Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

True. I'd like to move south which would mean I couldn't remain with the company anyways. Depends too what happens with my wife as she's a little older.

 

I started saving way too late in the game, I think I was 30 or just a hair under. This stuff works on an exponential curve, the early years are critical. I started catching up though, latest estimate had me hitting my target at age 67.

I don't think I want to retire to be honest. I've seen too many people that retired early; they always enjoy it until the grandkids start to hit college age and then it's always a rapid health decline. The body and mind need something to do. Boredom kills. I don't always want to work a career but i do plan on looking for a fun little job, that continues to keep me busy and gives me enough pocket change to harass any blue haired lady that catches my eye.

 

The wife and I have been watching our finances extremely close for the last 28 years. We actually decided to bring in pros to help ease the transition to retirement. We pay about $100/month for them to invest and watch our monies now. its well worth it.

Many of the headaches involves with just existing are now farmed out.

These are fiduciaries, so if we don't make money, they don't make money.

The less money you start out having them watch, the less your monthly fee is.

I believe the max is $175/month no matter how much money is being dealt with.

They have a very long test for you to take for them to figure out your risk tolerance. I found it spot on.

I'm done looking at the markets 5x/day.

 

As @Clearwater Bill says, "retire from work, not life"

My dad retired this January. He's always bitchy no matter what so I'm not surprised he's not happy. BUT, with Covid I really don't think he should be doing anything requiring him to be dealing with people often. Plus my mother's health isn't great so he's home for her. I told him though when things change he should volunteer somewhere

 

So... I went home made a Roth IRA account and put in $50! I'm not sure how much I should invest monthly....

 

I retired from the Army at 47. From there, I took a State job and hated it. It took me 5 years to get debt free, sell everything in the HCOL area I was living and move to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont close to everything I love to do..The house I bought was a small, turn key seasonal cape that a young couple had built as a vacation home. It was barely lived in. The only thing missing was a garage. I took the money from my State Retirement account (not much) and put it towards building a dream studio garage. Now, I volunteer, help my Navy Vet friend & his wife build their retirement cabin 4 miles from me, and enjoy my passions of the outside. I found I need very little, hardly drive anymore, and am happier & healthier than I ever was working for money, which I had done since I was 14. Just turned 60. Social security will be next.

 

Well start slow. But make it painful. Ideally AT LEAST 20% of ALL income. Next month, $100, then $200. Just make sure you do this before your pay bills, I mean this IS A BILL and it is DUE. Take it seriously but don't stress, of the few "right things" we get a choice about in life, this is one for sure.

So congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've been getting savage with it lately. Last year maxed my retirement. Year before I hit 70% max. This year I'll add another 11k out of 19k allowed.

However I did take advantage of the market several months ago. Just some liquid cash I had as a rainy day fund incase my wife and I lost income for 10 months to sustain our exact lifestyle. So counting that (really shouldn't) between investments, returns ect im up 33k this year

 

I earn non taxable income fairly regularly. Several years in a row I was in the lowest tax brackets available. So I skipped the non taxable retirement and tossed it into a roth IRA (since taxes did not apply) then when I get back into taxable, I contribute to a traditional to lower my taxable income.

Screw paying taxes.

I've been debating converting from a traditional to a roth and just bite the bullet, especially right now, and possibly pay the most minimal tax bracket to do it.

 

If you have any sort of 401k like plan that offers matching contributions be sure to contribute to that up to the maximum match before paying down a house faster. In fact always do whatever you can to harvest any sort of company matching contributions if you are lucky enough to have them.

One often overlooked advantage of the Roth IRA is that your *contributions* can be removed penalty free at any time (the same is not true of earnings in the Roth). What is nice about this is that if you are debating between saving up more for an emergency fund or contributing to retirement you can sort of get the best of both worlds with a Roth IRA. Now of course if you do this make sure whatever funds that are in your Roth for emergencies are in something stable that will be there when you need it unexpectedly! An emergency fund stored in volatile stocks isn't going to end nicely as a fair number of typical emergencies (loss of employment) correlate with market downturns. Anyhow, being aware of what are the penalty free withdrawal options can sometimes help you expand your emergency fund while maximizing the amount of tax free retirement space you consume each year. Also helps you plan for early retirement if you are lucky enough to be able to do that.

And on the subject of emergencies... know in advance what is and isn't protected in bankruptcy in your state and make sure you have a written emergency plan that your family can comprehend and execute on while you are in the hospital in a coma for six months. A common mistake is to take funds out of retirement accounts to pay off debts. Your retirement accounts are typically protected from creditors. Your house and mortgage have very different rules depending on your state - know what they are. If you have a true financial emergency assume things will get even worse and protect what assets you can under the assumption you may end up in bankruptcy (especially important in health related financial emergencies). Plan in advance. Banks and lenders know how to take care of themselves, it is up to you to plan for you and your loved ones if things go bad.

 

I am going to be stuck working until noon on the day of my funeral LOL

 

Charles schwab

 

I've got enough put aside between my 401k and life insurance to pay off any debt and pay for my cremation. I don't anticipate living long enough to retire, and I am perfectly fine with that. Three of the guys I served on a volunteer FF engine company with in the 90's have all died of the same kind of cancer over the last 10 years, so I see it as pretty much inevitable.

 

Left turn from that depression

So mod money is the way to go huh

 

Random question for you folks.

I know it can vary widely based on lifestyle expectations, cost of living in your area, planned retirement age, etc., but I feel like no one ever talks about the exact figure you plan to have when you decide to retire.

I’m personally shooting for $2.5M in retirement accounts. At that point I’d start seriously considering retiring. At that point based on the “4% rule” I could draw $100k per year without touching principle and still have the $2.5M nest egg in case of emergency, health issues, etc.

Anyone out there comfortable sharing their target number, or if you’ve already retired how you determined you had “enough”?

 

i think i figured about 1.1m a few years ago, assuming i get half of my moms townhome sale after she passes, that would pay off my condo, just leave expenses + hoa. its not cheap here though. i have a SEP ira that no longer gets funded and a roth IRA I try to put into, 110k value so far. im 52

 

I'm super JR in this still learning alot

But if I continue on a 20% base pay + 5% match, with a 6% return, i can end up with +/- 2.6M.

Adjust for inflation 2.8% ish per year ect.

I have the ability to withdraw a one time penalty and tax exempt for:

Paying off primary residence
Purchase a primary residence to include RV or anything you plan on actually living in

I don’t see how my wife or I would need 4% if we do this. My step dad has been living a normal life off of savings until he can draw retirement and he is running on about 24k per year to include insurance, taxes, water, power, food ect.

 

$2Meg should be enough for most places except crazy ass big cities. Due to demand, no one wants to live there anyway.

1meg used to be good enough and you know I think someone could get by in a real rural area without any employment centers nearby. The drawback of course are low interest rates as mentioned. Might need to take more risk with a smaller sum. Depends though, if you have some pension, some other income, plus you get $2900+ and wife gets $2000+ month from SS, you could be just fine.