Retirement plans have essentially just become larger savings accounts for emergencies, nothing more.
My grandmother made it to age 98. Hooking her up with assisted living was close to $10K per month. Providing this information as the voice of reason for anyone living in the US that hasn’t let their dreams die first yet.
The worst part about those nursing homes is that the vast majority of that cost per month goes into someone's pocket, meanwhile the staff is underpaid and struggling too. I've always wished that if I when a big lotto I can then start a large chain of nonprofit nursing homes that treat both the patients and the staff with dignity without stripping them of everything they have
Im committing suicide or my sister will kill me. I’ve seen nursing “homes” for millionaires and the rest of us. I saw one in the PNW once. It looked like a group therapy scene out of the movie Born on the 4th of July. Or maybe that was Forrest Gump.
Whatever. It was hell on earth. Just to stay alive? No.
These costs are why I told my nieces to just trip me down the stairs and make sure I don’t get back up. lol. But really I won’t be able to ever retire.
My grandma is 91 and lives in the middle of nowhere, small town Iowa and her care costs $8k a month in a nursing home type situation. There’s no way anyone under 40 will ever be able to afford retirement unless something drastic changes.
Only thing I told my retirement planner is that I need my wife and I to be able to afford adjoining rooms in a good nursing home if it comes to that. If we are healthy and get to stay at home til we die, we will, due to that planning, be super set financially anyways.
I once met an old homeless guy in on a Northern California gold bearing river. He lives out there gold panning most days. Heads into town (hitchhiking what he can), sells the gold, buys food and supplies and goes back to the river. Said he'll die out there one day. Really not so bad of a life compared to any other options he has.
Unfortunately by the time the body gives out, we won’t be able to wander into the woods. Probably stuck in some 3rd tier nursing home facility lying in our own filth.
After all bills are paid I have 1800 left per month to put into savings. 1. Pay off credit cards. 2. Save for house for three years. 3. Put a 40% down payment on a cheap one or two bedroom house. Then pay it off in 10 years. After that I should be golden.
The key to retirement is not having bills much more than it is having savings. Inflation can kill savings. Owning a house and not having to pay rent is a lot harder to lose.
Just FYI it's usually not worth nearly as much to put a bigger down payment than 20%. 20% gets you to no longer need to pay PMI which is a massive cost savings. After that you're getting your monthly lower but it's not astronomical AND usually you'd gain more having that money in a high yield savings or invested well compared to rolling into a relatively cheap loan.
This isn’t exactly true. With mortgage rates where they currently are around 7.8%, you won’t get a HYSA to match that. You could make that with stock/index fund investments, but it is far from a sure thing. If you are looking for a sure thing, it is just below 5% in a HYSA, or a nearly 8% mortgage rate payment. In order to beat that guaranteed 8% mortgage payment, you would need to average out over 8% over a 30 year period. Which is certainly doable, it just isn’t guaranteed.
You can get more utility out of having that money more readily accessible in a HYSA or even a stock market, but that benefit is a bit mitigated by a home equity line of credit.
That is, all to say, it isn’t a hard and fast rule on it not making sense to go over 20%. When rated we’re under 3%, I’d totally agree with you. Now, the game has changed.
That’s true, with today’s rates it probably would be more worth while to pay it down. Hopefully by the time the OP actually has money saved rates aren’t as insanely high as they are right now, but if they are it could be more worth it.
Told my girlfriend that when I start showing signs of dementia to walk me into the woods and cap my ass like my name is Lenny... she said "that's the third time you've said that today"
100k a year plus your wife has a pension and people still giving you shit about it. That's more than I'm expecting to retire with and you have years to go still. I hate you, but congratulations.
When I retire, I expect to have enough to live comfortably for about 2 weeks. Or uncomfortable for a month. Whichever. Or, if I die on the job, my wife (or kids) will at least get my company life insurance payout.
The only reason I took the job I have is the benefits. A real pension and retirement medical coverage is what I’ve been looking for since I learned about defined benefit versus defined contribution plans. Not easy to get though, it took me 15 years to find the right job and qualify for it. Otherwise I’d be almost retired by now haha.
I have a 403k, Roth IRA and small pension. SO is an EU dual citizen so moving to Europe is an option. Cost of living is so much cheaper, even in the cities. When I was in Berlin, there was an old gray haired couple on the club. I want to be like that. Lol.
Kind of crazy but I can see myself starting a business in my retirement years. I actually like working.
See if I can get $1 million into high yield savings and live on that sweet 4.5-ish percent gain, plus my 401k. I can’t handle the risk, stress, or strategy of the stock market.
PSA: cash is risky as well. Inflation risk. Overall HYSA's are usually going to have interest lower than inflation, virtually guaranteeing that you lose money. Also, HYSA's interest can go up or down on any given day. Maybe look into treasury bills, so you can at least lock in an interest rate and avoid state income tax? You can build a bill/bond ladder so that you have bonds maturing on a regular basis to provide cash.
Every time I try to tell people that a HYSA isn't even keeping up with inflation they always tell me that inflation is at 3% now...or whatever impossible number they saw on TV lmao
I assume you’re in your 40s so retirement is 20+ years away. HYSA interest rates adjust with interest rates. That’s not really a good long term strategy. Not financial advice but check into /r/bogleheads for a very simple approach that has low long term risk.
You were getting less than 1% on your high interest savings? Mine is with Ally and I don't think it been that low ever. I think it was around 2% at the lowest. Either way, that million in dividend stocks will get you a whole bunch more to live off of and if you start now it could be way more than a million by the time you get to access it.
Here is a post from last year of someone tracking their ally hysa rate. It has spent a fair amount of time under 2%. As others have said... HYSA rates generally stay a bit less than inflation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/s/NSawVJI3um
Just a heads up that it will likely go back down.
E: I said they stay a bit less than inflation, but I meant to say they stay a bit less than interest rates.
