Middle-class, reasonable, not extravagant retirement plans

[Anonymous]

I didn’t make $300k and maxed out my 401k. There’s a lot I didn’t do in order to save that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going to retire at 70 - DH and I both have cerebral jobs. We are going to sell our house and move in with our son - he and his wife have an inlaw apartment that is a perfect size for what DH and I want in an older stage of life. Their house is in a great area with tons to do, good hospitals and we are active people who hopefully won't have mobility issues. Our two DD's live ten minutes and a half hour from DS so we'll be pretty close to all the kids.

You. Are. Nightmare. Parents.

Not to mention in-laws from hell. What a burden to have to carry.

[Anonymous]

What are your normal person retirement plans?

Do mean what we will do in retirement? I’ll be focusing on a new type of fun work in retirement and traveling.

What are the best choices you feel you've made in this respect?
-Maxing out the 401k.
-Buying a house I can pay off early.
-Revising mortgage from 30 yr to 15.
-Living way below my means
-Starting 529 the week kids were born

Any regrets?
Regrets, I have a few.

What worries you most?
I worry we won’t have enough. A health situation negatively impacted my earnings for many years.

Are you moving to a lower COL area or hoping to retire in your home once it's paid off?
We will pay off house in 2024. We don’t have plans to move or sell the house yet.

Does social security factor into your plans?
No. I do not count it. I use FireCalc to estimate.

How do you plan for end-of-life care?
If I end up with a horrible disease, I will apply to go abroad to be sent on my way with lethal drugs.

Will you have enough to do some of your bucket list retirement goals, like travel or being able to help pay for grandkids to go to college?
Yes to travel. Probably for college.

[Anonymous]

We are going to sell our house here and downsize to a much smaller place in a low COL area. I’m not going to be bothered if I have to “downgrade” my current lifestyle. I’m imagining a 2 BR in a quiet town not too far from wherever my kids settle down - 1-2 hrs away perhaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t make $300k and maxed out my 401k. There’s a lot I didn’t do in order to save that much.

What did you make?

Our HHI is 130k. We do not max out our 401k and I think the only way to do so would be to not have kids. As it is we only had one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are your normal person retirement plans?

Do mean what we will do in retirement? I’ll be focusing on a new type of fun work in retirement and traveling.

What are the best choices you feel you've made in this respect?
-Maxing out the 401k.
-Buying a house I can pay off early.
-Revising mortgage from 30 yr to 15.
-Living way below my means
-Starting 529 the week kids were born

Any regrets?
Regrets, I have a few.

What worries you most?
I worry we won’t have enough. A health situation negatively impacted my earnings for many years.

Are you moving to a lower COL area or hoping to retire in your home once it's paid off?
We will pay off house in 2024. We don’t have plans to move or sell the house yet.

Does social security factor into your plans?
No. I do not count it. I use FireCalc to estimate.

How do you plan for end-of-life care?
If I end up with a horrible disease, I will apply to go abroad to be sent on my way with lethal drugs.

Will you have enough to do some of your bucket list retirement goals, like travel or being able to help pay for grandkids to go to college?
Yes to travel. Probably for college.

How old are you and what is your planned age of retirement?

[Anonymous]

I am planning to rent my house and downsize to a tiny house. It's just me, and I realize more and more how little space I need.

I retire in 11.5 years, and I foresee tiny house catching on more by then. Housing is simply too expensive so something will have to give.

[Anonymous]

People in this position should prioritize retirement savings to provide for whatever they consider to be a secure and sufficient retirement. That may mean children need to pay their own way through college, or not. Some middle class parents have the financial discipline and acumen to save sufficiently for both their own retirements and for some or all college expenses for their kids. With respect to that, having fewer children reduces higher education expenses, as does guiding children towards in-state public universities.

In addition to a lifestyle which enables robust pre-retirement savings even on a middle-class income, it is necessary to plan for controlled retirement expenses. That may mean lifestyle adjustments and/or relocation.

Funding retirement for middle class people is no different than it is for those with more or less money - expenses just have to be less than income, whether that income is derived from investments, savings, pensions, social security, annuities, deferred compensation, or part-time employment. If income is insufficient, reduce expenses or increase income. No magic there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t make $300k and maxed out my 401k. There’s a lot I didn’t do in order to save that much.

What did you make?

Our HHI is 130k. We do not max out our 401k and I think the only way to do so would be to not have kids. As it is we only had one.

NP, I’ve been maxing out my 401k since I was 22 making 55k/yr. This has always been built into my expanses and money I’ve never had to spend so kids and daycare was irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

My spouses military pension is under $1K a month. We'd be doing great on your numbers. Real middle class aren't saving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If current house mortgage is not paid off by retirement, we’ll downsize to a cheaper house we can afford to pay full or pay minimally monthly. The key is to be as debt free as possible upon retirement.

