Did Anyone Retire with "Only" .75M$ Saved?

[Mdlerth]

Those ponies aren't gonna buy themselves, you know

750k wouldn't cut it for us. Our oldest DD is entering her third trimester of incubating our immortality. Spoiling grandchildren can be expensive, especially if it includes gifts that generate lots of noise and mess... in DD's house, not ours. (This is how parents get even with their adult kids!)

 

[gwraigty]

OK. You have a net worth of close to $1 million. No, you can't invest the house but you don't have to pay a mortgage or rent. It is part of your net worth.

I agree about the house, technically. For purposes of determining whether one can afford to retire, I wouldn't include it, unless it can produce an income or easily be liquidated to put food on the table.

 

[militaryman]

My mom retired on $1500 / mo social security and $30k in the bank. And she seems very happy.

Same situation here --- My Mom gets $1411/mo SS/pension combined (net after Healthcare and dental care premiums) and has about $20K for emergencies -- She has Federal Employee Survivor healthcare combined with Medicare so very few outta pocket healthcare expenses. Owns her own place in a 55+ community.

It is tight but has been for decades. My Dad retired from Fed Gov. when he was about 52 on disability and made it to 77 and all they had together was his $1500 pension and $400 in SS combined -- When he passed she got half his pension but her SS went up.

She leads a simple life, gets reduced electricity though a county program, and reduced Property Taxes and makes things work ---

 

[Helena]

OP, here is an article in the Atlanta paper by Wes Moss. He is a local fee only financial planner. In the article he suggests that $500k is a ballpark lower end retirement number.

"According to my research, with just a half-a-million-dollar nest egg, you can live a happy and financially secure retirement. While everyone’s financial retirement income needs vary, this number can work for retirees who carry little debt and who don’t live an extravagant lifestyle. "

Thank God, that's how I early retired. First I made sure I devoted my career to a company with good benefits [401k, pension, heath insurance.] Second, I made sure I was totally debt-free [both house and new car paid off] before I retired. Since I had always preferred living a modest but comfortable lifestyle and I already lived in a lower cost of living part of the country [Dallas, Texas], I didn't have to sacrifice my preferred lifestyle.

.

 

[travelbug_ali]

wow, I was looking through here because I was curious about the thread title, and people are saying you can't retire with $750,000 saved up

how in the world do you even save that much up anyway? that is a crazy amount of money to me! I'd feel like rihanna!

 

[Helena]

wow, I was looking through here because I was curious about the thread title, and people are saying you can't retire with $750,000 saved up

how in the world do you even save that much up anyway? that is a crazy amount of money to me! I'd feel like rihanna!

The whole time I was saving enough money to retire early... I was a single working mother with a disabled child. Thank God, if I can do it anyone can if they have the right attitude, lifestyle and priorities.

.

 

[CountryBoy]

Er... I don't even know if I AM retired. I left my job with Megacorp in January 2015 (major stress), I had 455K total in taxable & 401K investments, and around 25K in savings.


I only spent between 22-24K annually (single, apt in the city) but I still didn't think I had enough to retire on. Thought I could at least take 2-3 months off...


But here I am, 4 1/2 years later & still not working. Have around 6K in checking, and 620K in my investment portfolio. (Been invested in same Total Stock Market & Small-Cap Funds for years.) I don't feel like I'm depriving myself at all, I have great health insurance (thanks ACA) for under $500 a year.


I'm 58, and hoping to not take SS too early!

 

[gwraigty]

I hope this thread was a joke. I would say 90% of people in the united states retire on much less than $750k. People that post/contribute to financial forums are not the norm. We are a small group who are #woke when it comes to finances.

I wouldn't presume the OP is joking. What you say is true, but look at all the alarmist headlines that suggest that unless you've got 7 figures, you'll be working until you drop dead on the job.

 

[kgtest]

Wouldn't work for us. Family of 4 (today) possibly 5 in future. With projected College costs at 500k, and medical around 250-300 that would leave me with a gap.

