At what age do you hope to retire/Personal Finance and Investing Thread

[JosephC]

Deleted post, sorry. Edited October 27, 2018 by JosephC

[JosephC]

Deleted post, sorry. Edited October 27, 2018 by JosephC

[Roderick]

I plan to work to 63. My wife to 61. She has the health insurance. Should have enough in an HRA at that point to get to medicare.

 

I could retire sooner, but I expect I may spend more in retirement than when I am working, as I will actually have the time to travel, etc.

[owbc]

I guess I'm the person here who hasn't even remotely thought about it yet (early 30s). I still have a considerable student loan bill to pay off. I've spent some money on travel that could have gone toward paying down debt, but I feel like I would regret not traveling while young. And I definitely don't regret getting the extra education.

[jerichoholicninja]

I guess I'm the person here who hasn't even remotely thought about it yet (early 30s). I still have a considerable student loan bill to pay off. I've spent some money on travel that could have gone toward paying down debt, but I feel like I would regret not traveling while young. And I definitely don't regret getting the extra education.

 

I have put little to no thought into it as well, and I'm 31. My wife will have her student loans paid off next year and then our only debt will be our mortgage. We have a sizeable (I think) amount of savings and add to it every month, I have some investments my parents made for me when i was a little kid, my wife has a retirement plan, and we live well below our means because we have little interest in material things. I have no clue how that will translate into the financial aspects of retirement. I don't even know what I would do with myself in retirement. I've spent the last 3 years as part-time self employed and stay at home parent. I mean, my son takes up a lot of my time but when I do have time to myself I go crazy if I don't have something to work on. I can't imagine going back to having as much free time as I did before kids with nothing to do. I must get that from my mom. She "retired" about a year and a half ago but still works about 10 days a month at her old job.

 

I have a couple of friends who have taken the "work my butt off and not have a life so I can retire by 50" path. To each their own and hopefully you make it to 50 and are healthy enough to enjoy it so that skipping those 30 years of your life is worth it.

[PlayerHader]

What’s a “sizable” savings? Are you talking like a 6 months’ expenses safety net or larger than that? Covering several months of expenses is very wise. Beyond that, you might want to look to a spot where you might get higher returns than your typica savings account.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I plan on retiring at 57 which is 12 years away, but that all hinges on what my kids do for schooling. If they show the initiative to do something that will draw a larger paycheck I will work longer to help them out more. The money we will give our kids for their wedding is already in accounts for them. By the time I retire the house will be paid for, the roof will be replaced and my wife will have a new car with me getting her hand me down as usual.

 

My private sector pension at 57 would be 3400/month. My wife will probably never quit working. She loves going to work each day and loves the interaction with people. The big unknown is healthcare. I don't pay for insurance now, but I could get it through my union when I retire at what the yearly cost is. My wife's company offers insurance, but when talking to her co-workers I can't get a definitive amount of what that costs now.

 

Anyone that says they will have nothing to do when they retire just aren't trying if they own a house. There is always stuff to do.

 

 

When I retire my oldest will be 24. My dream job is stay at home dad, maybe I can become stay at home grand dad. I'd volunteer at their schools every chance I'd get. I'd love to do all the things I missed on my children, because of work.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I plan on retiring at 57 which is 12 years away, but that all hinges on what my kids do for schooling. If they show the initiative to do something that will draw a larger paycheck I will work longer to help them out more. The money we will give our kids for their wedding is already in accounts for them. By the time I retire the house will be paid for, the roof will be replaced and my wife will have a new car with me getting her hand me down as usual.

 

My private sector pension at 57 would be 3400/month. My wife will probably never quit working. She loves going to work each day and loves the interaction with people. The big unknown is healthcare. I don't pay for insurance now, but I could get it through my union when I retire at what the yearly cost is. My wife's company offers insurance, but when talking to her co-workers I can't get a definitive amount of what that costs now.

 

Anyone that says they will have nothing to do when they retire just aren't trying if they own a house. There is always stuff to do.

 

 

When I retire my oldest will be 24. My dream job is stay at home dad, maybe I can become stay at home grand dad. I'd volunteer at their schools every chance I'd get. I'd love to do all the things I missed on my children, because of work.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Whoever mentioned a will...you don't want to wait until you retire to get one. Whenever one has children a will should be made to at least outline where any surviving children would live with.

