AllDodge

iTrader: (1)

Retired from DoD with 38 years. During the time lived in a starter neighborhood in 900 sq ft house which over time expanded to 1400. Could have bought a nicer place on the upscale side but didn't. Socked away funds in 401k (index funds) and other investments. Currently everything is paid off and don't take out loans. Sold the house and moved to the country. Miss my old job but I'm busier now then I was when working and loving every minute.

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Well at 35 retirement is still a ways away. Lol. Working towards it though. Of course as some here know with my current job although it requires its fair share of my time I also get a good bit of time off. So I guess I live a "retired" life for 2 weeks at a clip. My ultimate plan is to he debt free by 50 that is including my house. Have all toys and vehicles bought and paid for so by 50 ill be basically be responsible for utilities, gas and insurance. Then at that point I would be in a position to semi retire if I wanted or keep working and saving. We shall see. Long way away and life has many loops and changes in store I'm sure.

SB

iTrader: (1)

I've been 18yrs old for the past 25+yrs. At this rate I'll never make it to 65yrs old, let alone 50yrs old.

Jupiter Sunsation

It's not.......1mm/20 years is only 50k a year. Yes there is capital appreciation but at 1-2% (CDs) that wouldn't cover inflation!

Rule of thumb is 80% of your working income is what you will need in retirement to maintain current lifestyle. Most people rationalize that they will need much less but they forget to figure in the extra 40 hrs of free time they will have (more time to spend money) and unforseen medical expenses.

Interceptor

Many of these guys don't realize it yet but they probably wil be downsizing or out of boating by the time they retire so that will free up some funds !

Jupiter Sunsation

It hits retirees at many levels despite TV ads showing retirees sailing, buying vinyards, enjoying coffee on a beachfront patio or playing golf on spectacular courses........not happening for a lot of people.

My first job after college I got a job as a financial planner at a huge firm. I worked out of the Boca Raton, FL office and it was an eye opener. We had people come in that wanted 20-25% guaranteed returns (dot com craziness was going on), lower income retirees trying to live the high life despite lack of assets and very little financial planning and some people really were living paycheck to paycheck despite huge incomes and then they wanted to retire by age 50-55!

I had a retired NY butcher come in. Guy had 400K to his name and recently retired. Moved to FL, leased 2 Lexus's (salesman told him it was the way to go) and joined a local country club that was costing him 40K a year (hoa fee + golf fees). He had a 30 year mtg on his recently purchased place. The math showed he couldn't sustain this pace for 5 years based on his current assets......simply put he bought into the TV ads, bought everything on his bucket list and wanted us to invest aggressively to keep the dream alive.....we told him there wasn't anything we could do, the spending needed to be reduced on his side.

I had a cardiologist come in with 180K in mutual funds (not bad). Guy made 400K a year in W2 income and had ZERO discretionary income (money left over to invest). Wife was a tennis mom (didn't work), kids in private school, big rented house and it smoked all his money. He wanted to double the 180K in mutual funds for a down payment on a house. My partner asked, if you aren't good at saving where did the 180K come from? His response: it was mom's savings, he recently inherited it.

Butcher had a good retirement nest egg for a reasonable retirement, he just went crazy on the spending side. Dr. made a great income but was way too caught up in the "Dr. lifestyle" to ever build a good retirement nest egg.

Where many are going to get hurt is lack of assets and surplus of debt. Many retirees in years past have had savings, pensions and paid in full cars/houses combined with no debt. Grandpa sells up north house for 200K, moves to FL and buys a 50-75K condo. Spends very little, lives on the pension and still saves the social security check (or vice versa). Today the house up north would be 1/2 paid off, the condo in FL costs twice as much and there is no pension/very little savings.........ouch.

Marginmn

iTrader: (1)

Chit - I was gonna take a half-day off Friday but after reading this thread I think I'll just go ahead and put in a full day.

On the plus side, multiple studies show that the longer in life people work the longer they live - and they are generally happier

Wildman_grafix

Dean,

From what I have been told is someone at my age should have close to 1mil now. (50-51). Not going to happen, I look at it this way.

I hope that I can still be working past 65 and at least have enough back that it can maybe supplement my income.

ICU

You never know what can happen ,,,,,,

The things I think of is the number of people here saying they can't retire and I wouldn't call this group normal when it comes to wages.

So what are we going to do with all these people, as the young come up but old is still working where are the jobs?

I say this becuase years ago on a trip to China they were worried about it, so many young there that they need the old to stop working,,,,,,,,, or die.

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

Bingo. If you're like me (aka most people), and do not have a pension or paid health care, you'd best save every cent that you can and invest it with someone who knows what they're doing. Many companies have 401k plans that include company-match contributions, so you can get some money for free. I was fortunate to make pretty good money, but without saving as much as possible, it would be much harder.

We're doing fine living on the water in coastal NC, but we're paying close attention to everything, especially health care. Between out-of-pocket maximums and premiums, it's almost impossible to keep costs below $25,000/year if you're fighting even minor medical issues. I'm still 3 years away from Medicare, and have not decided as to when I will start collecting Social Security, both of which have been figured in to our long-term plan.

BASIC ADVICE - HAVE AN INVESTMENT PLAN AND STICK TO IT. Do NOT live beyond your means, regardless of how tempting it is.

As far as the original topic goes, I'm waiting for spring, so I can set up the workshop in our new home.

Big Time

Sounds like you did it right Craig! Congrats!