High Retirement Income Poll

[NW-Bound]

I have no doubt some posters do have an income of greater than $30K/month. However, 21% of the responses at that level as of this writing seems a very high percentage.

It could be because many posters with a lower income did not bother to answer. It is also highly likely that some thought they were selecting "more than $30K/year".

People make mistakes like that all the time. It is better to spell out in each choice, such as "<$10K/month", "$10K/month to $12.5K/month", etc...

PS. In the past, I have seen posters often replying to another post without fully reading it. I am guilty of that a few times too, but I usually recheck and make amendments wherever possible.

 

[Amethyst]

$360K per year in retirement income does sound rather...enviable.

Based on over 12 answering 30k+/month, I suspect the poll is screwed. Are we really among the ultra-rich? Did Danmar really think $30k/mo was too low? OK Maybe he did!

Why can't people decide what is rational before answering?

 

[2017ish]

$360K per year in retirement income does sound rather...enviable.

True, but at what cost in years worked? (Not the case for Danmar if he is in this category, but we would have had to work beyond our 50s to hit that much; time > money at some point....)

 

[LOL!]

Maybe this idea of "income" is screwed up. I expect my net worth to go up by an average of at least $1,000 a day simply from dividends and gains in the portfolio. I don't have to spend all of that every year just because I am retired.

 

[NW-Bound]

My stash goes up by several $K each day, and quite often by 5 figures.

The problem is it goes down by that much almost as often.

Some people collect $1K or more in dividend each day (on the average). That kind of income is a lot more certain.

 

[Dog]

I probably didn't answer correctly as I answered the poll based on retirement income today. That does not include SS or 401ks. We are living off of DH's modest retirement and a 72t from my IRA.

 

[ejman]

Let's see, $360,000 a year in income means about a $9,000,000 retirement nut at the "standard" 4% WR. This blog How Many People Have More Than $3,000,000 in Wealth?

Indicates the following numbers: 893,344 households with $3,000,000 to $5,000,000
679,242 households with $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 and, 249,159 households with $10,000,000+. So 12 responses at that level for this highly skewed poll doesn't sound so far fetched...

 

[Danmar]

Are you asking if $30K/month is still too low for me? I wish.

If my income were that high I would be flying business-class if not first-class on international flights, instead of envying those that do.

No, the scale of this poll reinforces my belief that I belong in coach.

Good point, I meant the poll still seems low as a fairly large percentage of respondents are over the maximum category. Obviously, it is a lot of money and people who have income of this amount in retirement are very lucky.

Does seem a little surprising though, as mostly such people apparently have generally been pretty good at remaining anonymous here, preferring not to stir up the pot. Mostly.

 

[Luck_Club]

$360K per year in retirement income does sound rather...enviable.

+1
When I started this poll, I anticipated seeing the right hand side of the bell curve. I never thought the $30K + to be as high as the $10K to $12.5K range.

This is obviously not the "big hat no cattle" crowd.

I recall one person struggling with the decision to spend for first class or business class international seats. I think we have a few here flying coach in the back of the plane who could easily be taking netjets.

 

[NW-Bound]

Let's see, $360,000 a year in income means about a $9,000,000 retirement nut at the "standard" 4% WR. This blog How Many People Have More Than $3,000,000 in Wealth?

Indicates the following numbers: 893,344 households with $3,000,000 to $5,000,000
679,242 households with $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 and, 249,159 households with $10,000,000+. So 12 responses at that level for this highly skewed poll doesn't sound so far fetched...

The number of people in the world with an investable asset of $10M is high, and I do not doubt that.

But when 21%, well down to 16% now, of the respondents here are up in that decamillionaire level, you have to scratch your head. It is expected that people who retire early, or aspire to, have a better than average earning history, or exercise LBYM philosophy to accumulate more wealth than the average Joe and Jane. But that much better than the populace?

So many decamillionaires here? Why are they flocking here? I doubt that they look for stock tips, or for advice on how to save by shopping at Goodwill, or to get cash rewards from credit cards, etc... So, it must be for entertainment values, and those which money cannot even buy elsewhere.

PS. A Web site says the percentage of people in the US with a net worth of $10M is 0.5%. That's 1 in 200.

 

[ERD50]

The number of people in the world with an investable asset of $10M is high, and I do not doubt that.

But when 21%, well down to 16% now, of the respondents here are up in that decamillionaire level, you have to scratch your head. ....

Two things:

1) I got the impression that the poll was directed at the high net worth segment, an attempt to find out the breakdown among those in the upper level. So the lower levels were not being encouraged to vote, skewing the results if you try to look at them that way. From the OP (emph mine):

"The most recent income poll had the OP wondering what the 30+% with $10K plus income might look like. So here we go."​

2) It is a self-selected poll of (relatively) anonymous people! You really can't make any serious analysis of it.

Some % of the population is going to have $10M or more in investments, and they are going to be over-represented among the early retirement crowd. All things considered, I'm not surprised at all.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Some % of the population is going to have $10M or more in investments, and they are going to be over-represented among the early retirement crowd. All things considered, I'm not surprised at all...

It's 0.5% of the population, as I mentioned.

And they are even more over-represented in this forum!

As I said, I was surprised that so many surfed this forum. I would expect them to do other things decamillionaires do.

