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I'm now wondering how many people here would have said no if the question was $50,000 a year or even $100,000 a year if it meant sitting in the back of a concert with the poor people, LOL.
Yet there are communities where the per capita income is $8,000/year.
I just took the time to do an in depth calculation with an estimate of what I think my retirement living expenses will be in order to see what gross income I would be comfortable with at a minimum. You are going to laugh...
$33K!
I need at least $33K in order to live my standard of comfort in retirement!
However, I think I am going to continue contributing 16% so that I can have OPTIONS for retirement!
If I contribute at the rate I am contributing, I will have the following options available to me:
I could live in a high COL area with no problem!
I could retire earlier than normal!
I could live perfectly fine with a rent/home payment, if I still have one!
I could travel the world a bit if I want to!
I could just live a nice luxurious retirement lifestyle without worry!
What do you think of my decision?!
It's easy to assume you can live on a certain amount. Then, life happens. We planned on retiring on $120,000 a year. I thought it would be easy. I was wrong.
Okay basing this off $2700 a month and just paying with numbers:
Reno,NV 1bedroom apartment in decent area (just using Reno since I lived there and rentals were cheap)-$800 a month
healthcare-$300 a month
electric/gas/water/trash bill-$50 a month
cable/internet- $130 a month
groceries- $150 a month
gas for a sedan for errands just around town- $90
entertainment- $50
dining out- $100
=$1670 a month with $1030 left
Okay basing this off $2700 a month and just paying with numbers:
Reno,NV 1bedroom apartment in decent area (just using Reno since I lived there and rentals were cheap)-$800 a month
healthcare-$300 a month
electric/gas/water/trash bill-$50 a month
cable/internet- $130 a month
groceries- $150 a month
gas for a sedan for errands just around town- $90
entertainment- $50
dining out- $100
=$1670 a month with $1030 left
So yes I think you could do it.
it is amazing the differences in geographic location . 50 a month for entertainment would hardly cover the tolls to get to some places and then admission is generally 20-30 bucks or so in the 5 boroughs of nyc just to get in .
a day at the bronx zoo is 30 dollars admission per person and tolls to get there . movies are 18 bucks a ticket today as most of the theaters went to reclining chairs
one thing about being retired is time can cost money and one thing you have plenty of is time.
i would guess and say we spend a few hundred a week doing things and going places locally .
Last edited by mathjak107; 08-27-2016 at 02:18 AM..
It all depends where you end up living. Costs of rents, mortgages if you have one, taxes and just local cost of living will determine that. 32K in some parts of the country would be fine, others no way IMO.
If you have a mortgage in retirement, you may have done something(s) wrong.
If you've never had a mortgage by the time you retire, you probably did something(s) wrong.
if i have my choice i will have a mortgage in retirement . with money this cheap if we buy next year i would take a mortgage if i can get one . in fact if it wasn't for the fact the fees and interest rates were a lot higher i would have bought a much more expensive place using an hecm reverse mortgage to purchase .
you put down 40-50% and never make another mortgage payment .at the end the bank liquidates it and anything left over after the loan is paid off goes to heirs .
but these loans carry very high fees and much higher interest rates so not worth it to us. they eat up equity way to fast .
there is a luxuary condo near us that i always wanted to live in but it is way out of budget under normal terms . had the loan terms on these hecm mortgages to purchase been more favorable i would have done it .
these loans were designed for seniors who have less income and savings so they are structured as higher risk loans and everything cost more .
Last edited by mathjak107; 08-27-2016 at 02:32 AM..
Okay basing this off $2700 a month and just paying with numbers:
Reno,NV 1bedroom apartment in decent area (just using Reno since I lived there and rentals were cheap)-$800 a month
healthcare-$300 a month
electric/gas/water/trash bill-$50 a month
cable/internet- $130 a month
groceries- $150 a month
gas for a sedan for errands just around town- $90
entertainment- $50
dining out- $100
=$1670 a month with $1030 left
So yes I think you could do it.
Pretty good but just a couple of things I see on your numbers.
1 is that healthcare above and beyond health insurance?
2 groceries seem just a bit low. Maybe $200 a month?
3 dining out $100? What only two times?
Still Reno sounds great. Weather is good and taxes there are low. COL is low and I think it is a reasonably good walking town. Depending on where you live you might have to walk to bus stop to get to downtown but everything is relatively clean and in good repair last time I checked.
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