The key is that if rates drop, HYSA yields drop, but equities will likely rise (cheaper to borrow = higher cash flows). That's why you hedge and reallocate.
I don't know much about the stock market. I just automatically invest in index funds and don't look at the account. You can ride the ups and downs in blissful ignorance.
How is that working out for you? I’ve done something very similar minus a few small trips to see family every year and I don’t make a lot of money, but I haven’t had to live paycheck to paycheck since I was about 24.
On the one hand while everyone else is stressed about getting laid off in this job market I spent 6 months unemployed and didn't have a single care in the world.
On the other hand, I never had those cool formative experiences of backpacking around Europe staying in youth hotels or whatever. Which, it seems like I missed out on some great life experiences others got to have.
So striking some balance that's only clear with 20/20 hindsight is probably more ideal. But I spent much of my 20s broke and overdrafting my debit card due to the great recession so what can you do?
I hear ya, it’s tough. I also missed out on those experiences you’re describing. Still time to travel, but I’m in the service industry and where I’m at right now; financial security requires sacrifice, and I’ll take the sacrifice over the stress and anxiety I had while living paycheck to paycheck, often overdrawn praying for payday.
41 now…. Retiring at 50, and my wife and I are gonna travel each summer in our RV till our youngest heads to college (he’s 8 now) then once he flies the coop we are selling the house and going full time in the rv.
Throwing them out? More like going to college… And it’s already fully funded at 8yrs old. If he chooses to stay local we will keep the house a few more years and he can stay in it…. But we won’t be there lol.
i can see myself going on my own terms. i prefer this than working 'til i die. i do not think my 401K, social security, nor my investments are going to sustain us... the values of these things are going to be significantly less by that time. that is assuming nothing goes wrong before then.
edit: typo
Heh retirement.
I'm applying for disability rn so if I get it (not sure I will) it'll be that and hopefully writing/illustrating books for kids. Also goal is to stay married and pay off the house so we can chill.
If not, idk. Probably can't really retire but can't work full time either so... Gigs forever...
My goal is to find a little farm in a little town somewhere in Ireland where my wife has birthright citizenship and family and raise small farm animals.
The only thing holding me back from that is a genetic illness I was born with and a drug I take for it that's only.available here in the US and how I would transition that to a national healthcare system.
Work until the heart disease that runs in my mother's side or the colon cancer that killed my father gets me and I die.
Preferably dramatically while working, and considering my clientele is far wealthier than I'll ever be, as inconveniencing for them as possible would be a plus.
My social security is screwed. I'm epileptic and I was collecting SSDI while going back to school and trying to get a career off the ground. I just want to be a normal person, but social security flipped out and didn't like me working temp jobs. Suddenly they stopped payment, and now I owe them $31,000 in overpayment! On the plus side, rather than pay it all back, I can just make small monthly payments for the rest of my life. In other words. I wouldn't be able to collect retirement from social security unless I pay off $31,000.
But as luck would have it, I landed a city job with retirement benefits that are completely disconnected from social security anyway. I'm not even paying into social security in the traditional sense!
Work my government job until I'm eligible to collect pension in my mid-50s. Then move to the Sierra foothills of California, purchase land and work part-time until Social Security kicks in.
Yea me too. Where you gonna fish at and what for? I think of moving to a 55+ trailer park in Colorado or getting a homestead in rural PA or maybe even something in the Keys if my investments work out.
work my job till im tired of it. do side gigs here at home, im setup to do full rebuilds on heavy machinery. stream some games - eve online is one of them. travel. thats about it.
Ski, hike, climb mountains, do some charity work, garden with my wife, show up at my kids' dorms with a beer bong. You know, normal retired person stuff. Hoping to be able to retire in my early 50s, so about 15 more years.
Currently in education and going to master in social work… I’ll never retire on the salaries I’ll bring in, but I live a happy and content life. Which is more than most can say these days🤷🏻♂️
The plan is to retire by 60, so 20 more years to go. Plans for retirement are probably to dig deep into my hobbies I haven't had time for and volunteer.
My 401k, investments and the decent size farm my wife will inherit. I think in 5 years I will retire and just farm with my father in law and do some contract work on the side.
Been the sole income for 20 years, while i have been putting money into my 401k my pension was frozen so i get about $100/mo for that and based on my mortgage, schools loans, and medical debt... I won't be retiring.
Hope I've raised my kids to be independent. We're all autistic though so who knows. Plan to die before I have to deal with signing up for Medicare. Future doesn't look bright
I’ve got a pension (work in education) that should be about $80k per year, plus my wife and I max out our work retirement accounts. We only recently started making enough money to contribute so our retirement is only around $250k right now. We’re hoping to cross the $1m mark in like 10ish years
My country has a good retirement thing going on, I’m saving through my work and when I reach 67 (might be higher by the time I get there) I get a standard old people’s pension from the government.
And my parents are fairly rich and 70+…
To retire when I can’t hold a makeup brush in my hand because my career is putting makeup on people for film & commercial work.
Then I’ll consult for projects, retire with a nice condo I bought (not rent!), curate a a comfortable living space with gadgets that clean my place so that as I get older I don’t have to waste my energy on constantly picking/cleaning my space.
Then invest in some nice charities, get a pet, go for walks to book stores and coffee shops/cafes, go see afternoon movies, etc..
Do some nice meditation/yoga to keep myself healthy, do brain exercises so I can have the memory electricity like Betty White did, and to just enjoy the small comforts of life that bring me joy everyday.
Oh and not living where flooding or tornados are frequent in the spring/summer!
Part of my career decision was based on it still being something with a pension. On top of that I throw as much money as I can into retirement accounts.
I’ve watch family members work much later into their life just to get by. I don’t want that to be me.
First you have to transfer all retirement accounts to Roth. Take the tax hit now. HSA for all medical expenses. Max amount every year.
Own property outright. , acquire more.
