What was your retirement savings at 50, 55, 60
- Thread starter cyber888
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Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Welcome to the forum. A little more information about yourself and your situation perhaps, as an introduction?
Amethyst
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Wouldn't it be more meaningful to know how much people saved as a function of how much they need? So if I saved $2Million by age 50 [which I didn't, by the way], that's obviously "better" than $1Million, but what if the $1Millionaire has all he/she needs to live on, while the $2Millionaire's spending needs are much greater?
Just a thought.
Amethyst
Just a thought.
Amethyst
GoodWishes
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Someone with an annual expense of $50k has very different savings need than someone with annual expense of $100k. $1 million retirement saving is 20 times for $50k annual expense but only 10 times for $100k annual expense. There are many variables for retirement and savings is one of them.
I just want to know how people have saved at 50, 55, 60. This is not a theoretical question, and has nothing to do with people's expenses. It's a simple question - how much did you have at 50, 55, 60 ... I have no interest knowing your expenses at all. The fact that you have savings at 50, 55, and 60 means you are spending less than you are earning - that's self-explanatory. That's why expenses are of no interest to me.
Do you want the exact amounts or will rounded numbers suffice?
Bestwifeever
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All we could. 100 percent of that.
(ETA: I really don't know the amount at age 50, 55, etc., but it was less than seven figures).
(ETA: I really don't know the amount at age 50, 55, etc., but it was less than seven figures).
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It's a good question but a little friendly intro goes a long way,around here. I don't post much but I am a longtime member. My guess would be that by 50, the average poster here would have saved $1MM. Like I said, purely a guess but I think a good one.
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
But how can knowing a simple figure like that help you at all? If I told you that at the age of 50 (I'm not quite 50 yet, but for the purposes of this argument, let's assume I am already 50) I had saved 1M, that wouldn't represent as much of an achievement if my salary was 500K/yr as it would if it were 50K/yr.
Seeing that you don't want to know how much we have saved in relation to our income, you might as well simply ask whether we have any savings at all at these respective ages. PS - if you take the time to do a lot of reading here, you can find the answer to most, if not all, of these types of questions, and you'll learn an awful lot more in the process.
Forgive me if I seem a bit argumentative, but you are a brand new poster who gives no information about yourself, other than the fact that you want to retire early, and you want us to tell you how much money we had saved up at various ages.
Would it help at all if I told you that as a very rough guide, for an expected 30-year retirement, if you have somewhere in the region of 25 - 30 times your expected annual expenditure saved up, you should be good to go, depending on your investment strategy? If Social Security will be in the picture for you, you should be able to get by with less.
I just don't see how telling you a simple figure with no mention of current income or expected expenses can possibly be of any help to you.
Once again, welcome to the forum. Feel free to do lots of reading - there's plenty of good stuff here!
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The poster could be trolling or just want to measure how he or she is doing versus the rest of us but did not provide any context. The poster does come accross as just plain nosy.
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Yes, $1M is a nice round figure that works well for all sorts of purposes, as in -
"I wish I had a million dollars"
"I need a million dollars to retire"
"If only I had another million dollars"
"A million dollars isn't what it used to be"
Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holme, 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire - YouTube
PS - It's completely OK if you're an investing or retirement planning newbie cyber888, but if you can give a bit more information, there are plenty here who will be willing to spend quite a bit of time helping out. We'd just like to see a bit of effort on your part first (at least, that's my take.)
Isn't this a forum where people ask questions? I am new here and you are telling me I'm nosy? Of course there is a purpose to such question. People ask these question to benchmark themselves if they have saved enough.
And YES - how much you save at 50, 55, 60 is big retirement issue at large. So I disagree with you on all counts. If you don't have anything useful to say to a new user, then please don't.
And YES - how much you save at 50, 55, 60 is big retirement issue at large. So I disagree with you on all counts. If you don't have anything useful to say to a new user, then please don't.
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I vote for the latter. If you've got X amount of dollars it can be interesting to know where you stand in relation to others, even if it's not of much use at all in telling you whether it will be of any help in your particular situation.
I am not trolling, but asking a question that a lot of people ask about how much people have saved at 50 or 55 or 60. Again, isn't this a forum for asking questions? I am new here and this seems like a hostile environment. If I were a veteran here, I would tell a newbie that 'being nosy' is a good thing, and encouraging newbies to ask more questions.
Ok, this would be useful to know. Can someone do a poll in this thread? I don't know how to do that.
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
What most here would want you to do (I'm pretty sure) is to benchmark yourself against your own wants and needs as opposed to those belonging to the people around you. That's why I mentioned the rule of thumb that having 25-30 times your expected income in retirement is a good target to aim for, unless you will have extra sources of income such as a pension/SS etc. in which case you may need less.
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Thanks Major Tom. Thanks for welcoming me as a newbie here. I just wanted to see where I am in terms of retirement savings. I thought that was pretty obvious, since I'm putting it in the 'Young Dreamers' section.
