What's the smallest amount you can retire on? - Page 2

wildcat · 06-13-2007, 08:27 PM

I think you could do it Nun. People who clock out real early - say mid 40s or younger IMHO - seem to have either:

1) large portfolios where they only have to draw a SWR of less than 4%, have a couple years of cash to sit out bear markets
2) smaller portfolios but they have a pension and/or low cost healthcare
3) medium portfolios or "tweeners" who supplement their income through p-t work and have access to low cost healthcare.

Just about all scenarions, the younger ERs tend to continue LBYM. If you are flexible, you have a lot of options -- as UM2 says "mobile, agile, hostile"

BUM · 06-13-2007, 09:00 PM

Hmmm good question. I think the smallest amount I could retire on is whatever my working spouse brings home!

jay-pee · 06-13-2007, 09:09 PM

There is no doubt that you can do it. I have a brother who left work 5 years ago at age 49 with $65,000 in the bank. He is single, lives in a "paid for" house, drives a 15 year old vehicle, and pays his own health insurance . I asked him, just last week, if he was going to have to go back to work and he said "no way". I don't know if I could live his lifestyle, but I would guess that he is "at least" as happy as I am, if not happier. (I just retired at age 61, with considerably more money, pension, health insurance and SS in a few months). The difference between my brother and myself is that he is single and I am married with an adult dependant(child). I worry about what the stock market is doing, if my (ex)company will keep paying my pension and health ins., if mine or my familys health will fail. He doesn't worry about any of these things. He can live as "he" chooses, I have others to consider. My point is if you don't have anyone else dependent on you and "if you want it , you can do it".

haha · 06-13-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay-pee

There is no doubt that you can do it. I have a brother who left work 5 years ago at age 49 with $65,000 in the bank. He is single, lives in a "paid for" house, drives a 15 year old vehicle, and pays his own health insurance . I asked him, just last week, if he was going to have to go back to work and he said "no way". .

See if he will give you an interview which you can share with us. To me this feat sounds about as likely as me running 100m in sub 10 seconds.

Ha

FIREdreamer · 06-13-2007, 09:45 PM

Hi nun,

Our retirement budget looks like that (I assume the mortgage would be paid off prior to retirement): we need 25K for bills (utilitites, food, car/home insurance, RE taxes, car/home repairs and maintenance, health insurance). That's the bare minimum (living a monk's life in other words). We would like another 20-25K for discretionary (mostly travel). Plus of course taxes and funds expenses. So we are probably looking at a 50K to 60K annual budget.

But like you I have the option to retire in Europe where I would enjoy cheap healthcare. Also my parents have talked about giving me a condo there (as part of their effort to reduce their taxable estate). I love the idea of retiring in a condo because it is so much much cheaper to maintain than a house. Finally Europe has great public transportation and one car would be enough for us to get around. Therefore I believe that a move to Europe could seriously reduce our fixed expenses. But moving to Europe would not be easy on the wife. She says she would do it, but I have my doubts. So right now the option is off the table. But if healthcare expenses continue to rise like they have in the US, then it might be our only option to retire early.

jay-pee · 06-13-2007, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha

See if he will give you an interview which you can share with us. To me this feat sounds about as likely as me running 100m in sub 10 seconds.

Ha

I understand what you are saying, everyone else in my family wonders/worrys how he is doing it(going to continue doing it). If you noticed I purposely stated that he "left work", not that he retired, although he states he won't go back to work. All I can say is " he is a "master of frugality", never made more than $15.00 an hour, and never had a job with benefits (overtime, vacation, healthcare). He lives in an inherited house, and has survived on his $65,000 savings for 5 years now. I don't know what will happen to him in his old age, this remains to be seen. He does not ask me about my finances, so I don't question him about his. I do know one thing: If the stock market goes south, I will be seeking alot of advice from him.

wildcat · 06-13-2007, 10:37 PM

Quote:

I have a brother who left work 5 years ago at age 49 with $65,000 in the bank. He is single, lives in a "paid for" house, drives a 15 year old vehicle, and pays his own health insurance . I asked him, just last week, if he was going to have to go back to work and he said "no way".

