What is your number?? Retirement ...

[andrews_dad]

I've been seeing those commercials asking folks what their number is. Their goal for savings for retirement. I have to admit I had never thought of it that way, Anyone have a goal number in mind that they are shooting for?

 

[crisi]

Of course. I have two - a goal and a stretch goal.

The goal is pretty reasonable to get to even if I were to stop contributing for a bit or the economy were to be really slow for the next twenty years. I have every expectation of getting there.

The stretch goal depends on continual savings until a late retirement plus annual average gains of 10% in the stock market over the term.

 

[PinkRhombus]

As much as we can!

 

[averysmom]

Yes, to live well, we figure we'll need 600 000, taking into consideration inflation. However, this also is based on 1. no mortgage 2. my very good private (union) pension plan 3. I live in Canada, so my healthcare is paid with my taxes (not meds though). Our dollar needs may be less due to these factors.

I feel confident, barring any major mishaps, that this goal is very attainable.

 

[msmayor]

$1.75 million.

We are not counting one iota on Social Security...we are saving to fully fund our own retirement.

He's using an on-line calculator that takes into consideration his current account balances, anticipated contributions until retirement (at 62) and a conservative level of growth. Right now its telling us we have a 94% chance to meet that goal, and that's close enough for me.

 

[wdwfan16]

We are shooting for $X in todays money with inflation and no SS. If we get anything from SS it will be considered "fun" money.

We then adjust our retirement age to make this possible. We only expect a 6% return for our calculations.

We max out our 401Ks each year and try to put $Y more away. We will not enter retirement without a paid for home and will not have any other debt.

We are not planning on inheritance for anybody. If all goes as planned we should not need to sell the house until we are 90. Nobody in my family has lived to 90 but some in DH's family have.

 

[msmayor]

We are shooting for $X in todays money with inflation and no SS. If we get anything from SS it will be considered "fun" money.

We then adjust our retirement age to make this possible. We only expect a 6% return for our calculations.

We max out our 401Ks each year and try to put $Y more away. We will not enter retirement without a paid for home and will not have any other debt.

We are not planning on inheritance for anybody. If all goes as planned we should not need to sell the house until we are 90. Nobody in my family has lived to 90 but some in DH's family have.

I once read somewhere that if you plan properly, the last check written from your estate to pay your funeral costs will bounce.

We've already told our kids that our goal is not to leave them with our money; its to be able to live without needing THEIR money to help us.

 

[punkin]

according to the calculators, we have a 98% chance of meeting our goal with 6% return if DH retires at 70 yo. At 65, we have a approximately 50% chance. I guess no early retirement here.

 

[lisaross]

i've been thinking alot about this..

it really depends alot on if u get a pension, and how much - we are planning on my husband getting a pension - not exactly how much...i'm thinking we will get some social security..

as if now,

we will have our Mortgage paid of in 8 1/2 years....then we will put these payments towards college for my son who will just be starting then.

Also i have a 401 from a previous job i worked at for 12 years.

My husband contributes 6% to his 401 and the company mathc es that amount

we also contribute 200.00 to a ROTH per month - started about 2 years ago

we do have savings as well..

Again, lots can change from now to actual retirement,,

i would like to have about 500,000 - 800,000 in addition to any pension - not sure if thats actually possible - is their a good website to punch in what i have>

 

[moongirl]

There are many different calculators:
I'd pick one that was not sponsored by any investment company. Here's one:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/retire/planner.aspx

 

[Minnesota!]

I plan on retiring at 57. Right now I am on track to have about $500,000 in MY retirement fund at that age. DH will have about 1/2 that at that age (in his).

So, $750,000 at age 57 is what I am striving for.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I once read somewhere that if you plan properly, the last check written from your estate to pay your funeral costs will bounce.

We've already told our kids that our goal is not to leave them with our money; its to be able to live without needing THEIR money to help us.

I wish my parents felt this way. They keep saying things like "we're thinking about not doing x because we want to save the money so you will have some inheritance from us." It's sweet, but I'd much rather them spend the money and enjoy their retirement. They are very frugal and have significant savings so I'm not worried about needing to support them, and even if they needed my support I'd gladly do it.

As for the original question, I used to think $1M would be enough, but now I'm leaning towards $1.5M. I'm 37 and save 20% of my pay just for retirement. I know I can make the $1M mark by 67, but $1.5M will be pushing it. I also am not planning on SS being there for me.

 

[akcire]

$3.5 m goal
$5 m stretch goal

We plan to work as long as we physically can.

Our goals could be hampered by changes in income tax rates--at some point someone is going to have to pay for all the spending going on, and I have read articles that 55% high brackets are possible.

We do not count on any form of government aid--we expect to have to fund everything ourselves. Anything that does show up is extra.

or $50 million if Powerball ever pays off---and then we'd retire the day the check clears

 

[Planogirl]

We have a good pension that is supposedly locked in. I don't know how to figure out how to add a monthly forever payment like that.

 

[brymolmom]

OK - not sure what is included in this 'number'. Does it mean when you reach this amount in total savings (including retirement funds, mutual funds, 401K's, what about whole life insurance policies or similar, what about value of an owned home) that you will retire? I guess I'm just a bit surprised at the low-ish (seemingly to me) numbers I've seen here. I know it depends a lot on where you live, cost of living, etc. but I have been 'advised' to have way more - the exact number I can't remember but I think it was in the $2 million range.

