Are you totally dependent on investments

[Marc]

Retired at 60 planning on 5% WR until SS at 70. 178% (including wife's 50% of mine) of (almost) max social security and RMD "should" be sufficient; so, yes, I am counting on SS.

Marc

PS I am considering going with immediate annuities (four installments of 250K each over next six years) to provide additional steady income; will depend on payout rates improving with increasing interest rates.

 

[CRLLS]

I'm not sure exactly how to answer the question. We could cover all of our expected expenses with our investments using the 4% rule. When SS hits in full, SS alone could cover all of our planned expenses then. One will provide our planned expenses, the other some fun money. Which income stream is which depends on perspective.

Currently, DW has claimed SS and I will claim spousal in Nov. We are supplementing that using an ultra-safe 2.4% W/D rate and a very small annuitized LI policy.

No pensions are in our future. Those were converted to Rollover IRA's several years back.

 

[Sue J]

0% dependent on investments. DHs pension covers 125% of our monthly expenses. The pension is not large but our expenses are smaller so there is a nice cushion.

We've been living this way for 8 years now so we know it's working for us. Big lumpy expenses like a car purchase, major home repairs, or travel come out of savings or investment growth.

 

[pacergal]

Pensions and dividends for day to day expenses and travel budget. Investments for occasional home repair, etc.that we are unable to cover with pension income. SS will probably pay for taxes on RMDs and SS!

 

[jjflyman]

Mine and DW SS + small pension will cover living expenses with room to spare. Investment dividends and interest is all gravy.

 

[mpeirce]

Yes, 100% dependent on investments. Still have over a dozen years before SS kicks in for me. At that point we could subsist on DWs and my combined SS if we really had to, but that's only a worst case scenario for us.

 

[kcowan]

25 years in, the non-COLA DB pension is becoming less relevant compared to the Cola government pension after 10 years. The RMD covers the same amount as the DB pension. And the portfolio covers our fun stuff like Blow that Dough, income taxes, transfers to heirs, and travel. All discretionary although the college funding is crucial right now.

 

[Souschef]

About 70% is from SS and pensions, The balance comes out of my IRA as an RMD.

 

[rodi]

I have a multi legged stool with different length legs. Kind of wobbly.

DH is currently collecting SS. 20% of our current budget. I have some micro pensions. 8%. We have rental income. 27% . The rest comes from investments. My SS is several years off.

But could we live without the SS and pensions.... Sure... If we cashed out our house and moved to a lower COL location. So we are not technically dependent on them.... But since we have SS/pension we'll include them in our budget.

 

[Chuckanut]

More Polite than ALL CAPS, kinda like Bolding... , plus it is a habit. Does it even matter?

Here's my 2¢. All caps is harder to read. If one wants peole to read, understand and reply it is important to give the reader the visual cues that help him/her read easily.

 

[pb4uski]

More Polite than ALL CAPS, kinda like Bolding... , plus it is a habit. Does it even matter?

No, doesn't matter.... just odd.

 

[Dash man]

We have a small pension from megacorp, but most of our income is from stock dividends, rental income and interest from savings. We both turn 62 in August, but have no plans to take social security until FRA or later.

 

[travelover]

Two pensions, one non COLA, one increases a $1000 a year. These currently cover all our regular expenses. Just applied for SS, age 62 for her and spousal only for me until age 70. Portfolio only gets tapped for big expenses like new house, new cars.

 

[GravitySucks]

Living in my incredible good looks and the kindness of strangers.

54 to 60 has been funded by 401k
60 to 70 will be funded by IRA and SS survivors.
70+ will be IRA and SS

 

[LARS]

No pension, not counting on SS although would be icing on the cake. Totally dependent on portfolio.

Always peeks my curiosity of the current age of someone when they say not counting on SS.

Don’t need it to survive, but certainly would like that monthly deposit. And being in spitting distance I full well expect it to be there...

 

[NW-Bound]

If we delay SS till 70, we can live on it. Nothing fancy, but no dog food either. People who retire in their 30s or 40s will not get much, but I pulled the plough till 55.

