Retirement age

It seems the million dollar is the magic number for retirement, but let's talk! Is this really true? I'm 34 so I have a long ways to go but my question, what is sufficient to retire in your 60s or even take a hit and retire in mid 50s? How many of you completely quit working or do you work part time in something else you always wanted to do?

A million dollars or enough land and knowledge so that you can provide for most of your needs. Which has more value if there is an economic collapse?

I retired 8 years ago at 56.Not too early if you want my opinion.
I never had no million bucks,but a decent pension and have trapping and other fur related work as an activity to continue in retirement.If you have no debt when you retire and a decent pension you can live like a king.

I’m 34 as well. I am not so sure that when we get close to 60 years of age if a million would be enough to Live comfortably? All depends on what you want, and are willing to sacrifice. I would plan on putting as much away as you can now. Part time gig wouldn’t be a bad idea to do to help out I guess. That’s what a lot of people do now just to pay for their health insurance. Health insurance is major amount of money these days.

Sorry I meant to quote you buckmink.

What you'll need for later on later on will be directly proportional to how large you live now, how much unnecessary debt you incur (want vs need, etc), how regimented your budget is, and so on.
If you don't already have it, you may want to consider Dave Ramsey's book(s) on managing your finances, budget and your debt.

x2

Also have to take into consideration things like marriage, kids, education as well as what the economy might be like between now and then. I was way ahead of the game until the market took a hit, that messed things up for alot of us. About the time I was back on track, my health took a turn for the worse and had to retire early. That's something one never figures will happen to them. Lucky for me I can live within my means....until I meet that rich, old widow with a bad heart and no kids.....

Rule of thumb: You need 25x your annual income (or what you'll live on at retirement).

Although the stock market goes up and down, if you look at any 20 year period, the stock market grows at over 10% per year. When you retire, you will want to invest in some safer things but you should be able to earn 7% or 8% annual return on average. Inflation is roughly 3% every year so you need your money to grow at 3% to keep up with inflatioin.

If your invested money grows at 7% and inflation eats 3%, that leaves you with 4% that you can use. 100% / 4% = 25. So, you need 25x your anticipated spending at retirement and you can live on your savings forever.

Everything I have read says you need to be debt free when you decide to retire and then plan on $1.5 Million in assets.

By that calculation I would need 3.3 million to retire on. That's not going to happen. I'll retire with about a $7500 a month income, if I can't live on that, well I'm screwed anyways!

put away as much as you can now , plan to retire at what age you want to ,but be willing to roll with the punches , know one know what going to happen between now an retirement, if you don't have payments you can live on a lot less

Insurance cost will be my biggest factor to when I can retire.

There can be several sources of revenues to fund retirements. The idea that you need a million in savings does not address a whole host of issues. or ways to fund living 2-30 years after major working careers.
1. What will be ones non retirement earnings? SS, par-time work, non investment earnings such as lease payments, rentals etc. There are more and more ways to work part time longer into life in our service economy.
2. Will one have any pension fund income outside of retirement income and sources listed above?
3. How do you want retirement funds to be invested and what are the good reasons for being so invested? If one retires at say 62 and lives until 87 that is 25 years of retirement. One wants investments to work over those 25 years and not just sit there so how does one increase earnings and minimize risk?
4, Save as much as you can while early in your working career. One will have higher costs during the middle income years with children, colleges, weddings etc. Also saving while young and buying things you want later in life nets more money then buying stuff early and not saving money.

Bryce

Why not retire now? Just find something you really enjoy doing that you can make a living at and you'll never have to "work" again.

Quitting at 54.5 yo. That's the plan. Ive seriously been saving since my first full time paycheck at age 22. I dont know for sure if ill make it or if ill need to work another year or two. My wife is about 8 years behind me in her career so staying on her insurance. Plan to live on cash savings until start drawing 401k at 59.5, ss at 62, and pension at 65.

I do not plan to take a part time job. When im done, im done. I might consider a less stressful full time job for a couple years if i just cant swing it at age 54.5.