[jerichoholicninja]

What’s a “sizable” savings? Are you talking like a 6 months’ expenses safety net or larger than that? Covering several months of expenses is very wise. Beyond that, you might want to look to a spot where you might get higher returns than your typica savings account.

 

It's about half of what my wife makes in a year. I would think we could make it 6-12 months off of it with cutting some things we really don't need. If it's because my wife lost her job then it might be an issue as she has the insurance. Being T1 diabetic, my meds alone without health insurance would take up the vast majority of our monthly budget. And don't get me started on insurance, the medical industry, and the drug companies and their racket. I'd be banned in a heartbeat.

[wallus]

My wife and I just met with some fellas that know a lot more about retiring, investing, and saving than we do. We are on pace for 60, but I am hoping for a little earlier than that.

 

Don't worry guys and gals, if wallus retires at 42 ill sock him in the belly for all of us.

 

Fine, I'll retire earlier then.

[DHonks]

I guess I'm the person here who hasn't even remotely thought about it yet (early 30s). I still have a considerable student loan bill to pay off. I've spent some money on travel that could have gone toward paying down debt, but I feel like I would regret not traveling while young. And I definitely don't regret getting the extra education.

 

I use friends in similar situations as you as an example in my Econ classes. I tell students that they NEED to think about what their retirement will look like as 17-year olds. Ive had at least a dozen high school students start contributing to a 401k or Roth IRA over the years...totally unexpected. I tell them that by 22/23 they should saving at least $50/pay in a retirement account.

 

One friend of mine won’t begin saving for retirement until he’s in his 50s due to children, BUT he owns 3 rental properties. That will be paid off generating nice rental income by his late 50s.

[wallus]

 

One friend of mine won’t begin saving for retirement until he’s in his 50s due to children, BUT he owns 3 rental properties. That will be paid off generating nice rental income by his late 50s.

 

This is basically what I am doing but I am still saving some for retirement. I will have two rental properties paid off by the end of next year. I plan on getting two more and paying them off and then I am good to retire if I want and can live off the income.

[nodakfan17]

When I first started this thread, I anticipated the average answer would be 60-65. In actuality, it seems like most responses have been in the 55-60 range. Either we’re all good planners or just optimistic - probably some combination of both.

 

On average, I feel like each child delays a parent’s retirement by about 5 years. This makes an apples and oranges situation out of comparing everyone’s goals. Nonetheless, it’s fun to talk about. I enjoyed reading everyone’s 2 cents. Thanks for indulging me.

[istanbultaye]

When I first started this thread, I anticipated the average answer would be 60-65. In actuality, it seems like most responses have been in the 55-60 range. Either we’re all good planners or just optimistic - probably some combination of both.

 

On average, I feel like each child delays a parent’s retirement by about 5 years. This makes an apples and oranges situation out of comparing everyone’s goals. Nonetheless, it’s fun to talk about. I enjoyed reading everyone’s 2 cents. Thanks for indulging me.

 

I better not have any kids then... I don't think I could retire much before 70 as is (darn student loans).

[GAME05]

It's an interesting thread. And heck, maybe they'll bump up the minimum social security age to 65 and all our answers will change.

 

I'd imagine a lot of us have seen people work until very old and then never really get a chance to enjoy retirement. Maybe some of us feel it's better to have a little money but have the chance to relax in relatively good health, than have lots of money but little opportunity to really enjoy it.

[DHonks]

Nodakfan17 move to Maine where they’re trying to draw people by helping with student loans

[nodakfan17]

Nodakfan17 move to Maine where they’re trying to draw people by helping with student loans

Thankfully, I don’t have to worry much about student loans anymore unless it pertains to saving for my son’s education. That’s still a pretty neat benefit. I’ve heard some companies are also starting to offer student loan assistance as an employee benefit in order to attract top talent. Personally, I think the trick is to avoid accumulating large debt in the first place unless a cost / benefit analysis shows it’s worthwhile.

