we will have 1 car instead of 2. And no kids here w/ 1/3 of all the animals we have now.
So I estimate 50% of take home. But Dh hopes to keep consulting anyway.
So I estimate 50% of take home. But Dh hopes to keep consulting anyway.
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3,849 Posts
While I don't advocate stress, I do advocate thinking about retirement NOW.... and planning... and saving....
I'm a baby boomer, and sadly, I see many my age who never gave retirement a thought; they just thought that somehow it would all work out. But it's not working out, and they are facing disaster. Some have home and cars and debt paid off, but no savings, no pension.... Others are in hock up to their necks, and see absolutely no future for themselves except to fall on the mercy of their families or government. It's an uncertain economy, and all of our plans can change suddenly. But it's better to have planned and saved, than not to have anything.
Hubby and I began planning for retirement when we were about 30 or so. We weren't terribly serious about it, as at that age, it didn't seem possible for retirement age to ever come. But before we knew it, BOOM! We were retired. Thankfully, we were used to a frugal lifestyle, and did not have expensive desires. We had learned to be content with life as we could afford it. We also had been saving for many years, and time is on your side when you save and invest. If you wait, you lose on that aspect.
So.... don't stress unnecessarily now, but better now than to stress when you are 65 and realize that your prime earning years are behind you, and that you are going to have more and more medical needs, and that you have nothing more than $1000 a month social security to meet all your needs. Talk about stress....
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12,986 Posts
I agree!
I think what they are usually 'projecting' is living some sort of 'one size fits all' comfortable living experience and that just doesn't work. (not everyone wants to golf, cruise, or ??? everyday)
If I have lived on what I made all my life.........excluding medical---it should continue into old age. The medical is a whole other issue that you don't know and only have control over to a certain extent.
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It really depends on your lifestyle and your health...I am frugal but I am not healthy (not my fault)......and remember, you can be healthy as a horse, get sick with a cold and end up having major medical problems.... As others have said, the medical will kill you...I will be on medicare in June....as of right now, my meds are very expensive....Thank God I was able to keep my insurance until I turn 65 in June.....the premium takes 1/2 of my ss check.....with medicare, I will fall into the donut hole the third month and then after paying $4700 (the gap- 4 months for me) I then go into catastrophic for the remaining 5 months...My premiums will cost close to $400 a month...then I have my drugs which will cost anywhere from the highest months of $650 to the lowest months of $187 ..it is mind boggling....One drug insurance I checked into wouldn't cover my most expensive med and they said my annual oop cost would be $29,000.00 a yr!!!!! I don't have to tell you I'm checking out other plans... No amount of savings is enough if you ask me...and pray for good health!!!!! I'm praising God I lived long enough to collect ss 
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2,688 Posts
Not sure the answer here...
Plan here is to have the vehicle paid off end of this year, and then that payment goes snowball after the HEL. Mortgage was paid off years ago. We did some upgrades and put in a outside wood furnace. So plan is to only have the utilities, fire and vehicle insurance, groceries and gas.
Hubby wants to early retire in 2 yrs. Then work part time for a farmer truck driving. I put a plan into place last year for some extra part time money.
Then, the monkey wrench hits. Hubby fell a few weeks ago, and it appears he is looking at some kind of surgery on his knee. We hope it is minor, and won't affect his working. Good health insurance. But if he has to go out on disability for 4 to 6 weeks to heal from his surgery, that is going to dent his income. I reminded him again today, that I will start the sinking fund for taxes this month, and it will not be used on other things. It's there, but it's not there.
We're going to be poor in retirement. The less bills we have, the better off we will be.
We have simple needs....so we will make it ..........
Plan here is to have the vehicle paid off end of this year, and then that payment goes snowball after the HEL. Mortgage was paid off years ago. We did some upgrades and put in a outside wood furnace. So plan is to only have the utilities, fire and vehicle insurance, groceries and gas.
Hubby wants to early retire in 2 yrs. Then work part time for a farmer truck driving. I put a plan into place last year for some extra part time money.
Then, the monkey wrench hits. Hubby fell a few weeks ago, and it appears he is looking at some kind of surgery on his knee. We hope it is minor, and won't affect his working. Good health insurance. But if he has to go out on disability for 4 to 6 weeks to heal from his surgery, that is going to dent his income. I reminded him again today, that I will start the sinking fund for taxes this month, and it will not be used on other things. It's there, but it's not there.
