What mthly income ($) do you need to live compfortable when retired (pensions, move)

[captnemo]

What mthly income dollar wise do you need to live compfortable when retired or make ends meat so you dont have to choose between perscription drugs or food Will your pension, social security or 401k be enough or must work p/t also.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by captnemo

What mthly income dollar wise do you need to live compfortable when retired or make ends meat so you dont have to choose between perscription drugs or food Will your pension, social security or 401k be enough or must work p/t also.

That is really dependant on a bunch of stuff.

1. The Cost-Of-Living where you decide to settle.

2. Your property taxes.

3. Your lifestyle once settled down [travel, food diet, wardrobe, hobbies, socializing]

4. Medical expenses.



I dipped into my investment portfolio to purchase our retirement property. So we have no mortgage on it. We are living here with only property taxes [we choose a location with very low taxes so my tax bill has been less than $50/year].

I have only been retired for six years, so far we have added very little to our wardrobe. I have four suits in the closet that just hang there, I have not put on a suit but maybe three times a year. So our wardrobe expenses are low.

My previous employer provides reasonable medical coverage for my family. I pay less than $1,000 each year for medical [enrollment fees, office visit co-pays, drug co-pays]. My wife has had three heart attacks since I retired, and she has spent three week-long visits in a cardiac ward so far. So if we had not been covered it could have wiped us out.

My pension is very close to equal with working fulltime for minimum-wage. My DW works part-time in a grocery store, as she really likes it.

She just bought herself a new 2008 Chevy a week ago, her payment for her new car is about a quarter of her pay.

I would say that it is really dependant on a bunch of things.

[Tesaje]

I'm 2 years away but last fall, I paid off my mortgage. Except for some house remodeling that needs doing, I have been living on less than what my pension (after deductions) will be every month and saving the rest. So far, there's been no suffering required. I think this strategy will make the transition easier.

How much is enough really depends on a lot of things like Beekeeper noted. It also depends on what you consider necessary to a pleasant, fulfilling life. If owning a yacht is what you require, you will need significantly more income than I will.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

...
How much is enough really depends on a lot of things like Beekeeper noted. It also depends on what you consider necessary to a pleasant, fulfilling life. If owning a yacht is what you require, you will need significantly more income than I will.

Good point!

1. A yacht with a crew of six port hopping, or

2. a houseboat on pontoons tied up in the river out back behind my house.

Both are options to get you on the water.

[Waterlily]

Yes a boat would be fun but I don't plan on getting one soon. We've got loads of water here for boating activities.
How much you need is going to different depending on your situation. Will you still have to pay rent or a house payment? If so you'll need more. Do you live in an area with a high cost of living? If so you'll need more. It may be worth it to move somewhere less expensive. That's what some folks are doing.
We'll have enough to get by on. If we decide the buget is too tight than we can always sell the house and move somewhere less expensive. It's something to consider.

[casualobserver]

I might be "comfortable" estimating a number for the first five years, but each five years thereafter becomes less certain. I'm working until I have a 100% cushion to my present estimates.

[PNW-type-gal]

We wrote up a budget which included all our bills, some potential bills and some "play" money (I'd like to travel at least once a year, in the US and Europe), and derived the amount we need a month (for us that's around $6,000 a month). Since we have no pensions, we needed a pile of money from which we could derive income, without touching principal and still managing to keep up with inflation on the principal. We're too young for Social Security and I don't have a lot of faith in it anyway, so that has been excluded from our calculations.

That turned out to be a larger pile of money than I suspected. Inflation is supposedly running at 3% (which is the "core" inflation, not including food, energy and true housing costs, so it's actually a minimalistic figure). While we've reliably been getting 12-17% off of our investments for the last 5-6 years, I don't see that continuing in the future.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

We wrote up a budget which included all our bills, some potential bills and some "play" money (I'd like to travel at least once a year, in the US and Europe), and derived the amount we need a month (for us that's around $6,000 a month). Since we have no pensions, we needed a pile of money from which we could derive income, without touching principal and still managing to keep up with inflation on the principal. We're too young for Social Security and I don't have a lot of faith in it anyway, so that has been excluded from our calculations.

That turned out to be a larger pile of money than I suspected. Inflation is supposedly running at 3% (which is the "core" inflation, not including food, energy and true housing costs, so it's actually a minimalistic figure). While we've reliably been getting 12-17% off of our investments for the last 5-6 years, I don't see that continuing in the future.

Well done.

That is a very cold and hard fact isn't it?

On your own, without any support or pension, to provide a pension for yourself does take a really huge chunk of change.

And so many investment vehicles have risk. From the fall of Enron we see that, the domino effect it had.

[Miss Blue]

Originally Posted by captnemo

What mthly income dollar wise do you need to live compfortable when retired or make ends meat so you dont have to choose between perscription drugs or food Will your pension, social security or 401k be enough or must work p/t also.

Our house and cars are paid off..Just owe a very small home improvement loan..Have Va health ins, along with medicare and paid Blue cross as part of a retirement package. We live very comfortably on about $3500 a month..We also have some mineral rights that pay royalties..We do not include this in our monthly income as the royalties are not consistant from months on end..

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Well done.

That is a very cold and hard fact isn't it?

On your own, without any support or pension, to provide a pension for yourself does take a really huge chunk of change.

And so many investment vehicles have risk. From the fall of Enron we see that, the domino effect it had.

That is the crux of the problem. Without a pension and living in a high expense area with kids and college presents a considerable challenge for many people. How do you build a floor to add to in retirement with nothing certain. Need 40K a year thats 1,000,000 in investments at a 4% draw down. Currently making 40K net a year then that means 25 years worth of saving 40K a year. Home equity? Kids college takes that.