I put down 50-55, but I'll definitely take an early out if I can swing it! I figured it's better to be a bit conservative and be pleasantly surprised than to go aggressive and then get disappointed when I have to work a few more years.
Anyway, here's where I currently stand. I'm 35, divorced, no kids, no alimony. Not exactly rolling in money when it comes to my job...I only make about $50K per year. But I'm in a house that's paid for and has been in the family forever. I'm 1/3 owner in it (with my grandmother and uncle being the other two...joint tenancy with right of survivorship or something like that), although I did take out a $100K HELOC on it. Most of that money right now is sitting in a money market account for easy access with some project I'm planning on, such as building a garage, renovations to the house, and the possibility of acquiring a parcel of land adjacent to me. Other than the HELOC, no debt. Car's paid for, no credit card bills, etc.
Right now, I have about 332K total saved up. About $77K of that is in 401k's and a Roth. $145K is in mutual funds and a Scottrade account. The remaining $110K is scattered between my money market account, checking account, a bunch of old savings bonds that my Mom bought when I was little that are now gradually hitting the 30 year mark, and an I-bond I just bought.
I'm putting around $1200 per month into my 401k (my contribution + the company match), plus another $1300 into mutual funds. When I can, I try to pad the Scottrade account a bit more and play some there, too. Plus I'm trying to contribute the max to my Roth.
So, hopefully by the time I hit 50, I'll be more than set. I'm also trying not to factor in inheritances either down the road, because there's always the possibility that something major could come up. I'm an only child, so I don't have any brothers or sisters to fight over when inheritance time comes, and on Mom's side I'm the only grandkid (my uncle never had any kids...that we know of, at least!
) so ultimately it'll all channel down to me. But still, I'd rather have Grandma, my Mom, and my uncle (and yeah, even my stepdad :
than the money. And anything can happen, such as a sickness, lawsuit, or whatever, that could drain resources very quickly.
Besides, when I'm 50, most likely my parents and my uncle will still be alive. Heck, even Grandma might still be kicking. She'd be 96 by then, but she's healthy enough that she might still have a few good years left in her.
Probably the biggest thing I could see happening, financially, is when she does finally pass away. We'll have her house to deal with, and possibly sell, and at that point, depending on how badly the developers are breathing down our neck, we might want to sell the one I'm in, too. They're both right across the street from each other, and combined they cover 5 1/2 acres. So there might be enough profit there to just move someplace cheaper and retire early.