70 - 80 % (career, county, teacher, salary)

[rwaustin]

If your pension and SS is 70 - 80% of your teacher pay you should be OK in retirement. Any feelings about that.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by rwaustin

If your pension and SS is 70 - 80% of your teacher pay you should be OK in retirement. Any feelings about that.

What's your basis for saying that? Or is this a question for research?


Never mind, I remember you, you're thinking about retiring or have already.

Maybe. That's what mine is and there are some months it's tight, usually when a bill like car insurance is due and then something unexpected comes up at the same time, like having to completely replace the ball joints and control arms on a vehicle followed by a complete set of new to for another vehicle. That was $4600 all at once.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by rwaustin

If your pension and SS is 70 - 80% of your teacher pay you should be OK in retirement. Any feelings about that.

I WISH mine was that high.

Whether 70-80% is enough depends on what you have to fall back on. Both SS and teacher pensions are under attack. I would suggest doing your planning with 2/3 of your promised pension and 1/2 of your promised SS. Make sure you have savings to make up the rest. I will be very surprised if the day doesn't come in my lifetime where SS is reduced by a pension or eliminated altogether in favor of a welfare plan for those who have nothing else.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by rwaustin

If your pension and SS is 70 - 80% of your teacher pay you should be OK in retirement.
Any feelings about that.

When that sort of statement is made it isn't in isolation as you have put it.

It's typically in the context of an entire life and retirement plan not least of which being
steadily earned income responsibly used and saved over that 30 year career.

That "responsibly used" idea most commonly leading to a fully paid off mortgage...
and a conscious, deliberate decision to either fix up that home to suit for the duration
or to sell it and move to some other all paid for home that would suit you better for the duration;
and often with a bit of extra cash from the sale added to the retirement account.

On that sort of basis, and not carrying other debts, you should be plenty OK with 70-80%.
Add in social security...

[tgbwc]

My state pension will provide just north of 50% of my highest avg three years' salary. What is really helpful is that we have an additional county pension that provides 25% of the highest three years' avg.

I don't see myself working (at my current job) past age 55 and I very well may stop a few years prior if I think I can swing it.