another nest egg question: how much do you need to retire?

[Kay7979]

The nest egg thread has been interesting, but it got me thinking: how much do you consider "enough" savings to retire on? People are living longer these days and social security may not be around as we know it in a decade or two. If you don't have a pension, but will be living off 401K type savings plans in retirement, how much in savings do you think you need to build up by the time you retire?

 

[jrydberg]

A lot more than most people think.

 

[newholiday]

Im hoping anywheres from 3/4 to 1 million is enough!

 

[Kay7979]

OK, everyone's afraid to put down a number, so I'll say what I'm thinking. I'm thinking at least 3/4 million, and I hope that at this level the money/investments would grow and earn enough interest or dividends to keep up with inflation, and to allow us to draw out a modest yearly income.

 

[WeirdEyes]

DH and I started saving for our retirement when we got married almost 17 years ago. We are hoping to have at least $1 Million - 1.5 Million. I just hope we can do it! We really love to travel and plan on doing A LOT of it when we retire. We also want to retire young....early to mid-50's.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Millions???

I'll be lucky if I have 100K.

Yikes.

 

[Hillbeans]

Expecting the house to be fully paid for, i'd say 1.5 Mil....in 20 years that won't seem so outrageous as it is today. I'd like us to retire in our late 50's as well.

 

[Bob Slydell]

It's too hard to put a number on it right now -- I've got like 30 years or more to retirement. No real idea (aside from guessing and estimating) what say, $1 million now will be in 2034.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

It's hard to say -- I hope to have around 2.5 to 3 million.

 

[PatriciaH]

$1 million saved and I would be all set. That is $40,000 a year at a reasonable withdrawal rate to last a long time. This is in addition to SS (I hope.)

 

[Pin Wizard]

Save $40,000 a year? Ahem...excuse me. You just confirmed for me that I will NEVER retire! I think my time in college the last couple years was retirement. Time to get a job!

 

[dzneelvr]

The term "retirement" is a curiously archaic term to me and should be for all of us in the mid 40's and below. Just what will you use for $$ when you want to do all the things you've been doing (and more) while on full salaries??
Yes I've got the 401k's, the CD's, the real estate...very diverse portfolio, but I am not counting on giving up a salary down the road. My plan is to work into a part time position with fewer hours and travel, etc. on the off time. I love working too much and would rather be paid for it than volunteer or do pro-bono work. Find a position in an industry that offers flex time or offers benefits for reduced workweeks and stay there. I like to spend way to much to give up the paycheck entirely.......

The cold reality is that even with 1 millions bucks or more stashed away, you're only one major illness or accident away from losing most of it if you don't have good insurance. My background is in insurance and the health industries, so I'm a bit skewed toward that, but I've seen it happen too often. Stay plugged in and connected and your retirement years will be quality ones.

 

[Galahad]

Try to back into the number. If you make some assumptions like your house is paid for and your kids are out of college, you'd be surprised at how much money you save by NOT working. It also depends on your expectations for your retirement. Also, if the DIS is around on 20 or 30 years I'd love to take a survey of those that intend to retire in their early 50s to see who actually did. We are planning to retire at 58. I seriously doubt we will make it (but don't tell DW that).

 

[TheLionKing]

It depends on what lifestyle you are planning on having when you retire. The more lavish, the more funds you will need.

But the golden rule is start putting it away early, as Time and Coumpound Interest are your best friends.

 

[catsrule]

They will be taking me out of my work in a body bag.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Our retirement $ amount would be hard to put a # on!
House will have been paid off, SS would kick in and both DH and I have pensions as well as small investments. My guess is that we will expect roughly $10,000 monthly!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'd really be shocked if I collect much Social Security. I think it is currently scheduled for bankruptcy the year I turn 67.

Save $40,000 a year? Ahem...excuse me. You just confirmed for me that I will NEVER retire!

I could be wrong, but I think Patricia was saying she wanted to generate a $40k per year income off of her savings -- not save $40k a year.

 

[Simba's Mom]

How much we need for retirement is such a difficult question-one that we're currently being asked because we just got ourselves a financial advisor. The biggest shock we hadn't considered is what about healthcare?

 

[legs22]

I will never in my wildest dreams reach $1 million in retirement savings. I imagine I will never be able to retire. I'll probably have to work part time. I think a lot of people will need to do this.

Those who expect to meet or exceed this amount must have started saving in their teens/early 20's.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Our plan is about in line with the rest of you guys. We have 7 years to pay off on our house and 2 kids to put through high school and college. All those obligations will be finished at about the same time we hope to cut back at work and eventually retire. We think we can do ok with about 1 million and heath care coverage from work. We save every month for the future. I worry about those who do not begin to save early on in their 20's.