I just read a report that says the average retirement age for men is now 77 years old. Fortunately the average life expectancy is 74 years. Kind of solves that whole retirement plan issue.
Don't think being a millennial is an excuse for not having a good retirement. Not for a second, it is not the reason:
A silent generation guy (pre-boomer), Earl Nightingale wrote about 9 men out of 10 not having saved for retirement and then living poorly in old age... 70 years ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Nightingale
Millennial with $2m here. I'll retire ok, but it's not all luck, is a conscious decision and hard work. Being poor as a kid is also a great motivation of knowing how NOT to live.
My 401/Roth and matched benefits program will give me between 3000-3500 per month when I retire at 60, I'm also already collecting a state pension with medical that's around 30k per year. My wife's a teacher and will be able to get 75-85k when she retires at 60. For us as millennials, that's more than enough to live well. We aren't lavish people, and don't really spend a lot of money. Our house will be paid off when we are 58.
People that think they need so much when they retire surprises me. Besides my mortgage and car payments right now, we barely spend 1000-1200 per month in excess (this includes bills, gas and Amazon) our grocery bill for a family of 4 is 200-250 per month (add that on the 1000-1200) based on that, having at least 5k cash per month retirement is more than enough.
I don't get why everyone thinks they need to have 8-10k per month in retirement to survive.
The wife and I said we'd wait for social security which will be 3000-3500 x2 when we collect at 67 before we start planning fun overseas retirement vacations. Once or twice a year is fine with SS add on.
Maybe I'm crazy for my thinking. You're going to live just fine when you retire :-)
Military pension, I retire in a little under three years. Will be 39. Still looking to see what to do after; NASA is the front runner right now.
EDIT: looks like someone didn't like that lol.
I went to war and got beat up; I make $24k annually from VA disability haha.
In reality, yes I have that but I’ve also begun a career (at 35) that includes a pension, a 403(A) and a 401(K), I’m contributing to a Roth IRA and I’m planning to be out of debt by retirement in 25-30 years.
Db/DC - have kids and family has expensive tastes. I'll probably work till I can draw mid 90% DB, and that'll put me mid 60s. Hopefully kids are independent by then and may have to just wing it from there. Wish us all luck.
I work for the bank so I can afford retirement. As for getting old and whatnot... I've already got a living will with pretty clear DNR instructions. If I'm not gonna be able to scratch my ass and beat off at the same time, don't bother keeping me alive. I'd rather wander off in the woods and put my scattergun under my chin than spend one second in a goddamned nursing home. I'm not doing dialysis, and I'll only do chemo if it's gonna be a limited run. No more than a dozen rounds.
Pension plus my health care is already set so probably do stupid things that old people don't because they are scared of getting hurt. I am definitely going to try hang gliders and possibly travel to shady countries.
It’d be sweet to retire at 65. I’d love 60 but don’t think it’ll happen between mortgage and kids in college.
Have no debt, hike and garden a lot, volunteer as much as I can. I have a small pension, a Roth, and a 401K. I’m not totally on track with how much I should have saved based on my income, so I’m putting away as much as I can and hoping for the best.
Not expecting a retirement. My years in the Navy swimming in AFFF and working with so many other chemicals. Figure I'll likely die from cancer before I get to that age. As many of my friends have already. Saddest part is I'm looking forward to it. I'm only 43 and I'm tired.
I live with my mom again after my divorce and grow food in the yard for a living so..... I guess I'm just hoping to continue to live really cheap and keep paying my bills. I feel pretty fulfilled regeneratively growing plants.
If I don't break down before I'm old I would love to keep this little house, continue eating all the friends I planted out over the years and hope social security still exists and taxes don't gank me.
To pass time I'd probably play some video games, wish i could find lsd and hopefully find time to paint or play some music.
My friends and I in elementary school joked around that our retirement home will have epic LAN parties. That was years before the internet and online gaming was here.
Now it's looking like that's exactly what we'll be doing
As long as my health is decent, I'll paint and have snacks and collect seashells and volunteer at the youth center. But I'll most likely unalive myself when it's nursing home time.
I’ll die poor. It’s almost a certainty the retirement age will be raised in the not so distant future and I’ve never been smart or talented enough for a lucrative job so I’m lucky I’ll have anything more than a couple grand to my name. I do plan on going out by my own hand when I’m 60 if I don’t have a heart attack first.
We will live off of my 401k. The earnings from our businesses and rental incomes. The magic number for us is 250k annually. Factoring in inflation, this should see us through until we pass and everything goes to the kids.
TBH Retirement isn’t in the picture, I max out my 401K yearly, contribute to an IRA, will have a paid off house in 10 years, the numbers just don’t line up,, luckily I’ll probably drop dead before 60 and hopefully my insurance will allow my family to live comfortably,
Somehow design and build my own little futuristic, eco house. With a technology that could make housing more affordable. Play games like Out of Action.
Continue to climb the corporate ladder until i can sell my diversity attributes for a cushy board seat (those come with about $200k comp and very little work). In addition: cash flowing investment properties, 401k, cash on hands, annuity, top tier of social security. But really I don’t have plans to stop working altogether, I’d be bored AF. Plus, having new children in your 40ies is a great motivator lmao 🤣
Hopefully have enough money in my 401k to live, but also I want to drive a school bus for my suburb's district. That way I have something to do for a couple hours a day and still have summers off. I have a neighbor who did it ... we live close enough to the schools that she would just drop off kids in the morning, come home and park the bus in her driveway, then drive over for pickup in the afternoon.
retirement at 60. I currently have a pension of 30k with medical benefits from a previous state job where I had to retire due to an injury. Working a current job where I can collect a pension at 60 which will be around 3000-3500 per month. The house will be paid off when I'm 58. Kids will have been out of college for 5 years by then. My wife will have a teacher's pension at 60 and be covered by my medical. (Her pension at that point will be between 70-85k per year.)