Well, apparently not. If I somehow joined their rank, I would continue to come here to BS.

 

[ejman]

The number of people in the world with an investable asset of $10M is high, and I do not doubt that.

But when 21%, well down to 16% now, of the respondents here are up in that decamillionaire level, you have to scratch your head. It is expected that people who retire early, or aspire to, have a better than average earning history, or exercise LBYM philosophy to accumulate more wealth than the average Joe and Jane. But that much better than the populace?

So many decamillionaires here? Why are they flocking here? I doubt that they look for stock tips, or for advice on how to save by shopping at Goodwill, or to get cash rewards from credit cards, etc... So, it must be for entertainment values, and those which money cannot even buy elsewhere.

PS. A Web site says the percentage of people in the US with a net worth of $10M is 0.5%. That's 1 in 200.

According to that blog, those numbers are for folks in the US - not the world. Face it NW-Bound, this is a rather (self) selected group at this site. Again, out of the thousands that visit here a mere handful at the deca millionaire level doesn't sound out of norm at all...

 

[LOL!]

And they are even more over-represented in this forum!

I see a mere 12 votes now for the $30K+ choice. That's not a lot nor statistically significant. It is also possible they are retired but they have a working spouse. Hey, income is income.

Or maybe all those early-retired bloggers like MrMoneyM voted?

 

[Car-Guy]

What would be really interesting to know is how accurate/factual these numbers are. After all, this is the Internet and the respondents are anonymous.

 

[GrayHare]

So many decamillionaires here? Why are they flocking here?

This board is lots more than just money talk. For example, it's one of the most civil boards on the interwebs. Few self-made HNWIs reach that level without knowing how to be respectful towards others.

 

[phil1ben]

I think there is a conception that most people joined this Board to obtain financial advice on how to retire early or financial advice on money management (SS, 401K, IRA etc....) after retirement.

Many people join this Board to better understand from people who have retired early how to deal with the social issues....what to do each day, how one's life changes when a career is no longer the focus, how your spouse deals with another person being home, where to travel etc......Or perhaps to simply convince themselves that it is ......OK to retire before a perceived age.

Lastly, I think the poll is skewed because more people tend to answer such polls with higher incomes. Remember the polls didn't show that Donald Trump (or Harry Truman) would win the election either.

 

[2017ish]

The number of people in the world with an investable asset of $10M is high, and I do not doubt that.

But when 21%, well down to 16% now, of the respondents here are up in that decamillionaire level, you have to scratch your head. ...

You also need to account for pensions. One of our friends will be retiring in a couple of years in his mid-50s from a household-name multinational. His COLA'd pension is projected to be over 250K. Add in Social as he is US citizen. If he were a forum participant, he would not need anything like 9 or 10 million to have 360K retirement income.

 

[Chuckanut]

This group is self selected to a point that nobody would seriously believe that it represents retired people in general or even those who retired early.

OTOH, give the current results of this poll to somebody in the blogo-sphere or in many so-called news sites and I can see the headlines now Over 70% of Retired People Making $10,000 a Month or More!!!!

 

[timemoveson]

I don't think there is any great mystery here. Based on my participation on this forum over the last while, I've seen many in the wealth category needed to currently or soon spin off $20K or more in "retirement income" per month

(howsoever comprised - dividends, spendable capital gains, bond yields, rental net income, work pensions, government pensions, etc.).

Good fortune to include me on that list

 

[NW-Bound]

This group is self selected to a point that nobody would seriously believe that it represents retired people in general or even those who retired early.

OTOH, give the current results of this poll to somebody in the blogo-sphere or in many so-called news sites and I can see the headlines now Over 70% of Retired People Making $10,000 a Month or More!!!!

Retirement income between $10K and $20K a month is not hard. More than $30K/month is.

That's my story, and I am sticking with it.

 

[Danmar]

I first found this forum when I was trying to develop a withdrawal stategy a few years after I retired. Ended up finding Firecalc, had a few questions and asked them here. I found the envireonment welcoming ( mostly) and learned a fair bit. Chafed a bit at the frugality and LBYM culture of the community but got used to it.

In my case, and I don't want to sound smug, it helps me appreciate how lucky I am. If I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't have been so honest about my financial position. It causes resentment. I suspect, others here, have figured that out and try to remain more low profile re their wealth. These polls allow more of the wealthy people here to reveal themselves anonymously. There is tremendous wealth in the US, and not surprising that there will be a fair number of wealthy people here.

Regardless, I stay around here because it is fun. I learn a bit about things (generally not financial), enjoy some of the ideas presented, try to give useful advice (although my point of view probably not that useful for most). Still resent a bit that this community generally discourages "tall poppies" but that is life.

 

[gerntz]

Monthly or annual?

Or hourly or lifetime?

 

[NW-Bound]

...Chafed a bit at the frugality and LBYM culture of the community but got used to it...

Many are frugal, because it is not a choice.

I don't think people resent wealth. It's just that when they try to work within their budget, the obvious solution of spending more money is simply not available to themselves.

 

[Danmar]

Many are frugal, because it is not a choice.

I don't think people resent wealth. It's just that when they try to work within their budget, the obvious solution of spending more money is simply not available to themselves.

Yes, I know and agree. It's just that frugality is sometimes viewed as a end in itself rather than a rational response to circumstances.