I’ve always wondered how people can pick a number it’s going to take? I think you need to pick a number that you want to live on first then go from there. I think 5% on your money average is a good, realistic goal. But if you have rental units and a part time job it’ll all help. And yes insurance costs will be the real killer. And my number one thing to remember is that it’s a lazy man that can’t find his wife a second job, that’ll help also

That is the number one thing you need to know the number of your expenses. Pad it with incidental expenses and have a good number for what yi can live on is what needs to be know. Then from there you will know what yo need to live with what your life expectancy is projected at.

No interest is good interest unless your getting it paid to you! Mortgage debt has been sold as good debt, it is not. Save all you can never invest what you cannot afford to lose.
My wife and I will be retiring in a year. We will receive around $7000.00 per month in pensions. We are debt free, take out your taxes, figure out fixed expenses, incidentals. We live off our own land a lot. Debt free is huge.

You should have the same monthly income when you retire as you did working.And with way less expenses you will have way more money than you'll ever need,unless you are wasteful.
I built up my pension by working extra hours to really boost my "best 5",I was able to retire earlier than expected with a higher pension income than my regular wage when working.
All it takes is a bit of planning ahead.

Food for thought.

We have heard that Social Security is having insolvency issues for years and this is why the age to apply has been bumped up. We know why , politicians have raided this fund.

Why do we never hear about welfare having insolvency issues ?

Makes you think.

Because welfare recipients vote for people that give them free stuff.

I worked as a coal miner and later as as a mine manager, and quit at 54.5. My wife taught school and worked 2 more years past my retirement so she could get 8 years worth of health care for us when she retired. Monthly, we get her SS check ($1300) her teachers pension ($1800) , a $3500 per month annuity payment, a 403b dividend ( $2000), and another $2200 dividend payment. I’ll turn 62 this fall and will collect $2200 from SS.

We haven’t used any of our IRA monies, and I’m reinvesting every month. Sometimes it not about how much you make, it’s about how much you spend.

Go into it debt free that will make it easy to sleep better at night, insurance will be a big factor.

Financial security is a state of mind not a number! If you keep looking at your account balance and not your lifestyle and spending habits you probably will have some difficulties down the road.

I was always cautious and financially conservative and we are able to spend about 20% more in retirement than we did when I worked. I have friends who made considerably higher incomes then I ever did but with job changes, pension issues, moving and buying and selling homes several need to keep working just to keep ahead of the curve.

Bryce

After a couple divorces, I will be officially "retired" when the funeral director closes the lid on the box i'm in. until then, I will be working.

Serious quote there. One of my favorite sayings is " It's not how much you make , it's about how much you keep "

Follow this through life , you will be SO much better off.

I am curious. What is a 403B dividend and what is your other $2200 dividend payment from? Are all these sources of income from you and your wife’s wages or did you or she inherit some wealth? There are not many workers that are able to amass enough wealth to have an income of $156,000 a year.

I went at 55, wife at 51... We have state benefits because she is/was a teacher. She subs 1-4 days a week now. We paid our mortgage off early (13yrs.) by making double payments, 2 kids thru college w/ no $ borrowed, keep our vehicles about 10 yrs. I get a small pension and SS, she gets her pension plus her sub money, and is deferring her SS for now. We have never touched our 401K's yet. I'm 65 and she is 63... I think we are OK but you never know... life can throw you a curve in an instant.

Part of my retiring in 1-2 years is they are changing the health insurance retirement pay out in two years. I would loose $70,000.00 in health insurance benefits if I don't go.

My plan is : instead of living like a curmudgeon, and pinching pennies my whole life I am going travel and enjoy my fading youth as much as I can. I own a couple small businesses, and when I reach 62, I will move to a cheap country where the bedside care is $100 a month, and live like a rock star on $1200. a month.

Guess you never heard of free milk.

I remember an older friend of mine retired from the longshoreman's union in about 1980. Longshoring was/is a high paying job. If I remember right I think his pension was $1100 a month, he thought he was in fat city. I guess maybe it was a good thing he died of a heart attack at about 68. That $1100 a month sure wouldn't have bought much a few years later.

You guys retiring in your late 50's and thinking $7000 a month will put you on easy street may be in for a shock by the time you are 80.
You better keep investing part of that $7000.

