For those under 35, what is your magic number

[accountingsucks]

Most of us under 35 will have no company pension plans, reduced SS (OAS, CPP in my case from Canada) so we will have to do it on our own. Given that, what is your magic number that would let you pull the plug? Please show in future dollars?

For me

Conservative:$2Mil

Probable: $1.3Mil - this would generate about $50K pretax income which is where I think I need to be

Aggressive: $750,000 - I'd have to live very frugally, or get some kind of part time job, so it wouldn't really be retirment I guess.

Right now, I'm 31 and spend about 20K pre tax per year....no kids yet.

 

[accountingsucks]

Oops...I really had wanted to post this in Young Dreamers instead.....

 

[pj86]

I have no exact target in mind, but I want to be able to retire, spend reasonably yet comfortably and still see a nice increase (in real terms) in what I can spend each year.

Translated: I won't go by the 4% withdrawal rate. 2% at most.

 

[SecondCor521]

I'll pull the plug when my last 6 months of Quicken spending is 2% of my FIRE stash (i.e., the 4% rule). Currently that means a tad over $2M at age 53 and a third or so.

However, I expect it to be before then because I am optimistic that my kids will get less expensive for a while (currently I am paying child care costs for three kids), and I don't factor any future raises or gifts or inheritances, all of which are likely between now and then. Also, I could retire to a minimum wage job with about $1.66M at age 52.

2Cor521

 

[Sam]

Also, I could retire to a minimum wage job with about $1.66M at age 52.

Huh? How did you come up with that? The highest minimum wage is $8/hr or about 16K/year. 16 x 25 = 400 which is only 1/4 of 1.66M.

 

[73ss454]

Which would put him at 2M.

 

[W2R]

Huh? How did you come up with that? The highest minimum wage is $8/hr or about 16K/year. 16 x 25 = 400 which is only 1/4 of 1.66M.

No - I think that works. S/he said $2M or else $1.66M + job, which is $1.66M + 0.4M, right?

Edited to add: See, SecondCor? Your posts are the subject of our rapt attention, even this late on a Saturday night. And here you probably wondered if anybody was reading them. (grin)

 

[Sam]

OK, I got it. Thanks.

I thought he said he could retire with an annual expense equivalent to the annual income of a minimum wage worker. A little slow today...

 

[Webzter]

500k aggressive semi-RE (side job pays 40k a year)
1.5mm planned (40k living expenses)
3mm probable (afraid to pull the plug)

 

[73ss454]

No - I think that works. S/he said $2M or else $1.66M + job, which is $1.66M + 0.4M, right?

Edited to add: See, SecondCor? Your posts are the subject of our rapt attention, even this late on a Saturday night. And here you probably wondered if anybody was reading them. (grin)

Sam, Want2retire said it better, still comes out to about 2m

 

[kumquat]

Most of us under 35 will have no company pension plans, reduced SS (OAS, CPP in my case from Canada) so we will have to do it on our own. Given that, what is your magic number that would let you pull the plug? Please show in future dollars?

For me

Conservative:$2Mil

Probable: $1.3Mil - this would generate about $50K pretax income which is where I think I need to be

Aggressive: $750,000 - I'd have to live very frugally, or get some kind of part time job, so it wouldn't really be retirment I guess.

Right now, I'm 31 and spend about 20K pre tax per year....no kids yet.

Are your numbers in absolute dollars or adjusted for 20 years of inflation assuming you want to go at 51? Even 2% inflation does a lot of damage in 20 years.

 

[citrine]

Semi retire at $500K.
Fully retire at 1 Million.
Will have income from painting and teaching Yoga.

 

[bubba]

Planning on $1.5 mil

 

[SecondCor521]

No - I think that works. S/he said $2M or else $1.66M + job, which is $1.66M + 0.4M, right?

Edited to add: See, SecondCor? Your posts are the subject of our rapt attention, even this late on a Saturday night. And here you probably wondered if anybody was reading them. (grin)

Wow! And here I thought I was blathering off into the ether...

You and 73ss454 got it basically correct. I only assume $5.15 per hour, which I think is the current federal minimum wage. That translates into $892.67 per month, which via the 4% rule is equivalent to $267,800 of FIRE stash. Add that to the $1.66M FIREstash I expect to have gets me to $1.934M.

The difference between the $1.934M needed at age 52 vs the "tad over $2M" needed at age 53 and a third is due to me projecting a 3% inflation rate in my expenses.

2Cor521

 

[wildcat]

Semi retire at $500K.
Fully retire at 1 Million.
Will have income from painting and teaching Yoga.

Sounds good citrine. Funny thing for me is the number seems to keep coming down. Things can change -- married, family, kids, etc. -- but at this point, there is no way I am going to hang on @ mega corp for 25 years. Mega corp is for the birds.