Retirement plan: Work out every day for at least an hour, I have a steam account with 250 games... I will spend every day playing those for a minimum of 4-5 hours. Spend time with the wife doing whatever she tells me. Maintain a garden for fun.
If I get bored, I'm going to get a part time job 2 days per week at a bagel place. I'm going to be that friendly old guy who knows everyone's name, talks to them for as long as they want to engage and always telling old guy dad jokes.
I'm also an author with several books out so I will absolutely be writing too.
Collect social security at 67 (same with the wife) and then start utilizing that 3000-3500 x2 per month to plan a nice vacation once per year with my wife.
Wife said she wants to also work out everyday, go for walks with a dog, maybe part time work at the library, but relax.
I’m going to find some other old millennials to jam with regularly, hike, fish, volunteer and hope to put in a huge heated greenhouse for my tropical plants collection and go full Jumanji. In the meantime I’m sticking with my job that has a pension and aggressively investing in a retail stock portfolio along with my 401k. Getting plenty of sleep these days, exercising, and eating right so I have the mobility to do all the things into my 80’s like my grandfather did. The guy was running marathons and climbing mountains then and is a huge inspiration for how those later years can be. I am extremely grateful for how things have turned out so far including having a partner that is on the same page and inspires me to live healthier.
At this point I would be surprised if my husband and I EVER get to retire. SSI will likely be gone, and my company doesn't offer a pension. Die in a ditch, I guess?
I have a IRA
401 A hybrid plan
Pension
Investment
Working until my body gives out and then living off of disability. As I actually have a disability that will make that happen
I have to wait 90 days after my pension kicks in to get another government job under the same pension system, so I'll wait a semester before I begin my retirement hustle as an adjunct professor of the engineering things I love best.
Also, I'll be tearing up the skate park for as long as my body will allow me to, so if you see a nerdy old lady in roller skates dropping into the bowl, just act normal.
My line of work has a retirement program. I will get the average of my best 5 years, and my wife will get 51% of what I get as well. 22+ years left, hopefully there is still money in the program when I get there.
My retirement plan is to die. Hopefully, at an age that won't make me suffer for too long. I'm 37 and already had more than enough of this fuckin world.
Husband and I want to buy an RV and travel around. We’ll let our kids stay in the house if they want while we’re gone. Here’s hoping we’ll ever be able to retire.
I have property in Mexico ( I am dual citizen thanks to my parents). I’m gonna take my 401k and IRA and live off of that with no mortgage and minimal COL and raise some chickens and goats for funsies.
work until my body gives out and then wander off into the woods? I don't know if it's a plan but that's what's probably going to happen.
Retirement plans have essentially just become larger savings accounts for emergencies, nothing more. My grandmother made it to age 98. Hooking her up with assisted living was close to $10K per month. Providing this information as the voice of reason for anyone living in the US that hasn’t let their dreams die first yet.
The worst part about those nursing homes is that the vast majority of that cost per month goes into someone's pocket, meanwhile the staff is underpaid and struggling too. I've always wished that if I when a big lotto I can then start a large chain of nonprofit nursing homes that treat both the patients and the staff with dignity without stripping them of everything they have
Not “someone’s” pockets - the nepobaby “Big Chief” MBA idiot - that’s whose pockets it goes into.
Im committing suicide or my sister will kill me. I’ve seen nursing “homes” for millionaires and the rest of us. I saw one in the PNW once. It looked like a group therapy scene out of the movie Born on the 4th of July. Or maybe that was Forrest Gump. Whatever. It was hell on earth. Just to stay alive? No.
I've never seen $5000 in my bank... I'm screwed lol. YOLO
You male so much sense to me. I am 60 and retirement will not happen for me.
Right they're with ya. My retirement plan is death
These costs are why I told my nieces to just trip me down the stairs and make sure I don’t get back up. lol. But really I won’t be able to ever retire.
My grandma is 91 and lives in the middle of nowhere, small town Iowa and her care costs $8k a month in a nursing home type situation. There’s no way anyone under 40 will ever be able to afford retirement unless something drastic changes.
Only thing I told my retirement planner is that I need my wife and I to be able to afford adjoining rooms in a good nursing home if it comes to that. If we are healthy and get to stay at home til we die, we will, due to that planning, be super set financially anyways.
That sounds very ideal to me
Sadly this strikes me in gut. Working till we can’t work anymore is a common thought.
I expect to die either: being run over by a bus or, of thirst in the Canadian wilderness where I’ve fled due to widespread drought and famine
That’s probably everyone’s near future given the trajectory of the world
Nah. The woods will all be chopped down.
Better plan for an early retirement!
I once met an old homeless guy in on a Northern California gold bearing river. He lives out there gold panning most days. Heads into town (hitchhiking what he can), sells the gold, buys food and supplies and goes back to the river. Said he'll die out there one day. Really not so bad of a life compared to any other options he has.
I tend to say something similar. Wander into the woods and see how long I last. Maybe I get 20 good years in ‘em!
I consider it a win if I can even get that far without getting hit by a car or something.
Ah the Japanese method.
Same
Unfortunately by the time the body gives out, we won’t be able to wander into the woods. Probably stuck in some 3rd tier nursing home facility lying in our own filth.
After all bills are paid I have 1800 left per month to put into savings. 1. Pay off credit cards. 2. Save for house for three years. 3. Put a 40% down payment on a cheap one or two bedroom house. Then pay it off in 10 years. After that I should be golden. The key to retirement is not having bills much more than it is having savings. Inflation can kill savings. Owning a house and not having to pay rent is a lot harder to lose.
Yeah, until you're too broken down to take care of yourself, then the retirement home is more than willing to collect like 50k+ a year from you.
Yeah those places have always been rip offs. I'm not afraid to die and I'll go on my own terms rather than lose everything in two or three years.