How long I will live past 70 remains to be seen.

Forgot to say, our past 12-month expenses run at 2.2% of current stash.

Our YTD expenses are less than what the market gave me on a single day of yesterday. The market has taken away one annual expense total in a single day too. And it can do that a few days in a row. That hurt!

So, I have to say that I am dependent on the market return, even if future SS is sufficient to keep a roof over our head and bread and cheese in the cupboard, even if they are going to give me only 3/4 of what they promise.

 

[gayl]

100% on pension ($2400 month) which includes 1k siphoned off monthly for travel. SSA will eventually (3 yrs) help out with 5 grandkids college expenses. (1 finishes undergrad next year with 7k in student loans // love those scholarships // grad school on him)

 

[RobbieB]

I have 15 grand a year from SS, the rest is qualified dividends and tax free interest.

Or at least that's the future plan. High expenses this year forced a sale of principle.

 

[W2R]

Are you totally dependent on investments?

My income consists of SS, mini-pension, and dividends from my investments.

Mostly what I have are dividends; my SS + mini-pension add up to less than my dividends.

However my SS + mini-pension will be more than my projected spending for 2018.

The reason I am not spending even half of my income is that I am content with my present lifestyle and have everything I want without spending every cent. (I know, I know, I need to try harder to "Blow That Dough". )

So, in answer to the original question, I am not totally dependent on investments. However a few more unexpected dental implants, some sort of "Katrina II" disaster, or the sudden unexpected onset of a craving for luxurious international travel could change things.

 

[Tadpole]

In 5 years when I turn 70 I'll get a nice bump in SS when I file on my own record (collecting Survivor benefits now) but most of that will be eaten up by taxes on RMDs and taxes on the increased SS.

My husband is already RMDing. I will claim age 70 SS in December and start my RMD in 2019. In 2019 I estimate that our income rises by 50% and our taxes rise by 115% over 2018.

 

[Major Tom]

Currently, I am 100% dependent on the portfolio. If I take early SS in 7 1/2 years, it will represent about 2/3 of what I need for basic living expenses, though it is more likely I will continue to withdraw the same amount from the portfolio and consider SS as icing on top of the cake. However, I'm a renter, so who knows what I'll be paying for rent in 10 years. I might need the extra SS money for that (or for a nice little RV to live in).

 

[Sojourner]

I have no pension and am many years away from SS (I'm 50), so I rely exclusively on passive income from my investments—primarily dividends and CG distributions. FIRECalc says I can spend around double what I'm currently spending with 0% historical chance of failure, so I'm not too worried about the lack of pension or SS for the next 17-18 years. I'll probably start selling more equities in the coming years to lock in gains, generate income, and accomplish a bit of prudent asset reallocation.

 

[kimcdougc]

Currently living off of DH non cola'd pension, part time work anywhere job (which fell in our laps) and cash in savings. DH will take social security at 62 (we will take another look at that before he pulls the trigger to start social security). We want to buy a house now, but that is another story. They want to see a monthly "paycheck (bigger than our part time gig and DH pension) go into our checking account because all our $ in our retirement accounts might disappear - like a paycheck can't?"

Haven't started getting any $ out of or IRA but have been doing some rollovers to a roth.

 

[mickeyd]

Our income stream coming from SS and pension-like sources is plenty now to pay all of the monthly bills. Though we manage all of our own investments now, I realize that this may not last forever and we may have to have someone else assist us it the future.

We will be moving to a CCRC (Life Care Community) in a few months which will increase our monthly costs, but will provide us with more benefits than we currently have.

Income streams and investment income should still be more than enough to provide us with comfort until the end and still leave a nice chunk of legacy for our kids.

 

[VanWinkle]

Living on small pension and taxable account. I have 45% taxable, 45% IRA, and 10% Roth. Holding off on SS til after we reach Medicare and will re-evaluate at that time. Holding taxable income to under 29000 for ACA subsides and cost sharing. I would be able to live on SS and pension once on Medicare.