Reply to Middle-class, reasonable, not extravagant retirement plans

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is NOT the thread for people who can afford to max out their 401k every year without much sacrifice because they have an HHI of 300-400k, or who have family money, or who have a million dollars in equity in their huge houses.

This is a thread for middle class people who are far from poor but who must make hard choices between retirement savings and stuff like childcare expenses or college savings. Who probably have some home equity but also might retire in those homes so aren't necessarily cashing in for a big payday. You might have a pension from teaching or the military but it's like 3-4k a month, not 10k.

What are your normal person retirement plans? What are the best choices you feel you've made in this respect? Any regrets? What worries you most? Are you moving to a lower COL area or hoping to retire in your home once it's paid off? Does social security factor into your plans? How do you plan for end-of-life care? 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?

I'm just curious about how the not-rich people on these boards think about this issue.[/quote]

I don’t know if we qualify, but our AGI has never been above $200k, although we are finally nearing it.  It was just over $100k when our children were born 25 years ago.  We “maxed” 401k to the max our employers would allow, but never the max allowed by the IRS.  I will have a very small pension of around $700 a month. We saved so that SS would be helpful but not necessary. We have paid off the house. I am already retired and DH is scheduled for next year.  He will be 63 and a half (he likes his job so he may extend that). That way we can do COBRA until he is 65. I will be on the ACA for about three years after that.

We plan on retiring to a somewhat less expensive area in New England.  Housing is less but the property tax rates are higher so we plan on buying a house that costs less but the property tax will be about the same.  It looks like we have over saved. We will travel and probably help our children with a down payment.  At this point, grandchildren are somewhat unlikely, but things can change.  We plan on self funding end of life care. It would just mean that our children would get a smaller inheritance. [/quote]

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