what % of salary do you live on

[tiredofwork]

With paid for house, I will need about 25% of current gross compensation.

 

[mjarzoms]

Not sure what I am at currently. Would need to run some silly reports on quicken to find out. I know it is less than 50% of my gross pay but I don't have a home mortgage. Really depends on what income level you are at.

I think a better question would be how much per year can you survive on and be content.

I am new to the forum, but I think a good reference book would be "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. I don't agree totally with all of their ideas but think it is worth reading. You can probably pick up a copy at your local library.

-mwj

 

[VoyT]

No, but journalists & financial analysts might starve... not sure that'd matter either!

Nah, the journalists would just start writing about frugality, or politics, or blogging or whatever 'trend' has been declared ... as for financial analysts, well, you might be right

..... as for what we live on, it's roughly 1/2 of our net salaries ....

 

[Alan]

I think a % is meaningless. You need to decide what you are going to need. I just wish I had the courage to chuck it in now, but in 4 years I'll have a pension of around $45k/year (at age 55) plus good health benefits up to age 70 (until it changes, of course). Like nun I and DW are dual US/UK and we can still still receive our UK gov. pensions without going back.

 

[sgeeeee]

what % of salary do you live on

Well . . . I'm 3/4 time retired so I live on 150% of my salary.

However, I recently told the CEO of the company I work 1/4 time at that I was ready to quit and get back to my retirement. They offered to keep my pay the same for 3 hours per week effort, but they will increase my stock options. So that number may come down a little -- to about 140%.

 

[old woman]

I can live on about 12K a year unless I want to buy something or repair something. The 12K would cover food, clothing, utilities, property taxes, insurance, gas, but not medical or buying a car or new roof so I am guessing about 24K to cover everything. I have saved up about 200K so about 8K will come from that and SS will cover about 14K in 4 more years, 6K comes from rental income so if I hold a job until 62 I will be OK and if I work until medicare kicks in at 65 I will be well off, SS will be about 18K then

 

[PJ03]

I think a % is  meaningless.  You need to decide what you are going to need.  I just wish I had the courage to chuck it in now, but in 4 years I'll have a pension of around $45k/year (at age 55) plus good health benefits up to age 70 (until it changes, of course).  Like nun I and DW  are dual US/UK and we can still still receive our UK gov. pensions without going back.

Hey Alan, I grew up in NI and left in 82. I did work there from 79 through 82 making very little compared to today.
Do you know if I will be entitled to a pension from HMG.

 

[NYCGuy]

Life is expensive here in Manhattan. We plan to earn about $161,000 this year and hope to save $63,000 for a total cost of $98,000 or 61% of gross.

 

[Alan]

PJ03, You should be entitled if you have enough credits.  You can find out at the following website

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/home.asp

I applied for the forms a few years back, sent in my National Insurance number etc, and they had my records and confirmed that I would be entitled to a pension.

 

[PJ03]

Thanks, I will check it out

 

[Traveler]

For the two of us, $60,000 a year (to spend, not including taxes) gives us everything we need with a nice cushion for travel, house repairs, and a new car every seven to eight years. So with state and federal taxes thrown in, about $80,000. That's my guess. Might be a little high, but I guestimate on the safer, higher side.

 

[treypar]

I live on about 40% of my salary. I could retire now but am worried about health insurance.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

What? When did you go back to work?

Turncoat.

 

[retire@40]

I can live on about 12K a year unless I want to buy something or repair something. The 12K would cover food, clothing, utilities, property taxes, insurance, gas, but not medical or buying a car or new roof so I am guessing about 24K to cover everything. I have saved up about 200K so about 8K will come from that and SS will cover about 14K in 4 more years, 6K comes from rental income so if I hold a job until 62 I will be OK and if I work until medicare kicks in at 65 I will be well off, SS will be about 18K then

Old woman huh, and you are 58. Even though you are old enough to be my mother, I don't consider 58 old. You are only as old as you think you are.

 

[old woman]

Old woman huh, and you are 58.  Even though you are old enough to be my mother, I don't consider 58 old.  You are only as old as you think you are.