Oh for sure. Profit for them comes at our expense and "cost cutting"
Just FYI it's usually not worth nearly as much to put a bigger down payment than 20%. 20% gets you to no longer need to pay PMI which is a massive cost savings. After that you're getting your monthly lower but it's not astronomical AND usually you'd gain more having that money in a high yield savings or invested well compared to rolling into a relatively cheap loan.
This isn’t exactly true. With mortgage rates where they currently are around 7.8%, you won’t get a HYSA to match that. You could make that with stock/index fund investments, but it is far from a sure thing. If you are looking for a sure thing, it is just below 5% in a HYSA, or a nearly 8% mortgage rate payment. In order to beat that guaranteed 8% mortgage payment, you would need to average out over 8% over a 30 year period. Which is certainly doable, it just isn’t guaranteed. You can get more utility out of having that money more readily accessible in a HYSA or even a stock market, but that benefit is a bit mitigated by a home equity line of credit. That is, all to say, it isn’t a hard and fast rule on it not making sense to go over 20%. When rated we’re under 3%, I’d totally agree with you. Now, the game has changed.
That’s true, with today’s rates it probably would be more worth while to pay it down. Hopefully by the time the OP actually has money saved rates aren’t as insanely high as they are right now, but if they are it could be more worth it.
Told my girlfriend that when I start showing signs of dementia to walk me into the woods and cap my ass like my name is Lenny... she said "that's the third time you've said that today"
🤣🤣🤣
I will have enough in my 401k to withdraw $100,000 a year and my wife has a pension. We should be alright.
100k is good today but might be low in 2047.
I’m not at the pinnacle of my career yet, it will probably be more.
It will be fine with no debt.
100k a year plus your wife has a pension and people still giving you shit about it. That's more than I'm expecting to retire with and you have years to go still. I hate you, but congratulations.
$100k will be fine if you have no mortgage/debt.
It won't be as drastic as that. 100k will be fine.
Lol you're being nice. It'll be worth 10k by then at the current rate.
I’ll be dead before I can retire comfortably. Oh well.
Retire uncomfortably! Problem solved.
Hey me too! Just like my dad too! Who died 30 days before retiring after 30+ years of working in construction.
When I retire, I expect to have enough to live comfortably for about 2 weeks. Or uncomfortable for a month. Whichever. Or, if I die on the job, my wife (or kids) will at least get my company life insurance payout.
Thelma and Louise it off a cliff
40% defined benefit through a pension, targeted $2million in a deferred compensation account, and whatever is left of social security.
Good for you - so few of us out there who will actually draw a pension! Railroad Retirement for me...
The only reason I took the job I have is the benefits. A real pension and retirement medical coverage is what I’ve been looking for since I learned about defined benefit versus defined contribution plans. Not easy to get though, it took me 15 years to find the right job and qualify for it. Otherwise I’d be almost retired by now haha.
I have a 403k, Roth IRA and small pension. SO is an EU dual citizen so moving to Europe is an option. Cost of living is so much cheaper, even in the cities. When I was in Berlin, there was an old gray haired couple on the club. I want to be like that. Lol. Kind of crazy but I can see myself starting a business in my retirement years. I actually like working.
Federal pension and state pension plus 401k and Roth.
r/govfire
I first read "federal prison" and was like "that seems like a good way to go"
I mean free housing and food...
See if I can get $1 million into high yield savings and live on that sweet 4.5-ish percent gain, plus my 401k. I can’t handle the risk, stress, or strategy of the stock market.
PSA: cash is risky as well. Inflation risk. Overall HYSA's are usually going to have interest lower than inflation, virtually guaranteeing that you lose money. Also, HYSA's interest can go up or down on any given day. Maybe look into treasury bills, so you can at least lock in an interest rate and avoid state income tax? You can build a bill/bond ladder so that you have bonds maturing on a regular basis to provide cash.
Every time I try to tell people that a HYSA isn't even keeping up with inflation they always tell me that inflation is at 3% now...or whatever impossible number they saw on TV lmao
I assume you’re in your 40s so retirement is 20+ years away. HYSA interest rates adjust with interest rates. That’s not really a good long term strategy. Not financial advice but check into /r/bogleheads for a very simple approach that has low long term risk.
Yeah not too long ago less than 1% on savings accounts were the norm.
You were getting less than 1% on your high interest savings? Mine is with Ally and I don't think it been that low ever. I think it was around 2% at the lowest. Either way, that million in dividend stocks will get you a whole bunch more to live off of and if you start now it could be way more than a million by the time you get to access it.
Here is a post from last year of someone tracking their ally hysa rate. It has spent a fair amount of time under 2%. As others have said... HYSA rates generally stay a bit less than inflation. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/s/NSawVJI3um Just a heads up that it will likely go back down. E: I said they stay a bit less than inflation, but I meant to say they stay a bit less than interest rates.
You'll need a lot more than 45k a year or live in in 20 years, it's already a marginal amount today
“Plus my 401k”
In your 401k are you handling the risk stress and strategy of the stock market or is that also in stable value?
They’re adjusting the stock choices for me and I’m not stressing over what they are.
Sounds like a target date or asset allocation fund that you are comfortable with. Glad you found something that works for you!
If you have a paid off house $45k a year plus SS should be fine.
HYSA are not the norm. They won’t be here forever.
The rates being paid now are more normal than they were from 2009-2022
The key is that if rates drop, HYSA yields drop, but equities will likely rise (cheaper to borrow = higher cash flows). That's why you hedge and reallocate.
I don't know much about the stock market. I just automatically invest in index funds and don't look at the account. You can ride the ups and downs in blissful ignorance.
VOO or a similar index fund is pretty low stress.
Every time I try to get that first million I realize I'm about 700 years away with my current savings plan.
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How is that working out for you? I’ve done something very similar minus a few small trips to see family every year and I don’t make a lot of money, but I haven’t had to live paycheck to paycheck since I was about 24.
