I have friends living large on social security plus a little down in Argentina and Colombia and I have friends barely getting by in ny suburbs on 5-10 million portfolios. It depends on what you need to spend to make you happy.

Most people don’t even net that amount while they are working PP. I don’t.

Anonymous wrote:To all the high rollers I actually factored that in

Assumption I am making, house is paid off, kids/college done with. Those are your 2 biggest expenses

I struggle to imagine how typical living expenses are going to be over 5k a month. That leaves you 40k to live like a baller for 3 months a year or alternatively to bump up your living expenses per month. Also remember once you hit say 80 living expenses really start taking a nose dive and you won't be doing that baller stuff anymore either.

From an actual retired person: budget $10,000 a year on property tax and insurance (double that if you live in NOVA). Increase that significantly for flood and wind insurance if you live anywhere near the coast. Car insurance and taxes are another $3,000 (again, more than that if you live in NOVA). $12,000 for electricity/gas/phones/water/sewer/wifi/etc. Medical/dental insurance and copays are another $10,000 (more if you're not eligible for Medicare). Plus vet bills, boat insurance, house maintenance -- easily add another $5,000 (or more, if say, your HVAC unit conks out). Budget $5,000 for groceries, and another $5,000 if you want to eat or order out twice a week.

We're at $50,000, and there are entire categories of stuff we haven't addressed -- We do all of our own yard work, but you could easily add another $5,000 a year for that (or, in the alternative, condo/homeowner's association fees). Pool maintenance? House cleaning services? Are you ever going to buy a new car, improve your house, buy new clothes, buy a new phone/computer, buy gifts for your family, make charitable contributions, put $$ in a 529 for your grandchildren? What are you going to do with your time? How about greens fees/country club dues/boat slip fees, and, of course, the big ticket item, travel?

At 80, you're going to need to outsource more -- that yard maintenance becomes essential -- or go into a retirement/nursing home that is substantially more expensive. Heaven forbid you get dementia and need incredibly expensive memory care facilities.

Sure, it is possible to spend less than this. If you already spend less than this when you're working, then it could work great. However, do not fool yourself into thinking that you're going to drop your spending (not income, spending) dramatically in retirement and be happy. Why would I want to quit a job that I enjoyed to sit around in a house and think about how I'd really love to go play golf, or go out to dinner, or send a nice gift to my grandchild, but I can't afford to? Think carefully about how you were living during the COVID shut down, because that could be the rest of your life on a limited budget. But it would be even worse, because it would all be out there and available, but just not for you.

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.

I'm sorry, but that's not real life if one needs $25k/month just to breathe, with a tube down the throat and mind gone. My former coworkers' family kept their 96 y/o aunt with emphysema stuck in bed for years with an oxygen tank. She was lucid and would beg them to let her go.

To all the high rollers I actually factored that in

Assumption I am making, house is paid off, kids/college done with. Those are your 2 biggest expenses

I struggle to imagine how typical living expenses are going to be over 5k a month. That leaves you 40k to live like a baller for 3 months a year or alternatively to bump up your living expenses per month. Also remember once you hit say 80 living expenses really start taking a nose dive and you won't be doing that baller stuff anymore either.

My parents both have dementia and are aging in their home. The cost to have twenty four seven in home care for two people is 170k per year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Do you want your kids to care for you? I don't want to put that burden on my child. Hence the savings.

NP here and I agree with you about not wanting to over burden my children, but surely you understand that 35k a month is luxury care. My father in law and mother both required expensive care at end of life and it was nowhere near 35k. Yes, recently and yes in HCOL areas. Folks need to plan for these expenses, but posts like this tend to discourage saving behavior as they are completely unobtainable for the vast majority of people.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Do you want your kids to care for you? I don't want to put that burden on my child. Hence the savings.

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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?

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

Well, there's 0 state tax occasionally, often made up by higher sales or income taxes in places, but of course there's still federal which is the far bigger tax issue.

The best states for retirees have special rules for retirement income & property tax for seniors. States like Texas, with zero income tax for everyone, but high property taxes, are not good for retirees. However, a state that, for example, does not tax pensions, waives state property tax for seniors and has very low property tax, would be really good. You need to read the fine print.

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.

You do realize there are other people in the DC area that wealthy and highly educated people, right? There are blue collar workers too. I’m a teacher and at 45, I have maybe $50K in a 403b and maybe $30K in a pension. Anyone else want to chime in who isn’t making over $100K per year?

So what’s your plan?you have a pension?

Yes. I have a pension. I mentioned it in my response. My plan is to keep increasing what I put in my 403b. That’s my plan.

Thailand and Malaysia come to mind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is depressing. Now I am convinced I will have to move abroad to live a happy retirement. Ecuador, here I come!

+100000%


I plan on moving abroad. American healthcare is horrendous. People need to stop being scared. The US is horrendously overpriced for retirement. No need to be scared or let a language barrier get in the way. In many parts of the world SS alone will be enough to live off of, then when you add in your reitment savings you'll have plenty to live off of.

Where, exactly? Please share.

Asia. A lot of options. Some with better health care system than US.

What countries, specifically? And can you just move to those countries without being a citizen? And how many years do you have to live there to own property? It sounds easy, but I don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be. I could be wrong, though! Please help us understand! Our neighbors moved to portugal for retirement - I ran into the husband recently, and they have to come back time to time to keep their visas valid. In this case, he had to do a crazy flight through europe back to the U.S. (due to covid travel restrictions). Doesn't sound like a nice, peaceful retirement scenario at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am blessed to have a husband who convinced me to be a big saver as soon as we got married. He set a retirement goal that at a 4% return would generate income equal to our normal household income so that life would go on as usual. Well we exceeded that goal! The message is start saving when you are young and invest wisely. The benefits of compounding are enormous.

At the start did you project what your household income would be just before retirement (i.e. 35 years later)?

No, I think he started with a gross retirement target and 4% and then over time he would update it. As I said we well exceeded it but it gave him a target. We actually spend a lot more in retirement then we did when we were working which is not the normal planning approach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is depressing. Now I am convinced I will have to move abroad to live a happy retirement. Ecuador, here I come!

+100000%


I plan on moving abroad. American healthcare is horrendous. People need to stop being scared. The US is horrendously overpriced for retirement. No need to be scared or let a language barrier get in the way. In many parts of the world SS alone will be enough to live off of, then when you add in your reitment savings you'll have plenty to live off of.

Where, exactly? Please share.

Asia. A lot of options. Some with better health care system than US.

If the US dollar stops being the reserve currency of the world, we are effed trying to live abroad.