Retirement number

31,403 Views | 166 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by JMac03
TexasAg95
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AG
How did you come up with your number? I don't know what to shoot for and have time to plan.
CC09LawAg
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This is one of the first things I read when starting to contemplate this concept:

The 4% Rule: The Easy Answer to "How Much Do I Need for Retirement?" (mrmoneymustache.com)

I am sure it is not the end all be all, but found it to be helpful framework and reference when studying more and reading discussions.
Ag92NGranbury
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AG
i read somewhere (not sure where) that you should strive to have the following amounts by their respective ages:

age 50 - 6x income in retirement accounts
age 55- 7x
age 60 - 8x
age 65 - 12x

just another checkpoint for ya...
mosdefn14
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AG
Rules of thumb are great and all, but a competent financial planner is better. 10 people with similar incomes and ages are going to have 10 different variables that make their needs different.
CC09LawAg
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mosdefn14 said:

Rules of thumb are great and all, but a competent financial planner is better. 10 people with similar incomes and ages are going to have 10 different variables that make their needs different.
Having a good, baseline, general understanding of what that financial planner is talking about going into that meeting helps you to weed out the BSers from the good ones
RightWingConspirator
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AG
I've been thinking about this a lot here lately. One thing I struggle with is how much is enough? I make a very good salary and we've already saved about 9x my yearly salary in savings and I'm only 50. I work in oil and gas and the next time they have cuts - and they will; they always do - I'd like to just say "I've had enough."

A lot of my costs are going to be on the back end. My oldest is in her sophomore year of college; my middle child is in her sophomore year of high school and my youngest is turning 12 here in the next week. They're all girls so I'll be paying for some weddings as well.

My plan at this point is to continue saving about $100k per year like we have been for the last several years and work for as long as I'm viewed as "needed" by my company. If I can get another five years out of them, that would push me up to a multiplier I could feel comfortable with, but once again, how much is enough?

Have had more than a few work colleagues save for retirement, retire and die shortly thereafter. One died one month after his last day in the office. All these things give me pause on calling it quits too soon or not soon enough.
topher06
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I don't think this is achievable for the average person on TexAgs, you simply cannot get enough into any retirement account to reach 6x the typical salary of $2MM/year before 50.
cgh1999
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AG
topher06 said:

I don't think this is achievable for the average person on TexAgs, you simply cannot get enough into any retirement account to reach 6x the typical salary of $2MM/year before 50.

Sure it is. Rollover your 401k into a self directed IRA. Invest in private equity backed tech start up. Go public. Profit.

What kind of lolpoor didn't do that?
Petrino1
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My goal is to retire with 5 Million. I figure thats a nice size number, I could safely withdraw $200k/year and live a good life with that pretty much anywhere in the world. Realistically, I could probably live off half of that and be fine.

Im 38 now, and have about 1 Million net worth. If I keep going/saving the way I am, I think I could reach my number in my early-mid 50's. Of course, marriage/kids/inflation/stock market/economy/layoffs could change all that.
txaggieacct85
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AG
ea1060 said:

My goal is to retire with 5 Million. I figure thats a nice size number, I could safely withdraw $200k/year and live a good life with that pretty much anywhere in the world. Realistically, I could probably live off half of that and be fine.

Im 38 now, and have about 1 Million net worth. If I keep going/saving the way I am, I think I could reach my number in my early-mid 50's. Of course, marriage/kids/inflation/stock market/economy/layoffs could change all that.
if you have kids and want to pay for their college and weddings...

I sent my four kids to private school K-12 and then all four went to A&M

I paid for their college (I'm not done yet as my youngest is a rising senior at A&M)

I have three girls and a boy (now women and man).

I've paid for one wedding and have two more to go.

I also gave them each around $40K after graduation to kick start their financial lives.

Having said that I've owned my own company since 2002 and maxed out every year on SEPI and I now have about $3 million saved.

I had a couple of really good years in 2017 and 2018 and invested the amounts outside of SEPI in real estate.

There's no magic number.

I'm 59.
chris1515
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I've been thinking of it in terms of, at what number/age combo do I need to stop saving and investing?

I feel like I'm just a year or two away from legitimately looking to see just how little I can work and bring in $50K a year. I think that level of "supplement" would go a long way towards preserving the corpus of the portfolio.

Kind of a coast fire mentality.
$30,000 Millionaire
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Don't have a specific number. I'll stop when I no longer feel the passion for working.
You don’t trade for money, you trade for freedom.
GasAg90
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$7mln. I basically made a retirement budget, then calculated how much it would take to last 35 years at 3.5% then finally added $2.5 mln to make it politician proof.
one safe place
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I didn't have a number. I retired when I wasn't willing to give up another year of my life for any amount of annual income. So far have not touched any of our IRA monies, we live on my social security and her teacher retirement. If you have no debt, it doesn't take a lot to get by on.
Cyp0111
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I'm 38 and I've thought about this more inline with a career change. I've also reduced safe withdraw to 3.25% to get to my target of $250K of annual cash flow. Caveat that I want to have a house paid for and kids college funds covered. So a little over $7.5MM in investable assets.
EliteZags
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ea1060 said:

My goal is to retire with 5 Million. I figure thats a nice size number, I could safely withdraw $200k/year and live a good life with that pretty much anywhere in the world. Realistically, I could probably live off half of that and be fine.

