How much is enough to retire?

[jmjj215]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

Theresa, it's cool you guys are proactive in increasing your income. My hat's off to you for that! Everyone says the first mil is the hardest, so once you hit that, the rest'll just be gravy

[altyfc]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

I'm serious.

OK... the reason I ask is because that's no small sum. How do you propose to get there? I think I'm right in reading elsewhere that you're just renting at the moment, rather than a homeowner. That's a heck of a lot to save in a comparatively short period of time.

Aaron

[robex]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

We hope to have our house paid off and 500K in the bank in 11 years. I'll be 50 and dh will be 54. Our youngest will have just finished high school. We want to be free to do what we want, including work for pay or not. We save 20% of our take home pay right now, and have always saved 10-25% for the past 8 years.

[dealsaver]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

55. I anticipate we'll need $850,000 in todays dollars.

[moneyfolk]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

It is estimated that you will need approximately 70% of your current income to retire.

Here is an article from About.com: http://retireplan.about.com/od/canir.../debt_free.htm

[jmjj215]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

OK... the reason I ask is because that's no small sum. How do you propose to get there? I think I'm right in reading elsewhere that you're just renting at the moment, rather than a homeowner. That's a heck of a lot to save in a comparatively short period of time.

Aaron

I want to earn a ridiculously high income (but not let it go to my head).

Again, I'm serious. We're going to focus on purchasing assets that will make us more money (mainly real estate) and invest in the markets to a certain extent as well.

The key though, is to get my income up (well, first I have to start my job...so much to do...)

I recognize it's a big goal - but I want to shoot high.

[JBinKC]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

It really depends upon what your lifestyle will be in retirement so its hard to put a percentage of current income.

I see lots of people on here have a nice handle on their retirement goals -Congratulations!

Currently, I am 42 and roughly have 1.9 million dollars saved in Roth IRA. My goal is 3 million then I am contemplating that will be the time to do it.

[Fern]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

I'd LIKE to retire at 55 from full time work, but plan to work a very long time part-time, with my freelance writing. It's something I enjoy and can do easily from home with no overhead.

However, if i remain single, that won't likely happen, as i have a chronic (but stable) medical condition that requires very expensive medicine, and without private health insurance, I couldn't afford to get it. Medicare wouldn't pick it up til age 65.

If i get married, i could go on my husband's health insurance and do just the freelance right away if i wanted; we've talked about it, and he's encouraged me to do that, tho i think it might be smarter for both of us to work full time (no kids involved here) and maximize our joint income, at least for a few years.

I guess there's something called Medigap, which acts as an insurance 'bridge' between retirement time and when medicare kicks in. But with a pre-existing condition, i doubt my meds would be covered. it sucks, really, and means i have fewer options and flexibility. It sucks, really.

[Russell]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

It really depends upon what your lifestyle will be in retirement so its hard to put a percentage of current income.

I see lots of people on here have a nice handle on their retirement goals -Congratulations!

Currently, I am 42 and roughly have 1.9 million dollars saved in Roth IRA. My goal is 3 million then I am contemplating that will be the time to do it.

Wow, very impressive - Congratulations to you!

I'm sure everyone here is very interested in hearing about how you did it and how long have you been at it ? Did you invest mostly in individual stocks or mutual funds etc ? any advice for those of us that're trying to reach our goals through investments

[JBinKC]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

I have been at it since 1986 when I made my first IRA contribution. I started with mutual funds until I had 20K to play with then I went to individual stocks almost exclusively in microcaps. What initally really propelled my account was the stock Iomega in the mid 90s. Of course since then I have suffered my volatile ups and downs but it has been more up.

I converted my IRA to a Roth in 1997 at 176K near the nadir of a rough market correction.

Since 2001 I have been one of many members of a national microcap stock picking think tank which is nice because research responsibilities are pooled.

I still spend almost 60 hrs a week managing this account between being present for the market day and the necessary research to maintain my portfolio.

The downside besides all of the hours is I have sacrificed a career to obtain this as I don't make much money from my job as a casino dealer..

[Tree0164]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

Wow...very impressive.

Curious how is your current lifestyle? How much of your present income do you save?

[marglo]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

My dh and I are already retired. We do fine on our income of $4770 a month, but of course, it will depend on the person and you have to allow for inflation. We get a COLA each year that helps though doesn't completely keep up.

The advice I would give is to aim for being debt free...mortage and everything if possible. We are not but we could do a lot more traveling etc. if we were. Sometimes it is said you need 80% of your current income...well, that is not bad, but realize that some expenses will go down, and others will go up. You want to be able to enjoy your retirement, not just sit around (unless that is the way YOU enjoy it! :-) ) There will always be upkeep on your home, you will still need to replace mattresses, furniture, appliances etc. from time to time so you need to have enough to do what you need to do. The expenses don't end when you retire. Most people find they spend more on medical when they get older and it seems to take more to keep healthy as you age.

That said, we find that we can live on less in many ways. Now that we are older there are a lot of things that used to be important to us that aren't anymore. We buy very few clothes for instance. We find we prioritize a lot more...we want our money to go where we get the most enjoyment from it.

[JBinKC]

Re: How much is enough to retire?

Tree I only make 30K before taxes at my job where I work an average of 32 liesurely hours a week. But at least it allows me to concentrate on the areas where I excel and it keeps the cash flow constant. I also get corporate benefits like a retirement plan and subsidized health insurance.

I am able to save roughly about 11K of my income. I put the minimum for a company match in my 401K (which is now worth 61K) and keep the rest. I also have not contributed to my Roth since 1997. Thanks to being totally debt free (no mortgage or rent payment, car payment or family to support besides myself).

I bought 2 houses in a government repo in 1991 and 1992 for 42K and 24K respectively at a little less than 60% of appraisal sold the bigger one in 1997 for a large tax free profit to help pay for the some of the taxes on my Roth Conversion and all of the the mortgage on my current home which is now conservatively worth 125K when looking at the comps.

I also own some raw land and a 50% interest in a summer home on the Lake of the Ozarks.


I think the key to success in anything is where you set your priorities. Mine has been to acquire appreciating assets.