OK, so diverge from the question a little, how much would it take to get you to retire today?

Honest answer, if someone came knocking and said what is the minimum number that would get you to retire today, what would it be?

Since everyone is in a different spot in life, there would be no wrong answers......but don't just say 100M or something silly like that, because honestly most people would blow through that so fast they would be back to work within a few years broke.

So think about what your minimum number would be and lets hear it...

a little?

There were many times during my working career that I wondered if I would enjoy hunting, or anything else for that matter, if I could do it all the time. I often thought that it must take rainy days to make you enjoy the sunny ones, and bad times to appreciate the good times. If you could do the same fun thing everyday, would it always be fun?

57k would put me in a spot where I would not mind cutting strings to the world. Like I said though, my wife's has a new idea about retirement. lol...

$200M ... and if I blow thru that and still alive, I will gladly go back to work

I could spend 100 million on a land deed in about 2 minutes. Already know the ranch. Everyone one I know worth over 100 million is still working ironically, they can’t stop, just need a new challenge


I don’t have a number, I stopped carrying about a number many years ago. When I’ve had enough I’m done.

To me the number is an evolving cage, with the badest slave master you have ever seen on top of it. Don’t be a slave to him. Save but live and love

The most common answer, the one that every financial advisor will tell you is the one that's most accurate - It depends on your expected lifestyle.

Not sure if it's the one most people take but my approach was to acquire enough in investments that the wife and I could live off the growth while leaving the principle alone.

I plan to buy a cabin in the mountains to rent out as steady flow of income, and go stay in when I want. By my conservative figuring, i'd recoup the cost of the house in 10 years on a .5 million cabin. I'll tie it up in a trust so it remains in the family and who can use it, etc.

I'd like to have ties into a duck hunting property that I could see over, partly manage.
I'll need to keep busy, so I'll probably do some hobby wood working.
Do some fishing and golfing. International travel, Germany, swiss alps, go back to ireland, scotland, brazil, australia.
I'd also like to get my pilots license. Rent a plane and go where I want to to skip having to drive 8 hours somewhere.

So I have big plans, and I'm going to try and do as much as that as I can before retirement, so we'll see if I can get to do it all, God willing.

5M and everything paid off, should suffice.

My savings continued to grow after I retired. I got by just fine on my two pensions and social security.

While Medicare pretty well covers quite a bit of the ordinary stuff, but not everything. You do need a supplemental, if you have major health issues, you need a good one. I am a 100% disabled veteran, with numerous service connected issues. I could get away without a supplemental insurance, but we still have one. The VA picks up all costs after insurance. Unless the medical provider screws up the filing, and that happens almost half the time.

Thanks dogcatcher.
I plan on retiring in 2 years so guess I better do some research. Any Tips?

I think almost everyone gets the supplement. Ive got tips on trying to deal with the folks down at social security when you first start researching that. Don't EVER believe the first 2 or 3 answers you get from them. The most inconsistent answers to the same questions I could of ever imagined. Almost any question you ask has to be phrased as a yes or no question. I guess they have been instructed to not give out wrong information so they will make no generalized or hypothetical answers. I am very reasonable but my dealings with them were unbelievable.

Bought a place in December, it will be our retirement place.

There never really is a yes or no answer for future insurance and health need questions. Everyone's opinion will be/ tainted by their own experiences. Only you and your Doctor really know how healthy you are, and even you and your Doctor cannot predict your future healthcare needs.

An insurance salesman works on commission, so take his opinion with a a lot of big grains of salt. Your Doctor cannot predict of you will get cancer or have a major stroke or heart attack in x number of years. Nor can he predict that you will not need any medical care for the next 30 years.

If you have a good employer based insurance and can carry it over at minimal cost, it may be the best option. But it becomes secondary after you start in Medicare. And in some cases the companies drop the plans and leave you out in the cold. Or jack the price up to an unreasonable level.

Damned if you do, damned it you don't. Flip a coin, use a crystal ball, or take ab educated guess after guessing what might or might not happen.

Do you need 300k a year if you no longer have to save 20-40%+ A year?

Do you need 300k a year if you no longer have to save 20-40%+ A year?
[/quote

Wins the Internet. There are a lot more things you will not need. Too many to list

I'd rather be over, then under. Plus I hope to have lots of spoiled grandchildren. I'll spend what I can, and give the rest.

Everybody is gonna be different on most things and buying a piece of land to retire on definitely falls into this category. SA, youre planning on retiring young so maybe it will work. Owning land in hopes that caring for it will be a hobby, and not work, might work when you are young and especially as an investment but I think a mid 60s person should think on it long and hard. If someone has tons of money and wants a play Ranch and can afford to pay someone to care for it then that's great but most don't have that kind of money. Also I like to hunt real large properties so owning a few hundred acres isn't nearly enough so I will spend my money leasing and let someone else deal with the ownership issues. Everyones gonna be different on all this.

Depends on lifestyle, every person is different. Need and want are two different things. Also depends on if you want to create generational wealth, leave a financial legacy.

100%, but my post was about taking all considerations into retirement and not being wrong or over/under estimating a number. It’s more then just a number.

My ranch is paid off with nothing new to build. I will use my accrued time sell back money to buy a new truck and a few ranch toys like a new lifted golf cart and new 4 wheeler. That will leave me 450K in savings. 85K is my annual retirement with a 2% annual COLA and free healthcare. I think I will not have any financial worries. I got everything paid off just a few years ago and I was really surprised how much I could save, when money wasn't going out the door on payments.

Gotcha. Just factoring in the savings aspect...

Good discussion. Makes one think what is really needed. For some it is too far away to grasp, for some it’s completely tangible. Good stuff

That's a great pension...and free healthcare is worth a pile of money as well. That's easily equivalent to a couple million IRA.