<p>Pull up an excel sheet. It should give you an idea. Just measure everything in 2014 dollars or something to keep it simple, just make sure your return is return-inflation. </p>
<p>Something like 1.8M in 2014 dollars at age 50 looks like it can go for a very long time with real rate of return of 2% with 50K a year spending, even without SS. Look at what you can save and what you have to see how hard it will be for you to get to 1.8M/2014. </p>
<p>Let me ask though, why is it that so many of you arenāt counting on SS?</p>
<p>āThe governmentās official position is that there is enough money saved to pay benefits at the currently scheduled amounts until 2041ā¦Some critics say that benefits could be at risk as early as 2016 or 2017, when Social Security cash flow turns negative. They claim that since the money paid in over the last few decades is part of the governmentās overall budget, it is available only on paper; other branches of the government have spent it and left IOUs. In order to pay benefits through 2041, the government would have to borrowā¦So if youāre under 55 and want to be conservative, donāt factor in Social Security when making your calculations about how much to save and invest for retirement. Set aside as much of your own money as you can in retirement savings accounts and invest it wisely. Bottom line: Your financial security in retirement is your own responsibility.ā</p>
<p>Some of us think that weāll get SS benefits, but that theyāll be taxed more, and thus worth less. I think this is especially likely to be the case for people with other income after retirement.</p>
<p>Iām not going to GET any SS money once I turn 65. I on,y get $166 a month (Iām a teacher in a state that doesnāt contribute to SS). I was eligible for $460 a monthā¦ but it gets reduced by 2/3. I can never collect on my husbandās earnings either. </p>
<p>So, no, Iām not counting on SS for anything. But I am counting on Medicare! </p>
<p>I guess I have enough to fund my retirement. If not, too late now! I retired three years ago!</p>
<p>@Newjersey17, you asked the question of someone else, but I have an opinion also. IMO, SS will continue to exist for quite some time, although it is more than likely that it will include some means testing in the future. I think a case can be made to figure on 70% payments. </p>
<p>Fwiw, means testing will not hurt those who have, by definition, the means to handle it. </p>
<p>Social Security was created in the 1930ās.
Originally intended to support retirement at 65.
Retirement age has been raised to 67 for many, payroll taxes do not meet expenditures and people are living longer than expected.
Its not hard to anticipate running out of money altogether.</p>
<p>I imagine that govt would rather run out of money for Medicare and Social Security than to tell some who have paid into it, but dont need it for survival, that they are not eligible.</p>
<p>We are spending more every year on entitlements. People are expecting greater entitlements at earlier ages. Now that health care is another entitlement, costs will continue to skyrocket. We donāt have the money. It is very reasonable to plan that if you end up with a decent income stream, you will be the first one cut off of social security (or taxed out of your gourd). Even if you have paid into it for 50 years, many years at the max. Itās purely logical planning.</p>
<p>I guess it does make sense that if we have means testing for food stamps, that we have means testing for universal programs like Medicare & Social Security.
If we believe govt programs should be safety nets rather than entitlements.</p>
<p>Believe me AARP will help the large elderly population (members over age 50) fight any cut to Social Security and benefits currently detailed.</p>
<p>It may not be a bad idea to consider SS as āgravyā; using money for frills that may not make a budget list - travel, eating out, luxuries.</p>
<p>I believe you need to keep more reserve if you do not have LTC insurance. </p>
<p>If you do concentrate on staying healthy, studies have shown your health will be better even with modest gains in health (like losing weight, walking some, etc).</p>
<p>I sort of have ācontingencyā planning - thinking about various options on health and funds available.</p>
<p>āI guess it does make sense that if we have means testing for food stamps, that we have means testing for universal programs like Medicare & Social Security.