Context: I live in NC, so I don't need much. I can survive on $30K-$35K a year. My networth is about $600K+ with about $140K tied to the house, and I'm still in my 40s, so that's why I'm trying to find out what people have saved at 50, 55, 65.
Context: I live in NC, so I don't need much. I can survive on $30K-$35K a year. My networth is about $600K+ with about $140K tied to the house, and I'm still in my 40s, so that's why I'm trying to find out what people have saved at 50, 55, 65.
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
How much you have saved is indeed a big issue but it means virtually nothing unless it is evaluated in the context of how much income you will need to withdraw in retirement. I'd be over the moon to have 2 million, but I think that Donald Trump would be a lot less happy
Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Sorry if I came across as overly combative. The advice that newcomers often receive here is that Firecalc is a very useful tool for estimating how much income you can withdraw from a portfolio.
If, when you retire, you have a portfolio of ~$1M, that should be able to support annual withdrawals of 30 - 35K for a 30 year retirement. If you're conservative in your outlook, then you'd need more. Some around here use withdrawal rates as low as 1.5 - 2% in order to help them sleep at night, while others are comfortable with higher rates. Firecalc also has a section in which you can add other sources of income, such as SS.
Have a fiddle around with it - many people have found it to be a handy tool.
NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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The movie this scene is taken from, High Society, was made in 1956. A $1MM then would be worth about $9MM now.
Even so, I do not think a barely decamillionaire today can afford a butler like the one who appeared at the end of the scene. Well, not for long anyway.
We are talking high-end decamillionaire, if not centimillionaire!
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Thanks. I understand that.
But here's my perspective. People who earn $1M and spend $2M would have 0 savings and have a negative net worth. So, most likely, savers who have $1 million at 50 are pretty frugal with their spending. My wife and I are frugal.
The fact that if you have saved say $2 million for retirement means that that you know how to control spending, create a budget plan, and not an emotional spender, as you plow your hard earned savings into your retirement.
I doubt that a person who have been a saver all their life, will suddenly spend their $2 million savings in 30 days. I'm sure they will try to make it last for 25 - 30 years. My point is that once you are a saver and spend way less than your positive cashflow, that habit stays with you.
But here's my perspective. People who earn $1M and spend $2M would have 0 savings and have a negative net worth. So, most likely, savers who have $1 million at 50 are pretty frugal with their spending. My wife and I are frugal.
The fact that if you have saved say $2 million for retirement means that that you know how to control spending, create a budget plan, and not an emotional spender, as you plow your hard earned savings into your retirement.
I doubt that a person who have been a saver all their life, will suddenly spend their $2 million savings in 30 days. I'm sure they will try to make it last for 25 - 30 years. My point is that once you are a saver and spend way less than your positive cashflow, that habit stays with you.
How much you have saved is indeed a big issue but it means virtually nothing unless it is evaluated in the context of how much income you will need to withdraw in retirement. I'd be over the moon to have 2 million, but I think that Donald Trump would be a lot less happy
Larro Darro
Recycles dryer sheets
This is how first posts go: Hi everyone, I've been reading these threads for years, but decided to come in from the cold. I'm ?? years old and my DW/H is ??. My Megacorp 401k has $??, and my DW/H is $??. We both max it out every month to get the match from said Megacorp. Our taxable accounts have $?? in them, and the tax deferred accounts have $??. We have $?? in cash as an emergency fund. Our income is $?? and we save ??% of that. We will be drawing $?? of SS in ?? years, and $?? pension in $?? years. Our expenses are $?? per month. We are hoping to FIRE at age ?? with a SWR of ??. I want to thank you guys in advance for all the good advice I will get here.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you,.
See, that wasn't so hard.
The amount you spend to live on is the MOST important number you will ever figure. You can not control what you make, but you can control what you spend. The DW and I had about $200K two years ago when I was 50. She is 60 now, and we have around $250-275K. That sounds small compared to most here, until I tell you we live on $30K a year with both of us working. That number will go down when she retires in three years. While at the same time her SS and pension will kick in. We will be almost FI by then, with savings of around $400K.
Raw numbers are just that.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you,
.See, that wasn't so hard.
The amount you spend to live on is the MOST important number you will ever figure. You can not control what you make, but you can control what you spend. The DW and I had about $200K two years ago when I was 50. She is 60 now, and we have around $250-275K. That sounds small compared to most here, until I tell you we live on $30K a year with both of us working. That number will go down when she retires in three years. While at the same time her SS and pension will kick in. We will be almost FI by then, with savings of around $400K.
Raw numbers are just that.
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RockyMtn
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
at 50 I had a bunch of money saved
at 55 I had a bunch more saved
at 60 I will have bunches more saved
at 55 I had a bunch more saved
at 60 I will have bunches more saved
