If your house is paid for, you're probably in pretty good shape. Obviously you would want to calculate future property tax bills, medical insurance costs, monthly bills (food, utilities, vehicles, etc.) and what lifestyle you wish to live in retirement.
__________________
Jesus Christ--The reason for the season!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
Location: On an Island in the west coast of New England
Posts: 13,132
RE: How much is "enough" to retire on?
One thing to consider is inflation which can erode your finances by over 3% yearly and it compounds over time. I once had a person who retired many years ago come back to work for me as a consultant. I asked why he decided to return to the engineering force after all these years and he said he needed the money. He retired in the early 1980's at what was then a decent retirement. Over time his buying power decreased. I asked him what his yearly income from the retirement was and he said 15K and this was in 2000. Unfortunately his monthly pension check didn't have cost of living adjustments and after about 15 years he discovered he didn't have enough money coming in to support him in the way he was accustomed. Not owing anyone is a good thing but there will always be expenses like new cars and unexpected expensive repairs like furnace or a new roof. Costs for medical insurance are always increasing which is another expense that can creep up on you. Time, on the other hand is something that doesn't increase. You only get so many days on the planet and making the best use of that time is really important from my perspective. I retired 5 years ago after 34 years of work for a major company at age 53 and have never been sorry. If you can maintain your standard of living after retirement then you are ready. As with everything it is a personal decision and I hope you find your personal answers. If I were you I would max out the 401K for the next 5 years and itcould more than double if properly invested.
__________________
Too busy with fishing to spend much time here.
One thing to consider is inflation which can erode your finances by over 3% yearly and it compounds over time. I once had a person who retired many years ago come back to work for me as a consultant. I asked why he decided to return to the engineering force after all these years and he said he needed the money. He retired in the early 1980's at what was then a decent retirement. Over time his buying power decreased. I asked him what his yearly income from the retirement was and he said 15K and this was in 2000. Unfortunately his monthly pension check didn't have cost of living adjustments and after about 15 years he discovered he didn't have enough money coming in to support him in the way he was accustomed. Not owing anyone is a good thing but there will always be expenses like new cars and unexpected expensive repairs like furnace or a new roof. Costs for medical insurance are always increasing which is another expense that can creep up on you. Time, on the other hand is something that doesn't increase. You only get so many days on the planet and making the best use of that time is really important from my perspective. I retired 5 years ago after 34 years of work for a major company at age 53 and have never been sorry. If you can maintain your standard of living after retirement then you are ready. As with everything it is a personal decision and I hope you find your personal answers. If I were you I would max out the 401K for the next 5 years and itcould more than double if properly invested.
Excellent answer. But remember that one catastrophe can wipe out your entire savings. I had over 350,000.00 in savings five years ago. It's almost completely gone due to to some unforeseen circumstances.
I agree with what is being said here that alot of things can happen in the unforseen future.. A friend of mines father had retired and moved to Florida. While there he suffered a major stroke and was hospitalized for quite some time. His haelth insurance reached it's maximum payout and he was left with the rest of the bills.. It drain all he had saved up and now without health insurance along with some of the remaining bill left to pey for... It would be to hard to say what is enough, but you can't worry about that either if you want to enjoy your retirement...
You wouuld need to check on what happens if you touch the 401K money at 55, there's probably a penalty.
I haven't figured it all out, but my gut says nope, you don't have enough. Retire at 55 and you figure the money needs to last 40 years.
I met with a financial guy about 10 years ago with a goal of retiring at 50, he said to do that with "partial" retirement, I'd have to accumulate a bit over $1 Million, then work part time/consult a bit to make it all SAFELY work out.
Not sure what the numbers are, but with $1million invested, making 8%, $80G/year without loosing principal
I have to agree that you're probablya little on the light side right now. Most of the mutual fund websites have retirement calculators, where you can plug in a few numbersregarding what you haveand get estimates of what you need. I think there's one at www.fidelity.com
One thing to consider is inflation which can erode your finances by over 3% yearly and it compounds over time. I once had a person who retired many years ago come back to work for me as a consultant. I asked why he decided to return to the engineering force after all these years and he said he needed the money. He retired in the early 1980's at what was then a decent retirement. Over time his buying power decreased. I asked him what his yearly income from the retirement was and he said 15K and this was in 2000. Unfortunately his monthly pension check didn't have cost of living adjustments and after about 15 years he discovered he didn't have enough money coming in to support him in the way he was accustomed. Not owing anyone is a good thing but there will always be expenses like new cars and unexpected expensive repairs like furnace or a new roof. Costs for medical insurance are always increasing which is another expense that can creep up on you. Time, on the other hand is something that doesn't increase. You only get so many days on the planet and making the best use of that time is really important from my perspective. I retired 5 years ago after 34 years of work for a major company at age 53 and have never been sorry. If you can maintain your standard of living after retirement then you are ready. As with everything it is a personal decision and I hope you find your personal answers. If I were you I would max out the 401K for the next 5 years and itcould more than double if properly invested.
Excellent answer. But remember that one catastrophe can wipe out your entire savings. I had over 350,000.00 in savings five years ago. It's almost completely gone due to to some unforeseen circumstances.
Off subject here. If anyone has gold or silver in a bank box. I advise you to take it out and hide it.. Under the patriot act the government has authority to take your gold and silver.. If there is a war with Iran, I advise everyone who has these metals to remove them immediate from the bank or you won't ever see it again...
Off subject here. If anyone has gold or silver in a bank box. I advise you to take it out and hide it.. Under the patriot act the government has authority to take your gold and silver.. If there is a war with Iran, I advise everyone who has these metals to remove them immediate from the bank or you won't ever see it again...
You should be aware by now that you can't just throw out a statement like that without giving a citation to the specific section of the Patriot Act providing for such seizures... Until you provide a cite, I'm calling BS on any claim that the Patriot Act gives the government a right to walk into a citizen's home, orbank safe deposit box, or whatever,and confiscate gold or silver.
Also, why would a war with Iran have ANY implication here?
The Patriot Act does allow government agents to seize property. They must obtain a warrant, just like any police department. What's different is the magistrate and the agents operate in secret, and the result does not become public record until all phases of the investigation and trial are completed. I don't like the Patriot Act, but at the same time I don't think we are in any immediate danger of the act being abused.
How much is "enough" to retire on?