If we believe govt programs should be safety nets rather than entitlements.ā</p>
<p>I guess it depends upon who youāre talking to, as far as whether it should be a safety net or not. I think the appetite for entitlements have gone (and will go up further) to an unsustainable level, and at some point weāre going to have to radically revise them. There just arenāt enough rich people out there to support everybodyās needs to be taken care of, all of the time. I think all of them will end up purely as welfare programs, you only get them under a certain income (and asset level). We canāt print money foreverā¦or can we?</p>
<p>I notice that no one has said āif my money runs low, Iāll move in with my kids.ā Honestly, thatās my backup plan. In the meantime, we are saving what we can and planning on as many different income streams as possibleāpaid house (with rentable apartment), passive and active business income, social security, 401K, IRAs, investments.</p>
<p>DH retired from age 41 (when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkinās lymphoma) to age 45 (when he finally felt healthy again after two rounds of chemo). Now, at age 56, he expects to go on working pretty much as he has been for the last ten yearsāwe own a business and we both take a lot of vacationāfor about the next ten years.</p>
<p>I donāt work much; I focus on managing our household to minimize expenditures and maintain quality of lifeāthings like cooking a healthy dinner really make a difference in the long run, IMHO.</p>
<p>Umā¦I like this threadā¦a lotā¦and Iām hoping political comments donāt get it closed!</p>
<p>There are a lot of wonderful intangibles to being retired. Honestly, I donāt mind having a but less money to spend. I donāt need new clothes for work. I donāt use my car 1/3 the amount. I can go out to lunch or to breakfastā¦donāt need to go out to dinner, and that saves. I can travel at times other than school vacations (has saved me hundreds of dollars on olane tickets alone). </p>
<p>My recreation patterns have changed. I can do things like go on a morning bike ride. I donāt have the mad weekends trying to get to the bank, post office, and grocery storeā¦when everyone else does.</p>
<p>Honestly, I canāt think of a down side. And so far, Iām healthy enough to enjoy myself.</p>
<p>I agree. How about we keep politics out and continue to enjoy this thread?
I became a stat-at-home-Dad a decade ago. Does that count as retired? If so, I enjoy it a lot, but sometimes I do miss my āoutsideā job and the intellectual stimulation that went with it. </p>
<p>Iām not sure how the word āentitlementā became such a pejorative. We pay for our own unemployment insurance, thus are entitled to benefits the same way we are entitled to State Farm payments for auto damage claims. I personally feel entitled to collect SS based on the contract I have had with the government all of these years and the roughly $250,000 they have collected in my name.</p>
<p>We were well on our way to a well-funded retirement, aiming for age 50, when the wife got cancer at age 31. Six years of treatments and the desire to get our memorable experiences in while she was still alive meant a big change in planning for the future. Life gets in the way. We have been scrambling ever since and slowly rebuilding what we once had. I guess I feel, having experienced it once, that the value of our personal accounts is no more secure than the promise of Social Security.</p>
<p>Did I understand it right, we are supposed to have $1.8M at age 50? That is a pipe dream for all but a few.</p>
<p>This can be culturally influenced. I personally would never want to use my kids as a back up plan. That is something that assumes a whole lot. First of all, I donāt know if they will be struggling financially or not; I would absolutely not want to be an additional burden. They will likely have their own children they are trying to support. We all know that is getting more expensive by the day. Also, if the spouseās parents have this same ābackup plan,ā that is a huge extra financial and logistical burden. Finally, who knows what kind of effect this would have on the privacy of their family, and on our own. I love my parents but would not want to live with them at this point in my life. Due to divorce and remarriage, DH and I have 5 living parents between us. We couldnāt accommodate this expectation from them.</p>
<p>I was stubborn as a young person and never wanted to ask my parents for any financial assistance once I graduated from college. I have the same feelings about asking my kids to assume financial responsibility for me and DH. We are working hard to make sure that never becomes necessary.</p>
<p>In some cultures, having the parents move in during their golden years is expected. In some families this creates a lot of stress, not only financially, but from a clash of personalities when adult children share their space with parents. For some families, this creates NO problems, and is viewed not only as an expectation, but as something to look forward to.</p>
<p>The amount youāre āsupposedā to have saved is not necessarily a set amount. What the financial folks say is that you should expect to need between 80 and 85% of your final yearās salary every year after your retirement. The needs vary over your retirement years. The phrase they use to describe normal retirement is āgo go, slow go, no goā. </p>
<p>My H and I are savers by nature, and weāve been lucky enough to have jobs that allowed us to save. My biggest concern is how the cost of education keeps skyrocketing. So my goal is now to retire on 1/1/15, and have enough money to fund 529 plans for grandchildren. God willing. </p>