Poll: What is your basic income need (floor) in retirement?

[MasterBlaster]

For basic livin' you people are way too high.

You need to git those expenses down so that you can start livin'.

Maybe a sack of beans, and a sack of rice every month would cover food. I figure that you could git your expenses under $50 a month if you are smart about what you spend your money on !

Stop workin' and start livin'

The good life starts right here !

 

[teejayevans]

For a basic floor income that supports all non-discretionary expenses and what is needed to keep us fed, etc., would be $10,000 or so. This would be a budget that should times get hard, investments way down, income streams drying up, we could live on without invading capital.
LooseChickens

I think we're comparing apples and oranges. I'm guessing you don't need to buy
health insurance. Others who are RE probably spending close to 10K on health
insurance alone. (my definition of RE is < 65)
The way I see it, there is 4 major areas of "required" expenses:
health insurance
auto/fuel
housing/utilties
food

The rest can be considered optional, you eliminated 2 of the 4, combining
auto/housing into 1 and I'm guessing no/cheap health insurance.
TJ

 

[megacorp-firee]

1) retirement: 60,000 including health ins, mortgage, taxes, food, utils, ....etc.
2) 2
3) Chicago suburbs
4) working with FIRE plans in July

 

[Celany]

Maybe a sack of beans, and a sack of rice every month would cover food.

I can't begin to describe the number of sicknesses one would probably get, on a diet entirely of rice & beans.

An earlier retirement that's an unhealthy retirement doesn't sound so appealing...but that's just me.

As for my #s:

1) 55k (to cover rent, health insurance in NY, some travel, good eating, hobbies)
2) 1 person, at least 1 cat
3) Manhatten
4) currently still working full-time, & saving as much as I can, no FIRE date in sight (probably another 10-15 years)

of course, circumstances could always change radically in 10-15 years...

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I think we're comparing apples and oranges. I'm guessing you don't need to buy
health insurance. Others who are RE probably spending close to 10K on health
insurance alone. (my definition of RE is < 65)
The way I see it, there is 4 major areas of "required" expenses:
health insurance
auto/fuel
housing/utilties
food

The rest can be considered optional, you eliminated 2 of the 4, combining
auto/housing into 1 and I'm guessing no/cheap health insurance.
TJ

In parts of the country (like LA), a car is not required, especially for an
early retiree - no commute, still young enough to get around on a bike,
pretty much any service you can think of within a couple miles, busses
and rental cars as backup.

 

[Mwsinron]

48000 includes everything. About 38000 if I remove the vacations. House paid for and no car payment. 2 adults. West Coast USA.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I can't begin to describe the number of sicknesses one would probably get, on a diet entirely of rice & beans.

An earlier retirement that's an unhealthy retirement doesn't sound so appealing...but that's just me.

As for my #s:

1) 55k (to cover rent, health insurance in NY, some travel, good eating, hobbies)
2) 1 person, at least 1 cat
3) Manhatten
4) currently still working full-time, & saving as much as I can, no FIRE date in sight (probably another 10-15 years)

of course, circumstances could always change radically in 10-15 years...

On special occasions maybe you could go "whole-hog" and have some oats or some alphalpha.

By the way, my post wasn't too serious. My personal standards are considerably higher than that. However considering that most of the world lives under very simple conditions, the point is, is that what we really need is very very little. The rest is up to you and your standards.

 

[OKLibrarian]

1)20K bare-bones, currently spend about 28K, 30-35K ideal FIRE cash flow with travel, etc.
2) 2 plus 1-2 cats
3)OK
4) working away, FIRE in about 15 years.

 

[kat]

My floor is $20,000.

1 person, 1 dog

upstate NY city

early semi-retired

 

[aenlighten]

I never spent as much as these when I was working and I am not about to begin now. Absolute minimum would be about $10k, more realistic long term average $15k, and comfortable $20k. Other than travel, I don't know what I would do with more. Property taxes are my largest expense. 1 Person, 1 dog, Socal, FIREd.

 

[Charlotte]

1) ~$50,000-$55,000 per year is floor (house is paid for)
2) 2 adults, 2 children
3) North Carolina
4) Still working, plan to retire in 2011

 

[CybrMike]

1. Floor is about $180K. Really need $250K to be where I want. Including mortgage.
2. 2 adults, 1 infant.
3. midwest
4. retired. meddlin' in real estate.

 

[happy2bretired]

1. $35,000 bare bones expenses - no mortgage
2. 2 (daughter living at home while attending college)
3. Midwest
4. Retired 1 year

I could do it for $35,000 but it wouldn't be much fun.