What kind of projected CAGR is he using - 1,000%? No seriously, what kind of life is your bro living? Is he one of those types who works a few months to get by and then quits for the rest of the year?

Trek · 06-14-2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nun

I'm interested to know the smallest annual income folks have retired on. I'm assuming that the big ticket items are paid for, ie. you've paid off the mortgage so that the only housing expense is taxes and repairs and you have no car payments.

I'm able to do it comfortably on less than $10K a year, but I live in Eastern Europe so my COL is just a fraction of what it would be in the U.S.

jay-pee · 06-14-2007, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat

What kind of projected CAGR is he using - 1,000%? No seriously, what kind of life is your bro living? Is he one of those types who works a few months to get by and then quits for the rest of the year?

Before he "left work" he worked steadily at mostly part time jobs, the last one lasted 15 years. Now, he will help friends who have small businesses occaisionally, has bought repaired/restored a few motorcycles and sold them for a profit, but other than that I see no evidence of income.

retire@40 · 06-14-2007, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay-pee

I understand what you are saying, everyone else in my family wonders/worrys how he is doing it(going to continue doing it). If you noticed I purposely stated that he "left work", not that he retired...

Chances are he's getting a stream of income from somewhere and he's not telling anyone. Maybe some disability? Maybe getting paid under the table?

There is no way someone can "retire" at 49 with only $65K in the bank and pay for his own health insurance, food, gas, and other bare-bone necessities.

tryan · 06-14-2007, 07:21 AM

With a DW and 2 young kids anything under 40k would be like poverty here ... healthcare alone is 1k/month; housing expenses (utilities, insurance, taxes) $1500/month; add in 2 vehicles and the fact that 2 kids want to "do something today" or "go someplace today" ... you get the point.

newguy88 · 06-14-2007, 08:07 AM

Well 6 months into my so called ER I still do part time things, looks like this.

3300 Real estate tax
3000 Mortgage To be paid in full less than 4 years
3000 All Insurance Home Auto Life
2200 utilities Electric Gas
800 water sewer trash
2200 Phones dsl cable
600 medical prescriptions, med deductables
1000 Dental insurance and basic costs
1500 Gasoline
1000 auto maint tires etc
8000 groceries
2000 entertainment
3000 Misc

Total 30,600

Add Taxes Federal And State 7000

37,000K a year

Pension is 33K my part time substitute teaching and coaching add 20 k

Total 53K

Wife will get a small pension in a year of an additional 3000 a year.

SS in 8 years for the wife 11 years for me.

The fact that I do not have to work in the bad situation in NJ is a big deal. I do not consider my part time work work, yes an oxymoron, with the emphasis on Moron, that I sometimes act like.

My track Coaching at a great private school is fun I get to do my workouts with the team, kinda getting paid to exercise. sub teaching 100 dollars a day to read a book for 4 hours, and I can walk to most of the schools.

My stress level is so much lower. But to enjoy living that extra 20 K makes it all work. Savings is only in the 100K range my Cola Pension is the baby that makes it all work. You live a month they send me a check ....You live another it goes on and on and on...

wildcat · 06-14-2007, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retire@40

Chances are he's getting a stream of income from somewhere and he's not telling anyone. Maybe some disability? Maybe getting paid under the table?

There is no way someone can "retire" at 49 with only $65K in the bank and pay for his own health insurance, food, gas, and other bare-bone necessities.

Yeah whatever. JG for one....

FinanceDude · 06-14-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat

Yeah whatever. JG for one....

Where is the "exalted Mr. Galt" these days??

Spanky · 06-14-2007, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newguy888

Well 6 months into my so called ER I still do part time things, looks like this.