We will always prioritize our retirement savings. We only have one child, but she’s free in her tuition because my husband works at a university. If you want to save for your kids college, do it early as you can. Don’t sacrifice your retirement whatever you do. It’s up to how much you can contribute to their college savings without sacrificing to a point you can’t enjoy anymore. You gotta have some fun while raising kids.

If you have a pension, you’re already ahead than others. Pensions are rare nowadays. Contribute to your 401k company’s match as much as you can afford. Nothing can beat a match from your company (free money).

If you have pension, plus decent 401k, and social security, and practically debt free by retirement, then I think you have a decent golden years. Your health longevity and expectancy plays a big role.

All the financial advisors we talked to or advice we read say we need 80% of our current income to maintain our current lifestyle. If not, then we have to lower down.

There’s not one size fits all. Every household is different. But those are the general guidelines we have.

What happens if your husband loses his job / your kid doesn't get into the university?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t make $300k and maxed out my 401k. There’s a lot I didn’t do in order to save that much.

What did you make?

Our HHI is 130k. We do not max out our 401k and I think the only way to do so would be to not have kids. As it is we only had one.

NP, I’ve been maxing out my 401k since I was 22 making 55k/yr. This has always been built into my expanses and money I’ve never had to spend so kids and daycare was irrelevant.

When was this? I graduated from college in 2003 and didn't make anything close to 55k/yr. I think my first salary was about 32k a year and that was considered pretty good, plus I was fortunate to have no college loans (in state school plus scholarship). I remember when I made the jump to 65k around 30 that was a big deal and changed how I could save, especially once I moved in with my fiancé and we could share living expenses. In my 20s, I lived in group housing and didn't go out a ton, but after rent and food, the very most I was going to be able to put away was maybe 8k a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going to retire at 70 - DH and I both have cerebral jobs. We are going to sell our house and move in with our son - he and his wife have an inlaw apartment that is a perfect size for what DH and I want in an older stage of life. Their house is in a great area with tons to do, good hospitals and we are active people who hopefully won't have mobility issues. Our two DD's live ten minutes and a half hour from DS so we'll be pretty close to all the kids.

Gosh sounds enmeshed. Anyone else have tips without mental health baggage?

Not sure why you think that. We'll have our own entrance, and own kitchen and living space. It's like an apartment that's attached to his house. We get along very nicely with all our kids and we all enjoy spending time together. Dh and I have couple friends and our own friends. We each volunteer and have hobbies. We'll have plenty of time for all that plus for our kids. Right now they rent out the apartment. When we are a year or six months away from moving in, they're going to do some upgrades.

I’m so curious to know how the DIL feels about this and whose idea this was! This is super crazy close, I can’t imagine doing this to my kids. Do you not think about their marriage or privacy?

She and DS both suggested it to us. She seemed enthusiastic. She's mentioned it several times since in a positive way. I am not "doing this to my kids." My kids OFFERED this to DH and I. We will have as much privacy as we all want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t make $300k and maxed out my 401k. There’s a lot I didn’t do in order to save that much.

What did you make?

Our HHI is 130k. We do not max out our 401k and I think the only way to do so would be to not have kids. As it is we only had one.

At that time, I earned 90 - 100k and maybe 150k HHI. We paid 10k / year for private school.

We will have zero pensions, so we felt we had to live close to bone and save all we could. In a past job, the business was too small to have a 401k and I didn’t get health insurance either. That’s all to explain why I felt an urgent need to save such a large percentage of my income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going to retire at 70 - DH and I both have cerebral jobs. We are going to sell our house and move in with our son - he and his wife have an inlaw apartment that is a perfect size for what DH and I want in an older stage of life. Their house is in a great area with tons to do, good hospitals and we are active people who hopefully won't have mobility issues. Our two DD's live ten minutes and a half hour from DS so we'll be pretty close to all the kids.

Gosh sounds enmeshed. Anyone else have tips without mental health baggage?

Not sure why you think that. We'll have our own entrance, and own kitchen and living space. It's like an apartment that's attached to his house. We get along very nicely with all our kids and we all enjoy spending time together. Dh and I have couple friends and our own friends. We each volunteer and have hobbies. We'll have plenty of time for all that plus for our kids. Right now they rent out the apartment. When we are a year or six months away from moving in, they're going to do some upgrades.

I’m so curious to know how the DIL feels about this and whose idea this was! This is super crazy close, I can’t imagine doing this to my kids. Do you not think about their marriage or privacy?

She and DS both suggested it to us. She seemed enthusiastic. She's mentioned it several times since in a positive way. I am not "doing this to my kids." My kids OFFERED this to DH and I. We will have as much privacy as we all want.

I’m sorry people here are being so annoying. Geez. People are spending more time trashing you than answering the questions!