 

[SecondCor521]

1) $9,873. That is my annual spending rate of all categories in Quicken except mortgage interest (currently assuming I will pay off mortgage in retirement), kid-related expenses (assumes kids will be grown or there will be a separate depletion fund for those expenses), and taxes (as you requested). Does not account for any FIRE-related adjustments, which I expect/hope to be neutral.
2) 1 adult male.
3) northwest US
4) working

2Cor521

 

[Moemg]

I could make it on $36,000 but I would have to trim my travel budget a lot .Realistically I'm at $ 48,000.If I downsize the house which I'm planning to do it should be less.
One person S.O is usually around
Florida
Retired
No mortgage .No car payment

 

[Bikerdude]

Basic = $32K with Mtg.
Currently spend = $45K including 2K taxes.
In 2 years with SS = 55K including 5K taxes.

Single person no debt except mtg.

 

[califdreamer]

Scenario with staying in current home and keeping mortgage as is:

1. Low 80 K's (includes mortgage)
2. One person
3. San Diego
4. Working


Scenario, which is under consideration, with selling home, relocating to area w/ less expensive housing and going mortgage-free:

1. Mid-to-high 50 K's (mortgage free)
2. One person
3. Arizona?
4. Retired 8)

I am shooting for something higher to allow for travel, wining & dining, golf, etc.

Amounts above include depreciation/reserve funding for house, car, appliances, etc.

Had to estimate for health insurance cost and taxes.... hope I'm in the ballpark.

 

[Robert the Red]

1) US$50,000 to avoid worries. Mortgage will be paid off in 5 years, about the time we ER.
2) 2 of us.
3) Washington DC suburb
4) Retiring in 5 years, 3 months (I hope)

$50K is predicated on our day-to-day living expenses averaged over the last 3 years, income taxes, property taxes, and a little extra (the non-worrying part). We LBYM, but not to any kind of extreme. 10+ year old car -- but that's not really frugality, we just like it and only drive about 5000 miles per year, so it's not nearly worn out yet.

 

[Tom52]

This all makes for interesting reading but ,without including information whether or not you are paying for health care coverage, and how much that costs, it doesn't answer many questions for me.

for me it would be:

1. $70,000 including estimated $15,000 for health care insurance, no mortgage or car payment
2. 2 people
3. Chicago suburb
4. retiring in 5 years unless I get booted out earlier

 

[Khan]

1 - $25k or less
2 - 1 person, 1 cat, whole bunches of (outdoor)birds and squirrels
3 - semi - rural SW Ohio
4 - Retired near 2 .5 years

If I really had to, I could cut back to $15k or so; but I am on a pension of ~$30k.

 

[Nords]

1) $18K plus another $3K property taxes and a $23.1K mortgage. It does include $40/month TRICARE health insurance.
2) Two adults and one extremely unhappy teenager. (But she has her own job.)
3) Oahu.
4) ER'd.

Annual pension income of $36K plus the ER portfolio dividends.

http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=11335.msg206304#msg206304 minus taxes, vacations, tae kwon do, dining out, entertainment, and anything else even remotely resembling fun...

 

[aggie]

1) pre-tax income minimum floor in today's dollars (identify if this include mortgage or rent)
2) How many people will the income support (e.g. 2 people)
3) area of the country (e.g. midwest, west coast, east coast) plus if you are in a high expense are (e.g. Manhattan)
4) Status retired/working - Are you planning or have actual experience.

1. 63K inclusive of rent (16k health insurance hurts)
2. 2 folks, with a little help to kids
3. Houston
4. Dangerously close to Firing

 

[haha]

1) $34,000. No mortgage, but total maintenance of $5500 incl. new well pump.
2)1 person
3)Puget Sound
4) Retired

This represents my actual spending, not a hypothetical amount. However, before I would reduce it much I would go back to work. There just isn't much fat there.

Ha

 

[Spanky]

1. $48K, no mortgage - property tax $4,200 per year.
2. 2 adults, 2 teenagers
3. Minneapolis (Midwest)
4. Working - 4 more years?

 

[OKLibrarian]

This all makes for interesting reading but ,without including information whether or not you are paying for health care coverage, and how much that costs, it doesn't answer many questions for me.

Fair point. Part of why ours was so low is that I'll be staying at MPOW until I'm vested in my health plan and we're covered (free for me, cheap for DH) to 65. Mortgage should also be retired before we are, but I left those numbers in my calculations for extra padding.