At the 'end' do you plan on spending to zero or leave a legacy?

[BBQ-Nut]

How close to zero do you plan for what will remain of your savings at the 'end' of their retirement?

Or, do you plan for a certain 'margin' based on longevity that will be passed on as your legacy to a surviving partner, family, or charity?

 

[pb4uski]

I think the reality is that SWR are likely to result in a residual. In our case we have kids so it will be passed on. However, I have told them if there is an inheritance then it is a result of estimating error, but I concede that isn't totally true.

 

[REWahoo]

None of the above. I have no target amount at the end, I simply plan (and hope) to not run out of money before running out of us, as the plan also includes DW.

 

[HFWR]

I certainly hope to have some left, but I won't be eating Ramen noodles to make that happen.

 

[kcowan]

If we live to the median life expectancy, there will be a substantial legacy. If we are in the top 10% in longevity, especially with LTC issues, there will be none.

 

[RetireAge50]

Barring death before age 90, perfect scenario (our plan) would be to have zero net worth living in a rental overlooking the water. Cola'd pensions and social security providing our needs.

Nest egg used in younger years to fund our wildest dreams. Children and grandchildren would have no use for inheritance as they took the same path.

 

[panacea]

Using a conservative draw rate to prepare for possible LTC... and a pretty good likelihood of receiving an inheritance in the future, we'll likely kick the bucket with money left in there. Most will go to our children and some will go to charity.

 

[Dash man]

We're expecting the kids won't be too disappointed, but they know we won't deprive ourselves to make their bank accounts fatter. We have and will probably continue to help them along the way, so even if we spend our last nickel they'll have gotten something.

 

[BellBarbara]

Our trust's purpose is to provide for each other's support during our lifetimes. If there is money left at the end, it goes to the kids equally, if not, sorry. We sat down and told them this. They all got expensive educations, that was our donation.

Likely the house will be left - which we ordered sold by the executor (so there will be no issues) and funds disbursed.

 

[GrayHare]

The saver mentality is so ingrained it will be difficult to spend it down to zero.

 

[martyb]

None of the above. I have no target amount at the end, I simply plan (and hope) to not run out of money before running out of us, as the plan also includes DW.

+1

 

[audreyh1]

We hope to give plenty away BEFORE we die rather than after.

 

[powerplay]

I expect there will be quite a bit left because my pension covers my living expenses. If there is a need for an extensive period of long term care then the leftovers may be quite reduced. I am not worrying about it. No children so I will leave some to charity and some to family members.

 

[W2R]

There is no way that I would PLAN to end up with $0.00 . It's bad enough to be broke without having to acknowledge to myself that I consciously planned for that to happen.

 

[aja8888]

I want to be so broke at the end that someone will have to pay to get rid of my remains. It's my way of getting even for some crap (years of it) along the way.

 

[LoneAspen]

Single and no kids (and likely to stay that way), so no dependents to worry about. As I like to tell people, I'll probably spend my nonexistant kids' college money on a Ferrari or a Beechcraft.

I'm sure I'll give away some to the church or charities while I'm still living, but I'm not going to hold back spending anything just to leave some kind of legacy to anybody when I'm gone. My relatives are all grown adults who are responsible for their own financial well-being (and that of their kids, whom I'm not close to anyway), so I don't plan on leaving anything to family members, nor do I expect to receive anything from their estates if they die before me (which is highly likely, as my siblings are all significantly older than me).

 

[jclarksnakes]

The saver mentality is so ingrained it will be difficult to spend it down to zero.

+1. I just cannot get my mind around the idea of spending down our savings now. We do plan on giving some to the kids every year after we are older rather than leaving it all to them when we die.

 

[robnplunder]

How close to zero do you plan for what will remain of your savings at the 'end' of their retirement?

Or, do you plan for a certain 'margin' based on longevity that will be passed on as your legacy to a surviving partner, family, or charity?

Loosely, I have $250k - $700k cushion just in case things don't work out (unexpected big expenses, prolonged equity market downturn, ...). Realistically, I think I will have over $1M leftover when everything is said and done.

 

[springnr]

30 to 40 years left to fine tune, change perspective, or not, that is the hope anyway.

 

[ERD50]

How can one 'plan' for this? Outside of buying a lot of annuities, and living on those plus SS/pension - that could be a plan to leave near zero at death.

My only plan was to have enough funds to reduce the chances that we run out of money even if we live to the outside range of LE. My plan may fail. Historically, it is more likely we will die with a substantial NW.

But it's the same plan - only the future which tell us which result we end up with.


-ERD50

 

[gerntz]

We're living off dividends/interest + SS, charitably donating significantly imo, and living life as we want to w/o eating much into principle. Net, the dividend/interest producing assets are bound to be there at the end unless things drastically change. We're not interested in changing our life to eat into those assets at a faster rate.

 

[rodi]

Our plan A has us spending our investible assets - if we live long enough. But we have a pricy SoCal home that will either go to the kids (to be sold and proceeds divided) or be used for LTC.

Like all of this - flexibility and adaptation will guide us. But we don't feel obligated to leave a big nest egg to the kids.

 

[Walt34]

None of the above. I have no target amount at the end, I simply plan (and hope) to not run out of money before running out of us, as the plan also includes DW.

That.

Absent the need for LTC some relatives will be pleasantly surprised but they won't be able to retire with it.

 

[Hermit]

Self insuring for LTC. I expect DD will drag me out of the mountains (kicking and screaming all the way) when the time comes so I will need to find a place to live down along the Front Range. I will have enough in pension and SS to live on once my SS kicks in. I should have enough for all possibilities, but I have no clue what that will be or what will be left.

If FIRECalc is close, maybe I will spend the last few days lighting cigars with 100 dollar bills. (Wait! I'm moving to Colorado! I could use those funny little cigarets rather than cigars! )

 

[robnplunder]

(Wait! I'm moving to Colorado! I could use those funny little cigarets rather than cigars! )

Let me sit next to you for a while when you do that.