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With that in mind, and circling back to the original question, $3600 is fine for the average person to live comfortably.
I agree - and that's about what I'm going to have to so I plan to choose a place to live accordingly and make it work (no mortgage, no car payment, non-extravagant lifestyle).
I have retired friends with ocean houses. Their grandchildren are there constantly. I have retired friends with houses at ski resorts. Their grandchildren are at the house every weekend all winter in ski programs.
That's true. My grandmother owned a beach condo in Fl, and I flew down there multiple times a year when I was a kid....winter break, spring break, even during the summer. I used to coordinate with cousins so we would be there at the same time. Grandma loved it - and her living expenses were low, low, low.
And guess what? She had owned a co-op in NYC before she retired. Her dream was to move to Fl, and she did. She bought a two-bedroom condo down there to allow for grandchildren to visit, and she loved it.
Last edited by VTsnowbird; 07-29-2019 at 06:50 AM..
a silly absurd comparison .....average anything means nothing unless some one is living in an average location and lives whatever the heck an average life style is supposed to mean .
without knowing the specifics throwing out average numbers to everyone here is ridiculous . you may as well address average straw people whether it fits the op or not
Like you we lived, worked and planned to live the retirement life we wanted not what someone else felt would be adequate. The data told us that what was a statistical average would be far from sufficient.
I remember when this forum most often talked about striving for more and what was desired as a lifestyle.
Perhaps we are seeing the results of a reality check for many people and the acknowledgment that while their goals were for one thing their reality is more average.
That is ok as the mere definition of mean is where the middle amount is even if that amount is considerable or not.
So being at or below the mean is not just a result of your goals and efforts but most importantly those of others. The results are what they are. So if everyone is happy with their results they are retirement blessed.
I know you are, I know we are and it seems the overwhelmingly majority of others in the forum are so we should all not worry and be happy as we are either in or close to being in our retirement happy spot.
Not sure I qualify to answer, since I can't make myself even call it retirement until I decide to take SS. I do however, expect to quit working in approximately 9 months, although I may occasionally take a short term job through my union hall if the conditions and location are suitable. I turned 62 a few days ago, so I believe I fall within the OP's parameters.
This is however, my plan: With my wife still working (for at least 3 more years hopefully) and a pension that I begin collecting in August we only need to spend down a relatively small percentage of our investments which as of now appear to be fully covered by interest and dividends. We can easily get by on my income and that is what we plan to replace at this time. She will still be contributing to her 401K and her health insurance will cover me also.
Assuming that I can stomach spending money I've spent my life saving, we will wait until I'm 66 1/2 to begin collecting about $2800 a month in SS. At some point, she will collect SS which should total approximately half of my amount, if she waits until 70 it would actually be more, but only minimally. As a side note, our monthly expenses including a modest mortgage fall under $4,000.00 a month, but I don't PLAN on living on the razor's edge either.
Theoretically, once I collect SS and assuming I can indeed stomach spending down assets, on paper it mostly appears that we can have a very comfortable retirement...but it is still a leap into the great unknown.
Unless you plan on living in a single-wide in Macon, you'll need a couple million. Any questions?
That’s nonsense. $2 million household net worth including home equity at age 65 is 90th percentile. 90% of retirees don’t live in single wides in Macon.
I think people come at it from two different angles, and I'm not saying either is better.
Some will say "I want to live in CITY XYZ and to live in that city in that lifestyle I will need $XXX of monthly or annual income.
Others say I will have $XXX dollars of income when I retire, and I want to live THIS LIFESTYLE, and they will find a place where that amount of money will buy that lifestyle. Wanting to be near the grandkids can complicate things if you are the second type of retiree.
We chose the second version, and we have no kids/grands, so that made it easier, but we left friends and family behind. We still are in their lives, but to a much less frequent degree. Technically I shouldn't even be answering because I'm only 60, but DH is 65 and we've been retired for some years now. Knowing what our income would be (approx 2/3 of our working income), we analyzed our desired lifestyle and the possible places where we could get that lifestyle on our predicted income, and moved there. It's working out at least as well as we planned. We are always a work in progress though. I am not averse to change at all, and at some point we will probably go for a different lifestyle in a different place, possibly multiple places. We will just work within our available income, and find places and activities that work for us as we age. Having a long retirement means there will be physical and health changes in our activities and needs over the course of retirement and we will handle those as they come. Some expenses will go down, and others will go up.
But that WAS the OP's question: what does it take for the average person. You keep wanting to go back to how you are well above average and want to continue to live in the most expensive city in the country.
but your missing the point. AVERAGE WHERE ? AND WHAT THE HECK IS AN AVERAGE LIFESTYLE ..
there is not even a definition of what a middle class life style even is nor how much is needed to live a middle class lifestyle . a middle class income has zero to do with it buying a middle class lifestyle .
in fact the op's question is not going to mean much to him if he is in a higher cost of living area or considers a middle class lifestyle to include more then someone else's perception .
Last edited by mathjak107; 07-28-2019 at 07:17 AM..
that answer was totally uncalled for .. where do you come off even replying with an answer like that ..you have no idea what the area is like i live in . you can't touch a home for under a million dollars . nor do you know a thing about our kids and grand kids visiting . just a very stupid reply
worry about what you need instead of telling me how much is enough or how i should live ... just one of the most ridiculous answers posted here .
this discussion is over as far as you and i are concerned
Last edited by VTsnowbird; 07-29-2019 at 06:51 AM..
We live in southeastern PA (Bucks County) near NJ & NY. We've been retired for a few years (husband was forced into early retirement due to illness). For us we need & have been spending between 6-7K a month. I know others need more & some less....
We like to do a little bit of travel, I enjoy going out to nice lunches & dinners with friends and an occasional day in NYC to see a show....nothing over the top but I don't like to deny myself of simple pleasures.
So yes it really depends on what you want out of life, what you have & where you live.
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