$93k HHI
Own brick rambler, inside the beltway Silver Spring
$2200/month
90% mortgage
$310k

That is not the norm. On a small salary most do not have large amounts in 401k or houses paid off. Ss will be a life saver for me

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who asked, those of us who are living on less than 100K per year don't need to save as much for retirement in the first place.

My house will be paid off, I have a pension, I save 15% of my income, and will keep my health insurance.

+1. People who make hundreds of thousands a year seem so out of touch that they don't understand how those of us on sub $100k salaries can survive. But we do and many of us live very well at that level. So of course once we retire and no longer have mortgages or kid related expenses we will continue to be able to live on what you may think are small amounts but for us are plenty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

My company (where I have worked for 15 years) makes a 7.5% non-elective contribution to my 401k annually. We also have considerable savings/investments from my spouse's former job before becoming a SAHP. So no, we're not relying on SS.

We make $125k HHI. I have a retirement plan at work (401k) with employer matching, which I make full use of. DH and I also have about $300k in IRA accounts we rolled over years ago when leaving prior jobs. The funds took a beating during the last decade's recession, but they are coming back now. DH and I plan to work for at least another 15 years, so I'm hoping we accumulate more of a nest egg between now and then. Still in the process of putting kids through college at the moment, so we'll see.

125k is not less than 100k so I am bored. I know you couldn't resist chiming in but zzzzzzzz. If it said 50k then I would be interested in your comments.

And to the pp that asked, why do you assume that people plan to retire? If you can barely afford today, are you really thinking about 30 years from now when you may or may not be on this earth? That is why the pp I quoted is a bore, same old same old yadda yadda.

Sorry, but I don't understand you. Are you saying that "poor" folk don't care about saving for retirement?

To the PP who asked, those of us who are living on less than 100K per year don't need to save as much for retirement in the first place.

My house will be paid off, I have a pension, I save 15% of my income, and will keep my health insurance.

Near Reston, VA
Rent
$95K
Rent is $1900/mo

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

We currently have about 400k saved for retirement and an overall network of $1m plus. Max 401k every year. I think we'll retire pretty happy. Our expenses are low.

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

We aren't living off of less than $100k yet, but will be as of next month when I become a SAHM. We have a decent amount saved for retirement, and should be able to continue to contribute 10-12% of DH's salary to his TSP, not counting the employer match. So we do plan to have plenty of other income beyond SS for retirement. We are not planning on being able to make enormous contributions to our children's college educations, at least not based on this salary, although eventually I will go back to work and I hope that will allow us to make a more substantial contribution than we can count on right now. A lot depends on how many kids we end up having.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

My company (where I have worked for 15 years) makes a 7.5% non-elective contribution to my 401k annually. We also have considerable savings/investments from my spouse's former job before becoming a SAHP. So no, we're not relying on SS.

We make $125k HHI. I have a retirement plan at work (401k) with employer matching, which I make full use of. DH and I also have about $300k in IRA accounts we rolled over years ago when leaving prior jobs. The funds took a beating during the last decade's recession, but they are coming back now. DH and I plan to work for at least another 15 years, so I'm hoping we accumulate more of a nest egg between now and then. Still in the process of putting kids through college at the moment, so we'll see.

125k is not less than 100k so I am bored. I know you couldn't resist chiming in but zzzzzzzz. If it said 50k then I would be interested in your comments.

And to the pp that asked, why do you assume that people plan to retire? If you can barely afford today, are you really thinking about 30 years from now when you may or may not be on this earth? That is why the pp I quoted is a bore, same old same old yadda yadda.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

My company (where I have worked for 15 years) makes a 7.5% non-elective contribution to my 401k annually. We also have considerable savings/investments from my spouse's former job before becoming a SAHP. So no, we're not relying on SS.

We make $125k HHI. I have a retirement plan at work (401k) with employer matching, which I make full use of. DH and I also have about $300k in IRA accounts we rolled over years ago when leaving prior jobs. The funds took a beating during the last decade's recession, but they are coming back now. DH and I plan to work for at least another 15 years, so I'm hoping we accumulate more of a nest egg between now and then. Still in the process of putting kids through college at the moment, so we'll see.

Oops. Meant 17:27 on previous post!

Poster 12:27 here. We are saving as if SS won't be around. I'll have a pension though, plus we already have over $300K in retirement, a nice "house" pension, plus 6 figure investments. In early 40's, so will work for at least another 20 years. It did help the wife was an attorney before I married her and brought $ into the marriage (all self-made, no family money).

Anonymous wrote:My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

My company (where I have worked for 15 years) makes a 7.5% non-elective contribution to my 401k annually. We also have considerable savings/investments from my spouse's former job before becoming a SAHP. So no, we're not relying on SS.

My question to those of you making less than 100K - are you planning to live off anything but SS in retirement? I can't see how you can amass enough money to throw off retirement income.

Anonymous wrote:$100K Single Income (just recently hit this number) - Spouse SAHM
Own - $375K Mortgage on a $750K house (Mclean) - Mortgage $2550

One elementary age kid involved in lots of activities (which adds up), 2-3 vacations a year (family timeshare), saving for retirement -- so its tight, but doable.

Essentially the same, except Arlington and 2 kids. Agree, tight but doable. Hilarious to read about people making double that who are "just squeezing by..." Right, because you're spending that 200K like you are Oprah. Of course you feel squeezed.