Poll:Is $1 Million still a relevant number nowadays for 2 retirees?

[teetee]

John Oliver you tube channel has an episode talking about how property firms screw up manufactured home owners. But if you own the land and the house on top of it, all you lose is the house since that is the major difference between the real house and the house that can be moved with trailers.

 

[Major Tom]

John Oliver you tube channel has an episode talking about how property firms screw up manufactured home owners. But if you own the land and the house on top of it, all you lose is the house since that is the major difference between the real house and the house that can be moved with trailers.

I think I saw that episode. The only way I would purchase a manufactured home, is if I could also own the land underneath it. It's a little hard to just up and leave if the land owner decides to jack up the rent.

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of retiring on $1M, I just saw this article on Billy and Akaisha Kaderli. They retired in 1991 at the age of 38 with $500K. It so happens that $500K in 1991 was the same as $1M now.

The Kaderlis were members of this forum, but have not posted in a long time.

They managed to survive 30 years of ER already. Will $1M now allow a young ER couple to repeat the same feat? You can ponder that question as you watch the interview with them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...th-dollar500000-over-30-years-ago/vi-BB1gx2OW

 

[teetee]

Speaking of retiring on $1M, I just saw this article on Billy and Akaisha Kaderli. They retired in 1991 at the age of 38 with $500K. It so happens that $500K in 1991 was the same as $1M now.

The Kaderlis were members of this forum, but have not posted in a long time.

They managed to survive 30 years of ER already. Will $1M now allow a young ER couple to repeat the same feat? You can ponder that question as you watch the interview with them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...th-dollar500000-over-30-years-ago/vi-BB1gx2OW

Thanks for the short and sweet interview video clip. They controlled their initial annual spending to be below 20k and grew their retirement saving to over 1million (probably has the buying power of 2m in today's money). Then 2008 recession hit, they considered going back working.

I would not want to be forced back working with the market downturn. Therefore I am working on the buffering part that allows me sleep through the night even if my NW on paper shrinks 70%.

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for the short and sweet interview video clip. They controlled their initial annual spending to be below 20k and grew their retirement saving to over 1million (probably has the buying power of 2m in today's money). Then 2008 recession hit, they considered going back working.

I would not want to be forced back working with the market downturn. Therefore I am working on the buffering part that allows me sleep through the night even if my NW on paper shrinks 70%.

Two reasons I keep my equities in the 30 to 35% range rather than the more typical 50 - 60% (or 90%) of most folks here. Exactly what you describe - you don't want your NW to shrink 70% (or what ever) on paper. The other reason: I no longer need to swing for the fences to sustain my life-style. I don't have a burning need to leave a fortune to my heirs either as I plan to leave my remainder to my favorite charities (for the most part.)

It's not for everyone, but it has worked for me (and a few others here) so YMMV.

 

[Car-Guy]

Manufactured homes are a really underrated way to retire inexpensively.

Absolutely agree... A newly retired couple (in their late 50's) moved in about a mile away from us and have a beautiful new double wide (~2000sf) mobile home sitting on about 10 acres. The way they set it up you can't really tell it's a mobile home from the outside and once you are inside, it's as nice as any new home I've seen. They have owned the property for some years (as a recreational retreat) but only recently bought and setup the big mobile home. (So they know they like the area) They told me their plans are to keep the mobile home for ~10 years then when they are ready for a "change", they plan to "trade" it in for a new model/floorplan but stay at the same location.

I know what they paid...Heck of an investment and a nice place to live, IMO.

 

[REWahoo]

^ If you buy one of those in tornado country be sure to get a floor plan with the optional roll bars.

 

[Car-Guy]

^ If you buy one of those in tornado country be sure to get a floor plan with the optional roll bars.

Tornado country.... That's called Texas.... Well, just about anything north of I-10... I think north of I-20 is worse.

But on that note, we had an F3 come though here a year or so back... Didn't matter what you lived in if you were in the tornado's path... Less that 100 yards from the damage path and no damage at all... Amazing to see.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

At one time Sear's kit homes were popular - https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/sears-catalog-homes-available/. Many of these still stand today and look just fine.


With a mortgage free, modern day kit house on land you own, solar panels, xeriscaped or food garden lawn, low flow toilets, LED bulbs, energy efficient appliances and other sustainable living ideas, Medicare or and ACA plan for health insurance, wouldn't $1M be more than enough to retire? Especially with Social Security?

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah, too big. An IKEA home is all one needs.

