I think the rise in the cost of living is too often underestimated in long term financial planning. Today's $100k is yesterday's $60k.

Marc

This. Big time this

I concur.

I’m 81 and wife is 70. Both in reasonably good health.
I retired about 8 years ago and she retired 2 years ago. We both have 401K’s that we don’t have to mess with.

I hit a financial home run about ten years ago and paid off house, ranch, rent houses and all debt. Sold one rental last year and waiting on the tax hickey.

We are living on Social Security with no problem so far.

I think being debt free and reasonably frugal along with some financial common sense is key. I am finding that financial common sense is like shooting at a moving target.

We do not have a designated emergency fund but not real concerned about it. We have a fairly large amount in the checking account. However, keeping that checking account at the same level is getting tougher with Bidens “ Build back better” inflationary scams. Biden, with the assistance of Congress has looted the economy.

Retire, and worry about the small stuff later.

Kinda like losing weight- calories in vs calories burned…except it’s with $.

When you can live on your investment gains to replenish what your withdrawing to live on so you dont dip into your principal

True except when the market drops 30% and you still have to withdraw $$ to live on - that is why being heavily invested in the market during retirement can be a challenge at times

Reality is when you realize that savings return doesn’t keep up with inflation. Or even what the government tells us is the rate of inflation.

I concur.

Our comfort number was having everything paid for and 2.5 million in our portfolio.
So far it’s working.

Where you retire at has a lot to do with this. Before I moved from the Metroplex, I put a new HVAC system in and it was 8500 bucks. Pretty much the same quote from multiple reputable companies up there. Just a few months later, I had the same brand, Ton and SEER unit installed here from a local company and it was 4500. I asked him why it was so much less here and he said if he charged 8500 very few people would buy them here because they don't have 150K a year jobs and can't afford that.

thats a good number. i retired with half that and 40k a year pension. wife still works but that just pays for her lunch and effen around. still got my principal after 2 years. mite change when she quits. ss will get me a little more in two years, im 60

While you are 100% correct that you can’t make more time I would argue that making more money once you retire is not so simple.

Let’s say you worked somewhere for decades and got numerous raises along the way and were in a senior position making good money. If you give that up how easy would it be to get another job making anywhere near as much? Sure you can find some kind of job but if say someone retired from a six figure job I don’t think they are going to be very happy about having to go back to work making half as much and being at the bottom of the totem pole.

Similarly what if you are self employed and have a business you built over a lifetime? Are you going to want to go work for someone else after having been your own boss while making less at the same time?

I want to retire as soon as possible but the thought of realizing I didn’t have enough saved and having to go back to work making less and working for someone else absolutely terrifies me. I have been self employed since 2007 and can’t imagine working for someone else and restarting a business at an older age isn’t too appealing either as what I do requires over a million in equipment and what I have now I have amassed over the past 15 years.

You did. Had the boat for years, caught a ton of fish out of it and then sold it for almost what I purchased it for.

Y’all that are saying 80,000-100,000/year. Do you mean per individual or per household? Second post on this topic says upper middle class income (I’m assuming household income) is $94,000-$153,000. If that is enough to fund debts associated with the lifestyle plus saving for retirement, I can only assume the cost to live a similar lifestyle debt free and not setting aside is significantly less.

I'm 55 and figured on about 20 more; I plan to punch out at 62-63 if it all works out as planned. Now, if I won a small fortune in the lottery before then, well, all bets are off.

I got retired around 13 years ago. I had put as much as I could in IRA's and savings. I have everything paid for. Taxes, food, electricity and whatever else is what my monthly expenses are. I found that it does not take near as much to retire as I thought or read on here. If you want to eat out every night at Ruth Chris. Take monthly trips to Europe. Or live like your neighbors who make $250K a year do then yes, you may need $5,000.000 in savings. But if not then it does not take that much to live a very comfortable life in retirement.

I’m with you Don. It’s not that expensive unless you figure on doing expensive stuff in retirement. Or, are still living on and paying off credit card bills and house payments.

Wife and I, debt free, get along just fine on Social Security and a decent savings account. However, had Biden/Harris won the election and kept free wheeling and ruining the economy the dollar would have deflated even more.

Why do they call it inflation when the purchasing power is deflated?

$8000 a month is what I plan on between my wife and I. We should have no debt besides maybe a car payment…

If you can get by on beans and franks and keep your income low for a few years until you qualify for Medicare, Healthcare.gov insurance is very affordable and better insurance than you might think. But if you intend to live and spend like you did earlier in life during those years, not so much.

It all depends on what medical insurance, home and auto insurance, and property taxes will eat out of your budget every year. Being debt free is awesome, but these things keep going up and there isn't a possible way to get them to zero. I know it seems trivial, but this could easily account for $3k or more a month depending on your health and (debt free) lifestyle. So, if we go with the $80k number up above, you might have $44k left over if you found yourself in that example I stated. That would leave you less than $4k a month for food, utilities, fuel, entertainment (incl. ammo, hunting tags, equipment, hobbies, date nights, etc.). Keep in mind that $3,670 a month also is reduced when you think about income tax liabilities based on how you are funding your budget that year.

It may seem doable, but you need to judge what you need for entertainment because there's going to be a lot more time on your and your wife's hands

That’s a solid number. For me, the day I hit 2 million and no debts I am done. Could be 56, could be 60 but that is the number.

Healthcare.gov is fantastic insurance choice, with so many choices to choose from, I just wonder why more people don't take advantage of it.