Two Million Dollar 401ks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everything is so much more expensive now. For example, food price has doubled since the pandemic. Your one million dollar at retirement translates only to $40k per year, which isn't much as you can imagine.

Doubled? In 4 years? Definitely gone up a lot but let's not go crazy here. Got a gallon of milk yesterday for $3 and 12 eggs for $1.50.

And you need to hit a retirement calculator before you say $1 million is $40k/year. The money will grow, of course.

Funny you only picked the cheapest milk and eggs. I know it has doubled for me because I rarely spent more than $100 each week at Costco before pandemic. Now I rarely spend less than $200 with the same type of stuff. For example, a pack of 40 bottles of water was $3 pre-pandemic and is now $7.39.

No one who is buying 40 bottles of water each month can complain about food costs. Just pure idiocy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everything is so much more expensive now. For example, food price has doubled since the pandemic. Your one million dollar at retirement translates only to $40k per year, which isn't much as you can imagine.

Doubled? In 4 years? Definitely gone up a lot but let's not go crazy here. Got a gallon of milk yesterday for $3 and 12 eggs for $1.50.

And you need to hit a retirement calculator before you say $1 million is $40k/year. The money will grow, of course.

Funny you only picked the cheapest milk and eggs. I know it has doubled for me because I rarely spent more than $100 each week at Costco before pandemic. Now I rarely spend less than $200 with the same type of stuff. For example, a pack of 40 bottles of water was $3 pre-pandemic and is now $7.39.

Okay let's both stop anecdotes and see what the actual data shows.

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/food-inflation-in-the-united-states/

2020 food inflation : 3.4%
2021: 3.9%
2022: 9.9%
2023: 5.8%

Compounded that's a 25% increase over 4 years. It's certainly very high. But not remotely close to double.

You don't really know how the numbers were obtained and processed/weighted. So I won't say the BLS inflation number is representitative of our daily lives. The bottom line is my experience isn't an anecdote. It's the same to pretty much all the people I know.

Good grief. Your experience is the very definition of an anecdote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everything is so much more expensive now. For example, food price has doubled since the pandemic. Your one million dollar at retirement translates only to $40k per year, which isn't much as you can imagine.

Doubled? In 4 years? Definitely gone up a lot but let's not go crazy here. Got a gallon of milk yesterday for $3 and 12 eggs for $1.50.

And you need to hit a retirement calculator before you say $1 million is $40k/year. The money will grow, of course.

Funny you only picked the cheapest milk and eggs. I know it has doubled for me because I rarely spent more than $100 each week at Costco before pandemic. Now I rarely spend less than $200 with the same type of stuff. For example, a pack of 40 bottles of water was $3 pre-pandemic and is now $7.39.

Okay let's both stop anecdotes and see what the actual data shows.

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/food-inflation-in-the-united-states/

2020 food inflation : 3.4%
2021: 3.9%
2022: 9.9%
2023: 5.8%

Compounded that's a 25% increase over 4 years. It's certainly very high. But not remotely close to double.

You don't really know how the numbers were obtained and processed/weighted. So I won't say the BLS inflation number is representitative of our daily lives. The bottom line is my experience isn't an anecdote. It's the same to pretty much all the people I know.

Good grief. Your experience is the very definition of an anecdote.

Superb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found a calculator online that allows you to play around with different scenarios both in terms of investment growth/performance over a time period and then stage in withdrawals to weigh resulting RMDs/tax implications, considering that you may have available the 401k and regular brokerage to fund retirement prior to RMDs kick in?

In addition to what a PP mentioned, ProjectionLab can also do a bunch of this. It's got a pretty nice UI too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everything is so much more expensive now. For example, food price has doubled since the pandemic. Your one million dollar at retirement translates only to $40k per year, which isn't much as you can imagine.

Doubled? In 4 years? Definitely gone up a lot but let's not go crazy here. Got a gallon of milk yesterday for $3 and 12 eggs for $1.50.

And you need to hit a retirement calculator before you say $1 million is $40k/year. The money will grow, of course.

No, this is accurate. The rule is that you can withdraw 4% of principle. So that is 40K the first year. True hopefully a little more each year after, but not a lot. The best estimate on 1M is 40K per year for the first ten years of retirement.

You’d be crazy to use 4% rule if you don’t have pension. 3% max or lower.

Wait do you all think you are gonna live past 95?

Also I assume social security will not be as generous when I retire (probably around 20 years from now?), but it won't be zero.

Not an unreasonable assumption for me given my family history. I am a healthy woman and the women in my family back at least 3 generations have made it to their 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Because we have a family of four and don't drink tap water.

If you are buying bottled water because you think it's somehow healthier, you are being swindled. The plastic residue that you ingest from the bottles (you know that plastic taste the water has) and the fact that bottled water is completely unregulated and is likely filled at the tap and then given a price tag of $1 per bottle for something you could be getting for free, not to mention the environment that you will be leaving for your kids... This baffles me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone found a calculator online that allows you to play around with different scenarios both in terms of investment growth/performance over a time period and then stage in withdrawals to weigh resulting RMDs/tax implications, considering that you may have available the 401k and regular brokerage to fund retirement prior to RMDs kick in?

Cfiresim is my favorite calculator.

Firecalc is similar— not quite as easy to use but might be worth checking if cfiresim doesn’t have the capabilities you are looking for.

Or if you really want to dig in you could look at pralana— they have both a free and paid version.

I love firecalc. But I like to really get in the weeds. FWIW, I get the same output with Cfiresim as Firecalc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everything is so much more expensive now. For example, food price has doubled since the pandemic. Your one million dollar at retirement translates only to $40k per year, which isn't much as you can imagine.

Doubled? In 4 years? Definitely gone up a lot but let's not go crazy here. Got a gallon of milk yesterday for $3 and 12 eggs for $1.50.

And you need to hit a retirement calculator before you say $1 million is $40k/year. The money will grow, of course.

July 2021 I paid $.44/doz eggs at Aldi.