Im 38 now, and have about 1 Million net worth. If I keep going/saving the way I am, I think I could reach my number in my early-mid 50's. Of course, marriage/kids/inflation/stock market/economy/layoffs could change all that.


I'm somewhere close to that ballpark (but single no kids) and would ideally want to eject in the the next 5-10yrs if can get halfway to that number with a decent bull market run, PLTR doing what some project, and my startup med device company getting acquired with a healthy stock payout
LMCane
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CuriousAg said:

How did you come up with your number? I don't know what to shoot for and have time to plan.
one million dollars in savings

excluding value of BMW or home

and this is for "semi" retirement where I will just leave the full time corporate world and move to florida and then do other part time jobs such as substitute high school history teacher, write books, tutor, maybe be a host at nice restaurants.

important to note it's not just the number- it's your circumstances:

if one is single and no kids then I think one million USD with $3300 monthly social security should be enough for me.

but if I had a wife and kids then you need probably 1.5 or 2 million dollars.
LMCane
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Ag92NGranbury said:

i read somewhere (not sure where) that you should strive to have the following amounts by their respective ages:

age 50 - 6x income in retirement accounts
age 55- 7x
age 60 - 8x
age 65 - 12x

just another checkpoint for ya...

I think that is highly bogus

who cares about income? what does a person who makes one million dollars have in common with a person who makes $50,000 a year?!

if anything, it should be 6X EXPENSES and not income.
ToddyHill
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AG

Quote:

Rollover your 401k into a self directed IRA.
That's exactly what I did. Picked one stock (AAPL) and rode it for years. Began to diversify, but I stayed in tech and bought NVDA. I finally diversified, but my diversification consisted of ten stocks.

Schwab did an analysis of our net worth, and simply said, 'you have more than enough to retire.'

Self-directed, for those who can, is the key.

fka ftc
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One caveat in planning those future outflows in retirement is to consider your spending pattern during those years.

For instance, let's say you retire at 60. Those first 5-10 years are going to be travel, grandkids, hobbies, golf, hookers / blow, etc.

The next 10 are going to be about declining movement, maybe being close to the grandkids, little travel, no more golf, cutting back on other fun things.

I've been fortunate to have flexibility at a much younger age and our spending these next few years will be much higher than in planned full retirement.

So your planned outflows may be 1.2x to 1.5x of salary / income those first few years, then a few years at 1x (adjusted for inflation) followed by .0.8x, then 0.6x, and so on.

Just more food for thought.
"The absence of the word accountability is not the same as wanting no accountability" -unknown

"You can never go wrong by staying silent if there is nothing apt to say" -Walter Isaacson
rononeill
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I used to think of it in terms of a number. My perspective has evolved: my wife and I have been really blessed- there's lots of stuff we want to do other than work: family time, travel, charity, etc. as long as we can keep working and not feel like we're missing the personal interests, why stop. It's sort of a: we've been blessed, don't squander the opportunity to do more good with the results of working.
Definitely Not A Cop
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AG
You guys are missing the most important part of the equation. If you plan to die at 55, you don't have to save nearly as much.
fka ftc
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That's where the hookers and blow come in.
"The absence of the word accountability is not the same as wanting no accountability" -unknown

"You can never go wrong by staying silent if there is nothing apt to say" -Walter Isaacson
Ag92NGranbury
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AG
LMCane said:

Ag92NGranbury said:

i read somewhere (not sure where) that you should strive to have the following amounts by their respective ages:

age 50 - 6x income in retirement accounts
age 55- 7x
age 60 - 8x
age 65 - 12x

just another checkpoint for ya...

I think that is highly bogus

who cares about income? what does a person who makes one million dollars have in common with a person who makes $50,000 a year?!

if anything, it should be 6X EXPENSES and not income.
maybe it is, maybe it isn't....

but 2 things...

first, what is wrong with another litmus test on wealth building to see where you stand?

second, expenses usually follow income... i haven't met too many schleps breaking a mill a year with only 30k of expenses

also, most people don't track expenses very closely so income is the only way to track retirement #'s... but not me, i've been tracking expenses on quicken since '98... i could tell you how much i've spent in our lifetime on baby diapers
MS08
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AG
LMCane said:

CuriousAg said:

How did you come up with your number? I don't know what to shoot for and have time to plan.
one million dollars in savings

excluding value of BMW or home

and this is for "semi" retirement where I will just leave the full time corporate world and move to florida and then do other part time jobs such as substitute high school history teacher, write books, tutor, maybe be a host at nice restaurants.

important to note it's not just the number- it's your circumstances:

if one is single and no kids then I think one million USD with $3300 monthly social security should be enough for me.

but if I had a wife and kids then you need probably 1.5 or 2 million dollars.


We don't understand your push to be a substitute teacher in retirement. Sounds awful now and sounds even more awful 20-25 years from now. Tutor, OK, write books, OK, if that is your thing, host a nice restaurant, juice definitely ain't worth the squeeze, but you do you.

