401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

[Mark42]

I was just reviewing my 401k and using some of the projection tools available with it. Seems that for me to retire at age 67 and maintain a similar standard of living as I now have through to my mid 80's, I will need to save about 4 million in the next 17 years. No kidding.

Calculations on my current and forcasted income, savings potential, and market conditions indicates I will fall a few million short of my projected needs.

So I am starting the "Mark42 Sanctioned Retirement Support Fund for the Savings Challenged".

Anyone care to donate to the Fund?

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Donate? I am starting a collection of my own.

 

[QC]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Yup. I came up with $4M too. Maybe if we each send each other a contribution. What's 4M divided by 88,305? No, wait, 88,306?

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Yup. I came up with $4M too. Maybe if we each send each other a contribution. What's 4M divided by 88,305? No, wait, 88,306?

I think your math may be a little faulty. It would be 4M multiplied by 88,306....

 

[QC]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

That was the yoke Ray It works a lot better if you get your checks and then don't mail any out . . .

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Just like a Cat. Always thinking of themselves. The Yoke is on your children. :^

 

[QC]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

The Yoke is on your children. :^

Only when I hitch them to the plow . . . pah-duh-duh-chissssshhh

 

[Mark42]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

I am working on these alternative methods of gaining additional income:

1) Convince my parents to make me the sole beneficiary in their will. Screw my siblings. Its everyone for themselves.

2) Online Begging: Send out pop up messages asking for money. Show pictures of abandoned, unhappy, cute toddlers living in squalor that need your support. Don't specify exactly what the donations will be used for.

3) Sell totally valueless salvage boats on E-Bay for high dollars by making claims like "Antique" and "Collectable" and "floors solid except for a few soft spots that need patching and she's good to go" and "Impress your friends with your new boat! Don't let this one get away!!!". Show photos of boat from original sales brochures.

Yep, I'm starting to feel better about my retirement already!

 

[Pony]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

At least you guys have a chance at Social Security......

 

[Mark42]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Social Security is a joke. The projected amount I will receive will barely cover the property tax's on my home by that time.

So I will be forced to relocate to a cheaper home, in a area of lower cost living. That will probably put wife and I far away from our kids and their families.

15 years ago the projection on my 401k savings plan indicated that we would have no worries. Things change. But not always for the better.

 

[JB]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

You will not need the same income, even adjusted for inflation, to maintain your SOL.

But you will need to know the difference between what you really need and what you merely want, plus:

*A home that is paid for in a modest neighborhood.
*Seniors deduction (or exemption) on property taxes.
*A vehicle that is paid for and well maintained.
*A good boat that is paid for and well maintained.
*No debt.

Most comfortable retired people I know have the above, plus $1,000/mo. or more income from investments and a nest egg of $100K or more for emergency use and occasional luxuries (like a trip to Hawaii).

They also often have low stress part time jobs. Not so much for the income but to avoid boredom, which is very expensive.

 

[QC]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Despite my comments above, I agree with JB . . . No kids, different priorities, done keeping up with the Jones's etc.

 

[stevieray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Right - a lot of those rosy projections were done in the wonderful Reagan '80's when the fouled-up savings & loans were paying double-digit interest on every kind of account. A million bucks in the bank SEEMED like a lot of money at that time, but that kind of return projected for any length of time was, to say the least, unrealistic.
JB's right - a paid-for home is a huge asset & should be a #1 priority in anyone's plans.

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

Right - a lot of those rosy projections were done in the wonderful Reagan '80's ....
JB's right - a paid-for home is a huge asset & should be a #1 priority in anyone's plans.

The interest and principle will be gone from the payment but the taxes and insurance and maintenance will continue to rise. Escalated taxes, was the reason that CA passed the Jarvis/Gand ammendment. People living in their own (not mortgaged) homes could not afford the taxes. The kicker was that when you sold your home and bought a new one the taxes were assessed on the current market value. When Jarvis/Gand passed people were living in 6 to 10,000 dollar houses paying taxes on 20 to 40 thousand dollars. Today those same houses have a market value from 150000 to 400000 dollars. Doesn't take an Einstein to figure how inflated the housing market is compared to rest of the economy. Energy prices not withstanding. No worries, better spend that worthless money before it becomes more worthless. ....

 

[JB]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

That brings up significant differences between CA and TX in cost of living and treatment of seniors.

First of all, my 1300sf, 3/2 home on 5.5 acres has a market value of around $120K and the rest of The Hideout (115 acres) about $520K.

With the Ag exemption on the land and seniors exemption on my home my RE taxes run about $147 for the county I live in and $187 for the schools tax in the county where the local children go to school. That's annual, by the way.

A big part of "a paid for home in a modest neighborhood" is picking the right part of the country to live in.

 

[stevieray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

A big part of "a paid for home in a modest neighborhood" is picking the right part of the country to live in.

Thus my choice of 40 acres in Southeast BF, Arizona for a retirement property! Same deal there - fence off & live on a small section & keep the rest ag so the cattle can roam thru that part all they want. Cheapo taxes.

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

I got some Ocean front property in Ariezona, form my front porch you can see the sea....

 

[JB]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

There you go again.

Translation, please?

 

[technostingray]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

There you go again.

Translation, please?

It can't be translated, it can only be intrepreted, or mis-interpreted. Take it "as you like it"

 

[crunch]

Re: 401k, IRA's Savings, Retirement, etc

I got some Ocean front property in Ariezona, form my front porch you can see the sea....

Still waiting for "the big one"? You lost that with your youth.

Raw, undeveloped land near small communities that have shown exceptional growth over the last few years is where our money is.

The "trend" here is that big "California money" is moving North. They want out of the big city living and want to retire to the "unspoiled, natural beauty" of the Oregon coastline . If you are ahead of the move you can expect 200% to 300% on your investment over a 2 year period.

We intend to move way out and away from all this development at some point, but the over-riding concern is access to health care, and that is where the money is in future Real estate transactions for us.