10 hours ago, TEW said:

Not retired, but I could retire if I wanted to do so.  I'll throw out a few financial issues to consider:

1) Inflation. Not to get too far into the weeds, but there is going to be some really destructive inflationary pressures over the next few decades. Make sure your cash flow is going to keep pace with inflation.

2) Related to #1, the entitlement system is FUBAR. Do not rely on social security or Medicare for anything.

3) Many pension systems are going to blow up. Again, plan accordingly.

Agreed on all 3. curious what you think the fallout of federal or state pensions will be?  People did pay in, so my guess is they go from defined benefit to defined contribution moving forward and possibly cap the payout. The issue is, that unless they just declare insolvency the people are entitled to a payout at least equivalent of what they put in, but I’m not sure how all of that works legally

27 minutes ago, homerpat said:

Agreed on all 3. curious what you think the fallout of federal or state pensions will be?  People did pay in, so my guess is they go from defined benefit to defined contribution moving forward and possibly cap the payout. The issue is, that unless they just declare insolvency the people are entitled to a payout at least equivalent of what they put in, but I’m not sure how all of that works legally

My best guess is that like everything else, the shortfalls will be monetized by the Fed. Which brings us back to the inflation issue: everyone will be made whole - in nominal terms. In real terms it's going to be a blood bath.

42 minutes ago, TEW said:

My best guess is that like everything else, the shortfalls will be monetized by the Fed. Which brings us back to the inflation issue: everyone will be made whole - in nominal terms. In real terms it's going to be a blood bath.

Which is a huge fear of mine as well. I’m curious what the overall ramifications will be. It seems like it’s inevitable, he question is how drastic 

15 hours ago, TEW said:

Not retired, but I could retire if I wanted to do so.  I'll throw out a few financial issues to consider:

1) Inflation. Not to get too far into the weeds, but there is going to be some really destructive inflationary pressures over the next few decades. Make sure your cash flow is going to keep pace with inflation.

2) Related to #1, the entitlement system is FUBAR. Do not rely on social security or Medicare for anything.

3) Many pension systems are going to blow up. Again, plan accordingly.

1 agreed. My wife is going to continue to work and she had an excellent salary and a career that pretty much ensures she will always have a least a decent paying job (pharmaceuticals). My salary has been pretty much supplemental the past 4 or 5 years. We also have a couple other smaller income streams that right now we pretty much just bank or use for home improvements or other lifestyle improvements.

2 again, the wife gets fully paid medical from her employer and I didn't factor SS benefits into my equations at all. When she retires we will have to reevaluate healthy care but she doesn't plan on stopping for quite a while as she enjoys her career and get a lot of perks like traveling such.

3 my 401k is pretty fat, but like everyone else I have no idea what the future will hold as far as that goes. I don't plan on touching it for another 15 years but I do plan on meeting an advisor before leaving work to go over options.

 

Thanks a lot for the reply

I plan on retiring early too and anticipate healthcare being the biggest cost. 45 seems really young to stop working when your wife is still working anyway. Good luck either way!

On 5/26/2021 at 4:33 PM, Agent23 said:

Obviously this question is based on present-day metrics and cost of living, but is there a "target" 401k balance people should try to reach as far as retirement goes? Obviously the majority of people are retiring at retirement age, so their 401k is also being supplemented with social security earnings. Also, those in their mid-to-late 60s are of an era where pensions and things like that may also contribute to their post-retirement monthly income, and that era is also highly married, so a single household would be getting social security checks for two people at a minimum. 

I withdrew my 401k back in 2014ish after 2 separate lengthy stints of unemployment, so I was at zero dollars around 5 years ago when I was finally able to start contributing with my current employer. I'm up to about $95k right now which isn't bad for 5 years and at age 35, seems decent based on this random chart I just found in an article just now from a google search. I like what I do now and hope they continue to pay me well for years and years to come, but I definitely don't want to be working until my late 60s. 

 

Don't ever go by those charts. Those are all numbers of people who will be working the rest of their life. That's a measuring stick for absolutely nothing.

2 hours ago, Paul852 said:

Don't ever go by those charts. Those are all numbers of people who will be working the rest of their life. That's a measuring stick for absolutely nothing.

Oh it’s definitely not a marker of where you should be. It’s just showing how garbage most Americans are at saving. 

Yeah as really Americans need to do better IMHO!

On 5/30/2021 at 9:56 PM, homerpat said:

Oh it’s definitely not a marker of where you should be. It’s just showing how garbage most Americans are at saving. 

I was finally at a point in life where I could contribute the max last year, so my "plan” moving forward is just to pay in the max yearly. I also called HR last year to ask if the $19,500 max is all deposits, or just my deposits. They said it’s just mine, so my company match payments (as well as an extra they pay in annually on top of the match, based on the company’s annual performance) are in addition to that, so my total combined contributions should be somewhere near $25k a year. Better late than never I suppose. 

Dropping dead on the job would net me another years salary to leave my kids.  I'm a poorer person, not really complaining.  I like living simple.  I raised two kids and had a husband that was self employed. What money we managed to save during those young years went to the 529, not a 401.  We paid for daughter's 1st year of college with that, and I continued it to help her with some expenses.  Being your own boss also means paying 30% on your net profit.  It was all we could do to put some back for taxes.  At one point we were $10K into the IRS, retirement savings was never a thing with us.  Paying off debt was.  We finally got there around 2015 --no more debt.

Wish any of you well that can do this, it's not even on my radar.  Yeah I have some 401K money but it's not much as I started way late.  Closet I'm going to get to retirement is qualifying for disability, or a medicaid nursing home.

8 hours ago, Agent23 said:

I was finally at a point in life where I could contribute the max last year, so my "plan” moving forward is just to pay in the max yearly. I also called HR last year to ask if the $19,500 max is all deposits, or just my deposits. They said it’s just mine, so my company match payments (as well as an extra they pay in annually on top of the match, based on the company’s annual performance) are in addition to that, so my total combined contributions should be somewhere near $25k a year. Better late than never I suppose. 

You’ll be fine. I didn’t save more than the match for 5 years in early 20’s and then I realized how much I was leaving on the table. 

On 5/30/2021 at 8:12 PM, Paul852 said:

I plan on retiring early too and anticipate healthcare being the biggest cost. 45 seems really young to stop working when your wife is still working anyway. Good luck either way!

You know, I thought that too. She actually started these discussions with me last year. She works from home when not traveling and likes when I am home with her.  She likes what she does and her career has really taken off over the past 5 years. Not too long ago our salaries were almost the same and we had plenty of money to live the lifestyle we had gotten used to. She now makes about 4 times what I do and she doesn't see the point of me working a fairly physical job anymore. I agree lol. 

A few months ago is when she suggested I work one more year and stop. I have had 3 or 4 conversations with her to feel it out as the weeks have gone by, and it's honestly what she wants. So good for me having such a great companion I guess.

4 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

You know, I thought that too. She actually started these discussions with me last year. She works from home when not traveling and likes when I am home with her.  She likes what she does and her career has really taken off over the past 5 years. Not too long ago our salaries were almost the same and we had plenty of money to live the lifestyle we had gotten used to. She now makes about 4 times what I do and she doesn't see the point of me working a fairly physical job anymore. I agree lol. 

A few months ago is when she suggested I work one more year and stop. I have had 3 or 4 conversations with her to feel it out as the weeks have gone by, and it's honestly what she wants. So good for me having such a great companion I guess.

Hell yeah dude. If you guys enjoy spending that time together and she doesn't feel bitter about it then that's great. Like I said, good luck! Let us know how you fill the time.