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Thread: What is your "enough" number?

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by happystuff View Post
    Wow! I certainly hope that is not the "standard". Nowhere close to $5,000 per month as a working household, let alone thinking of retiring with that much.

    I don't think this is the thread for me to participate in - LOL!

    Congrats to all of you who have "made it". Enjoy!
    I don't have that as a working household, either. Our social security will be much smaller, too, and I had to take it this year as work dried up.

    We will be working as long as we can.

  2. #32
    Yppej
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    Same with me Tybee. The figure is high to me even for a couple.

  3. #33
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Same here. My MIL retired with a small pension and SS--her monthly income from those sources was just over $3000k. She lived off of that. She had paid off everything and had no debt. She had a small next egg, under 200k. She didn't lack for anything, the way I could see it. She was the stereotypical frugal Scotswoman.

    I think knowing she was able to live a nice life with far less than 1.5M gives me reassurance and hope.
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  4. #34
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rogar View Post
    Not everyone has the same lifestyle and it's a good way to get a handle on budget and income streams. I am still on the experimental stage of SS payments, but with no debt I'm pretty sure I could live on SS plus about $10k per year plus a nest egg for things like new furnaces or car replacements.
    Interesting research paper recently that suggests the traditional advice for planning for a high steady retirement income is unnecessary for many folks (and why that's so). The paper itself, of course, is jargon-laden. The Bogleheads thread discussing it uses far more plain English.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  5. #35
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by happystuff View Post
    Wow! I certainly hope that is not the "standard". Nowhere close to $5,000 per month as a working household, let alone thinking of retiring with that much.
    Exactly. When I posted above that I thought a particular retirement calculator was too simplistic to be of much use I was thinking about myself. But my thought probably also applies to you, and any number of other people. Everyone's situation is unique. For me the uniqueness is that I'm part of a high earning couple but we don't own a home and don't plan to buy one before retirement. (curiously my parents ended up doing the same.) If you, happystuff, live in a lower cost of living place, and/or will have your home paid off by retirement, and/or perhaps aren't big travelers or spenders on other pricey stuff, then yeah, $5k per month is probably way more than you need. It really is an individual (or couple)'s thing depending on their own circumstances.

    Personally my enough number is somewhere close to $2M but there are a lot of variables that can change that. If I work until 67 that number is probably high. If I hit that number at 57 then it's probably low. If the incessant attempts to end the ACA end up being successful (and it doesn't get replaced by something better) I will probably have to work until 65 regardless, which again changes things. Since I can't predict the future I will continue to work and save and re-evaluate until I hit a point where I'm ready to pull the trigger and stop working full time paid employment.

  6. #36
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wildflower3 View Post
    I'm certainly trying! I'd like us to buy this house, live in it for 10+ years and slowly save towards another downpayment. It'd be great if we could then buy something a little nicer and rent this house out, but that's too far out to really have any real idea.

    Another goal is to work at a place that would get me vested and able to have retirement health insurance - my mom went back to the state for a year doing a crap little student job unrelated to her career, just to add some time working there to end up with the health insurance.

    For those not yet retired, are there any simple online resources you like using to gauge where you are at and get a general prediction of your retirement situation, such as calculators, projections, etc that don't require an account? My Transamerica account offers simplified projections for example, but wouldn't be helpful to someone without an account. Chris Hogan, Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc resources?
    Wildflower: I am retired and I had used a retirement calculator that my employer had on our benefits site, but I hear a lot of people speak highly of Firecalc as an online calculator. Maybe someone who has used Firecalc can weigh in.

  7. #37
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    I liked using specific budget and income projections, but I think a good ballpark starting point is using a person's working income and adjusting it for a non-working person needs. For example, in my working days I was maxing out 401K contributions for tax and employer matching reasons and adding money to my mortgage payments to pay off my house early. Social Security deductions from pay checks, etc. No more work wardrobe or commuting expenses. Ballpark would have put me at half or less of my working income needs with just those few things. There might be some add backs like travel or health expenses.

    A few of my co-workers took early retirement at the same time as I did and we stay in touch. It's a common comment that their income needs are less than they'd anticipated.

  8. #38
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    Thanks for all the additional input/discussion. I realize that it is definitely individual-based. I have 8 more years 'til 70 and max SS, so - at this point in time - that is the retirement goal. I'm thinking I am more like catherine's MIL - minus a pension. But, that said, I doubt I would change much career-wise through the years. The career choices I made were the best possible at the time of their making and no regrets. I'm definitely trying to look at and enjoy the journey instead of total focus ahead.
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  9. #39
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    I said this above but it might’ve gotten lost in the projections of building a stash.

    Our household income is strong when we turn on spigots that we are entitled to. It pretty much covers our expenses, probably not including an annual blowout vacation. Or a new vehicle.

    My concern is impoverishing my spouse.

    Because the big part of our income is tied to me, if I die or go into a nursing home there has to be something for him to live on besides his Social Security income. Hence, our concentration on building assets beyond income.

    it’s funny that people assume that DH made more money than me in our household, he had his own business. That is not true I always made 2x to 3x his income. He added great value to our household though because he could build anything, he kept everything running. I remember once he fixed our washing machine for literally a $.25 part. Anyone else would’ve had $120 service call.Plus, when we got married he had $100,000 net worth which back then was a shit ton of money. He had gotten there through savings and rental income while he lived on the family farm and helped there.

  10. #40
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Your DH is just like mine, IL.. Although he did bring in some income until about 10 yrs ago, I have brought home the bacon but HE has fried it up in the pan. He also has a mechanical mind and can figure things out and has definitely saved us service calls. He's my social half. If it weren't for him I'd have no friends. He is an avid and excellent cook. He was home when I was out to work and traveling and took care of the kids. ("See you at 3:15!" is still a catch-phrase in our house--what he would tell them when they left for school in the morning)

    You have made me think more deeply about this. Unfortunately I haven't thought much about it because, frankly, the expectation is that I will outlive him. But what if that's not the case? I have not planned well for that inevitability. Thank you--I'll have to think about this..
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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