And the government's social security fund is definitely not a part of my retirement plan in any way. I am of the opinion that it will probably not exist for me.
Cyp0111
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In my experience, someone making $1MM a year is usually in a highly specialized role (legal, medical, investment banking/consulting or sales/trading) and those roles are usually centered in 6-7 cities throughout the US. All of which, if pulling that income level require an exceptional time commitment. With that, most people are living close to a downtown or major commerce center and either in an expensive home in best close in school district or expensive home and private. I would say the cost is considerably higher than 6x of someone making that number.
TexasAg95
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AG
Appreciate the responses. Sounds like it is a big "depends" and comes down to the number you think you want to have.

I guess my fear is FOMO along the way. Hoarding money and then have $10-15 million and drove a car 10 years too long when I didn't have to. Or die a month into retirement like mentioned above and didn't enjoy the journey nearly as much as we could have.

Any spreadsheets around to plan for a retirement budget that you all have found helpful?
Cyp0111
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https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/

I really like this guy, i think he has a good approach and makes the planning more personal than something robotic from a planning software.

I think it's balance, you do not want to end up with $15MM and realize you wasted your time with kids and younger years chasing some arbitrary $ amount.

I think it comes to balance, if you plan for what your number is, live life around and with the planning and saving.
fka ftc
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I carried a fortune from a cookie I got 20+ years ago that said "As the wallet grows, so do the needs".

It was simple, but kept me focus on my spending. I also read one of Ramsey's early books "More than Enough" when my wife and I were just starting out. It was extremely helpful to me understanding how a female companion looks at financial security.

So we built a nice, modest comfortable nest and have spend well under what my income would support, but it has led to financial freedom at a relatively young age.

Some things you cannot control, but the level of spend and level of lifestyle is something you can control to a large extent.
"The absence of the word accountability is not the same as wanting no accountability" -unknown

"You can never go wrong by staying silent if there is nothing apt to say" -Walter Isaacson
EclipseAg
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AG
Ag92NGranbury said:


but not me, i've been tracking expenses on quicken since '98... i could tell you how much i've spent in our lifetime on baby diapers
My Quicken goes back to 1992 ... on Oct. 9 of that year, we ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut that cost $15.51. And our cable bill was $24.38.
RangerRick9211
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AG
chris1515 said:

I've been thinking of it in terms of, at what number/age combo do I need to stop saving and investing?

I feel like I'm just a year or two away from legitimately looking to see just how little I can work and bring in $50K a year. I think that level of "supplement" would go a long way towards preserving the corpus of the portfolio.

Kind of a coast fire mentality.
I'm in this boat.

I have some natural inflection points in my career coming up that will force a change (up or out firm). I will not go into Partnership.

I think I have 5 years of consulting left. I'll then downshift to something part-time (ski instructor, home inspector, or something). My wife is in healthcare and will go part-time in the next year.

Our number is $2.5mm. We're halfway there. Currently 35 with a 4 year old. I don't have time for a job - too many hobbies, my daughter is too much fun.

So I'll be looking for a coast career (20 hours), I'm starting to put new investments into JEPI/JEPQ and still write puts in our taxable - idea is a few levels of income before we have to sell equities.
FrioAg 00
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My number is 28x my needed/desired living expenses. In other words, I can sustain my desired standard of living on 3.5% withdrawal rate.

That is my prediction for the real return rate, after pure inflation long term, on a stability focused portfolio. I'm sure I'll take more portfolio risk than that, but the excess can go to my heirs.

Obviously this excludes the funds I plan to gift to my kids/grandkids at various stages of their lives. I have led them to believe this number will be zero - and that's what will make it fun for me.

I'm on track to hit my number on the front end of becoming an empty nester- but if I'm really still digging what I'm doing (that's less than 6 years from now) I will put the extra money into things I care about and maybe some reserves saved for the unknown.

Captain Winky
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Is this another thread for people to try to dunk on one another?
BlackGoldAg2011
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AG
CuriousAg said:

How did you come up with your number? I don't know what to shoot for and have time to plan.
I built out a retirement runout calculator where I:
  • forecasted out my living expenses based on current levels and an assumed inflation rate
  • forecasted out health care costs based on a different inflation rate with a couple of jumps based on age brackets
  • take actuarial tables from the SS administration and runout the probability of my wife and I reaching any given future age based on an assumed starting age
  • then i take a given starting retirement balance, a given starting date, and an assumed average market performance and and run out the balance against forecasted costs and find the likely age the balance hits 0 and a percentage chance of either my wife or I outliving the retirement balance.


I also have a much simpler savings forecast laid against the expenses forecast to see where it hits the "magic" 4% to spot check things since I have zero confidence in my cost of living forecast beyond 10-20 years out.
RightWingConspirator
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AG
Captain Winky said:

Is this another thread for people to try to dunk on one another?
Allow me to dunk on the other two Quicken comments. My Quicken goes back to 1998 where my wife and I paid $12.77 to TCA Cable for our television services!
 
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