Reply to So how do you know if you're "on track" with retirement savings?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have tried various online calculators and gotten radically different answers!

Here is our situation: does it seem like we are saving enough/not enough/too much?

DH is military and will retire in a few years as an 06, which means half-pay --roughly 60k/year-- starting at retirement; presumably he will get another job, however.
Our house is probably worth 900k and mortgage is paid off
We also own several so-called investment properties, in which total equity is probably about 300k 
We have (in addition to husband's military pension) IRAs and 401ks amounting to about $600k, in diversified (mostly indexed) mutual funds.
We have $150k in 529s for our two kids, now 9 and 11.

Right now HHI is about $300k but both kids are in private school, so we have a $60k annual tuition bill; they will probably stay in private school through HS.

So-- basically we feel very fortunate and recognize we have way more than many/most, in part due to good income right now and in part due to an inheritance from my mother-in-law a few years ago. My question is not whether we are doing well in terms of current income and so on, but rather: given our income and the fact that we will be paying two private school and then college tuitions for the next 10-15 years, should we be patting ourselves on the back and telling ourselves it's okay to stop worrying, as we are totally on track to retire with a similar standard of living in 20-25 years, when we are in our mid to late sixties? Or should we be doing more? I basically think we are in good shape-- that we should continue to contribute to 401ks at the highest level we can, but that we can relax and not fret too much about it. Thoughts? How do you know when you're on track?[/quote]

I think you are in extremely good shape.  Knowing your ages would help a bit but from what I see you have $ 1.8 in net worth and growing.   The 150K in 529 should cover most of your college costs.  Worst case scenario, you are looking at 60K educational expense for the next 15 years including kids college years.

Your DH's pension is the equivalent of having saved $1.5 M (4% of 1.5M is 60K) at the point of his retirement.  Add that into your net worth calculations.  Make sure both of you are insured well for the next 15 years.

Fidelity has a good formula to compare yourself against - The say you should have saved 3 times your salary by 47, 5 times by 55 and 8 times by 67 when you retire.  I've read other advice that talks about savings targets of (salary * age/10).  I'd use the combined salary * oldest person's age.  Double this amount and you are considered an aggressive saver.  Check out the Fidelity website and the Millionaire Next door book.

Relax.[/quote]

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