How much money do you need in retirement?

[MaryAnne]

Yep. The idea that there's some major crisis for Social Security is inaccurate. Simply by removing the Social Security tax cap we could keep Social Security fully funded for as far out into the future as anyone can make any reasonable estimate. That one small tweak (which we already used on Medicare, to fix it back when everyone was screeching that it was about to go bankrupt), would be a minor inconvenience for the wealthy, but it would do the trick. If, decades down the road, we found that wasn't quite enough, we could tweak the program a bit again. All we're really trying to do here is to get through the Baby Boom bubble, which screwed up the math a bit. A tweak now and a tweak in a couple decades is all we'd likely need before that demographic difficulty had fully passed.

Thanks,Arkady,And I am the one who does not understand finance)

 

[MaryAnne]

I'd gradually dissolve the system after grandfathering in all participants over a certain age. it's broken. unfixable and immoral[/QUOTE

Thank goodness you are not in a position to do anything. That is penny wise and lb.foolish.

 

[OldGaffer]

For about half of all seniors, SS is their only income, I guess we could bring back the work houses and the poor farms for those folks.

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

Its simple, don't retire. I have resigned myelf to not being able to retire it was a choice I made years ago as I am paying the lions share of my 3 kids college education. I practically wiped out all my savings sending my oldest she graduated with about a 13K debt at between 8-9K a semester x 8 thats not bad my middle one is going now but fortunately she elected to live at home and go to U of H so far its been about 3500.00 a semester. My youngest will start when I am 65 but he does have a prepaid tuition plan so if he leaves the house I just have living expenses. The Golden years will be spent living in poverty but I will have no regrets knowing I did everything I could to give my kids the tools needed for a better career and opportunities than I had

Maybe one of the kids will be highly successful and have the heart to help their parents out

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

For about half of all seniors, SS is their only income, I guess we could bring back the work houses and the poor farms for those folks.

Back in the olden days families by and large looked after the old folks

 

[MaryAnne]

Part of my problem is that I'm quite aggressive about when I want to retire. I don't want to be working any more after age 57, and that requires a HUGE nest egg, especially since a health, white, relatively wealthy person like myself can expect to live to a ripe old age. I took an online test, based on health, medical history, etc., and it predicts I'll live to 95. Planning for 38 years in retirement isn't easy -- and, for a reasonable margin, I'd probably want to add an extra five years onto that!

Arkady, My Son plans to retire at 55. 30 years and out,but I know he will not retire. He will move on to something else he likes. You probably will too. He is planning ahead too.

One thing you have to remember is to plan for the kids education, just in case they do not get a scholarship. Set up something now. It is tax free.

 

[MaryAnne]

game on, sis. politicians caused this mess we are in. and your inconsistencies noted. Clinton worked with a Republican congress for the bulk of his administration. I didn't see your shout out to them. yet, democrats, who have driven the bus for the last 6 years escape your ire; you instead choose to lay fault and ridicule potential solutions proposed by R's who have been neutered if not for the entire half dozen, certainly from '09-'10 when the bulk of social policy was enacted.

c'mon you're a partisan. admit it... it's liberating

I never pretended to be anything but slightly Liberal. I am conservative in many things. You might want to listen to Newt Gingrich, who laughs about Clinton pushing him into a corner. Newt said himself when he left Clinton he would think he won,only to find Clinton did. You may not remember the Government shutdowns,I do.

It is clear you do not know finance. In the first place you bragged about how much you spent on weekends and that retirement is a 7 day weekend. Shows how much you really know about both retirement and finances.

Have a good day,I really would rather post with those who know, instead of posting Fox talking points.

 

[MaryAnne]

I don't know. I do not plan on ever "retiring." When my job here is done I will be 76 and by then I hope to have a business going with my son and I will just start work there the next day.

Smart choice Lukey.Most who think they want to retire will just move on to something they like. Once I reached the point I could retire I found out I was enjoying what I did)

 

[Lukey]

Its simple, don't retire. I have resigned myelf to not being able to retire it was a choice I made years ago as I am paying the lions share of my 3 kids college education. I practically wiped out all my savings sending my oldest she graduated with about a 13K debt at between 8-9K a semester x 8 thats not bad my middle one is going now but fortunately she elected to live at home and go to U of H so far its been about 3500.00 a semester. My youngest will start when I am 65 but he does have a prepaid tuition plan so if he leaves the house I just have living expenses. The Golden years will be spent living in poverty but I will have no regrets knowing I did everything I could to give my kids the tools needed for a better career and opportunities than I had

Maybe one of the kids will be highly successful and have the heart to help their parents out

Nice job Lupe - I'm sure they will repay your generosity. Good luck!

 

[Arkady]

It's not broken. It has been one of the most successful programs in our history -- helping to reduce poverty for the elderly by huge amounts, with unbelievably low operating costs. It needs a few tweaks, but only minor ones, to respond to the challenge of the Boomer demographic bulge. As for the idea that it's immoral, why's that?

 

[Arkady]

Yep. I've had a 529 plan for my daughter's education, and I've been putting $1000/month into it since before she was even born. I've already got around $30k in there and she's not yet 2. If I don't have another kid and I can stick with the plan, and it performs reasonably well, then by the time she's 17 there will be enough money there to cover 4 years at a great private school, even after factoring in the incredibly pace of rising education costs. If I have another kid, things will be much tougher.

 

[Arkady]

I may "semi-retire," but I envision is being more of a hobby -- making custom furniture or something that I could enjoy. So, I need to plan for that not to be a significant source of income, so that I don't have to treat it like a real job.

