Hello, I am Running_Man

[Running_Man]

I am 50 years old and trying to determine when I can afford to retire. I am hopeful of being able to accomplish this by 58 at the latest and hope to learn enough on these boards to accomplish it.

The trickiest part is trying to determine the level of income I will need and then how best to inflation protect it, I must say I appear initially at least to be more skeptical than most on the likelihood the stock market will be able to finance such a large part of my retirement.

So a big hello to everyone and a prethanks for all the advice I am going to try and absorb/borrow...

Running_Man

[Nords]

Welcome to the board, Running_Man.

If you haven't already, start tracking your expenses. When you figure out what you're spending monthly/annually then you'll have a better idea of what level of income (withdrawal rate) you want. Then run your retirement portfolio and that spending through FIRECalc and tinker with the results.

If you think the stock market won't do it then you'll either need to find a higher return somewhere else... or a bigger pile of assets!