How important is SS to your retirement plan? New Poll!

[aggie]

OK, after months of reading this forum's posts and years of working towards FI/RE I thought I was pretty well positioned to check out of Corporate America in ~ 2 more years(wife did so 4 years ago). We are counting upon SS(26K) at age 62 to provide close to 33% of our retirement income with total pensions of ~ 22K and 4% withdrawals of our investments equaling an additional 24K. When I read the number of respondants counting on SS for < 20% of their retirement income and seeing how many folks currently making more than $120K annually I lapse into paranoia that my dream of early retirement is of the "pipe" variety. Am I overreacting

 

[RockMiner]

Aggie, most likely you are closer to the norm for retirees.  Remember that posters here don't represent a fair x-section of society.  Also, many tend to "plan for the worst".  Everyones situation and outlook is different so don't let these poll results get you down    

 

[Mr._johngalt]

OK, after months of reading this forum's posts and years of working towards FI/RE I thought I was pretty well positioned to check out of Corporate America in ~ 2 more years(wife did so 4 years ago). We are counting upon SS(26K) at age 62 to provide close to 33% of our retirement income with total pensions of ~ 22K and 4% withdrawals of  our investments equaling an additional 24K. When  I read the number of respondants counting on SS for < 20% of their retirement income and seeing how many folks currently making more than $120K annually I lapse into paranoia that my dream of early retirement is of the "pipe" variety. Am I overreacting

Yes, you are.

JG

 

[Nords]

Remember that posters here don't represent a fair x-section of society. 

You're also assuming that everyone is giving truthful answers to the polls.

And, heck, we can't even agree on consistent definitions of net worth or house size, let alone how much money we make!

 

[dunc0029]

I voted less than 20%.  I'm 27 and planning as if I'll get nothing from SS.  If the program is still around when I'm of age, it's icing on the cake.  I'm libertarian and am conceptually opposed to the program.

 

[rmark]

House size - 3 axles is big. Mine only has 2 axles.

 

[Texas Proud]

I misread the question and put down less than 20%.... this is what I use for my calculations...

But, it probably will be in the 30 to 40% range if what they tell me is true.... but I am still a couple of decades away and as others say it is just icing for me..

 

[New Thinking]

When you answer this question, you may want to ask yourself "Do I want a source of income that is taxed a lot or is minimally taxed and maybe tax-free?"

IRA withdrawals will often be taxed at a high marginal rate while Social Security can often be structured to pay little tax on...See Burns' column of this past Tuesday. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...burns_29bus.ART0.State.Edition2.1f94af86.html

I know most of you want to be independent, but don't discount SS as you've paid a lot into it..probably more into it than you have on your 401k, when you count the employer match to SS.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

So far, I am the only one at 60%+  Could move down a notch or 2
as we are right on the cusp.  Plus this is me only.  DW is not all that
far away although she doesn't like to talk about it. 

JG

Oops! I messed up. If I add in DW's SS benefits, then we are OVER the
60%. There are a couple of unknowns that might drop it, but as things stand and with our ages (61 and 56) I doubt it would ever get much below 60%.

An aside. My parents (88 and 86) have done quite well with their
SS and a small pension. Their SS as a % of income is 75%.

JG