[SusanG_O]

I rarely withdraw monies from my stock accounts. I'd have to look at my ETrade account to say how much I earn in dividends. Where IS that paper? But the only regular income I have is, as I said, $1300 per month. His is only $700 and we split the bills. I do know I make $3700 a year on dividends on one stock but how much on some others? I have to find the paper. lol

[upgrader]

Originally Posted by dothetwist

We retired at ages 50 and 51. At the time I had a local govt pension of 70K a year. Using conservative return rates, that pension is worth 'millions' in the bank.

I think you UNDERESTIMATE the value of your government pension. Safe, insured interest on investments is about 1 percent these days. So your 70k/year strikes me as equivalent to having funds way beyond 7 million dollars of uninsured funds. OK maybe that's what you meant by "millions of dollars".

In these days of financial uncertainty, it's really hard to calculate a safe financial net worth for retirement.

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by SusanG_O

I rarely withdraw monies from my stock accounts. I'd have to look at my ETrade account to say how much I earn in dividends. Where IS that paper? But the only regular income I have is, as I said, $1300 per month. His is only $700 and we split the bills. I do know I make $3700 a year on dividends on one stock but how much on some others? I have to find the paper. lol

Based on this then you answered your own question. It doesn't matter how much you have in your investments, you are already living off of your income sources. Your investments then should be a reasonable cushion should you have unexpected expenses such as assisted living, home repairs, etc.

You may be better served to look at your investments and align your investments in solid companies that pay a dividend. It's not unreasonable to invest in stable, very low risk companies that consistently pay dividends (especially those who have steadily increased dividends) and earn 3-4% dividend. A couple of examples, AT&T (4.5%), Coca-Cola (3.05% - Warren Buffett holds 200 Million shares of KO for the dividend payout, originally purchasing the stock back in 1988), Wells Fargo (3.15%). With $700K in your investments you could then expect $21,000 - $28,000 in dividends. Note that I am not a financial advisor and am not providing you any financial information other than you may want to explore these possibilities. Perhaps you are already pulling in dividends at this level, so congratulation if you are.

[SusanG_O]

Originally Posted by bobandsherry

Based on this then you answered your own question. It doesn't matter how much you have in your investments, you are already living off of your income sources. Your investments then should be a reasonable cushion should you have unexpected expenses such as assisted living, home repairs, etc.

You may be better served to look at your investments and align your investments in solid companies that pay a dividend. It's not unreasonable to invest in stable, very low risk companies that consistently pay dividends (especially those who have steadily increased dividends) and earn 3-4% dividend. A couple of examples, AT&T (4.5%), Coca-Cola (3.05% - Warren Buffett holds 200 Million shares of KO for the dividend payout, originally purchasing the stock back in 1988), Wells Fargo (3.15%). With $700K in your investments you could then expect $21,000 - $28,000 in dividends. Note that I am not a financial advisor and am not providing you any financial information other than you may want to explore these possibilities. Perhaps you are already pulling in dividends at this level, so congratulation if you are.

I love AT&T ! I do not have $700K in investments. That included our $350K house. We also own free and clear a 100K lake lot that's up for sale with new barge and new boathouse. I"ve done research on Coke and Fargo but will do more of it. thanks so much. And I've been toying with the idea of adding to my T investment.

[flashes1]

Vanguard S&P 500 yields 2% and is a lot safer than holding 3-4 individual stocks. Vanguard has value index fund with a higher yield, too.

[BNBR]

Why not rental properties?

[SusanG_O]

Originally Posted by BNBR

Why not rental properties?

Rental properties are a nightmare. I know a man who owned four of them and he ended up selling them due to the stress of the late rents, extensive damages, etc. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[RedneckRebel]

Retirement is NOT about cash ACCUMULATION, it is about CASH FLOW.

If you have good cash flow, you can live very comfortabley on zero net worth.

[BucFan]

there's a retirement forum where this sort of thing is constantly discussed. You might live to your 90s and need nursing home care, as well as your spouse... or some home heath nursing needs or assisted living....curious what OP's monthly heath care insurance bill might be....also is the current nest egg the stock portfolio value at this time or it liquid savings? Because in less than a year's time, that stock value could deflate to half based on what the market it doing...can't count on stock market value today being what you'll cash in at.....but most likely you're doing better than the majority of Americans who are at the retirement age.

[smarino]

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars. Then you don't have to worry about that pesky cash flow thingy. I like money! That was my favorite line from the movie Idiocracy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHCVyllnck


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8zNsUTWsOc