1mil would make me feel better. 1.5mil and I wouldn't even hesitate and that is really 1 of 2 magic numbers. Retire at 50, with 1.5mil and no debts while healthy #s come back from the Dr. for both me and DW.

Although by that time, who knows what life could throw at us?

 

[Dtail]

Wouldn't work for us. Family of 4 (today) possibly 5 in future. With projected College costs at 500k, and medical around 250-300 that would leave me with a gap.

1mil would make me feel better. 1.5mil and I wouldn't even hesitate and that is really 1 of 2 magic numbers. Retire at 50, with 1.5mil and no debts while healthy #s come back from the Dr. for both me and DW.

Although by that time, who knows what life could throw at us?

Little different scenario than your sig line.

 

[kgtest]

My mom retired on $1500 / mo social security and $30k in the bank. And she seems very happy.

Good point.

My grandma lives on less as I understand and many probably do. Sure her son (my dad) bought her a car to use during her retirement once her commuter car broke, and she lives in an apartment that doesn't exactly have top notch amenities but its newer and clean and she likes the social life there.

She enjoys seeing her kids more though, I can tell. All she cares about is seeing her kids, she could literally care less how much $$ she has but she has always kinda lived simple from what I understand. She is pushing 88 this July.

 

[scrabbler1]

I retired in late 2008 at age 45 with $600k in taxable, $240k in a rollover IRA I can't really touch until age ~59.5, which is now just over 3 years from now. I also have a frozen company pension and SS awaiting me in my 60s, so the important thing is to make it there intact using only my taxable funds which have grown to $900k despite using almost $30k per year of its dividend income.

 

[aaronc879]

I retired in late 2008 at age 45 with $600k in taxable, $240k in a rollover IRA I can't really touch until age ~59.5, which is now just over 3 years from now. I also have a frozen company pension and SS awaiting me in my 60s, so the important thing is to make it there intact using only my taxable funds which have grown to $900k despite using almost $30k per year of its dividend income.

Seems like you could increase your spending quite a bit if you wanted. You live near NY City right? I'm sure you could increase your spending in a way that would improve your quality of life by moving to a nicer neighborhood. Otherwise you may end up dying a millionaire which is something I would hate. Maybe you are ok with it but I would be pissed that I left so much on the table.

 

[Breedlove]

Remember what your father told you " Its not about how much you make , its about how much you spend "
You are better shape then lots and not as much as others ….enjoy your life !

 

[scrabbler1]

Seems like you could increase your spending quite a bit if you wanted. You live near NY City right? I'm sure you could increase your spending in a way that would improve your quality of life by moving to a nicer neighborhood. Otherwise you may end up dying a millionaire which is something I would hate. Maybe you are ok with it but I would be pissed that I left so much on the table.

I live in western Nassau County, in a good neighborhood just east of NYC here on LI. Moving is not really an option because my ladyfriend lives nearby and she hasn't owned a car for the last 6 years (I drive her around, but she takes the bus to work which is nearby). I live in a well run co-op complex and have been here for the last 30 years.

With an overall WR of about 2%, I am sure I could spend more if I had to. The way my HI premiums are rising, I'll be paying over $1,000 per month in a few years from now, making it half of my budget. So, that will push up my WR anyway.

If I leave money on the table, especially when SS and the frozen pension kick in during my 60s, then so be it.

 

[Teacher Terry]

It really makes a difference if you have either decent pension or SS. I wouldn’t retire on that level of savings only.

 

[flintnational]

wow, I was looking through here because I was curious about the thread title, and people are saying you can't retire with $750,000 saved up

how in the world do you even save that much up anyway? that is a crazy amount of money to me! I'd feel like rihanna!

Take a look at the paper I linked in the thread you started. In 15 pages it tells you how to get there during your working life. Not as daunting as it seems. At your age, time is your friend. Compounding investment returns are amazing! We save so we can invest. We invest so we can retire.

