At what age do you hope to retire?

[disneysteve]

We often talk about what we are doing to plan for retirement. I think one fact we often skip over is what age we are planning to retire but I think that plays a big part in what you need to save.

I am currently 42 and plan to retire by age 62.

That doesn't necessarily mean I won't ever work again after that, but if I do, I want it to be on my schedule and my terms, and I want a whole lot more than 4 weeks vacation. No more 5 days/week, 40/hours/week at that point. So I might do something part-time or maybe something online like ebay (or whatever the 2027 equivalent is). But I also want to have enough saved to have the option of not working for pay anymore.

How about everyone else?

[crow67]

Hopefully around the same age. Then I would like to be able to volunteer and keep busy, doing things that I want to do along with having the money and the energy to do them. I turn 40 in a couple of months, so that's 22 more years till I do.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

55! But that's probably aiming really early. More likely 62.

[thekid]

Aiming for 55. With company defined pension plan and anticipated savings it should be possible. Actually, if I keep to my current career, 50 is quite possible (differ pension plan until 55th b-day and live on savings in the 50 to 55 interim). My goal is however not to retire as soon as possible or to blow my savings completely.

[genmed]

Tough question. Possibly as early as 50-55, but probably 62. I'm still pretty young, I think when I get closer to 40, I'd have a better idea. I've been saving for retirement since I started working about 14....what that says about my goals in life, I don't even want to begin to analyze.

[jIM_Ohio]

I plan to retire the day after my savings is my current income/.03- meaning I can withdraw 3% of what I have saved and sustain my current income level.

I might work/ change careers/ find something constructive to do with my time (like ski, white water raft, travel and play more soccer)... but I am already "charting this could be as young as 40, probably closer to 50, and much earlier than 68.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

I plan to retire the day after my savings is my current income/.03- meaning I can withdraw 3% of what I have saved and sustain my current income level.

I don't ever expect to reach that point, and I'm a pretty aggressive saver. That would mean nearly $4 million for me. That isn't happening unless I work well past 62.

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I don't ever expect to reach that point, and I'm a pretty aggressive saver. That would mean nearly $4 million for me. That isn't happening unless I work well past 62.

For me, any retirement prior to age 59 needs to be "income/.03".

Once I hit 59, "income/.04" works just fine. The difference to me is a million.

income/.03=$1M + income/.04

I realize that difference is substantial. If I learn enough along the way, maybe I could retire with 4% initial withdraw at age 52...

There is risk to retiring early. so a lower initial withdraw rate is my way to hedge that risk.

For me that number is in "millions". I'll hit the number by 68 easy... but hitting it earlier would be the sign I can retire without issue.

[thekid]

I was wondering how prevalent employer defined pension plans are among posters here. I didn't have one when I was with a private law firm and have one with my current employer (and would have one with prospective employer). I'm really just now starting to grasp how much they mean.

[anonymous_saver]

I am 24 and my plan is to retire between age 50-55, no later. I have saved at least 25% of whatever I earned since I first received money (including birthday cards and such) to go towards my retirement. So I plan on living on my savings from 50-66. Then at 66 I would start receiving my pension (the benefit would be reduced if I took it out earlier), and at 67 I potentially will have social security. I would then still use my savings but just take out lower amounts. I currently work at a University and only see myself leaving this job for something at a local school system (which would keep me in the same pension plan).

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

For me, any retirement prior to age 59 needs to be "income/.03".

Once I hit 59, "income/.04" works just fine.

That makes sense now. I'm going on the income/.04 plan to retire at 62, so you and I are on the same page.

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by thekid

I was wondering how prevalent employer defined pension plans are among posters here. I didn't have one when I was with a private law firm and have one with my current employer (and would have one with prospective employer). I'm really just now starting to grasp how much they mean.

I had one which I rolled over into an IRA. EDS owned my company for about 13 months, and in that time I earned a pension of about 2k. It has since grown to 3k last time I looked.

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

That makes sense now. I'm going on the income/.04 plan to retire at 62, so you and I are on the same page.

My mortgage will exist at age 40, and should be paid off by age 55. So the .03 is to realize that

a) I might not be debt free
b) my wife will need the assets long after I'm gone
c) I will be spending more money because I'll have more time.
d) I am only looking to replace my income
e) by that time my wife will be making more than me, yet I will have saved more. Because my savings is a % of my salary, this complicates things...

If I know a-e better in 5-10 years, I can probably change to 3.5 or 3.75 as initial withdraw rate.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by thekid

I was wondering how prevalent employer defined pension plans are among posters here.

I don't have one.

Personally, I think unless you are a government employee, you probably shouldn't be counting on your pension being what you were promised it would be.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

b) my wife will need the assets long after I'm gone

Won't your life insurance take care of that one?

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Won't your life insurance take care of that one?

Our life insurance would not be $1.5M, which is what it would take to replace my wife's salary (for retirement). The life insurance should be enough for any debt we have, funeral expenses, a big party, and something left over for whatever... it won't be enough to last more than 5 years from an income perspective.

[pearlieq]

We really don't have a target date in mind. I'm 27 and DH is 30 and it's just way too far off to think about a concrete date. So much could happen in the intervening years. I guess the closest I could say would be probably before DH turns 70.

Even then I don't see him just gadding about and playing golf. I think he'll spend his later years on the corporate board circuit and maybe consulting.

As for me I don't know what to think. My job now is technically temporary, though it shows no signs of slowing down. If it were to end I don't think I'd be rushing out to find a new one, especially if we have kids. If the right opportunity presented itself in the future I might consider working again, but I wouldn't seek it out unless we needed the money.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

Our life insurance would not be $1.5M, which is what it would take to replace my wife's salary (for retirement). The life insurance should be enough for any debt we have, funeral expenses, a big party, and something left over for whatever... it won't be enough to last more than 5 years from an income perspective.

I carry enough insurance on me so that if I die, there will be sufficient money to pay off our debt (mortgage), funeral expenses, our daughter's education AND enough for my wife and daughter to live on without my wife being forced to go back to work. With each passing year, our insurance needs decrease as our personal savings increase and I have decreased my coverage a couple of times in the past 10 years and I'm about due to decrease it again.

[Ima saver]

I retired about age 45. I did work a few hours a month for a few years so I could contribute to my IRA, but I stopped that many years ago.
I don't know about my husband. It will be when we have enough saved to live on the interest. The problem is my husband wants to build expensive hot rods when he retires, so I better keep him working for a while.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I retired about age 45.

Yes, my wife "retired" last month at 43. She really has no desire to work (which I'm fine with), but when she was working, I kept reminding her that the longer she works, the quicker we both can retire since we were investing 80% of her income.