Well I feel old and can see what's next. My Mom is 79 and I am becoming more like her everyday, her Mom is 98 and she is becoming more like her everyday, so I can see myself being more like grandma everyday, not that that is a bad thing, grandma has a pretty good life except she is forgetful.
I am using them as role models on how to retire without running out of money. Grandma has a little house in town where she could walk everywhere, but now has moved to the country to assisted living because she broke her leg and is forgetful, she may have dementia. Mom has a house in the city and a car and can drive upto about 40 miles before her eyes hurt too much. She used to enjoy travel but now her feet hurt if she overdoes things so she stays home most of the time except for local games of bowling and lunch with friends, it is a cheap life. She can afford more but doesn't want more so her savings grow every year.
So for me I want a low maint home where I can walk or take public transportation when I can't or don't want to drive. I want my home nice enough I would enjoy being at home, a yard to putter in, some flowers. I also want to be near my mom she is 240 miles from her mom and it makes it hard on her to go see her. Grandma has been retired 41 years so far and mom 18 years so I can see the money needs to last a good long time.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Well I feel old and can see what's next. My Mom is 79 and I am becoming more like her everyday, her Mom is 98 and she is becoming more like her everyday, so I can see myself being more like grandma everyday, not that that is a bad thing, grandma has a pretty good life except she is forgetful.
I am using them as role models on how to retire without running out of money. Grandma has a little house in town where she could walk everywhere, but now has moved to the country to assisted living because she broke her leg and is forgetful, she may have dementia. Mom has a house in the city and a car and can drive upto about 40 miles before her eyes hurt too much. She used to enjoy travel but now her feet hurt if she overdoes things so she stays home most of the time except for local games of bowling and lunch with friends, it is a cheap life. She can afford more but doesn't want more so her savings grow every year.
So for me I want a low maint home where I can walk or take public transportation when I can't or don't want to drive. I want my home nice enough I would enjoy being at home, a yard to putter in, some flowers. I also want to be near my mom she is 240 miles from her mom and it makes it hard on her to go see her. Grandma has been retired 41 years so far and mom 18 years so I can see the money needs to last a good long time.

Just a quickie. I am 61 and dealing with various health "issues".
It's no fun. DW says, "You seem to be able to do what you want to do."
Only partly true. I tell her."What is the alternative? Sit in my chair until
I die?" I would rather push the envelope as far as I can before
I "go gently into that good night". Because I can see the end from
here, the pace of my "adventures" has increased a lot. The
"Do it now!" approach has taken hold big time.................

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I'm working towards ER. One thing that annoys me is the figure of 70 to 80% of your
salary that is often quoted as the income you need in retirement. I think this is
rediculously high as I don't expect to have a mortgage to pay in retirement and
I'll live on the same amount for other expenses as I do now, which is about $1500 per month. What % or amount do you live on?

I have often posted that we live on about 25% of my pre-ER
gross income, or 25K per year (2 people, 4 dogs). OTOH, I just did our
tax returns and the total gross was around 30K, all of which we
spent. Bottom line, whether 25K or 30K we spend it all and try to keep the net worth from declining. That is good enough for us.

JG

 

[nun]

Hey Alan, I grew up in NI and left in 82. I did work there from 79 through 82 making very little compared to today.
Do you know if I will be entitled to a pension from HMG.

If you only had NI contributions for 1979 to 1982 I'm not sure you have enough creditsand any UK pension would be small even if you did. If you are a UK citizen living abroad you can pay Class 2 NI contributions if you need to catch up credits, cost is just over 100 pound per year. Also you can use UK NI contibutions as credits towards your US SS contributions and vis versa.

 

[LOL!]

It was a Scott Burns column that first pointed out to me that expenses in retirement can be drastically lower than your working years.  Here are some things that we will not be necessary to pay in retirement:

a. Contributions to retirement plans
b. FICA and Medicare taxes
c. Our mortgage payment (but it appears that health insurance will be about the same as our current mortgage payment.)
d. Contributions to after-tax investing plans
e. Any income taxes needed to earn the money to pay any of the above.

In our case, the percentages for the above are a) 17%, b) 6%, c) 6%, d) 20%, e) 6% for a total of 55%.   I guess that means we could possibly live on 45% of our current salary. And 45% of salary is about what our expenses (including local taxes) are in pre-retirement.

 

[kumquat]

h'mmm. our 85% (of a fairly good salary) is pretty high for this bunch?

 

[lwbarry]

I agree with the other posters who have said that your expenses in retirement will be purely unique to you. Studies have found average percentages of pre-retirement income that people need in retirement, but these average percentages are just that: averages. Everyone needs to estimate their own expenses in retirement based on their unique circumstances.

 

[Slarty]

Note retired yet, and living off of 42.3% of household gross income. Currently paying huge taxes. Should be able to live off of 23% of current household income once I FIRE.

 

[mathjak107]

i figure ill need at least 100% of our income when i retire...as i say the only thing you have more of when you retire is time and with us time cost money...we enjoy doing things and even on the days we do nothing just grabbing a lunch with the kids at a diner cost bucks..in fact just walking out of the house here in new york city costs bucks..i hope wherever we end up moving has no stores.then we will be fine on less

 

[BUM]

.in fact just walking out of the house here in new york city costs bucks..i hope wherever we end up moving has no stores.then we will be fine on less

mathjack,

I feel your pain. Thats very funny! I've fretted over lots of critera for that ideal chunk of retirement heaven. But "no stores"...I'd be ok with just a Home Depot and a bait shop

 

[nun]

From all the answers its obvious that the 80% salary figure to live off is ridiculous. However, this forum's probably not a good place to ask this question as I bet most people here already living on a lot less than the 80%. You're saving lots and living well within your means so you can retire early. If you're living paycheck to paycheck and renting an apartment your answer might be 100%.........