Might be in for a real shock when we have our first Socialist President or a Civil War.

I think most people could retire comfortably, along with SS benefits, on one million dollars.

Suppose you take four percent per year out of your fund. That's $40,000, plus any pension and SS benefits, to live on.

But your fund isn't just sitting there suffering a $40k depletion every year. If you've got brains, it's invested. Suppose it's conservatively invested, and you're making six percent per year in investment earnings. You're netting out $20k as an increase to your fund every year.

Your fund should be able to sustain itself indefinitely, and be protected from inflation, so long as you don't take out more than your investment earnings.

Jim

What is debt free ? I use to laugh at guys that were about 10-15 yrs younger than me and said as soon as their mortgage is paid off they will be debt free. I only laughed at them. I never had a mortgage except a 5 yr land payment on 100 acres. Designed, drew and built my home on my own minus foundation and well. No mortgage, just money saved and paycheck to paycheck. After we had our two kids, we added another 1200 sq ft. So by the time we were 35 we had just normal bills. Believe me there is no such thing as debt free. It is brutal seeing money go out of savings for a propane boiler, $1500 in maintenance on the outdoor boiler, $600 for car parts, $800 for a new chainsaw, $500 for car tires, $7500 for property/school taxes. A new roof will be needed this year ---38 square. I am turning 61 in March and am retiring next March at 62. We have good savings, am giving my 401k to the kids to build houses and keeping the wife's for our emergency fund. Normal bills can be are far from debt free. Add up everything you spend now minus your mortgage and then figure needing and extra $10k/yr then you might be alright to retire.

No inherited money here. I wish. LoL.

Coal mining was hard work. I started in 1976, 18 years old, as a timber man in the #8 seam near Pittsburgh. High coal. Seven years later I was working low coal, in 40 inches and knew I couldn’t do this for 50 years. When I got certified as a mine foreman in 1991, I went from roof bolting to a higher paying salaried mine foreman job. Long 12 hours days, but payed better. I started investing $800 a month ( back then it was With Legg Mason ), and by the time I retired, I was General Manager of a great company, and was saving $2500 each month. That account was worth $700,000 when I retired in 2013. Without touching principle, we take a $2200 check each month from Stifel Nicholas .

My wife taught special ed at the local high school for 20 years. She was eligible for a pension from the Pa. PSERS plan. The district she worked in offered a voluntary 403b plan ( with no matching contributions) . She maxed out her contributions every year....the amounts were the same as what 401 k allowed. She had $395,000 with Lincoln Financial when she quit, and that plan generates $2000 income for us every month while maintaining the principle balance.

I also maxed out my 401 k contributions every year, ( with a 10% match on contributions) and left with over $1,000,000 in my Morgan Stanley retirement account.

The year I retired ,I bought a $500,000 annuity with half of my 401 k , the other half I invested in an IRA stock fund. It’s worth a million now. That’s money for the kids someday.

We tapped the annuity two years ago, and will pay us $3500 a month till we both are dead.

Early retirement was a big priority for us, so we really worked hard to make it happen. I’m only sharing the details here to show that if a coal miner and school teacher can do it, others can too. You just have to stay focused on your goals.

Food for thought; "You don't make a living, you live on what you make."

I retired June/14/2019 at the age of 49 as a big bank shut down the company we worked for. Second time I've been through it and have had enough of the corporate world and the fools within it. I've been a decent investor my whole life and have both our home, cottage and everything else paid off for a long time. I live on dividend income with a small piece of my annual income coming from pension. Here we are allowed just over 45000 a year in dividend income, tax free, as long as your other income isn't above a certain level. I live on approx. 40k year tax free. Big drop from 140+ a year ago but who give a flying fart. My wife 25 years ago told me after 7 years of her going to university that one day she will make more than me which I told her that would be great. We joke about it all the time that she is finally making more than me...But when she gets out of bed at 5:45am and I get to snooze with the kids...Who is really living the life.

Healthcare, and especially long term care can be very expensive. Get Alzheimer’s in your 60s and that million can go away quickly.

