Re: Saving too much?
the article mentioned "adequate consumption". What is adequate for you or from a 3rd party financial planner may not be what I have in mind.
saving for retirement is a race. It's a race in that others (you and me included) are comparing ourselves to others. Yet we have different finish lines. We have different metrics, different philosophies and different circumstances.
Several examples above are people aged 65 living for 20 years. That is unrealistic... if a person lived until age 65, at least 33-50% of people this age will live into their 90's. Any calculator needs to account for a person living into their 90's.
Granted ages 80-95 won't have much "consumption", other than groceries and gifts... people this age would not be as active as a retiree aged 65-80.
basic retirement calculations which "estimate" needed income are skewed. If it suggests 80% of income, people will fall (IMO) into one of two categories
1) People which approach saving 20% of their income. In this case that 80% estimate is un realistic. By retirement these people will have saved "more" than they need, have trained themselves to spend less, live well within their means and probably have a house which is paid off.
2) People which barely saved anything, in which case the 80% is used to "alarm them", "shock them" and suggest "they" needed to start saving two decades ago. People can play catch up, probably come close to succeeding. If they don't succeed they will just reduce spending to what SS provides (allows?).
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