[DHonks]

Nodakfan17 move to Maine where they’re trying to draw people by helping with student loans

Thankfully, I don’t have to worry much about student loans anymore unless it pertains to saving for my son’s education. That’s still a pretty neat benefit. I’ve heard some companies are also starting to offer student loan assistance as an employee benefit in order to attract top talent. Personally, I think the trick is to avoid accumulating large debt in the first place unless a cost / benefit analysis shows it’s worthwhile.

 

One of the biggest things I see with my students is that they don’t want to work to find scholarship/grant money. They just accept FAFSA. So they accumulate a large debt in part because working a job making $10.50/hour is more with their time than saving large sums of money by applying for scholarships and writing essays

[TURBO]

typical last teenager stuff...

 

Entitlement plays a role, especially if their parents have always given them what they want, when they want it...

 

Lots of teenagers don't see the value in not having debt coming out of college. They will see it when the bills start rolling in, that's for sure, but getting them to avoid it in the first place is tough.

[nodakfan17]

It's an interesting thread. And heck, maybe they'll bump up the minimum social security age to 65 and all our answers will change.

I don’t know if you meant that to be sarcastic, but I actually think that’s possible. 5 years ago, I would have said you were nuts. If anything, it’s likely to increase given the program’s solvency issues. Now with the Democratic Socialism movement growing, I view an expansion of benefits as a possibility. I’ll leave it at that. I have no intention of getting political. My point is that as good planners, we should diversify our investments and / or income so we’re covered no matter what way the political winds shift. I love my Roth 401(k) and IRA, but I wouldn’t be totally surprised if the government figured out how to tax those again before I retire. When I was in my 20s, I was all about funding my qualified retirement plans. Now that I’m in my 30s, I’m equally concerned with filling up non-qualified buckets because of the flexibility they afford.

[MrTPlush]

Meh, that "easy scholarship" money is pretty overblown. I remember when I was a senior and got the list of all the local scholarships. There were probably over 75 (rural area), but after taking out the ones that I didn't meet a requirement (farmer, going into ___ degree, military), had GPA as a requirement( you need like 3.8 or higher to get those), or wanted FAFSA information (so need based) I was left with less than five...and they weren't high money ones.

 

To really churn out a bunch of scholarship essays can be really time consuming if you are really thinking about what you are putting down. Not worth the time and effort when you don't meet the extreme GPA requirements or aren't in severe need according to FAFSA. Maybe it is easier in other areas, but in my experience there wasn't much worth even trying for.

[chuckiehacks]

Ideally 55ish (I'm 42 at the moment). That would get us to the point where our last kid is through college and (in theory) off the payroll. If my wife stays in her current job until then, she'll qualify for retiree health care, which is the key. If that changes, we'd likely have to work a little longer. I'm self-employed, so I could continue to work on a limited basis to keep some cash coming in if necessary.

[KeithStone53151]

Add me to the group of very early 30s guys that's shooting from the hip at this point. It's hard to plan anything definitively with so much potential variation in the market, government entitlements, healthcare, etc. I'm an extremely frugal person and will have the goal of retiring as soon as I can. I'm not a government employee, so retiring in my early-mid 50s probably isn't realistic unless something changes drastically with healthcare over the next 20 years. At this point, my shoot from the hip strategy would ideally be early 60s and utilizing COBRA or obamacare to stay covered up to Medicare.

[KeithStone53151]

typical last teenager stuff...

 

Entitlement plays a role, especially if their parents have always given them what they want, when they want it...

 

Lots of teenagers don't see the value in not having debt coming out of college. They will see it when the bills start rolling in, that's for sure, but getting them to avoid it in the first place is tough.

 

I understand the thought, but in defense of teenagers that don't want to do it...a very small percentage of students really have a shot at any of the $500-$1,000 scholarships. The top 5-10% of students are going to scoop all those, while the kid with the 2.8-3.2 GPA that maybe plays 1 or 2 sports isn't really going to have a shot...regardless of how good their essay is(and in reality, it's unlikely that student writes a better essay than the 3.8-4.0 students anyways). I've seen how it works. A relative of a close friend of mine who's going to med school and is basically elite on paper got a majority of the assistance money she applied for. Safe to say, the ones she didn't get were probably other students that were similarly elite on paper...definitely not the 2.8-3.2 GPA guy.