At $45K a piece, a couple can buy two to have his and hers. Together, they cost even less than a stinkin' fancy car.

 

[Koolau]

Ah, too big. An IKEA home is all one needs.

At $45K a piece, a couple can buy two to have his and hers. Together, they cost even less than a stinkin' fancy car.

Heh, heh, living in 1100 SF now, I think that's getting close to my limit - of course, I'd do what I had to do to survive, even if it were to live in a lot less. We had some friends (now both gone) who lived in manufactured housing in a subdivision designed for such units. It was pretty good sized - bigger than what I would call a "double wide." Quite nice actually.

I've mentioned before that one of our back-ups is to return to the midwest where the cash-out of our current digs would buy a pretty decent spread. So, theres that, though YMMV.

 

[Nomad4hire]

I fall into the low end NW on this site as well. But I have enough for myself and I am happy. When you think about it, it's plain hard to get to millionaire status for a lot of people, so I agree with you that you are doing well. This site is not the norm. We have to remember that.

+1
Nomad

 

[Earl E Retyre]

I guess $1M must be enough ... here is an article posted today on msn.com about a couple who retired with about $1M.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-spend-40-000-a-year/ar-AAKrXr4?ocid=msedgdhp

 

[Koolau]

I guess $1M must be enough ... here is an article posted today on msn.com about a couple who retired with about $1M.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-spend-40-000-a-year/ar-AAKrXr4?ocid=msedgdhp

Article seems reasonably well written and fairly complete. NOT the lifestyle I would want, but my lifestyle costs a lot more. Not sure I'd agree that less than 40 year-olds should assume 4% WDR is okay for life (I'd be more comfortable with maybe 3%) but they seem quite flexible. PLUS they still have marketable skills and, even if they didn't, two folks at say $12.50/hour for half time could add $25K/year in a pinch. Heh, heh, no kids just about seals the deal. YMMV

 

[Time2]

I guess $1M must be enough ... here is an article posted today on msn.com about a couple who retired with about $1M.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-spend-40-000-a-year/ar-AAKrXr4?ocid=msedgdhp

That all sounds good, except the economics of the solar panels. There were no details except the price, so maybe there was a long distance to wire their home (costly). If not, the $28,000 cost could easily generate $2,200 a year @ 8%.

The have a small house, say their electric averages $165 a month, that's $1,980 a year, that's a couple hundred to spare and they still have their $28k.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I guess $1M must be enough ... here is an article posted today on msn.com about a couple who retired with about $1M.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-spend-40-000-a-year/ar-AAKrXr4?ocid=msedgdhp

Health share plans? That isn't real health insurance. And the 4% seems risky at their ages. Overall though I think it is great they are thinking outside the financial box.

I like the idea of sustainable / low overhead living. With solar panels, subsidized health insurance, a low energy and water efficient home, xeriscaping or food forest lawn, mortgage free or strategic low interest mortgage, gray water system, rain barrels, etc. how much do you really need to cover fixed expenses?

 

[Koolau]

That all sounds good, except the economics of the solar panels. There were no details except the price, so maybe there was a long distance to wire their home (costly). If not, the $28,000 cost could easily generate $2,200 a year @ 8%.

The have a small house, say their electric averages $165 a month, that's $1,980 a year, that's a couple hundred to spare and they still have their $28k.

Yeah, I would have once thought that was a rather costly way to deal with electricity until my son moved to Big Island for a couple of years. Electricity simply was NOT available over a wire to his neighborhood yet - everyone was "on their own" to get electricity from panels or mills or whatever you could figure out. Same with water. I believe they could have all banded together and had electricity wired in, but that would have cost a fortune and - looking at his neighbors, it was NOT gonna happen - probably not in his lifetime, anyway. By the way, theft of panels and batteries in his neighborhood was nearly a foregone conclusion if you left your property unattended for more than a few days - happened to him (plus someone burned down one of his out buildings - I'm guessing accidentally while "squatting.") Not my Hawaii dream but it was HIS (nightmare as it turned out.) YMMV

 

[Car-Guy]

Heh, heh, no kids just about seals the deal. YMMV

That made me chuckle... In the time/place where I grew up, kids were expected to be off the payroll when they turned 18... Maybe 21 to 22 if they were going full time to collage but most from my neighborhood were doing good to finish high school. Matter of fact, most didn't really want mom and dad's help once they were out of school... It was the culture of our time. Not so today for most under 40 "that I know".