We're going to be poor in retirement. The less bills we have, the better off we will be.
We have simple needs....so we will make it ..........
Age 62
I'm still working. DW hasn't had a job in 4 years now. We just make do with less. Currently working hard to pay off our mortgage, our last debt. Spreadsheet shows it pays off by April of 2013, if nothing untoward happens. I'm shooting to retire on my 66th birthday. Social security projects $2,507 a month for me, $1,254 for DW plus we will get a small pension of $800 a month. Total retirement income therefore $4,561 per month. We haven't saved as much as we'd like, but have about $250,000. Plus whatever we can save between now and retirement. Our needs are simple, but we'd love to do some traveling. I'm figuring roughly $900/mo for property taxes, auto and home insurance and utilities, plus $300/mo medicare costs. Figuring $300/week for groceries, gas, general living expenses makes a total of $2,400 living expenses. So we would have available savings of $2,161/mo after expenses. One of my friends works for Enterprise Rentacar part time while retired. I might like to work for a golf course principally to get free golf (we love it) and a few extra bucks would be nice too.
I'm still working. DW hasn't had a job in 4 years now. We just make do with less. Currently working hard to pay off our mortgage, our last debt. Spreadsheet shows it pays off by April of 2013, if nothing untoward happens. I'm shooting to retire on my 66th birthday. Social security projects $2,507 a month for me, $1,254 for DW plus we will get a small pension of $800 a month. Total retirement income therefore $4,561 per month. We haven't saved as much as we'd like, but have about $250,000. Plus whatever we can save between now and retirement. Our needs are simple, but we'd love to do some traveling. I'm figuring roughly $900/mo for property taxes, auto and home insurance and utilities, plus $300/mo medicare costs. Figuring $300/week for groceries, gas, general living expenses makes a total of $2,400 living expenses. So we would have available savings of $2,161/mo after expenses. One of my friends works for Enterprise Rentacar part time while retired. I might like to work for a golf course principally to get free golf (we love it) and a few extra bucks would be nice too.
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Congrats on a plan! Depending on where you live, your projected income should do you nicely. You may not use as much gas after you retire. We found our usage fell dramatically after retirement. Working part time is good, even if it were not for the money. It gives social contact, and a reason to be up in the morning, and mental stimulation. We like to travel also, so we spend time planning a trip, and then saving towards it. We make it work! You may need to rethink medicare costs, plus other medical costs. I imagine medicare and supplement policies are going to soar far beyond what we think, and as you age, medical costs seem to keep going on and on. When you pay off your mortgage, if you can, snowball that amount into your savings. Boost it as much as you can now. My best to you, and hope you enjoy retirement as much as we do!!
Good thoughts, forhisglory. We work hard on staying healthy. That's no guarantee, but it's all we can do. For example, i work out 45 mins a day, 5 days a week. We have switched over to primarily a plant based diet after watching the movie Forks over Knives twice on Netflix instant streaming. I've lost 70 pounds in the past two years and feel great.
Theoretically, medicare should take care of any major medical expenses. And we'll have some savings. That's all we can do.
Theoretically, medicare should take care of any major medical expenses. And we'll have some savings. That's all we can do.
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19,540 Posts
We've been discussing this lately. We think we'll be okay financially, for reasons I don't care to discuss online. We won't be rich, but should be able to cover our medical and living expenses unless something catastrophic happens. We've always been cheap and are getting moreso as we get older. After all, we've had decades to acquire the things we need, so we already own most of what we're likely to need for the rest of our lives.
If we decide it's too expensive to remain in Minnesota, we've talked about biting the bullet and moving back to South Dakota which is one of the most retiree-friendly states in the country due to the tax situation there. We'd hate it since we hated it the last time, but I think we could do it. We'd look for a smaller house and we're already working on downsizing our possessions.
We'll see what happens over the next ten years or so.
Time sure flies. Retirement will be here before we know it.
If we decide it's too expensive to remain in Minnesota, we've talked about biting the bullet and moving back to South Dakota which is one of the most retiree-friendly states in the country due to the tax situation there. We'd hate it since we hated it the last time, but I think we could do it. We'd look for a smaller house and we're already working on downsizing our possessions.
We'll see what happens over the next ten years or so.
Time sure flies. Retirement will be here before we know it.
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