Also I guess a lot depends on whether you will have any healthcare paid for after retirement - that would be a huge chunk.

I guess I just got excited that some people consider retirement when they reach less than $1 Million - hey - maybe we should recalculate - we could be there soon. We plan to retire as EARLY as possible, so maybe that's why we need more too (more years to cover). DH is 12 years older than I am - so it doesn't make sense to work until I'm 65...we want to be young enough to enjoy our retirement and do some traveling together. I will likely still keep something P/T after he retires to give us a bit of spending cash to assist a bit. I'm hoping by the time the kids are out of college to seriously consider it...that would be 17 years from now. I would be 58...we'll see.

 

[DawnM]

DH plans to work until at least 65 at this point.

He looked at our retirement plan and says we will bring in $60K per year in retirement per year until age 100 if we live that long. This is if he retires at 62.5 years old.

This is not counting my retirement as I worked 16 years also and probably will go back to work at some point.

Assuming we have no mortgage, this will be a good start. I am hoping that we can either sell this house and downsize to pay off a house in the next 5 to 7 years or that we can get some additional income to pay this one off before our 15 years mortgage is due. Right now it is tight.

We put in about 12% of DH's income towards retirement. I put in 16% when I worked (I paid 8% and it was matched)

Dawn

 

[punkin]

OK - not sure what is included in this 'number'. Does it mean when you reach this amount in total savings (including retirement funds, mutual funds, 401K's, what about whole life insurance policies or similar, what about value of an owned home) that you will retire? I guess I'm just a bit surprised at the low-ish (seemingly to me) numbers I've seen here. I know it depends a lot on where you live, cost of living, etc. but I have been 'advised' to have way more - the exact number I can't remember but I think it was in the $2 million range.

Also I guess a lot depends on whether you will have any healthcare paid for after retirement - that would be a huge chunk.

I guess I just got excited that some people consider retirement when they reach less than $1 Million - hey - maybe we should recalculate - we could be there soon. We plan to retire as EARLY as possible, so maybe that's why we need more too (more years to cover). DH is 12 years older than I am - so it doesn't make sense to work until I'm 65...we want to be young enough to enjoy our retirement and do some traveling together. I will likely still keep something P/T after he retires to give us a bit of spending cash to assist a bit. I'm hoping by the time the kids are out of college to seriously consider it...that would be 17 years from now. I would be 58...we'll see.

I think those number presuppose a much lower retirement income than you contemplate. There is no way that under $1M would be enough for us to fund the retirement we want. Yes, we could live that way, but then again, I suppose we could survive on social security alone too.

 

[Colleen27]

Our goal is 1M by the time DH retires from his current profession, but realistically we're not likely to hit that unless the economy does a 180 relatively soon. It was a manageable target on the income we had when we set that goal, but now it would take saving something like 50% of our total income, and with DH's business being what it is (construction) I don't anticipate that improving a whole lot in the foreseeable future. On the bright side, we do own our home outright so we at least don't have housing payments getting the in the way of saving and we don't have to worry about that in retirement.

DH is 9 years older than me and the nature of my job is such that I can work anywhere, so if we fall short (or even if we don't - right now I can't imagine retiring completely) I'll just invest in some good mobile internet access and continue working part time while we enjoy his retirement.

 

[punkin]

DH is 9 years older than me and the nature of my job is such that I can work anywhere, so if we fall short (or even if we don't - right now I can't imagine retiring completely) I'll just invest in some good mobile internet access and continue working part time while we enjoy his retirement.

I think many of us are going to be stuck in semi-retirement when the time comes. DH and I were on track until the market tanked. Our retirement funds are actually somewhat rebounded, but DD17's college fund is just awful so we will have to fund her college to a greater extent from current income than previously anticipated. She got some good merit scholarships at some decent schools, but she aspires higher to schools that don't have a lot of merit aid (everything is income based, and we make too much) and if she gets in, we will have to have some serious conversations.

 

[Colleen27]

I think many of us are going to be stuck in semi-retirement when the time comes. DH and I were on track until the market tanked. Our retirement funds are actually somewhat rebounded, but DD17's college fund is just awful so we will have to fund her college to a greater extent from current income than previously anticipated. She got some good merit scholarships at some decent schools, but she aspires higher to schools that don't have a lot of merit aid (everything is income based, and we make too much) and if she gets in, we will have to have some serious conversations.

We're young enough (30 & 39) that I'm still hopeful, but it can't hurt to think about the what-ifs. Thank goodness we've got the kids' college funds spread out - they got pre-paid tuition contracts from their grandfather, so those are stable even though the rest of the college fund has taken a hit. And we do still have time for that to recover as well, since our oldest isn't even starting middle school until fall. I really feel for people who are facing college or retirement right now and can't wait out this mess.

I honestly can't see DH retiring completely anyway. He's a man very much like my grandfathers and his own father, all of whom retired from full time work only to take up some sort of part-time self employment because they got bored after a few weeks of "real" retirement. He won't want to/be able to work major construction jobs forever, but I could see him turning his woodworking hobby into a business in retirement or getting his capt's license and starting a second career piloting fishing/tourist charters (or a Disney ferry - he spent a ton of time talking to the captains on our last couple trips about how they came to work there). I don't really mind the idea of not retiring either - I freelance and my schedule and workload are almost completely up to me, so it really doesn't feel like work most of the time.