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we made no where near 300k a year as a couple when working but we would not have retired here in queens when we did if we did not have a min of 2 million . 80k pretax pluss ss is really not a lot in a land where 69k qualifies you for a low income nyc housing project.so location , lifestyle and the amount of financial stress you want in your life over every unexpected bill all play a roll in what you want .
we all earned different amounts working and retirement is no different .
Nor did we...... It takes discipline not income to save for a comfortable retirement.
I graduated college at 24 in 2010 instead of 22. Between when I was 24 and 28, I had one year where I made over $40,000. I moved several times - TN > IA, IA > TN, TN > IN. That was expensive. I didn't have chicken scratch until I was 28.
Financially, those median 20 numbers are about right for me. I'll be 32 next weekend. If someone would have asked me when I was 20 where I'd be in my mid-late 20s, where I am now is about where I thought I would be. I got whacked by the recession, then made enough errors on my own. Both really kneecapped me.
Obviously the OP isn't talking about a high wage earner situation if he throws out a figure like $250k - it doesn't even apply here.
Yeah...but if you are pulling down $300k as a couple, how hard is it to save $2m+? Let's get real....(in my best Thurston Howell III accent) "There's no way I could live on anything less than TEN million - I'd die before even trying!". Let's all just keep throwing out ever-higher ridiculous amounts to show what exactly? How outrageous the lifestyle is we need to continue? How insecure we are? How easily we can save such an amount? Puh-leaze....
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
we made no where near 300k a year as a couple when working but we would not have retired here in queens when we did if we did not have a min of 2 million . 80k pretax pluss ss is really not a lot in a land where 69k qualifies you for a low income nyc housing project.so location , lifestyle and the amount of financial stress you want in your life over every unexpected bill all play a roll in what you want .
we all earned different amounts working and retirement is no different .
Obviously. But let's not act like $2million is the "new normal" - it borders on humble bragging this ever-increasing number that is needed to feel secure that applies to what - 5% of the population? And as you point out - you don't HAVE to live in a high COL area - you could move to podunk and live far more cheaply. If you want something else, then you pay for it - simple. What is needed versus wanted has to be part of the conversation.
last year we ended up buying a new car and got a substaintial discount paying cash pre-ordering as well as my wife needed 15k in dental .money gets eaten up like crazy at times . we over shot our budget by about 35k .
Obviously. But let's not act like $2million is the "new normal" - it borders on humble bragging this ever-increasing number that is needed to feel secure that applies to what - 5% of the population? And as you point out - you don't HAVE to live in a high COL area - you could move to podunk and live far more cheaply. If you want something else, then you pay for it - simple. What is needed versus wanted has to be part of the conversation.
there is no such thing as "normal" it is individually unique . 2 million here can be less than 1/2 to do the same things in cheapsville needed . just think of the wide range of incomes in any urban area and everyone is living in the same city . but the incomes are all over the map as far as what people have ,want or need ..
like i always say , i don't care what others have or don't have . it has always been our goal to live better in retirement than we did working , saving and raising a family .
that would be our reward for doing with out and making the effort to accumulate enough regardless of what it took .
all we care about is what we need . quite frankly if we had 2x what we do i would find a way to enjoy it and spend it .
in fact if i gave everyone here an extra 50k with the stipulation you had to enjoy it , odds are everyone would have no trouble spending it .
if i did that yearly it would slowly become expected and part of your lifestyle .
Last edited by mathjak107; 04-12-2018 at 07:44 AM..
OK here is a metric, forget the total Nest Egg number. Let us imagine that we have a life crisis of some sort and have to find $50k in cash to pay for it. If one has to borrow to get it, or if it has an impact on one's future standard of living in retirement at all, one has NOT saved enough for retirement. Simple really.
Anything can happen. I took a vacation to FL back in September. It wasn't an expensive trip, but it came out of some special savings I had for that.
I was arrested the week after I got back in an unrelated incident. $3,500 for an attorney. I had the cash to cover it, but things were tight for a few months. It was a dumb mistake, but life happens.
A lot of folks can't come up with $500 for brake work, much less a few thousand in attorney fees. I personally know a handful of people that could come up with $50,000 on short notice.
SC, the fact that you are even thinking about saving for your retirement in your 20's says to me that you will probably be just fine. The important thing is to start young, like you are, and let the magic of compounding do its thing. Always live below your means, and save. Always do what you have to in order to max out any employer match on your account (free money!)
$250k net worth excluding home equity is 64th percentile for age 60-64. Counting home equity, it's 53rd percentile for age 60-64.
Personally, I'd start with the Social Security web portal to see my projected numbers. That's assuming you don't have a defined benefit pension. That pretty much drives what your retirement cash flow will look like depending on when you retire.
Me? I couldn't do it without moving to a much lower cost place with $250K unless I worked to something close to full retirement age.
Obviously. But let's not act like $2million is the "new normal" - it borders on humble bragging this ever-increasing number that is needed to feel secure that applies to what - 5% of the population?
10% of the population at age 60-64. 8% if you don't include home equity.
Of course, it all depends on your zip code. In any high COL affluent suburb, it is indeed the "new normal".
SC, the fact that you are even thinking about saving for your retirement in your 20's says to me that you will probably be just fine. The important thing is to start young, like you are, and let the magic of compounding do its thing. Always live below your means, and save. Always do what you have to in order to max out any employer match on your account (free money!)
Until I was 28, I had only worked for one employer (the one in Iowa, which is a Fortune 500) that offered any match at all. My current job has been my first job in Tennessee where a match has been offered.
There is a 3% match if you contribute at least 6% of your pay (I have, and am now contributing 12% - about $230 pp), but it is given an annual lump sum, and you have to be contributing by a certain date to qualify. I was hired a month or two after that, so I was completely ineligible for a match on the first year. No pro rata match is given. I've been back here since 8/2016 and have not gotten one matching cent in contributions. There will always be a certain percentage of the workforce that is contributing to the 401k that will be ineligible for a match due to timing. The effective contribution rate across the enterprise is probably well under that 3%. It is specified as a "retention tool." At my pay rate, the match is going to be a whopping $1,800. That's better than zero, but is not a lot of money. It's certainly not enough to be a retention tool on its own. Keep in mind that I'm top 15% HHI for Kingsport on my own, and probably top 10% or so as a single. What are things looking like for the median Joe Kingsport?
At least around here, many employers do not offer a retirement plan or any match at all. When there aren't a lot of employment options, employers have no reason to offer much in the way of benefits. For me, retirement contributions have basically been completely DIY. The Silents and early Boomers were likely the last generation with steady pensions as an expectation. I think employer matching contributions will go the way of the private sector pension.
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