How much do you need/have for retirement?

[eleighj]

Do you have a retirement $$ goal? $2MM.

How much do you have in retirement accounts? +$2MM + very small pension +SS

How long until retirement? That is the interesting thing; since I am no longer a "wage slave" as such; I can retire now, if I desire; the "boss" knows these things; I find that I really enjoy life in general and what I do.

Just my particular situation.

eleighj

[cdttmm]

We're an odd combination of #2 and #3. We retired the first time at ages 36 and 42, but then both returned to work in start-ups when we found stuff we were passionate about. Our incomes are low because of the start-up factor, which means we're still tapping the retirement funds in order to live, but we're okay with that. We're having fun and knew it was unlikely that we would retire in a permanent way the first time around. We're not risk averse so we've invested in a bunch of stuff that may totally implode, including a restaurant and an urban farm store.

Our attitude is that we can always make more money if we really need to. We both know how to hunker down and work super hard and we've built vast personal and professional networks so that is an investment in its own right.

[Life_is_Simple]

Yea, something screwed up about money and how we think about it when 100k isn't a lot? Don't get me wrong for many things it *isn't* a lot, I know all about housing prices etc. etc.. But it's also maybe 2 people working 40 hours a week for you for a year full time to do anything you want them to do? Really. Maybe even 100k is more power than you ever imagined.

Yeah, for now, I'm going to think it is a lot

[cattledog]

Yeah, for now, I'm going to think it is a lot

I think it is a lot. It's one of those big milestones too. Things seem to steamroll quickly after 100K for some reason.

[dmc]

I'm thinking that if I were to run out of money in my old age maybe I could just go back to school. I could load up on school loans, why let all the kids get all the easy money . That should cover a few years. Then if I couldn't get a job, probably due to age discrimination, Id just defer the loans and go after another degree.

[Paige]

1. "I have a retirement goal. I am X% of the way to it with Y years left to retirement."
   I think we have a plan, but need to get rid of a big mortgage. We are 52/54 with two kids in college at the same time. Stupid us in our twenties! Anyway, two small pensions that we can't get at until we are 65, but plans to retire to service and part time jobs at 57 and 59. We still owe 98,000 on a house (originally 250 7 yrs ago) with 550,000 in retirement plans. It feels like after all this saving we should be able to retire...like, right now....but nope. If we can downsize and have no mortgage and get the kids out of college, all will be better. I like saying the numbers out loud because I am alternately discouraged and then proud of myself. Would you guys be able to retire with 550,000???

[Kestrel]

DH and I are both retired federal employees and we have DH's good pension plus my piddly one, plus my SS (DH never paid into SS so doesn't get any). We also have medicare advantage insurances, plus DH kept his federal insurance (which I'm on as dependent) so there aren't any medical worries SO FAR. We have no debt at all, except of course monthly utilities and expenses. Our home, car, truck, and RV are all paid for. We do of course have investments which we don't intend to touch and so far haven't needed to. Time will tell. We can't spend willy-nilly but are able to take our trailer RVing a lot during the summer, which we enjoy. Well, when we aren't too busy with church stuff :-D. We'll be going to Phoenix for a week in June (:-O) for our church's Annual General Meeting, but we've saved for that. And we're involved with a group looking at starting a cohousing community in Boise, which we know will not necessarily be cheaper than living as we do now, but we know the benefits will outweigh any "problems". We hope. ### Right now our biggest expense seems to be CAT FOOD! We have three cats and GOOD LORD those fuzzy critters eat a lot during the winter! But we love them and they're worth it! We also feed two strays. Sigh.

[Blackdog Lin]

I am getting ready to retire this year with about $110,000 socked away in retirement accounts. I don't see why it won't see us through as I really don't plan or see any need to tap into these monies for a long time to come. My reasoning:
- I will have a decent federal pension, added to DH's SS of about half the pension amount.
- we already today live quite nicely on that monthly amount, or less. There's room in the budget for inflation (though I worry about health insurance costs rising too dramatically).
- we have no debt, and I am confident in our ability to keep it that way.
- one of my plans for retirement is to live even more simply and save even more money, as in more gardening/canning, more from-scratch cooking, more garage-saling for needs etc. And y'all on this forum have inspired me over the last few years that one can have a rich and satisfying lifestyle even without "all the bells and whistles".
- retirement travel isn't a big consideration, as DH is physically unable to do too much in the way of traveling.
- the house is paid for, worth $120,000+, and really I see us in 10-12 years deciding to sell out and downsize. I think the house and barn and 7 acres will eventually get to be too much for us to handle and care for as we age. So at least 50% of those proceeds would go into retirement savings as well, depending on what living arrangements we ended up with. But I also feel comfortable that we wouldn't ever HAVE to sell the property.
- I don't know but what I might end up WANTING to get at least a part-time (and low-wage) job, to get me out of the house. I see lots of possibilities for this even in my small town. I even have a few ideas for home-based income. We'll see.....

So even without the mythical $1M in retirement savings, I feel okay about getting out of the rat race at my relatively young age (55). Everyone's situation is different, but for ours I think we have enough. Hope I'm right!

[Paige]

I think having a pension is huge. Ours will be small because we won't have put in 30 years or worked until 65, but it sounds like you got your 30 in. Congratulations, Blackdog Lin. I am hoping to spend some time this spring and summer purging and decluttering so we can downsize the house and upsize the yard so we can also do more gardening, canning, etc.

[Blackdog Lin]

Thanks Paige for the congrats. Yeah, I got my 30 in - 32 if you're counting, and I am! I am grateful, and proud even, to have stuck it out all these years. It wasn't easy, and I went through many new employees who were "3 years and out", 'cause they couldn't handle the stress and the hard work. And a few of them are still in my small town who say to me "you're so lucky, that you get that pension, and I wish I was so lucky". And I want to tell them "it ain't luck, you could have done the same thing, only you didn't want to put in the long hours and the hard work".

I feel somewhat that "you get what you pay for".....