3300 Real estate tax
3000 Mortgage To be paid in full less than 4 years
3000 All Insurance Home Auto Life
2200 utilities Electric Gas
800 water sewer trash
2200 Phones dsl cable
600 medical prescriptions, med deductables
1000 Dental insurance and basic costs
1500 Gasoline
1000 auto maint tires etc
8000 groceries
2000 entertainment
3000 Misc

Total 30,600

Add Taxes Federal And State 7000

37,000K a year

Pension is 33K my part time substitute teaching and coaching add 20 k

Total 53K

Wife will get a small pension in a year of an additional 3000 a year.

SS in 8 years for the wife 11 years for me.

The fact that I do not have to work in the bad situation in NJ is a big deal. I do not consider my part time work work, yes an oxymoron, with the emphasis on Moron, that I sometimes act like.

My track Coaching at a great private school is fun I get to do my workouts with the team, kinda getting paid to exercise. sub teaching 100 dollars a day to read a book for 4 hours, and I can walk to most of the schools.

My stress level is so much lower. But to enjoy living that extra 20 K makes it all work. Savings is only in the 100K range my Cola Pension is the baby that makes it all work. You live a month they send me a check ....You live another it goes on and on and on...

Having a COLA pension plus a part-time position that can cover all your expenses is great. The amount of savings is almost irrelevant.

maddythebeagle · 06-14-2007, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude

Where is the "exalted Mr. Galt" these days??

Probably, sueing, divorcing, or in a dumpster somewhere....

Bigritchie · 06-14-2007, 03:27 PM

It totally depends on where you live also. Where I live, people with no debt can live a pretty peaceful life for 800 bucks a month. Plenty of nice country areas left in America, that are even close to a small/medium size city.

Sam · 06-14-2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigritchie

Where I live, people with no debt can live a pretty peaceful life for 800 bucks a month. Plenty of nice country areas left in America, that are even close to a small/medium size city.

Hmm..., ok, sure...

o Can you define "pretty peaceful life"?

o What town are we talking about in Tennessee?

Bigritchie · 06-14-2007, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam

Hmm..., ok, sure...

o Can you define "pretty peaceful life"?

o What town are we talking about in Tennessee?

I have several retired uncles that live in Bluff City, TN that are retired and their actual living expenses are 5-600 bucks per month.

My own living expenses are around 600 per month and I live on the outskirts of Knoxville. I am very frugal albiet, about the only spending I have done for myself the last several years is buying a few games every now and then.

Also, a peaceful life is different for everyone. For alot of people it may just be walking down to the lake everyday and rowing a boat, doing a little fishing. Many people do not need to Pay money to be entertained. Or even if they do go see a movie or something they can go to a dollar theatre. There is also no income tax here, although we do have a pretty high sales tax, but in reality that only really taxes people that spend alot, and a person's food. I see people on the board with monthly expenses of 2-5k, and it blows my mind, just as I am sure that my expenses blow theirs.

We have transplants from all over the US here, many from places like NY where a apartment may cost 1500 bucks a month for a small one, but here you can rent a descent house out in the country for 4-500 dollars.

It is kinda like how many people move out of the country for a cheaper cost of living, you can do the same in the states, and even states very from city to city.

Alot of people can come and buy a house here for 150k that would cost them 600k+ somewhere else. In fact my own house which is out in the country, has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3 car garage, finished bathroom, 2 acres of fenced in land, and it cost me around 130k when I bought it. But if I went 10 miles up the road a house like that would have cost me a fortune.

And there are counties here that are even cheaper to live in then my own, where you can buy acres for a few thousand.

06-13-2007, 08:27 PM	#21
wildcat Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,896	I think you could do it Nun. People who clock out real early - say mid 40s or younger IMHO - seem to have either: 1) large portfolios where they only have to draw a SWR of less than 4%, have a couple years of cash to sit out bear markets 2) smaller portfolios but they have a pension and/or low cost healthcare 3) medium portfolios or "tweeners" who supplement their income through p-t work and have access to low cost healthcare. Just about all scenarions, the younger ERs tend to continue LBYM. If you are flexible, you have a lot of options -- as UM2 says "mobile, agile, hostile" __________________ "These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them"

06-13-2007, 09:00 PM	#22
BUM Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,548	Hmmm good question. I think the smallest amount I could retire on is whatever my working spouse brings home! __________________ In a panamax down by the river.