I am writing this from a hospital bed in Asheville. In the last 12 months I have had colon cancer surgery, a malignant right kidney removed, an outdoor accident, a diagnosis of spinal stenosis, heart Afib, and the surgery of the day is a large hernia that developed at the colon surgical site. What started as day surgery turned into a three day stay in the hospital. I have a near 20 year old knee problem from a replacement infection, and four rotator cuff repairs. Can you see from my experience where the first million might go?

Life if full of expensive surprises. Start early and save until the amount you invest begins to take food off your table and fun out of your life. And oh, marry well and have lucrative careers. Rich parents will help a lot. Never borrow money to spend on a depreciating asset. Live within your means.

I am starting to see a pattern of retirement in America. Work hard, scrimp and save all your life and then give it all up to the hospital and nursing home and die a poor broke man anyway.

yukonjeff… you might be spot on... my MIL just passed after spending a year and a half in a nursing home... annual cost around 130K/year.

Charles, You're keeping the medical professionals in your region gainfully employed + and then some! We pray all is patched up, stitched up, and healed up!

My wife and I, along with my older brothers Keith from MI and his wife, and Brian from NC, will be in your neck of the woods first week of June. We're all taking a week long biblical course at The Cove, Billy Graham's Retreat there in Asheville. I've never been to The Cove and we hear it's a wondrous place. Us three "boys" as our dad still calls us, have never studied the Word together, so we're pretty excited about it all. The topic is Genesis to Revelation and it'll be taught by our current DTS president Dr. Mark Bailey and his successor this coming summer Dr. Mark Yarbrough. Super teachers and Godly men.

I'm taking the course for student credit, and my brothers are taking it for the experience, learning, and time we'll spend together while at it.
I believe it's open to the public, if you know anyone interested.
June 1-5th.
The Cove website would have details.
The very nice lady from the retreat that I spoke with about registration said they really enjoy working with the DTS family!

Heal up fast sir.
There's critters still to be caught and family to be hugged!
Blessings,
Mark

^^^On target here!

I was delivering major appliances at minimum wage and my father told me to get a job with benefits, pension, health care, etc. I was lucky enough to get a good job with decent benefits at 21. As soon as I started my father told me to start saving now and had always stressed living well within your means. He told me save as much as you can, as early as you can and leave it there as long as you can. Later in life he also told me, don't take advice from someone who has less than you. They have been truths that prevail over time.


A million enough? Depends... What do you want out of life? Pension? Benefits? Debt load? Retirement age? Discipline!


"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young." -Theodore Roosevelt

You are spot on! I am going to retire in 2 years, have saved HARD (25% of my gross earnings) and will live until it's gone. I don't go to the doctor anyway and never will so I am going to spend every penny of it.

This is sound advice IMO. You need to get a retirement budget which is about 3% of what you have saved and you will be fine. Many people live on little and live happy and they have what they need and don't need to live like kings.

Simply marry a rich woman that is over sexed and owns a liquor store.

Seriously; put as much as you can in your 401K. Many companies no longer offer pensions. Live within your means. Take your SS as early as you can.

I feel like Klinger on MASH. He was always looking for a way to get out of Korea and the military. In the end, he ended up staying after all his comrades had left when the war was over.

I planned to retire when I was in my early 50s. But, with my job being one where I can come and go as I please, I don't know if I'll ever retire. Well, maybe when I'm dead...….

^^^^^^^^
That is exactly the model the corporate world has created. The "health care" industry is one of the largest if not the largest business in the USA.
You hit it exactly right. The goal is to transfer all your remaining wealth from your estate to the health care industry. Nothing left for your kids or any others that you might chose to leave it to.

Retired at 34 enjoy working the land and producing with my own two hands and no boss, keep your health all the money in the world can't buy that.

SPOILER ALERT! I hadn't finished watching MASH yet.

You might have to then!

Retired at 59 1/2. Wife&I have small pensions and SS that we took at 62. IMO money is a necessary evil,a relationship with God and
my family are my assets. I did my math for my circumstances and live at that level monetarily. I am far from $ 1,000,000 but
live on my comfort level. My goal being to see my grandchildren become who they develop into-with my help to have them know
guns and the outdoors are safe and beautiful. I respect everyones perspective on money,at the same time living what my
perspective is.

