Anonymous wrote:People keep forgetting 401k withdraws are taxable. And they won’t grow in future like in the past.

I have 401ks from my youth I barely put much into. But it was DOW 2700 and it has gone up 10x. I put a lot more in it today but I would need the DOW to go to 270,000 to equal a 10x return.

LOL. Dow is a price weighted average. Companies don't split stock like they used to, hence the Dow stays quite hogh these days. Not really a useful metric since it doesn't look at market cap, which is what really matters.

OP, to put into perspective for you:

We plan on retiring when I'm 56, DH will be 61. So no social security for at least a year or more.

The biggest consideration is health care costs. I haven't read the entire thread, but private insurance is *super* expensive. We have it now. This will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest expense in retirement prior to medicare kicking in for us.

We plan on retiring with about $2.4 million. I would prefer $2.5, but in reality, it might end up being $2.3.

We plan on have a gross income of $120 to $140K. We also plan on converting our VUL insurance to long term care insurance.

We met with a financial advisor who said this was doable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH is early 40s and has 350k, I'm mid 30s and have 500k. I feel we are a bit behind...

Depends who you are comparing yourself to. You're well on your way to have a comfortable retirement. Now, compared to the top .01% of DCUM, you're WAAAAAY behind. ~

Yea I suppose you're right. DH and I will also get govt pension - him more than me since I only have 10 yrs banked before getting a non fed job.

Anonymous wrote:DH is early 40s and has 350k, I'm mid 30s and have 500k. I feel we are a bit behind...

Depends who you are comparing yourself to. You're well on your way to have a comfortable retirement. Now, compared to the top .01% of DCUM, you're WAAAAAY behind. ~

DH is early 40s and has 350k, I'm mid 30s and have 500k. I feel we are a bit behind...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to think about long term care. These unexpected expenses can wipe you out. Don't rely on Medicaid because you could end up in a horrible facility.

This a hundred times over. My MIL's expenses are 10K a month. My fathers are 25K. DH and I are trying to save a million dollars just to be used for this when our time comes. Not even sure that will be enough but that is the best we can do.

Too bad your in-laws don’t have kids help out.

We are in early 40s and have 750k in 401k/IRAs. We max 401k contribution, but only have a single earner (125k HHI). We also just started maxing an HSA last year so we will also, hopefully, have that to draw on for healthcare needs in retirement.

Clearly we don't have as much money as other posters, but I think we are on track. Our house will be paid off in about 10 years and we don't have any other debt. We have 1 elem-aged kid and have saved about 50k so far in 529. We have about 100k in liquid savings.

People keep forgetting 401k withdraws are taxable. And they won’t grow in future like in the past.

I have 401ks from my youth I barely put much into. But it was DOW 2700 and it has gone up 10x. I put a lot more in it today but I would need the DOW to go to 270,000 to equal a 10x return.

Anonymous wrote:we have ~1M in 401k, 100k in roth, but own 3 homes and will not need the equity from our primary home (probably will have 1M in equity) to buy our retirement home so all those profits will be pocketed.

We are 43, but do not plan on working past 59, but won't take social security until age 67, but we both have been working non stop since age 23 so we will both get full benefits, assuming nothing stops us in our tracks.

Your DH has been holding the bag for many years. I'd take his lead on this one.

Wow, how do you own 3 homes? Some inheritance?

If you are planning for retirement, it's NOT a good idea to depend on SS.

We got started late in the game for a variety of reasons but it is what it is. We are early 40s and have the following breakdown:

- $300k in liquid accounts
- $300k in retirement accts
- $100k in college savings (have 3 kids) so far

Based on excel modeling, we'll be at ~$1-2m by age 60.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel that DCUM oversaves

I don't get why people need over 100k in retirement. For most people SS almost gets you halfway there. And SS isn't going away, the age might go up and benefits might slightly decrease but most people should be expecting at least 2500 a month if they are working

Main point being 1-3 million retirement account fund at age 60-65 is plenty.

Some realistic benchmarks 1 million at 55

500k at 45

250k at 35

Is that per person or per household?

household assumes two people are working for SS benefit. If it's just one person working one SS benefit than bump the numbers up by around 25-33%

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb question. On dcum, it turns into a pissing match and everyone on here seems to have $1+ million by late 20s/30s, which is an absolute farce.

Median numbers are easily searchable. Your avg American has way less than $200k by their 40s.

Not in this area. OP will struggle with what she has.

Except you'd have to be a moron to stay in this area during retirement.

Why? If your house is already paid for when you retire, your housing expense will be limited to taxes + utilities. Not much different than anywhere else, considering there are many parts of the country with property tax rates higher than DC metro. Most retirees aren't heading out to the pricey trendy bars and restaurants. If you can afford it, DC is a great place to be a retiree - tons of free cultural activities that you can take advantage of when you have time on your hands.

There are states where there are 0% taxes on retirement account withdrawals or 0% income taxes. Plus done states have other perks like reduced property taxes, lower rates for insurance on basically everything, and much lower cost of living overall. Paying 0% income tax on 401k income is huge amounts of money to consider. It isn't worth it at all to stay in this region in retirement to pay 3x sticker price on everything just to have access to amenities and a job market you no longer need.

Where is that?

Here you go: https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/retirement/t054-s001-taxes-in-retirement-how-all-50-states-tax-retirees/index.html

Anonymous wrote:I always feel that DCUM oversaves

I don't get why people need over 100k in retirement. For most people SS almost gets you halfway there. And SS isn't going away, the age might go up and benefits might slightly decrease but most people should be expecting at least 2500 a month if they are working

Main point being 1-3 million retirement account fund at age 60-65 is plenty.

Some realistic benchmarks 1 million at 55

500k at 45

250k at 35

Is that per person or per household?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb question. On dcum, it turns into a pissing match and everyone on here seems to have $1+ million by late 20s/30s, which is an absolute farce.

Median numbers are easily searchable. Your avg American has way less than $200k by their 40s.

Not in this area. OP will struggle with what she has.

Except you'd have to be a moron to stay in this area during retirement.

Why? If your house is already paid for when you retire, your housing expense will be limited to taxes + utilities. Not much different than anywhere else, considering there are many parts of the country with property tax rates higher than DC metro. Most retirees aren't heading out to the pricey trendy bars and restaurants. If you can afford it, DC is a great place to be a retiree - tons of free cultural activities that you can take advantage of when you have time on your hands.

There are states where there are 0% taxes on retirement account withdrawals or 0% income taxes. Plus done states have other perks like reduced property taxes, lower rates for insurance on basically everything, and much lower cost of living overall. Paying 0% income tax on 401k income is huge amounts of money to consider. It isn't worth it at all to stay in this region in retirement to pay 3x sticker price on everything just to have access to amenities and a job market you no longer need.

Where is that?

Anonymous wrote:You need to think about long term care. These unexpected expenses can wipe you out. Don't rely on Medicaid because you could end up in a horrible facility.

This a hundred times over. My MIL's expenses are 10K a month. My fathers are 25K. DH and I are trying to save a million dollars just to be used for this when our time comes. Not even sure that will be enough but that is the best we can do.