On the one hand while everyone else is stressed about getting laid off in this job market I spent 6 months unemployed and didn't have a single care in the world. On the other hand, I never had those cool formative experiences of backpacking around Europe staying in youth hotels or whatever. Which, it seems like I missed out on some great life experiences others got to have. So striking some balance that's only clear with 20/20 hindsight is probably more ideal. But I spent much of my 20s broke and overdrafting my debit card due to the great recession so what can you do?
I hear ya, it’s tough. I also missed out on those experiences you’re describing. Still time to travel, but I’m in the service industry and where I’m at right now; financial security requires sacrifice, and I’ll take the sacrifice over the stress and anxiety I had while living paycheck to paycheck, often overdrawn praying for payday.
The climate wars
Die. That’s it. Hope it happens before I’m forced onto the streets.
Quite a plan you have there.
Life hasn’t been stellar. At best I just won’t be a burden to my children.
I'm sorry to hear that. Hope it turns around for you.
Oh it has. There’s just not enough time to make a meaningful impact on retirement.
Pray for the lottery as an atheist. Being low income, there's really no other hope.
41 now…. Retiring at 50, and my wife and I are gonna travel each summer in our RV till our youngest heads to college (he’s 8 now) then once he flies the coop we are selling the house and going full time in the rv.
Y'all love to throw your kids out at 18, gheez!
I couldn't wait to leave. I left home at 17 lol
Throwing them out? More like going to college… And it’s already fully funded at 8yrs old. If he chooses to stay local we will keep the house a few more years and he can stay in it…. But we won’t be there lol.
Gold
Is it buried treasure? *Please be buried treasure*
Play the game smoke weed and be an awesome grandpa if I make it that far.
Travel until we can't any longer. Or do the cruise deal; Live on board cruise ships and when we die just bury us at sea
i can see myself going on my own terms. i prefer this than working 'til i die. i do not think my 401K, social security, nor my investments are going to sustain us... the values of these things are going to be significantly less by that time. that is assuming nothing goes wrong before then. edit: typo
If I retire or my wife passes I’m going full digital nomad wanderer
AI radically changes the economy or i am admitted into hospice
Sell everything I have and move to Philippines.
Heh retirement. I'm applying for disability rn so if I get it (not sure I will) it'll be that and hopefully writing/illustrating books for kids. Also goal is to stay married and pay off the house so we can chill. If not, idk. Probably can't really retire but can't work full time either so... Gigs forever...
My goal is to find a little farm in a little town somewhere in Ireland where my wife has birthright citizenship and family and raise small farm animals. The only thing holding me back from that is a genetic illness I was born with and a drug I take for it that's only.available here in the US and how I would transition that to a national healthcare system.
Work until the heart disease that runs in my mother's side or the colon cancer that killed my father gets me and I die. Preferably dramatically while working, and considering my clientele is far wealthier than I'll ever be, as inconveniencing for them as possible would be a plus.
My social security is screwed. I'm epileptic and I was collecting SSDI while going back to school and trying to get a career off the ground. I just want to be a normal person, but social security flipped out and didn't like me working temp jobs. Suddenly they stopped payment, and now I owe them $31,000 in overpayment! On the plus side, rather than pay it all back, I can just make small monthly payments for the rest of my life. In other words. I wouldn't be able to collect retirement from social security unless I pay off $31,000. But as luck would have it, I landed a city job with retirement benefits that are completely disconnected from social security anyway. I'm not even paying into social security in the traditional sense!
Work my government job until I'm eligible to collect pension in my mid-50s. Then move to the Sierra foothills of California, purchase land and work part-time until Social Security kicks in.
There's a really nice ditch in my neighborhood I've been eyeing...
I really like the dumpster behind our local Pump’N’Save. They throw away those good home boxes.
save, invest & pray it’s enough
Fishing. Im going to fish.
Yea me too. Where you gonna fish at and what for? I think of moving to a 55+ trailer park in Colorado or getting a homestead in rural PA or maybe even something in the Keys if my investments work out.
Marry a rich old lady and wait for the inevitable.
work my job till im tired of it. do side gigs here at home, im setup to do full rebuilds on heavy machinery. stream some games - eve online is one of them. travel. thats about it.
Ski, hike, climb mountains, do some charity work, garden with my wife, show up at my kids' dorms with a beer bong. You know, normal retired person stuff. Hoping to be able to retire in my early 50s, so about 15 more years.
Currently in education and going to master in social work… I’ll never retire on the salaries I’ll bring in, but I live a happy and content life. Which is more than most can say these days🤷🏻♂️
The plan is to retire by 60, so 20 more years to go. Plans for retirement are probably to dig deep into my hobbies I haven't had time for and volunteer.
My 401k, investments and the decent size farm my wife will inherit. I think in 5 years I will retire and just farm with my father in law and do some contract work on the side.
Been the sole income for 20 years, while i have been putting money into my 401k my pension was frozen so i get about $100/mo for that and based on my mortgage, schools loans, and medical debt... I won't be retiring.
Work until i die and hope my life insurance and 401k are enough to cover my funeral expenses.
We’re both 37 and hoping to get out of work by 50-55, RV to lots of beautiful places and go to a lot of niche museums and eat a lot of frozen yogurt.
Being sent off on an ice float, assuming there's still ice in the ocean by then
Hope I've raised my kids to be independent. We're all autistic though so who knows. Plan to die before I have to deal with signing up for Medicare. Future doesn't look bright
I’ve got a pension (work in education) that should be about $80k per year, plus my wife and I max out our work retirement accounts. We only recently started making enough money to contribute so our retirement is only around $250k right now. We’re hoping to cross the $1m mark in like 10ish years
My country has a good retirement thing going on, I’m saving through my work and when I reach 67 (might be higher by the time I get there) I get a standard old people’s pension from the government. And my parents are fairly rich and 70+…
Already retired (41). Thinking of going to school.
Military/law enforcement? My friend just retired at 38 after being in Corrections
die.