You are on target. The reason SS is having insolvency issues are because of all the ways it's been misused by legislators. If it had been left alone to do it's original intent of providing a retirement income or disability income, SS recipients today would be receiving much larger monthly payments.

Keep in mind, if you are thinking about leaving a big IRA or 401k to the kids; they just changed some rules on that with the new "Secure Act." It all about the government getting their hands on that money.
See a tax advisor or plan to spend it yourself.

I retired at 50. Wife always stayed home and took care of kids.
Am 62 now.
We went without alot of stuff that most people didn't.
No new cars, no cell phones, none of the latest gadgets, no fancy vacations.
Owned our own homes, only rented one year after marriage. SO money went to home improvements or equity in homes instead of rent.

NEVER count on the gov't.
That means only count on your own investments, 401k etc
So the sooner you start investing, the sooner you can retire.
If SS is still around then, count that as a bonus, but I am not counting on it, and I'm 60.

My sincerest apologies. You do realize the final episode was in 1983, don't you? That should have given you enough time to catch up, I would have thought.

I have 8-10 years of work before retiring but have been planning for it for over 30 years by taking advantage of company match $, set up a Roth in 1998 and living within my means.

I am surprised the lack of comments on how your retirement funds are invested; taxable when withdrawn or in tax free. With tax rates only set thru 2025 I doubt they will go down when the new tax bill is drafted. For my wife and I, approximately 65% of our retirement funding is from tax free sources and are converting more over in preparation for what we believe will be a rate increase starting in 2026. Insurance is our big unknown when it comes to retiring earlier.

Dave

I was tired yesterday and today I'm re-tired too.

Doesn’t Medicaid kick in at 65?

Elect Bernie and it will kick in for everyone next year! Easy street for everyone after that

One thing for sure If your a coon trapper you will never be able to retire.

So are the rules, now that we can no longer give it as an inheritance to our children?

On the subject of medicare I am going through that process right now. Both the wife and I turn 65 in the next 3 monthes, decided to take Social Security to help cover the medicare costs. It is $290 off the checks right away, then another $22 for her drug plan D, estimate for a medigap policy for her because she has a disability is 150 dollars a month, have not picked one yet.

Not a problem

Sure you can give it as a inheritance, right after the government takes most of it.

Elect Bernie and it will kick in for everyone next year! Easy street for everyone after that [/quote]

Heck, pick Bernie and retirement kicks in!

Your forgetting the interest you earn. Your not taking that into account.
No way you need 25 times to get by.

Where does the 25 rule come from? I'm assuming by retirement age your account has shifted more into bonds but it still is creating a percentage of return as you say. Grapestomper, what would you say a couple "needs"?

Not far from retirement an not financially ready or do well, I am jealous ppl retire bfore 62, so I don't even know. U pay tax on soacil security or when if do ? 2 more years an i.plan on it , if around, work part time an soacil security, no heslth ins now. I had enough prick employers an other prick employes for lifetime. Csnt believe how fast life has went, unfortunately. I know guys younger or older me that health went out fast, like less year or year or 2

No retirement for me. I love what I do and do what I love. I'll start drawing SS next year and my wife will start 2 years later but we'll both keep working some (though not full time) as long as we can so we have disposable income. Took a big hit in 2008 and so started over at 50. Have money tied up in real estate which I will cash in at some point so we can spend summers here in Minnesota and winters somewhere a little warmer. No debt makes life a LOT easier and offers so many options.

same here almost exactly Bernie although land and houses are hot here right now and crazy offers are being made.some tough to turn down but so far i've repelled their advances.

I have posted a couple times. My wife and I will retire, her in one year I in two. I am not ready and love being a teacher. As I stated previously, with the change in health insurance money I can't afford to not retire. We retire with two lifetime annuities each. We also have some IRA's, not huge but some. I plan to still sub, coach, and they have asked me to continue as athletic director. I will still be bringing in income for extra stuff during winter months when it's harder to do things. Fall less as i'll hunt, and trap. We do not live an extravagant life and actually like each other. But being debt free helps a lot. To younger people start saving now, no loans if possible. We turned an old farm house and buildings into quite a nice hobby farm. You can to.

