Officially Un-ER'd This Morning

[OldAgePensioner]

MJ,
Keep the faith, I tried to send you $200K yesterday and it bounced. At age 85, I may be dumber than today, I feel doubtful but my friends are pretty certain of it.

 

[MJ]

MJ,
Keep the faith, I tried to send you $200K yesterday and it bounced. At age 85, I may be dumber than today, I feel doubtful but my friends are pretty certain of it.

OAP, thanks for trying. I guess it's the thought that counted. I think
I'll remember that when I stand on my next ER bread line.
Love that old and moldy bread. Goes down great with fresh water.

 

[dougdo]

I apologize in advance...at this point I just have to repeat myself once in a
while.  I only cracked 500K once in my life and my ex took half of that.
I IMMEDIATELY retired completely (1998).  No problem.  Just want to be sure
the "newbies" know it can be done.

JG

I second this! As part of dropping the rat race job, if you consider dropping the rat race lifestyle too (cars, staying in expensive lifeless hotels on vacation, etc) then 500k is enough.

 

[tozz]

I would love to hear more how someone could actually punch out with 500K! A good friend of mine is probably peeking just over 500K in net worth, but sees no end in sight as far as retirement. He works in social services so is not able to put much away in savings, but lucked out with the real estate market. It seems almost doable if you re-locate to an extremely low cost of living area, however is it sustainable in the long run?

 

[SteveR]

Looks like $500K is on the low side around here. The poll below, indicates that this is a pretty well off group. 78% of folks here have a net worth of that or higher. 12% have a huge stash of $3,000,000 and more. No wonder they can be FI and retire early.


0 - 25,000 0 (0%)
25,000 - 50,000 1 (1.1%)
50,000 - 100,000 1 (1.1%)
100,000 - 200,000 2 (2.2%)
200,000 - 500,000 15 (16.7%)
500,000 - 1,000,000 27 (30%)
1,000,000 - 3,000,000 33 (36.7%)
3,000,000 - 5,000,000 10 (11.1%)
5,000,000 + 1 (1.1%)

Total Votes: 90


Now the question is how many here have really been honest in their responses.

 

[oisif]

So ...what is your new goal? How much extra are you trying to bank too make sure you are getting pampered? Are you alone or with a significant other? If so how does she participate?

Can t wait to see your change in attitude after 3 months in the contract...lol

Anyway best of luck...!

Dan

 

[dougdo]

I would love to hear more how someone could actually punch out with 500K!  A good friend of mine is probably peeking just over 500K in net worth, but sees no end in sight as far as retirement.  He works in social services so is not able to put much away in savings, but lucked out with the real estate market.  It seems almost doable if you re-locate to an extremely low cost of living area, however is it sustainable in the long run?

You know as I think about it, I'd have to revisit that a little myself. I'd say 500k in savings could be enough if in addition to a non-consumer lifestyle you had housing and medical insurance covered. I bought my apartment for cash and I live in Canada so the 2nd part is easy so yeah, I think I can do it on 500. But then that's one of the reasons I moved back to Vancouver from Seattle. I didn't think I could do it in the USA.

 

[unclemick]

350k - 1993 $, no medical then or now, interest rates were higher, history was kind - AND I was layed off (i.e. did not volunteer). Him and her - no children, paid up fishcamp in the Louisiana swamp - 35 minutes drive to the French Quarter.

I would not recommend a number for someone else today.

But I keep seeing the 24k number give or take among the ex pat postings.

My personal best was 12k in 'old $' back in the early 90's. Was below 18 - 20k many a year.

Today - with lower interest and future expected returns??

I have no idea what the number would be for a single or couple.

 

[bosco]

You know as I think about it, I'd have to revisit that a little myself. I'd say 500k in savings could be enough if in addition to a non-consumer lifestyle you had housing and medical insurance covered. I bought my apartment for cash and I live in Canada so the 2nd part is easy so yeah, I think I can do it on 500. But then that's one of the reasons I moved back to Vancouver from Seattle. I didn't think I could do it in the USA.

Avoid cars, and live in Canada (cars are bloody expensive in Canada!) and you have a shot at it. This is why I am retiring in Canada. Although Vancouver....expensive!! The Kootenays...much cheaper, and the skiing is awesome (yes, beats Whistler all to hell, believe it or not). The only drawback that I have found is where I am (Golden, BC), you are 3 hours from a major airport. Which makes the "avoiding cars" part difficult. Hmmm. But you can breathe the air.

Now if I could just figure out how to manage the currency exchange and dual-taxation issues...

Bosco

 

[bosco]

oh yes, 1 more thing.

If you want to retire in Canada, then learn to make your own beer and wine, or avoid drinking altogether. Costs you plenty to imbibe. Fits in with the avoiding cars thing though....brew at home, and forget driving to the beer parlour or liquor store.

Bosco

 

[dougdo]

Now if I could just figure out how to manage the currency exchange and dual-taxation issues...

Bosco

Well I can offer a helpful suggestion on the currency exchange part. I use a service called XETrade when I want to move $ between the US and Canada. It's a bit of a process to set up an account but once it is done you can do fee free EFTs (electronic funds transfers) between a US and Canadian bank at much better exchange rates than the banks would give you. You can use it for other countries as well but then you'll be doing wire transfers (or checks) and that will add time and/or fees to the process.

 

[bosco]

dougho,

thanks for the XETrade link. Looks interesting--I'll give it a try. I've used bank to bank wire transfers, since personal checks take a whopping 5 weeks to clear (according to Royal Bank of Canada, this is by Canadian statute).

Bosco