 

[Arkady]

I find that amazing, given how little SS pays. I wonder with how many of those it's because they're older and tapped out their savings when they went into assisted living. For example, if you get Alzheimers and get to the point where you need constant nursing, the cost of a private facility that will do that is ruinous, and will quickly deplete even a well-stocked 401K and any home equity you had. At that point you can basically become a ward of the state, with your SS and Medicare/Medicaid covering the cost of a public nursing facility. With the astronomical cost of medical care in this country, only the very rich are really safe from that.

In my own case, short of that kind of ailment, I'm in reasonably good shape for staying comfortable in retirement. I have already vested into a pension that is worth something like $30k per year (it'll be more by the time I retire, if I stay at this employer). That'll only be worth the equivalent of maybe $10k-$15k per year, by the time I get there, because of inflation, but if SS covers the basics of life, that's enough for me to have a few little luxuries on top of that (and occasional trip to see the grandkids, etc.), so that's nice to have locked up.

 

[Arkady]

I'm hoping to set my kid up that way, too. My parents, unfortunately, weren't able to do it for me. I mostly paid for my education with debt (graduating with $120k of it, back in the last 1990s). My wife, however, was able to graduate with no debt, because of her parents, and I'd like to make that possible for my daughter, at least for her undergraduate education (she can take on some debt for grad school if she likes).

 

[Days]

We have zero savings, and zero hope of saving... you need income in order to save.

But we do hope to get our son through high school and college... he will be living at home... I'm hoping his older bro helps with the tuition challenge... I hate to see my kid go into debt for education that may or may not get him a high paying job.

retirement is out of the question. My wife's Social Security disability (SSDI) already pays the rent... I have to cover the rest... we wouldn't eat without food stamps, the family car was repossessed two and a half years ago... we look to Jesus for our lives; today and tomorrow.

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

I'm hoping to set my kid up that way, too. My parents, unfortunately, weren't able to do it for me. I mostly paid for my education with debt (graduating with $120k of it, back in the last 1990s). My wife, however, was able to graduate with no debt, because of her parents, and I'd like to make that possible for my daughter, at least for her undergraduate education (she can take on some debt for grad school if she likes).

When my youngest was born I went and signed up for a plan called Texas Tomorrow which basically paid tuition at the rate of the time in advance and you were guaranteed 128 hrs no matter what tuition is at the time a kid goes to college over a 10 year period I paid about 16,000.00 if the youngster goes to UT or A&M it is now worth 40,000 and he is still in middle school. Well they have closed this plan and are accepting no new applicants but they do have an alternate plan. The drawback is if the kid does not go to college all you get back is what you paid in a gamble I feel is worth it.

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

I am not worried though

A Pastor in Nigeria just emailed me about a trust fund his church has tied up and he needs about 10K to get an early withdrawl he said if I send him the 10K he will allocate about 100K to me for the assistance in getting his withdrawl. I am headed to the Bank this afternoon

 

[Zoar]

Rule One:

Simplify and spend less (not more).

My monthly mortgage is $305 (yes, NOT $3000)
My taxes and insurance add another $310 (per month)
I make my own energy, so NO utilities bills. None.
I grow a lot of my own food and I work full time (and still the stuff grows while I am at work. Amazing.)
I have chickens and ducks for eggs (have not bought a store bought egg in 5 years)
I drive efficient vehicles that I own outright (no loans) low cost to drive

So right now before retirement (and yes my home will be paid off before retirement) I need about $1,500 a month to live on but live well. If I want to travel/play add another $1,000 so about $30,000 a year (after taxes)... Just to make it more fun say $50,000 would be living very large.

And the OP "needed", so he thought, $152,000!!! That is what he said he "needed".

It really all depends on the big ticket costs in life. If your big ticket costs are low or do not exist. Living is easy and LOW COST.

Instead of relying on Jesus, I rely on myself. ... huh. Self-Reliance. hmmmmm.

 

[happyatheist]

Part of my problem is that I'm quite aggressive about when I want to retire. I don't want to be working any more after age 57, and that requires a HUGE nest egg, especially since a health, white, relatively wealthy person like myself can expect to live to a ripe old age. I took an online test, based on health, medical history, etc., and it predicts I'll live to 95. Planning for 38 years in retirement isn't easy -- and, for a reasonable margin, I'd probably want to add an extra five years onto that!

If you plan on retiring that early and living that long, enjoying the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed, then you are going to require a huge nest egg just to live, without even any planning for the possibility of a major catastrophy somewhere in there (serious illness, stock market decline, housing devaluation etc.) either for you, your spouse or your child.

If I were you, I'd plan for the 5 years extra as well as a catastrophic event... you can never really have too much money, after all.

 

[MaryAnne]

I wonder if people here who are retired find that they spend for seven days at the rate they used to spend during the weekends. I, personally, wouldn't expect to. Right now I cram in a week's worth of entertainment into two days on the weekends.... and since everyone else is doing the same, I pay more for the privilege. For example, if you buy a ski pass for a weekend day, it's a lot more expensive than buying one for a weekday, when they're eager for the business. In fact, as I recall you can get a 5-day weekday pass for less than the cost of a one-day weekend pass. Obviously I can't expect deals like that across the board, but neither does it seem likely my spending will be as high for seven days as it used to be for two. When I have more flexibility to build around the weekdays and the off-season rates (when, for example, school holidays and work holidays don't dictate my vacation plans as much), shouldn't that let me do things more cheaply? Similarly, if I can dine the earlybird special on a weekday, that seems like a better deal than hitting a restaurant at primetime on a weekend.

Do not forget the Senior Discount,Arkady) You can join AARP at 50 and they have many discounts you do not get. And you find going out early is much easier than going out late. Show me a Senior that stays out late partying. LOL That ski trip may be fiun until you start getting broken bones. I am kidding you now, but very few do at 60 what they used to dp at 20.