I am a contractor-scum, working for civil service and I'm reaching my limit. I am curious as to how much I would need to have set aside in order to retire without eating dogfood at age 70.
No kids, wife also works, I have a 38K retirement from the Navy and X amount saved. I'm 52, going on 104. Solve for X. (or in other words, combining my IRAs, non-sheltered investments and our 401's, where do i need to be to tell them to suck the purple doughnut?). Lets assume that although I have mistreated my body greatly over the last 40 years, that I make it to, oh... say 85 or so...
Oh, and I owe $165k on a house that might be worth as much as $250k.

good reading,

if liberals are in office   you need to not stop working.     taxes are for the children

We dont know...we dont know what your bills are, what is your mortgage, electric, house insurance, car insurance, cell phone, food, etc etc etc etc...

What you pay for your bills is what you need for retirement...There is no magic number,,some say you need a million atleast. I say bullshit..I plan to retire early with way less. Ive already done the math, my total allotment for bills should be around 1500-1600 a month. I rarely eat out, I dont plan to take vacations because where Im gonna retire, every day will be a vacation. I live below my means..

Ive been on financial sites where people needed a minimum of 4000-5000 a month to live, its all about life style.

^This.  We have no idea what your needs will be in retirement.
Fire Calc might be of some use for you.  You can input what you have, what you plan to contribute for how long and what you plan to spend and how long you plan to spend it and it calculates the probability of portfolio failure/ running out.

I like to use a 5% withdrawal rate for quick and dirty calculations.

I figure I can safely withdraw 5% of my investment amount per year without hurting the principal. This allows for up and down years in the market, paying taxes, etc.

Using this number just plug in how much you think you will need a year to live on. Need 50k a year? You would need a million invested.

This is very conservative. If you want to do a calculation where you estimate how long you will live and you want to spend up all your money you can withdraw a higher percentage.

Me personally I am scared shitless of retiring and then finding out I didn't have enough saved. Lets say you retire at 65, you reach 80 and are still in good health but you run out of money. What are you going to do then? I would rather make damn sure I have enough saved. i met a guy the other day that was 94 years old and still getting around really well. Planning on using up your money by a certain age is really scary to me.


As you can imagine there are a ton of variables that go into the calculations but really it just boils down what your living expenses are and what kind of withdrawal rate you are comfortable with.

I personally would not want to retire with any debt. I would either work until you pay off your house or sell it and use the 85k to buy a cheaper place with cash.

all interesting stuff, apparently I have some calculating to do, but generally, I guess "X amount" won't cut it at 52, even with a Navy pension...

You have no kids, a working wife (assuming she doesn't have a minimum wage job), and 38K a year from a pension.  Do you have to support any elderly parents or other dependants?  Do you have any big debts other than a mortgage?  If not you should be doing something you enjoy regardless of the pay.

I had typed up the same thing earlier but didnt hit submit..If the house is worth 250, sell it and get outa that debt..down size your vehicles unless they are paid off. Lots of ways to cut back, people just have to do it. Look at your insurance policies, are you paying too much for coverage you dont need or paying too little for coverage you should have, same with life insurance. Eating out is a killer, also "petty cash", I work outside and drive from job to job, I spend way too much at 7/11s on junk. I know where I can cut back. Carrying balances on CC, I use mine all the time but pay it off each month.

If you keep your house, look at ways to make it energy efficient. Ive slowly converted all my lightbulbs to LED bulbs in my house. Tricks like turning your hot water tank down a few degrees will help. Proper insulation, window treatment or even black out curtains. etc etc. These can save you by cutting down heating/cooling costs.

Most people want to keep the same life style when they retire, i get that, but without proper planning, it aint gonna happen. I personally plan to retire early, like 46years old. It is going to take major planning, figuring and a lil bit of luck, lol. I literally have pages and pages of numbers and figures with real world scenerios. I know what my bills will be within 5% +/-, Im factoring in X factors, like the once a year bills (vehicle registration, AAA auto club, vehicle inspections). There will always be "unknowns" but with proper planning, you will be ready. I guess this comes from the preparedness mindset (spend ton o time in survival forums, lol)

Ive got a friend of a friend that could probably save 200-300 a month just by adjusting their electric bill and food bill. They leave lights on all the time, major gaming systems in all the kids room, kids stay up all hours of the nite, doors open while A/C running, etc etc. For food, they dont eat left overs, they get cooked meals each nite and waste atleast 25% of it.

No kids.
Working wife (not @ min. wage).
$38k pension
Mom & dad gone on, no other supported dependents (well, unless you count to elderly collies, and if you think older dogs are a cheap investment, think again... but I love 'em, so what the hell... )
No other debts besides the mortgage which I'm tossing another $400/month at principal
All 3 vehicles paid off
CC @ < $200 balance (at this second )

And I just upped my 401 contribution to 11% (from 10%)

I'm taking steps...

Well, at my last phone meeting with my Ameriprise chick, we discussed this in depth and we are driving to a plan that will have me working for three more years. Based on my current savings, debts, income, etc..., they run a series of like 600+ computer projection models to see if my stack will get me to an old ass age, and in something like 97% of the cases, I'm good at my present lifestyle with the shift over to a low stress hobby job. I am not in bad shape with no job whatsoever, either.  

That gentlemen, is encouraging!   (y'know, at least until six months from now when we are all dead from da ebola  , and none of this shit matters anyway)

One important question is if you are looking to stay in the US.
If not there could be plenty of options.

Yeah, I've known a lot of retired squids that move to say the PI or some place like that and live like kings, but the ability to step off the back porch and shoot in my backyard holds great appeal. This country's spiral down the drain is not encouraging though...

gee... why didn't I think of that?

^^^ this!

ar-jedi