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Newsflash: if you can’t meet the minimum requirements to work for the government, you have bigger issues. Surely, you know this.
Um, no. I don't "know" that. To say or imply that anyone can get a government job with a pension is to be willfully obtuse.
First of all, as a public sector worker, I can tell you that not everyone who works in the public sector qualifies for a pension.
Second, government jobs have real requirements just like everywhere else and there is a fair amount of competition for a lot of government jobs. You don't just walk in and get a job. Implying otherwise is ridiculous. I've seen people work part time (no pension) where I am for YEARS and never get a full time position with a pension. There's nothing wrong with their qualifications. But it's a game of eeny meeny miny moe. Lots of people are qualified for the job and some people are better at playing the networking and interviewing game than others (sometimes it's the less competent/those with a weaker work ethic/those with an inside connection--as sometimes happens in the private sector as well).
Third, it's just math. There are a small percentage of jobs that offer pensions. And even in government, those are being scaled back in various ways, especially for new hires. It's like playing a game of musical chairs. There are fewer chairs than people.
And I wholeheartedly agree, because I will have nowhere near $1 million by the time I get to retirement age.
If you plan on living 30 years after your retire, and your desire is to have at least $50,000 annually, then, yes, you'd need $1 Million.
The average person only lives 19 years beyond retirement.
The average person also doesn't do very much, except sit around and vegetate, and you don't need $50,000/year to do that.
If your intent is to travel extensively, then, yes, you'd probably spend $10,000 to $15,000 a year traveling, so you might actually want $500,000 to $750,000 for retirement.
life expectancy changes as we age and the cohort becomes it's own group . there is a 54% chance a 65 year old woman will be alive at 85 and a 42% chance for a man but as a couple that jumps to 74% one of them will be alive . in fact it is still an almost 50% chance 1 will still be alive at 90 .
only roughly 1-in-10 people born in 2014 is expected to die prior to age 60 (i.e., 90% are still alive), but beyond that point, the rate of death begins to increase substantially. However, over 60% of children born in 2014 are still expected to be alive when the cohort reaches their “life expectancy” (i.e., average age at death) of 79. The median (age 83) is equivalent to the 50th percentile, and the mode (89) is roughly around the 30th percentile. By age 100, only 2% of people born in 2014 are expected to still be alive.
If you plan on living 30 years after your retire, and your desire is to have at least $50,000 annually, then, yes, you'd need $1 Million.
It all depends on the size of your Social Security check. ...and your pension if you have one of those. It also depends on the composition of your nest egg. I can spend money from my cash emergency fund without paying tax. Ditto my Roth. The tax deferred stuff I'm paying income tax. The after tax investments I'm paying capital gains tax.
I'm 60. I'll be getting close to a max Social Security check. I can spend a COLA protected $50K forever on about $700K.
I would prefer that it be said "the median household may spend $1 million over a 30 year retirement."
That way you think more about income streams over time,
and less about needing 7 figures of cash in the bank the day you retire.
But that sort of reasonable approach and thinking will just put a check on the hysteria
so many seem to thrive on here ... and wouldn't produce a 250 post thread saying nothing.
You don't necessarily need 1 million to retire. You need to figure out how much you need per year and estimate how many years you expect to live.
Assuming you need $40k per year and you liev 25 more years, then you will need 1 million. Make sense? It's all relative.
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