06-14-2007, 07:21 AM	#31
tryan Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,454	With a DW and 2 young kids anything under 40k would be like poverty here ... healthcare alone is 1k/month; housing expenses (utilities, insurance, taxes) $1500/month; add in 2 vehicles and the fact that 2 kids want to "do something today" or "go someplace today" ... you get the point. __________________ FIRE'd since 2005

06-13-2007, 09:09 PM	#23
jay-pee Dryer sheet wannabe Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 13	There is no doubt that you can do it. I have a brother who left work 5 years ago at age 49 with $65,000 in the bank. He is single, lives in a "paid for" house, drives a 15 year old vehicle, and pays his own health insurance . I asked him, just last week, if he was going to have to go back to work and he said "no way". I don't know if I could live his lifestyle, but I would guess that he is "at least" as happy as I am, if not happier. (I just retired at age 61, with considerably more money, pension, health insurance and SS in a few months). The difference between my brother and myself is that he is single and I am married with an adult dependant(child). I worry about what the stock market is doing, if my (ex)company will keep paying my pension and health ins., if mine or my familys health will fail. He doesn't worry about any of these things. He can live as "he" chooses, I have others to consider. My point is if you don't have anyone else dependent on you and "if you want it , you can do it".

06-13-2007, 09:45 PM	#25
FIREdreamer Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,298	Hi nun, Our retirement budget looks like that (I assume the mortgage would be paid off prior to retirement): we need 25K for bills (utilitites, food, car/home insurance, RE taxes, car/home repairs and maintenance, health insurance). That's the bare minimum (living a monk's life in other words). We would like another 20-25K for discretionary (mostly travel). Plus of course taxes and funds expenses. So we are probably looking at a 50K to 60K annual budget. But like you I have the option to retire in Europe where I would enjoy cheap healthcare. Also my parents have talked about giving me a condo there (as part of their effort to reduce their taxable estate). I love the idea of retiring in a condo because it is so much much cheaper to maintain than a house. Finally Europe has great public transportation and one car would be enough for us to get around. Therefore I believe that a move to Europe could seriously reduce our fixed expenses. But moving to Europe would not be easy on the wife. She says she would do it, but I have my doubts. So right now the option is off the table. But if healthcare expenses continue to rise like they have in the US, then it might be our only option to retire early.

06-14-2007, 08:07 AM	#32
newguy88 Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2,119	Well 6 months into my so called ER I still do part time things, looks like this. 3300 Real estate tax 3000 Mortgage To be paid in full less than 4 years 3000 All Insurance Home Auto Life 2200 utilities Electric Gas 800 water sewer trash 2200 Phones dsl cable 600 medical prescriptions, med deductables 1000 Dental insurance and basic costs 1500 Gasoline 1000 auto maint tires etc 8000 groceries 2000 entertainment 3000 Misc Total 30,600 Add Taxes Federal And State 7000 37,000K a year Pension is 33K my part time substitute teaching and coaching add 20 k Total 53K Wife will get a small pension in a year of an additional 3000 a year. SS in 8 years for the wife 11 years for me. The fact that I do not have to work in the bad situation in NJ is a big deal. I do not consider my part time work work, yes an oxymoron, with the emphasis on Moron, that I sometimes act like. My track Coaching at a great private school is fun I get to do my workouts with the team, kinda getting paid to exercise. sub teaching 100 dollars a day to read a book for 4 hours, and I can walk to most of the schools. My stress level is so much lower. But to enjoy living that extra 20 K makes it all work. Savings is only in the 100K range my Cola Pension is the baby that makes it all work. You live a month they send me a check ....You live another it goes on and on and on...

06-14-2007, 03:27 PM	#37
Bigritchie Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 371	It totally depends on where you live also. Where I live, people with no debt can live a pretty peaceful life for 800 bucks a month. Plenty of nice country areas left in America, that are even close to a small/medium size city.