Retirees whatcha living on?..........

[warmer]

Our goal is 80%. Still have 7 years to work. Right now we are at 70%, if we both pulled the plug today.

 

[MarvB]

I think a lot for us also came through the realization of where we were living. I wrapped up my career down in Cali but moved back to Oregon upon retiring. Instant savings in soooo many aspects (Compared to the "Golden" state - sales tax went from almost 8% to zero, home insurance dropped 60%, vehicle registration dropped 80%, vehicle insurance nearly 50%, gasoline dropped $0.50+ a gallon, tags & license dropped about 25% PLUS species/tags were added, etc. etc.

Depending on where you're living that dollar can stretch quite a bit more just by playing with equity. Again, good luck to you and the last thing I'll say is retirement is the best job I've ever had!

 

[BigHornRam]

No debt and wife is tighter than the bark on a tree. Don't think it will take much income to survive on until health issues start popping up.

 

[Nick87]

2 IRA's 4% "
6. 401k 4% "

Not directed directly at buzz, but is that pretty standard ?

 

[BuzzH]

Not directed directly at buzz, but is that pretty standard ?

It is standard and I think that's very, very conservative depending on how you invest.

I personally think withdrawing 5-6%, wouldn't be unreasonable depending on individual circumstances. (how you invest, market, life expectancy, if you want to leave something to heirs, etc.)

 

[TN2shot07]

Not directed directly at buzz, but is that pretty standard ?

Pretty standard, the thought being average a 7-8% return, 2-3% average inflation and you aren’t really messing with your investment.

 

[Nick87]

It is standard and I think that's very, very conservative depending on how you invest.

I personally think withdrawing 5-6%, wouldn't be unreasonable depending on individual circumstances. (how you invest, market, life expectancy, if you want to leave something to heirs, etc.)

I only ask because I am somewhat new to that. In addition to our pension we've recently started one. Although it's not same as a conventional 401 I guess. (We aren't allowed to add additional to it) it's a set per hour contribution through the local. It just started so we will get more details soon I guess.

 

[utah400elk]

I will have two retirement pensions which should total about 7K a month. I dont by plan on touching my TSP until 65. We have a few IRA accounts and won’t touch those until maybe 65. I don’t think we will need the TSP or IRAs and should be able to live comfortably on the pensions. I will probably keep working after retirement. Fun small jobs like coaching, working in outdoor related industry/job or something similar. I have been offered good money (ridiculous to me) to work as a contractor in my LE field but…I don’t see that in my cards.

My wife is just now re-entering the work force and she actually wants to be the bread winner while I am enjoying retirement.

I believe my pensions and post retirement income should get us through.

I hope everyone’s best life is yet to come. Good luck in the draws this year.

 

[MarvB]

Also, for us older farts, don't forget that the gubmint will eventually want its cut "tax wise" via RMD unless it can be swapped elsewhere without taking the hit.

The age at which account owners must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) is 73. This age was increased by the Secure 2.0 Act in 2022.

IRA owners, including SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs, must take RMDs and Retirement plan account owners must take RMDs, unless they're a 5% owner of the sponsoring business.

There are quite a few calculators online to estimate this.

 

[TN2shot07]

Also, for us older farts, don't forget that the gubmint will eventually want its cut "tax wise" via RMD unless it can be swapped elsewhere without taking the hit.

The age at which account owners must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) is 73. This age was increased by the Secure 2.0 Act in 2022.

IRA owners, including SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs, must take RMDs and Retirement plan account owners must take RMDs, unless they're a 5% owner of the sponsoring business.

There are quite a few calculators online to estimate this.

You can always bite the bullet and convert them to Roth, give Uncle Sam his cut now.

 

[Dave N]

Hard to compare a percentage of what we lived on now that I'm alone and not counting my wife anymore. Pre-retirement income varied probably somewhere between 65 and 75K per year gross. Now I have SS, 2 pensions, and withdraw a little over 8% from my 401K which pretty much stays right where it started balance-wise. Illinois has zero taxes on Social Security or pensions so I'm probably still taking home as much as I did while working. That's a big help. Guess I'll find out what they do with my 401 withdrawals. Not worried about it, though. I'm making payments WAY over required on my truck, and could have paid off the card sooner but didn't want to run into an issue if I did. I'll have it zeroed in probably 3 months and be down to just a truck payment, utilities, food, gas and property taxes. SOOOO many expenses are gone after retiring. I was gassing up every week or more and now I fill up once a month just to use the fuel point discount before it expires. No snacks or drinks while at work. Just the vehicle maintenance was huge when the commute was 100 miles round trip every day 5 or 6 days a week. Oil changes every 3 months. Now? Maybe 2 years unless I start traveling! It's amazing what you can do to reduce expenses if you look around. I have no real complaints about how I'm living. Plenty of available money for one person, a decent place to live that's paid for, I eat whatever I feel like, drive what I want, and can do whatever I feel like doing IF I feel like doing it. I'm not "rich" by any means but doing fairly well at this point. It sucked the past few years but my situation wasn't normal and the numbers have worked out decently for me now.

TAXABLE/NON-TAXABLE retirement income and the expenses you expect to have will determine how well anyone will be able to do in retirement, but there are ways to conserve that will stretch whatever you have.

 

[grizzly_]

This is an interesting graph on historical Safe Withdrawal Rates and there the oft-cited 4% came from. It's not necessarily a predictor, but maybe the best we have...

 

[mtmiller]

You can always bite the bullet and convert them to Roth, give Uncle Sam his cut now.

Pay me now or pay me more later.

 

[mtmiller]

Not directed directly at buzz, but is that pretty standard ?

My plan is to start at 4.5%. Ask me again in 27 months and 1 day.

 

[Nick87]

My plan is to start at 4.5%. Ask me again in 27 months and 1 day.

Gonna be a long 27 months lol. I can't imagine how long the last day will take.

 

[mtmiller]

Gonna be a long 27 months lol. I can't imagine how long the last day will take.

I have a job I love, but pretty sure I would love "everyday is a Saturday" better.

 

[Nick87]

I have a job I love, but pretty sure I would love "everyday is a Saturday" better.

I'm off in the winter and I hate it afternm the first couple weeks tbh. But I'm also not getting paid much so I thinkmif I was getting a full check it'd sound pretty good.

 

[Goatshoes]

Perhaps it has already been mentioned but don't forget to increase your cash requirements each year by 3% for inflation. In other words, if your cash requirements are $100K/year in the first year it'll be $130,477 in year 10, unless you reduce your wants and needs.

 

[Potsie]

My folks are retired school teachers, and are at the age that I’m becoming more and more involved in their finances.

They are currently living off ~$75k/year, which is about 75% of their yearly income when they retired 12 years ago. That’s mostly from their SS and pension, and have yet to really touch any of their 401(k) savings. They’ve had to start taking their RMDs, but we’ve just been splitting that between re-investing and contributions to the grandkids 529s.

My folks have always been rather frugal, house is paid off, their one vehicle is paid for (but probably due for a replacement) and are financially focused on giving their grandkids a start on life (i.e. paid for college.)

 

[MarvB]

Gonna be a long 27 months lol. I can't imagine how long the last day will take.

Takes about 40-50 hours if I remember right....not including a lunch break