How much do you Save for retirement?

The best financial advice I ever received was to be dead and broke on the same day.

 

My goal has always been to die broke.

Spend your money like a russian sailor on shore leave. That's my advice.

And make the government pay for 100% of your care for the last 2 years.

Take back everything you put in.

 

Just wanted to check back as it's been awhile since I posted this message in FEB/2009. It's been an awesome 18 month ride. Between gains and my additional 401K contributions last year and this year I cracked 300K today and am now 33 years old. I am moving forward VERY cautiously as I feel as though cracking 11K DOW is getting a little too fast too quick. Prices are starting to get expensive again and too many unknowns with gov't, politics, etc. I hadn't been on here in ages, so just wanted to see what else was on this forum. Not much. Hope people have capitalized on this great 18 month run. Good luck.

 

Wow......another super-judgmental and overwhelmingly negative person.....

 

Cracked $350K today. Can't believe the market is still flying high, but I'll take it. Watching closely though. Not feeling good with continued high unemployment, 14 Trillion nat'l debt, and $4 gas. Keeping a diversified portfolio with quality companies that pay a dividend. Been working well. Also making triple payments on the mortgage. 4 more years til paid for. Hoping to cut it down to 3 with some extra payments here and there. What a ride the past two years have been. Loving life.

 

You are a millionaire at 41. The rule of 7 says that your money (assets) can double in value every 7 years with a realistic rate of return. That means you should retire with a 2-3 million in assets. So why are you asking how much you'll need?

 

Why do you look for companies that pay a dividend? Post-dividend the value of the stock drops by the amount of the dividend.

Why not invest in non-dividend companies, not have the value of stock drop by the amount of the dividend, and choose when you want to sell the stock for cash and thereby choose when you take the taxable event. Taking the dividend forces you into a taxable event.

 

As little as possible. The more you save for tomorrow, the less you have to spend today. Plus the more you save, the more you have to pay in tax.

 

I am sure you will be enjoying those "Alpo" burgers once you retire.

 

Hi All, I am the Original Poster of this message. I am now 50 ( posted this in 2007) and things have gone very well. I left the device business in 2011 and am now on my second start-up. I can't believe the level of negativity out there on this board, which is why I never check in anymore, but wanted to update for those that DO actually care about their futures and are curious about retirement goals like I was and still am. Even after the crash in the market in 2008/9 I have rebounded nicely. I still own my home that I had in 2007 and it's still worth about the same $1.1 million or so. I refinanced a couple of years ago and have a 5/1 jumbo arm at 3 percent and a payment of $ 2500 a month on a $ 630,000 note. Savings-wise I now have more than $2 million put away, largely due to a successful exit form my last company. I also have a 7 percent ownership in the new business that has valuation of $ 45 million so yeah, I am pretty well set for life. Those of you who think you can't own a million dollar house on a $ 240K salary are wrong. If you manage your debt and misc expenses, it's doable. In fact during the start-up days of the first company I went almost a year without drawing any salary and lived off of savings. I tracked it all and at the end of the deal when I cashed in, I had spent just under $ 100K during the year to live, make house payments, etc. It was very hard but it allowed me to pay employees that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford during a time when I needed them the most.
I won't be checking back in anymore- so if you feel the need to flame-out on me, that's your prerogative- I seriously don't give a shit. Bottom line is that a good attitude, hard work and fiscal responsibility CAN pay off.
Thanks and good bye.

 

First of all, you don't own a million dollar home. The bank does. Despite making $240k 10 years ago, you have only managed to pay down $120k of your massive mortgage and you still have too much of a mortgage at the age of 50. Secondly, your savings is not all that impressive if you factor in the largest bull market we have had in a long time, not to mention that you say that balance is from exiting another company. You should have been able to save more with that level of income. Third, your ownership in a new company means nothing if it is not monetized. Stop patting yourself on the back for minimal performance.

 

Yep, the government will take care of you alright. You will be sitting some long-term care facility that looks like a slum. You will spend your days sitting in a soiled diaper and loaded up with bed sores, which the few nurses on hand, sit just outside the door smoking cigarettes, laughing about how little care they give you.

Your future sounds great!

 

You have some serious issues.

Downsize, you dumb ass.

 

Not sure who is more clueless and out of touch with reality, you or the OP.

 

Clueless? That would be you and the OP, as the follow on comments were well made.

 

Better rule of thumb is 25x annual expenses (savings target).

 

Yes. Or take whatever sum you currently have invested and multiply it by 4% and you should have a working number of what you could feasibly withdraw a year for 25 years without going broke. Add that to any SS or pensions you may have and that will let you know if you currently have the amount you need to retire. Knowing what you roughly spend each month/year is paramount as well. Never about what you make but what you will need for spending in retirement. Pay off your house and get debt free. I am 53 and already there. Still riding the pharma train though.

 

• By age 30: the equivalent of your annual salary saved; if you earn $55,000 per year, by your 30th birthday you should have $55,000 saved.
• By age 40: three times your income.
• By age 50: six times your income.
• By age 60: eight times your income.