33%? That's my story.

[unclemick]

Hindsight. Having ER'd back in 1993 age 49 - now 60 and joining this board july 2003 after reading many postings I'm impressed how much tracked our (me,her, sandwich gen. mom) experiences. Combined income peaked close to dory36's example and the 33% in ER was right on target. The 50$ per day (no morgage, no car payment) and 100$ per day on trips (excluding airline tickets) in other postings were in the ballpark.We actually continued to save some money in the early years but time passes and we've become more 'extravagent'. with ten years experience.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Well, uncleMick, your story could be my story. Even our ages are the same. Kind of amazing actually. I couldn't
have covered it with the same degree of brevity however.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Dory, the reason's that most "financial advisor" types are working for the investment industry, where the more money they manage for you, the more they make in fees and commissions. They have vested interest in seeing you die with a $2 million unspent portfolio. Don't believe me? Read the bios of all the financial advisers who write articles with titles such as "Is $1.5 Million Enough to Retire On?" or any other such scare-mongering articles.

Of course, such articles never even hint at the hundreds of cheap places that you can move to and literally become the king of your own little fiefdom.

 

[John Galt]

Re. people telling us that we will need
this amount or that amount to retire, I've never come close to what most of these "authors/experts" say
would be the minimum and I've been retired 11 years now.
No dumpster diving or eating cat food either

John Galt

 

[renferme]

While I agree that with oRe: 33%? That's my story.

I like the comments about not having to adjust downward because of never having adjusted upward.
In my case, when I remarried in 2002, we bought a house. Based on our combined incomes, we could have 'afforded' a near mansion. But for someone in his mid 50's that would have been foolhardy, especially since I had ER in mind. Don't want to be 85 years old when the mortgage finally gets paid off. So, although we bought a new house, it was an modest one (compared to our neighbors) and put down as much as we could at the time. Now, we add $$ to each monthly payment and hope to pay it off in about 3 more years.
Then we can be debt free, which is a John Galt "no brainer ".

 

[uncleharley]

I'm new here and just finished reading this thread. Since I am not retired yet, I find much of the thread very encouraging. One item that hasn't been mentioned is that it is probably easier to retire on 33% of 100k than 33% of 50k. I suppose everyone has to do their own budget & try it before they really know what they can live on.
Most of you have also mentioned having no debt. I currently have a mortgage at 4.75% interest. The house is in an area that is appreciating in value and I have felt that I should be in no hurry to pay it off. Does anyone have any thoughts on that subject.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I think we've posted enough on paying off the mortgage, do a search.

Regarding 33% of 100k is right on. I have a base no frills budget of about 10k for necessary utilities and basic food. 16-18k gives me a good quality of life. 24k gives me a solid middle class existence with some toys and frills. 30k gives me all that plus appliance/car/etc replacements as needed.

Some threads list some details on budget items...those "others" and invisible things add up.

 

[gayl]

The 50$ per day (no morgage, no car payment) and 100$ per day on trips (excluding airline tickets) in other postings were in the ballpark.

I find that I am needing 100% of previous take home pay -- always had 1k withheld for savings and recently (last 3 yrs) had 2k withheld to convert to a higher pension payout so I was only living on 40% of my salary. And I still want to replace my carpeting and linoleum.

However trips are definitely eating into the amt that I manage to save each month (down to 15% of income). Perhaps this $50 / $100 a day trick will help out

 

[Suzanne Stack]

"Retire on Less Than You Think" by Fred Brock, the "Seniority" columnist for the New York Times is a great read on this subject. The 70-80% is definitely something being pushed by Wall Street, those of us who recycle dryer sheets will do much better ; - )