I would rather go with a 2nd career with flex hours and make less $$. The other thread about people working well into their late age despite having the assets is fine with me so long as I enjoy what I am doing. Not the case right now

 

[accountingsucks]

Are your numbers in absolute dollars or adjusted for 20 years of inflation assuming you want to go at 51? Even 2% inflation does a lot of damage in 20 years.

That is what I will need in about 15 years, so yes inflation adjusted. I live pretty frugally now at about 1350 per month (house paid off, no debt of any kind). I figured out my expenses now - including tax - and used 3% inflation to determine my yearly expneses at retirement and then added 15% to that number to be conservative. That yearly number also includes provisions for car replacement and home maintenance of about $5000 per year total as those can be either nothing or big bucks.

 

[justin]

I'm aiming for around $1.4 million in today's dollars. I've got a fair chance of reaching that goal by 35.

 

[Lusitan]

Married, one kid, probably another one or two kids in the future. LBYM is almost second-nature to us at this point.

Minimum: 750K (every day living expenses, comfortable lifestyle for us)
Ideal: 1M (extra cushion would likely be used for travel)

But I doubt I will stick around at my current job until I reach my ultimate number.

What seems to be the most likely plan is that as I approach my minimum (hopefully at around age 40) I will scale back to a lower paying job with much less stress (and probably live somewhere else for a new experience and lower cost of living).

I might not fully FIRE as early as I otherwise would, but I'll have much more flexibility and time to enjoy life while I'm relatively young.

When it comes to stopping work altogether, health insurance will be the big question for us. My wife is an EU citizen and we are seriously contemplating picking up and moving to the EU, working and paying into their system for a few years while we're still working, and obtaining the benefits of national healthcare (with the understanding that the quality likely won't be what we're used to here in the US). That way, stopping work at some point (or trying my hand at my own small business) will be a more realistic option.

Either that, or I'll see if I can find a very low-stress, low-pay job here in the States that will provide healthcare benefits; or whether I can swing private health insurance. We'll see.

 

[bow-tie]

I'm aiming for around $1.4 million in today's dollars. I've got a fair chance of reaching that goal by 35.

If I can be nosy, where are you at right now for $, and how much are you saving per year. That kicks ass!

And I agree with Wildcat, mega corp is for the freakin' birds. I don't know our exact target, but I'm hoping to hit 1-1.2M by 40. Expenses are difficult to predict 9+ years from now. I may give up and leave corporate a few years before 40 and semi-retire. Regardless, I can't wait to get there.

 

[justin]

If I can be nosy, where are you at right now for $, and how much are you saving per year. That kicks ass!

Age 27. Portfolio just broke $300,000. Plus I've got another $30-40k in a pension-like plan that will be fully vested in a couple years. Saving $60,000+ per year. The savings rate is likely to increase significantly in the next few years and at a rate about twice that of inflation (in nominal terms) thereafter.

I should hit my target in 8-9 years assuming 8-9% market returns.

I also plan to save a little extra for those big one-time expenses I'll have since kids won't be out of the house at FIRE-time.

 

[wildcat]

Age 27. Portfolio just broke $300,000. Plus I've got another $30-40k in a pension-like plan that will be fully vested in a couple years. Saving $60,000+ per year. The savings rate is likely to increase significantly in the next few years and at a rate about twice that of inflation (in nominal terms) thereafter.

I should hit my target in 8-9 years assuming 8-9% market returns.

I also plan to save a little extra for those big one-time expenses I'll have since kids won't be out of the house at FIRE-time.

You are saving quite a bit but did you have a little help along the way from parents?

 

[justin]

You are saving quite a bit but did you have a little help along the way from parents?

Sure did! They paid a couple grand the first year of my college. And they put some money into an investment account to be used for college back when I was 10 or 12. It's worth $7000 now. They also paid $1800 for me and DW's honeymoon in lieu of paying anything towards our wedding. They give me $25 on my birthday and $50 for Christmas each year.

Just about everything I have I earned the old fashioned way (well, plus fairly average investment results).

 

[Dawg52]

Age 27. Portfolio just broke $300,000. Plus I've got another $30-40k in a pension-like plan that will be fully vested in a couple years. Saving $60,000+ per year. The savings rate is likely to increase significantly in the next few years and at a rate about twice that of inflation (in nominal terms) thereafter.

I should hit my target in 8-9 years assuming 8-9% market returns.

I also plan to save a little extra for those big one-time expenses I'll have since kids won't be out of the house at FIRE-time.

Congratulations! That is outstanding. I had about a 10th of that at age 27.

 

[73ss454]

I think it's great at 27, hell when I was 27 I didn't even know you were supposed to save for retirement.

 

[Keim]

1.5 Mill for me. But retirement doesn't necessarily mean not working. It could mean working a low stress job, with my choice of hours.