 

[teetee]

That made me chuckle... In the time/place where I grew up, kids were expected to be off the payroll when they turned 18... Maybe 21 to 22 if they were going full time to collage but most from my neighborhood were doing good to finish high school. Matter of fact, most didn't really want mom and dad's help once they were out of school... It was the culture of our time. Not so today for most under 40 "that I know".

I can agree on the cultural change. It can also partly be the result of student loans, the age of parents having kids above 18 became older (not many couples I know have kids in their 20s and some had their first born in the 40s) so the chance for the grown kids to care for them increased.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

That made me chuckle... In the time/place where I grew up, kids were expected to be off the payroll when they turned 18... Maybe 21 to 22 if they were going full time to collage but most from my neighborhood were doing good to finish high school. Matter of fact, most didn't really want mom and dad's help once they were out of school... It was the culture of our time. Not so today for most under 40 "that I know".

Well I can only agree with what you wrote regarding most under 40 still seem to still rely more on their parents support today than maybe in the past. From what I can see with my own eyes anyway. What changed? One contributing factor might be middle class jobs are not career jobs that support a family as much anymore as they were in the past. I am not sure of the answer here.

 

[NW-Bound]

That all sounds good, except the economics of the solar panels. There were no details except the price, so maybe there was a long distance to wire their home (costly). If not, the $28,000 cost could easily generate $2,200 a year @ 8%.

The have a small house, say their electric averages $165 a month, that's $1,980 a year, that's a couple hundred to spare and they still have their $28k.

Their house is in the middle of nowhere. The cost to run a small distribution line on power poles to their house may be enormous. One Web site says it's about $25-50 per foot.

Looking at their 2 arrays each with 12 panels, I estimate that they could generate more than 50 kWh/day easily if he goes out to reorient the panels several times a day to track the sun. The cost of $28K may not be bad, depending on what kind of battery storage he got with that.

They have no water service, and just have a tank for rain water catchment. I wonder how reliable their water source is, given the arid landscape surrounding their house. They did say they were thinking about a well.

The cost of a water line is very high. My neighbor down the road from my high-country boondocks home asked the water co-op to extend the water line from my lot to his. The distance was about 175-200 ft. They quoted him about $30K. He decided to have a well dug, saying the cost was the same and he would not have a water bill.

 

[ncbill]

Their house is in the middle of nowhere. The cost to run a small distribution line on power poles to their house may be enormous. One Web site says it's about $25-50 per foot.

Looking at their 2 arrays each with 12 panels, I estimate that they could generate more than 50 kWh/day easily if he goes out to reorient the panels several times a day to track the sun. The cost of $28K may not be bad, depending on what kind of battery storage he got with that.

They have no water service, and just have a tank for rain water catchment. I wonder how reliable their water source is, given the arid landscape surrounding their house. They did say they were thinking about a well.

The cost of a water line is very high. My neighbor down the road from my high-country boondocks home asked the water co-op to extend the water line from my lot to his. The distance was about 175-200 ft. They quoted him about $30K. He decided to have a well dug, saying the cost was the same and he would not have a water bill.

Notice he's reading a book on rainwater harvesting & that there's nothing attached to the cistern, so I bet right now they're having water trucked in.

 

[NW-Bound]

Notice he's reading a book on rainwater harvesting & that there's nothing attached to the cistern, so I bet right now they're having water trucked in.

Yes. I dunno about catching any rain water where he lives.

And I looked at his budget, and did not see anything about water cost.


PS. I take back my earlier estimate of 50 kWh/day of production from their panels. They look smaller than the common size of 65" x 40".

 

[NW-Bound]

For what it's worth:

Rainfall in Tombstone, a town a few miles from Pearce, averages 14" per year.

For a surface area of 1000 sq.ft. you catch 1166 cu.ft. of water per year, or 8722 gal. That's 24 gal/day average for consumption. You can live on that (we use even less while RV'ing), but it's tough rationing.

 

[Koolau]

For what it's worth:

Rainfall in Tombstone, a town a few miles from Pearce, averages 14" per year.

For a surface area of 1000 sq.ft. you catch 1166 cu.ft. of water per year, or 8722 gal. That's 24 gal/day average for consumption. You can live on that (we use even less while RV'ing), but it's tough rationing.

Son used catchment on Big Island. Not a huge problem catching enough, though not true on all parts of BI. Are there systems that do not use roof catchment - that could greatly expand the supply. A blue tarp comes to mind, but not sure how you would transfer to storage. Maybe where there's a will there's a way since YMMV.