I'm 55. I grew up on a farm and have been working since I was 10. I've spent the last 30 years working on the offshore islands of Maine in which I was away from home 2 weeks per month and sometimes longer. Monday I will file for my pension and will take a 33% hit. My wife still works and we use her insurance. At this point in time in life, I've chosen to do what I want to do-that is being a free agent to hunt fish trap guide etc. A lot of old-timers said they'd wished they'd retired early instead of holding out for more financial security. Some of these guys lived only a short while after retiring. A retiree told me that it's not necessarily how much but rather how long. We have lived within our means and our debt is reduced to living expenses ie; utilities,taxes food etc.Heading into the 4th quarter, I want to know freedom from the bondage of the almighty dollar.Now I'm working because I want to not because I need to. My contentment is more important than the acquisition of wealth that is not mandatory.

swamp donkey >> you got it figured out and are a very smart man IMO! Good for You and wish you well.


In many cases some are afraid of loosing their identity or power of their profession gives them. So, not to retire is really their security blanket not a necessity to pile on the stash to live. That profession isn't going to miss you as most would think. That business will carry on with you or without you regardless of how important you think you are to that organization. A job is to put food on the table but shouldn't be or control ones life or make who you are as a person. IMO

Was self employed and retired at 45. Bored to tears after a year, then wife got cancer and medical insurance was killing us. Went back to work for someone I liked and stayed until 58 and then retired for good. Am now 68 with no financial worries. Biggest factor in wealth accumulation was the decision to have duplexes instead of children. Life is a crapshoot. No matter how well you plan there will always be unexpected challenges to be met and adjustments to be made.

Unless you are in congress . Those old codgers skim the cream for ever
Bernie Sanders is 73, Joe Biden is 72, Chuck Grassley is 81, Barbara Boxer is 74, Nancy Pelosi is 74, Harry Reid is 75, John McCain is 78, Diane Feinstein is 81. Mitch McConnell is 72, Orrin Hatch is 80, Richard Shelby is 79, Carl Levin is 79, Jim Inhofe is 79, Pat Roberts is 78, Barbara Miklski is 77, Jay Rockefeller is 76, Thad Cochran is 76, Tom Harkin is 74, Patrick Leahy is 73, Lamar Alexander is 73, Bill Nelson is 71.Charles B. Rangel is 83. In the last 30 years, the number of Senators in the Senate for 20 years or more has tripled. Senility and seniority are not serving us well.

Boy, ain’t that the truth. Maybe these folks need to take up a hobby, like trapping, and hang up their jobs. Something fundamentally wrong with people who can’t or won’t give up their positions of power.

Hahaha. Your kids want to make sure you have enough that you don't touch the principle. All financial advisors are someone's kid.

You can always sell all, or part of your life insurance, and live happily ever after like them old people on TV did.

The best thing is when you are young-work towards being financially independent at 50 at the latest, so you can retire and enjoy life on your own terms and live like a king.
Being retired from a job doesnt mean you have to quit working.
Working for yourself is a hundred times more satisfying than working for the man.It is nice to be able to work but not have to work.

I work in an assisted living community. We are a for profit community. Basically what that term means we only except private pay or private insurance. No Medicare. No Medicare. We have all different types of people all types of religious/ nationalities/color and creed. The one common factor they have in common? Working hard and saving there money. Work until you physically can't. Doing something as you age is better then sitting. Later in life when you physically or mentally can not function is when your hard work will pay off. Oh I hear all the chatter, that will not happen to me. Unfortunately most won't even know as it happened. Retirement is a state of mind. The old standards of debt free, work hard and save your money are all good standards to this day. That is my 2cents from our residents. Our avrg age of our residents 83. People are living longer. Enjoy 😊

Seems like a recurring theme is that one should try to get debt free as soon as possible...it makes things easier in retirement.

Thank you Snowy-

Waggled, if you really believe this, what healthcare stocks are you having the most success with?

Try Vanguard Health sector fund,great return over the years.

I bought my home in 1984, had the mortgage paid off in 4 years. I have paid cash for every new vehicle we’ve bought since 1990. Never bought anything that I couldn’t pay for up front.