 

[travelbug_ali]

Take a look at the paper I linked in the thread you started. In 15 pages it tells you how to get there during your working life. Not as daunting as it seems. At your age, time is your friend. Compounding investment returns are amazing! We save so we can invest. We invest so we can retire.

only 15 pages you say? yes sir or ma'am, I'll treat it like a homework assignment lol

(I always kinda liked doing schoolwork anyways)

 

[Retiredmajor]

We retired with $750K in IRA's (rollovers from 401k's) in late 2017. But I did the math for a long time. We are 62 and 61 now. I'm currently receiving a Cola'd pension for life. I'm not taking SS yet and we will decide each year as to when it makes sense. When we do eventually collect SS plus my Cola'd pension it will cover all our living expenses and then some (living well) when the mortgage is gone in a few years. Until then it will cover 85% of our expenses. Right now we are drawing from IRA's and thus far our IRA's have stayed even, despite our withdrawals over the last 1.5 years. The math for us shows that I will need about 3.5% per year draw down from our IRA's on an ongoing basis until we decide to travel less (late 70's, early 80's?). Then the draw down could drop to 2% or less. We have Tricare healthcare with no premiums and of course will go on Medicare at age 65, but then Tricare becomes our no cost supplement. We live well and if necessary, there is stuff we could cut or reduce but that is not my preference. Firecalc, Flexible Retirement Planner, Personal Capital and our Financial Advisor all have us at 100% for 30 years. I'm vigilant but not worried.

 

[ls99]

Yep, a lot less.

 

[RxMan]

You can retire on 750K or less if you plan your spending and budget accordingly. It just depends on your individual situation and what you want to do in retirement.

As an aside, I think the financial industry and sometimes the media does the general public a disservice when they promote stories that say something like “You Need $X to Retire” and X is a large number (think over $1 million). I think people can see those stories, look at those large dollar amounts, and get discouraged or even worse fail to try and save for retirement because of the “I’ll never get that much money anyway” mindset.

 

[Dtail]

As long as your net WR% is 4% or below, it could be okay. The net WR% is what counts.
The next generation where there are many less pensions available and it remains to be seen what happens with SS, then it might get interesting.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

wow, I was looking through here because I was curious about the thread title, and people are saying you can't retire with $750,000 saved up

how in the world do you even save that much up anyway? that is a crazy amount of money to me! I'd feel like rihanna!

As Einstein said:

Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn't, pays it.

At 8% growth, starting with $0.00 saved, you can save $750,000.00 in 30 years by saving $2.88 per hour worked (assuming a 40 hour week).

Since you said you are 30: If you save $435.94 per month from age 30 to age 65 at 8% CGR, you will have $1,000,000 at age 65.

If you use excel,
=fv(rate,numberofperiods,$perperiod,startingamount)
will tell you the future value of a series of equal payments with a given interest/growth rate.

That is why in the other thread I suggested you analyse your spending in detail (make a log of everything you buy) and to force the savings FIRST before other spending.

I plugged in 8% above because the SP 500 has averaged a return over the last 35 years of 9.423 % (with dividends reinvested, as would be if you were doing this in a ROTH).

Using 9.423 % instead of 8%:
At 9.423% growth, starting with $0.00 saved, you can save $750,000.00 in 30 years by saving $2.14 per hour worked (assuming a 40 hour week).

Since you said you are 30: If you save $305.38 per month from age 30 to age 65 at 9.423% CGR, you will have $1,000,000 at age 65.

Even better, if you do $1000 per month from age 30 to age 60 at 9.423% you will have $2,000,303.64 at age 60.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

only 15 pages you say? yes sir or ma'am, I'll treat it like a homework assignment lol

(I always kinda liked doing schoolwork anyways)

Here's how important it is: My net worth plus the money that I've given away to others (child account, ex, charity) is close to or even greater than ALL OF THE MONEY I'VE EVER EARNED. I'm not talking net after taxes, I am talking gross pay! That is the power of saving/investing and compounding.

 

[gstillson]

If you can earn 25% per year for 15 years you can save $750,000 just by starting with $25,000 and no further contributions. Now that is something!