Poll: Target monthly retirement income

[MarieIG]

Taxes are so much part of my life, it's hard to wrap my head around net of taxes.

 

[steadystate]

5-6k - but that is for a family of four. So per person it's <1500 per person.... But we all know there is economy of scale... 4 live together cheaper, than they would separately... But then again 2 of the 4 are teenage boys - so our grocery bills are horrendous.

I guess all this is to show that the data, in the form you asked it, is kind of useless.

I suspect if it were just DH and me we'd be comfortable with $4k/month... and that would allow for lots of travel.

kind of useless ... I suppose it is, but it's very hard to construct a scientifically useful poll on the forum. I still think it sheds a bit of (imperfect) light on our collective attributes. What is very interesting is the broad range of numbers. I thought they would skew higher after reading various member introduction posts. But, there may be a higher percentage of "passive aggressive" boasters ...

 

[RobbieB]

That could be true but I think not. From what I've seen here we have a pretty even distribution to the halfway tic and a big tic at the top. I've seen this profile here many times.

We do have some high end folks and that's a good thing.

 

[W2R]

I thought they would skew higher after reading various member introduction posts.

Looks like the median is roughly around $7,000/month or so. I guess that is about what I expected.

I always bear in mind that this is the internet, and a few people may exaggerate a little bit sometimes.

 

[pj.mask]

$7k, call it 85k/yr pretax or $100k/yr after tax @ $2.8mil at 3.5% SWR.

This I assume is for a couple? A lower cola area could easily set fixed expenses to $2k/mo and have $5k for Travel and dining out.

It’s hard to compare budget now to what a retirement budget would look like. So many things I don’t have time for so they get hired done. On the other hand so many things I want to do that I don’t have time for or don’t want to spend the money on during this phase of life.

When I last lived alone, I enjoyed my $3800/mo (adjusted for inflation to 2017 dollars) life.

 

[Meadbh]

This I assume is for a couple?

The OP clearly stated that it was for a household.

One useful thing I learnt while a student was to read the question very carefully.

 

[sheldon cornped]

That was one thing I done learnt too! I still get reminded ever so often.

 

[Alan]

One useful thing I learnt while a student was to read the question very carefully.

Even the poll title says “see text of post”, but it is only human nature to not read instructions.

My wife assures me that I am the world’s worst at not reading a manual or instructions.

 

[Spanky]

$5K per month is more than enough. I'm surprised (just a little) that more than 50% of responses are higher.

 

[Big_Hitter]

First post here, Great site! 3k to 4k for me, I try and live fairly simple.

welcome!

 

[Big_Hitter]

$5K per month is more than enough. I'm surprised (just a little) that more than 50% of responses are higher.

depends - mortgage and real estate taxes can be close to $5K a month easy

 

[DEC-1982]

$5K per month is more than enough. I'm surprised (just a little) that more than 50% of responses are higher.

Consider healthcare expenses (without subsidies) for two, and a decent travel budget, and you start getting up there.

 

[JoeWras]

Consider healthcare expenses (without subsidies) for two, and a decent travel budget, and you start getting up there.

Unless you have healthcare provided without direct cost. Hence my question about imputed income.

 

[ERD50]

I am really not sure what people hope to learn from a poll like this? Other than there is a wide distribution of incomes, just like everywhere else? Nonetheless, looks like the top choice is too low given the distribution so far.

Agreed. I just don't get these sorts of polls.

They were probably thinking, "desired monthly income? Oh yeah, that's going to be high...."

...
One useful thing I learnt while a student was to read the question very carefully.

I did read the question carefully:

What is, or was, your desired monthly income during retirement?​

So why wouldn't I desire > $20,000 per month? IMO, any other response lacks imagination!

The text of post conflicts with the poll question, but since the poll question is more directly tied to the poll (not an indirect reference), I chose to go with the poll question wording.

-ERD50

 

[GravitySucks]

Even the poll title says “see text of post”, but it is only human nature to not read instructions.



My wife assures me that I am the world’s worst at not reading a manual or instructions.

Pfffft.
Read the manual?
It's not on fire yet.

 

[Amethyst]

And then there's the Myers-Briggs excuse "I'm an EN,
so of course I skip over half of what I read 'cause I want to get to the good part (where I get to give the answer)."

Just as the Devil can quote Scripture to suit his purposes, one can use MBTI to explain everything.

Even the poll title says “see text of post”, but it is only human nature to not read instructions.

My wife assures me that I am the world’s worst at not reading a manual or instructions.

 

[Amethyst]

I would love to see lifestyle details of the $20K/month club. How many homes? How big are they? Which travel/tour companies do you use? What are your indulgences?

None of my business, I know, but it would be fun to know

 

[Danmar]

I would love to see lifestyle details of the $20K/month club. How many homes? How big are they? Which travel/tour companies do you use? What are your indulgences?

None of my business, I know, but it would be fun to know

Would very likely cause a fair bit of negative feedback for such a poster.

 

[Sunset]

Unless you have healthcare provided without direct cost. Hence my question about imputed income.

+1

Some other factors drive how much a person/couple may need to live a comfortable life

• mortgage free home vs large mortgage.
• paid for vehicles vs financed.
• living in a State with 0% State income tax vs a State like CA
• desire to travel vs wanting to stay put.
• Type of travel, hotels & tours vs camping and explore on your own.
• Size of home, a 5,000 sq ft home costs a lot more than a 1,000 sq ft home.

 

[athena53]

Mine will come out to a little over $8K/month this year. That seems huge for one person in a LCOL area, and I guess it is; my 3 biggest items are travel, charity and health insurance, in that order, so plenty of discretionary to cut if I had to. Heath insurance will decrease on 1/1 when Medicare kicks in, and I'm pretty much done with the expensive improvements to the house I bought in mid-2015, so next year should be less.

My focus is on keeping the W/D rate under 4% (it was 3% this year, average is 3.8% since retirement in mid-2014) and then deciding where the money goes. I'm also hoping to postpone collecting SS on my own record to age 70; I'm getting Survivor benefits now. Much of the increase in SS, unfortunately, will be needed to pay taxes on RMDs from my IRA, but the withdrawal rate may decrease a little anyway.

 

[GrayHare]

As I read it, this is an income not spending poll. Some members might have $20k income but not spend it all. Heck, based on the S&P most people with $1 million in stocks have generated close to $20k a month in cap gains since last November.

 

[Car-Guy]

Would very likely cause a fair bit of negative feedback for such a poster.

On this site, absolutely.

 

[Spanky]

So why wouldn't I desire > $20,000 per month? IMO, any other response lacks imagination!

My initial interpretation of "desired income" means infinity.

 

[Ed B]

Statistically it is interesting because there is no standard distribution but the same is true with all US household incomes. What might be interesting is to see how close our distribution of targeted household incomes are to all US household incomes.

Here are graphs that show the results of this poll as of this morning (11-15-2017) and all US household incomes from 2014:

The lines certainly aren't as smooth but there is a correlation.

And when you consider that people who are able to RE or are working towards that goal are likely at or above median household income during the savings stage, that would explain why our < $36000/yr isn't as high as all US households. With a few exception those lower income working households have little hope of RE.

 

[Spanky]

depends - mortgage and real estate taxes can be close to $5K a month easy

Agreed - if one lives, for example, in high cost of housing area such as the SF Bay area.