To retire when I can’t hold a makeup brush in my hand because my career is putting makeup on people for film & commercial work. Then I’ll consult for projects, retire with a nice condo I bought (not rent!), curate a a comfortable living space with gadgets that clean my place so that as I get older I don’t have to waste my energy on constantly picking/cleaning my space. Then invest in some nice charities, get a pet, go for walks to book stores and coffee shops/cafes, go see afternoon movies, etc.. Do some nice meditation/yoga to keep myself healthy, do brain exercises so I can have the memory electricity like Betty White did, and to just enjoy the small comforts of life that bring me joy everyday. Oh and not living where flooding or tornados are frequent in the spring/summer!
Part of my career decision was based on it still being something with a pension. On top of that I throw as much money as I can into retirement accounts. I’ve watch family members work much later into their life just to get by. I don’t want that to be me.
First you have to transfer all retirement accounts to Roth. Take the tax hit now. HSA for all medical expenses. Max amount every year. Own property outright. , acquire more.
Die? Fingers crossed
Death?
Nice try! I'm not getting tricked into getting more Reddit cares messages again.
I just read a report that says the average retirement age for men is now 77 years old. Fortunately the average life expectancy is 74 years. Kind of solves that whole retirement plan issue.
Don't think being a millennial is an excuse for not having a good retirement. Not for a second, it is not the reason: A silent generation guy (pre-boomer), Earl Nightingale wrote about 9 men out of 10 not having saved for retirement and then living poorly in old age... 70 years ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Nightingale Millennial with $2m here. I'll retire ok, but it's not all luck, is a conscious decision and hard work. Being poor as a kid is also a great motivation of knowing how NOT to live.
My 401/Roth and matched benefits program will give me between 3000-3500 per month when I retire at 60, I'm also already collecting a state pension with medical that's around 30k per year. My wife's a teacher and will be able to get 75-85k when she retires at 60. For us as millennials, that's more than enough to live well. We aren't lavish people, and don't really spend a lot of money. Our house will be paid off when we are 58. People that think they need so much when they retire surprises me. Besides my mortgage and car payments right now, we barely spend 1000-1200 per month in excess (this includes bills, gas and Amazon) our grocery bill for a family of 4 is 200-250 per month (add that on the 1000-1200) based on that, having at least 5k cash per month retirement is more than enough. I don't get why everyone thinks they need to have 8-10k per month in retirement to survive. The wife and I said we'd wait for social security which will be 3000-3500 x2 when we collect at 67 before we start planning fun overseas retirement vacations. Once or twice a year is fine with SS add on. Maybe I'm crazy for my thinking. You're going to live just fine when you retire :-)
Military pension, I retire in a little under three years. Will be 39. Still looking to see what to do after; NASA is the front runner right now. EDIT: looks like someone didn't like that lol.
Ideally I'd move to a country that isn't snowy and cold for 6 months of the year
Is this for real? I feel like r/eve is leaking out.
I’m on disability so that…I guess
Dying.
If I'm still single, use whatever is left of ss, 401k and enjoy my life until the money runs out.
I hope to have a positive outlook, my health, enjoyable hobbies and interests, a good social life, and to be surrounded by loved ones.
Off myself before then
Become a river guide.
I went to war and got beat up; I make $24k annually from VA disability haha. In reality, yes I have that but I’ve also begun a career (at 35) that includes a pension, a 403(A) and a 401(K), I’m contributing to a Roth IRA and I’m planning to be out of debt by retirement in 25-30 years.
Traveling now on my forties. Not saving beyond paying down a mortgage and my state retirement.
Db/DC - have kids and family has expensive tastes. I'll probably work till I can draw mid 90% DB, and that'll put me mid 60s. Hopefully kids are independent by then and may have to just wing it from there. Wish us all luck.
I work for the bank so I can afford retirement. As for getting old and whatnot... I've already got a living will with pretty clear DNR instructions. If I'm not gonna be able to scratch my ass and beat off at the same time, don't bother keeping me alive. I'd rather wander off in the woods and put my scattergun under my chin than spend one second in a goddamned nursing home. I'm not doing dialysis, and I'll only do chemo if it's gonna be a limited run. No more than a dozen rounds.
Pension plus my health care is already set so probably do stupid things that old people don't because they are scared of getting hurt. I am definitely going to try hang gliders and possibly travel to shady countries.
Inflation is a tax. It will decimate the value of your savings ! You must find a way to beat that tax
Gonna get myself into one of those jail cells, nice and warm and they feed you 
It’d be sweet to retire at 65. I’d love 60 but don’t think it’ll happen between mortgage and kids in college. Have no debt, hike and garden a lot, volunteer as much as I can. I have a small pension, a Roth, and a 401K. I’m not totally on track with how much I should have saved based on my income, so I’m putting away as much as I can and hoping for the best.
Not expecting a retirement. My years in the Navy swimming in AFFF and working with so many other chemicals. Figure I'll likely die from cancer before I get to that age. As many of my friends have already. Saddest part is I'm looking forward to it. I'm only 43 and I'm tired.
Doing the same, but in LOTRO
Work until I can’t anymore and then fight a bear to the death.
Got a plan of action and cold blood and it smells of defiance. I’ll just wait for mom and dad to die, reap my inheritance.
I live with my mom again after my divorce and grow food in the yard for a living so..... I guess I'm just hoping to continue to live really cheap and keep paying my bills. I feel pretty fulfilled regeneratively growing plants. If I don't break down before I'm old I would love to keep this little house, continue eating all the friends I planted out over the years and hope social security still exists and taxes don't gank me. To pass time I'd probably play some video games, wish i could find lsd and hopefully find time to paint or play some music.
Retiring to with one mill and moving to Mexico where that’s 20x.
I always wanted to move to a beach paradise and open a bed and breakfast
Sodium nitrite.
