Join Early Retirement Today
View Poll Results: Almost 2021 - Is $1 Million still a relevant number as a retirement target?
Yes, we can retire with $1 Million 88 33.21%
No, we need $1.2 Mllion - $1.9 Million 64 24.15%
Higher, we need $2 Million - $4 Million 95 35.85%
Highest, $5 Million - $100 Million ... Sky's the limit 18 6.79%
Voters: 265. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-10-2021, 03:22 PM   #261
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Koolau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,793
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
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.
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -

Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
Koolau is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 05-15-2021, 03:11 PM   #262
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 97
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnrealizedPotential View Post
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
Nomad4hire is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2021, 12:47 PM   #263
Full time employment: Posting here.
Earl E Retyre's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 537
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/comp...?ocid=msedgdhp
Earl E Retyre is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2021, 01:41 PM   #264
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Koolau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,793
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl E Retyre View Post
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/comp...?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
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -

Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
Koolau is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2021, 02:23 PM   #265
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 3,657
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl E Retyre View Post
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/comp...?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.
Time2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2021, 08:04 PM   #266
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 9,358
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl E Retyre View Post
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/comp...?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?
__________________
Even clouds seem bright and breezy, 'Cause the livin' is free and easy, See the rat race in a new way, Like you're wakin' up to a new day (Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether lyrics, Alan Parsons Project, based on an EA Poe story)
daylatedollarshort is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2021, 09:50 PM   #267
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Koolau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,793
Quote:
Originally Posted by Time2 View Post
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
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -

Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
Koolau is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2021, 05:38 PM   #268
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Car-Guy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 10,863
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koolau View Post
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".
__________________
20's "something" mind, trapped in a 70's "something" body
Car-Guy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2021, 06:35 PM   #269
Full time employment: Posting here.
teetee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 679
Quote:
Originally Posted by Car-Guy View Post
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.
teetee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2021, 07:59 PM   #270
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,390
Quote:
Originally Posted by Car-Guy View Post
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.
__________________
Understanding both the power of compound interest and the difficulty of getting it is the heart and soul of understanding a lot of things. Charlie Munger

The first rule of compounding: Never interupt it unnecessarily. Charlie Munger
UnrealizedPotential is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2021, 09:59 PM   #271
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by Time2 View Post
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.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2021, 08:03 AM   #272
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Western NC
Posts: 4,607
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
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.
ncbill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2021, 02:16 PM   #273
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncbill View Post
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".
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2021, 02:51 PM   #274
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2021, 07:40 PM   #275
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Koolau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,793
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
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.
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -

Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
Koolau is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2021, 08:11 PM   #276
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Posts: 1,979
If you have nada, and you are going to build your wealth, then yes $1 million is very relevant.
__________________
Dreams Worth Dreaming are Dreams Worth Planning For. I Spent a Career Planning for Early Retirement.
RetireeRobert is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2021, 08:37 PM   #277
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
Yup. It's a really big milestone number. It's the realization that all that stuff you've heard is really true.

If you save and invest, you can be a millionaire!

Champagne and lobster tails -
RobbieB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2021, 10:47 AM   #278
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 3,657
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobbieB View Post
Yup. It's a really big milestone number. It's the realization that all that stuff you've heard is really true.

If you save and invest, you can be a millionaire!

Champagne and lobster tails -

Yes, being a multimillionaire (more than one) is just is not what 90% of the population would think. As they say, if you have a million dollars and live like a millionaire, you won't be a millionaire for long.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 401k depletion.jpg (152.4 KB, 46 views)
Time2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2021, 11:19 AM   #279
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Major Tom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 4,323
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobbieB View Post
Yup. It's a really big milestone number. It's the realization that all that stuff you've heard is really true.

If you save and invest, you can be a millionaire!

Champagne and lobster tails -
Yes indeed! One or two people have commented to me that a million dollars isn't worth what it used to be, in an apparent attempt to justify their lack of saving. Well duh. Pick any amount you like, and it doesn't have the purchasing value it used to - what's new? Despite all of that, a million greenbacks is still a lot of money. It is nothing to be sneezed at. Even the folk here with $10 and $20 million dollar portfolios won't dispute that.

It is still a lot of money and, as such, a significant milestone.
__________________
Contentedly ER, with 3 furry friends (now, sadly, 1).
Planning my escape to the wide open spaces in my campervan (with my remaining kitty, of course!)
On a mission to become the world's second most boring man.

Major Tom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2021, 11:41 AM   #280
Full time employment: Posting here.
teetee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 679
Quote:
Originally Posted by Major Tom View Post
Yes indeed! One or two people have commented to me that a million dollars isn't worth what it used to be, in an apparent attempt to justify their lack of saving. Well duh. Pick any amount you like, and it doesn't have the purchasing value it used to - what's new? Despite all of that, a million greenbacks is still a lot of money. It is nothing to be sneezed at. Even the folk here with $10 and $20 million dollar portfolios won't dispute that.



It is still a lot of money and, as such, a significant milestone.
$1m in 2021 has the buying power of 36,776 in 1913, 89,526 in 1950, and 485,521 in 1990 according to
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

People think that is not wrong. People use that to justify their lack of saving is illogical. Knowing about the inflation only makes me wanting to save more in order to get ahead of the inflation wave before my retirement. Giving up is never the answer.
teetee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
SS "Maximum Family Benefits" - Relevant for just 2 people on one record? Telly FIRE and Money 7 05-29-2015 10:49 PM
Not relevant to daily life but neat to see Walt34 Other topics 2 03-15-2012 10:34 AM
Investment style nowadays LOL! FIRE and Money 9 08-13-2007 11:19 AM
Who says public education isn't relevant? bosco Other topics 20 06-27-2007 03:28 PM
Investment Books You Find Relevant Today Danny FIRE and Money 11 08-04-2006 11:18 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:57 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.