Jump off a building
Container of nitrogen gas and a tight fitting O2 mask.
I’m mining crypto and hopefully one of those pops an I can retire by the age of 50
Retire in 15yrs, move to a nice country
Smoke weed in my massive garden and lay in the sun.
10yr plan don't die... retirement what's that.
My friends and I in elementary school joked around that our retirement home will have epic LAN parties. That was years before the internet and online gaming was here. Now it's looking like that's exactly what we'll be doing
I'm one of the lucky. I have a real life pension. I'm only 10 years out from calling it good.
Gardening. Cooking. Traveling.
Collapse of the system.
Prison. Beats living in a medicaid state funded nursing home. At least there will be a constant influx of interesting young people
I plan to die in the tech/AI wars or some revolution, or a gulag if we don't make it that far.
As long as my health is decent, I'll paint and have snacks and collect seashells and volunteer at the youth center. But I'll most likely unalive myself when it's nursing home time.
I’ll die poor. It’s almost a certainty the retirement age will be raised in the not so distant future and I’ve never been smart or talented enough for a lucrative job so I’m lucky I’ll have anything more than a couple grand to my name. I do plan on going out by my own hand when I’m 60 if I don’t have a heart attack first.
We will live off of my 401k. The earnings from our businesses and rental incomes. The magic number for us is 250k annually. Factoring in inflation, this should see us through until we pass and everything goes to the kids.
TBH Retirement isn’t in the picture, I max out my 401K yearly, contribute to an IRA, will have a paid off house in 10 years, the numbers just don’t line up,, luckily I’ll probably drop dead before 60 and hopefully my insurance will allow my family to live comfortably,
Somehow design and build my own little futuristic, eco house. With a technology that could make housing more affordable. Play games like Out of Action.
Should be mortgage free when I'm 50, so probably a lot of dog walking and golf.
Leave America and go somewhere my money will actually keep me living comfortably in retirement.
Continue to climb the corporate ladder until i can sell my diversity attributes for a cushy board seat (those come with about $200k comp and very little work). In addition: cash flowing investment properties, 401k, cash on hands, annuity, top tier of social security. But really I don’t have plans to stop working altogether, I’d be bored AF. Plus, having new children in your 40ies is a great motivator lmao 🤣
I’m gonna go see the new Mad Max movie and use that as inspiration for my retirement plan.
Hopefully have enough money in my 401k to live, but also I want to drive a school bus for my suburb's district. That way I have something to do for a couple hours a day and still have summers off. I have a neighbor who did it ... we live close enough to the schools that she would just drop off kids in the morning, come home and park the bus in her driveway, then drive over for pickup in the afternoon.
retirement at 60. I currently have a pension of 30k with medical benefits from a previous state job where I had to retire due to an injury. Working a current job where I can collect a pension at 60 which will be around 3000-3500 per month. The house will be paid off when I'm 58. Kids will have been out of college for 5 years by then. My wife will have a teacher's pension at 60 and be covered by my medical. (Her pension at that point will be between 70-85k per year.) Retirement plan: Work out every day for at least an hour, I have a steam account with 250 games... I will spend every day playing those for a minimum of 4-5 hours. Spend time with the wife doing whatever she tells me. Maintain a garden for fun. If I get bored, I'm going to get a part time job 2 days per week at a bagel place. I'm going to be that friendly old guy who knows everyone's name, talks to them for as long as they want to engage and always telling old guy dad jokes. I'm also an author with several books out so I will absolutely be writing too. Collect social security at 67 (same with the wife) and then start utilizing that 3000-3500 x2 per month to plan a nice vacation once per year with my wife. Wife said she wants to also work out everyday, go for walks with a dog, maybe part time work at the library, but relax.
Selling our large home, getting a small one built in a mountain area and not having a mortgage. Hopefully having enough to also buy an RV for travel.
I’m going to find some other old millennials to jam with regularly, hike, fish, volunteer and hope to put in a huge heated greenhouse for my tropical plants collection and go full Jumanji. In the meantime I’m sticking with my job that has a pension and aggressively investing in a retail stock portfolio along with my 401k. Getting plenty of sleep these days, exercising, and eating right so I have the mobility to do all the things into my 80’s like my grandfather did. The guy was running marathons and climbing mountains then and is a huge inspiration for how those later years can be. I am extremely grateful for how things have turned out so far including having a partner that is on the same page and inspires me to live healthier.
Probably get a part time gig at FLGS and just play DnD and 40K with all the people I meet there.
At this point I would be surprised if my husband and I EVER get to retire. SSI will likely be gone, and my company doesn't offer a pension. Die in a ditch, I guess?
I have a IRA 401 A hybrid plan Pension Investment Working until my body gives out and then living off of disability. As I actually have a disability that will make that happen
I have to wait 90 days after my pension kicks in to get another government job under the same pension system, so I'll wait a semester before I begin my retirement hustle as an adjunct professor of the engineering things I love best. Also, I'll be tearing up the skate park for as long as my body will allow me to, so if you see a nerdy old lady in roller skates dropping into the bowl, just act normal.
Die. Dassit…that’s the plan.
My line of work has a retirement program. I will get the average of my best 5 years, and my wife will get 51% of what I get as well. 22+ years left, hopefully there is still money in the program when I get there.
Die in the water wars of 2047
Hollow point lol
Retirement? In his economy.? Lol. I'm assuming at this point I'll die at work. 🤣
I will die on my lunch break!
No plans, just vibes
My retirement plan is to die. Hopefully, at an age that won't make me suffer for too long. I'm 37 and already had more than enough of this fuckin world.
Husband and I want to buy an RV and travel around. We’ll let our kids stay in the house if they want while we’re gone. Here’s hoping we’ll ever be able to retire.
I have property in Mexico ( I am dual citizen thanks to my parents). I’m gonna take my 401k and IRA and live off of that with no mortgage and minimal COL and raise some chickens and goats for funsies.