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Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

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Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#61

Post by pm90 »

DamonHD wrote: post #60
pm90 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my thinking as well. I like to think I would be working in some capacity much beyond the current retirement age. One of the reasons I like to keep a healthy lifestyle is that I want to be physically and mentally capable of continuing to make useful contributions until the very end... and that last part really scares me, but that's another conversation.

What scares you? Mortality, or being able to keep being useful, or something else? (I'm not being flippant: I live next to a graveyard which reminds me that I'm not getting out of the first of those!)

I guess its a combination of Mortality and lack of independence/increasing dependence, while bodily functions slowly get less and less effective. I am very afraid of the idea of fading away. Perhaps I would be more comfortable if, e.g. I knew that my end would come at a very specific day and that I would remain healthy until then and the poof!

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#62

Post by 1ba9115454 »

whack wrote: post #27

I believe the guideline is that in order to enjoy a $X/year retirement income (adjusted annually for inflation), you need a nest egg of $25X. So if you'd like to retire with $100k/year, $2.5M would do it. And even less if you are willing to factor in social security income. If you adopt a buy-and-hold investment strategy over the course of 20-30 years, with a good mix of index funds, the above should be easily within…

Not sure it's safe to assume the stock market will go up and up. Perhaps it will, but where does that money come from?

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#63

Post by seattle_spring »

bko wrote: post #14

I'm too young to consider my savings as retirement, but I created a handy spreadsheet that allows you to estimate how much you'll have by the time you retire. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nV8N16sBFiqDtZqkORlh... Feel free to point out bugs or copy and add features.

> I'm too young to consider my savings as retirement

Why do you say that? I started saving for retirement at 16, and have never considered it anything but.

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#64

Post by bko »

seattle_spring wrote: post #63
bko wrote: post #14

I'm too young to consider my savings as retirement, but I created a handy spreadsheet that allows you to estimate how much you'll have by the time you retire. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nV8N16sBFiqDtZqkORlh... Feel free to point out bugs or copy and add features.

> I'm too young to consider my savings as retirement Why do you say that? I started saving for retirement at 16, and have never considered it anything but.

What I meant was that although I have savings, I am undoubtedly going to have unforseen expenses in the near future that I cannot say that my savings are earmarked for retirement

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#65

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

tehlike wrote: post #55
TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #8

I'm 23. I have a goal of $2.4 million dollars by age 60. I currently have $4.3k saved. I'm having trouble meeting my goals because I am having trouble finding work. I live in the third largest city in my state, but it's not a city positively affected by globalization, so unemployment is high and wages are low. I can't move because my wife has a career started here. Such is life.

where are you based, and what do you do?

Southern Missouri. I'm trying to get a career started in IT with an end goal of becoming a penetration tester. I've got a year and a half of tech support experience, several certifications, and am currently working on a degree. All tech jobs at my level in my area have been outsourced, unemployment is high here, and economic growth is slow. This has made it very tough to get started.

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#66

Post by tehlike »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #65
tehlike wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

where are you based, and what do you do?

Southern Missouri. I'm trying to get a career started in IT with an end goal of becoming a penetration tester. I've got a year and a half of tech support experience, several certifications, and am currently working on a degree. All tech jobs at my level in my area have been outsourced, unemployment is high here, and economic growth is slow. This has made it very tough to get started.

could you move out of state?

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#67

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

tehlike wrote: post #66
TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Southern Missouri. I'm trying to get a career started in IT with an end goal of becoming a penetration tester. I've got a year and a half of tech support experience, several certifications, and am currently working on a degree. All tech jobs at my level in my area have been outsourced, unemployment is high here, and economic growth is slow. This has made it very tough to get started.

could you move out of state?

Nope. Like I said in my post, my wife has a career started here, and I am not leaving her just to chase a career that is likely to be outsourced in the next decade.

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#68

Post by tehlike »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #67
tehlike wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

could you move out of state?

Nope. Like I said in my post, my wife has a career started here, and I am not leaving her just to chase a career that is likely to be outsourced in the next decade.

Outsourced is probably not going to happen at a full capacity.

I would consider places where you two could have reasonable careers.

For example, sf is good for tech, but ny might be good for both finance and tech. Now might not be the right time, but after her promo might be a better time.

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#69

Post by DamonHD »

pm90 wrote: post #61
DamonHD wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What scares you? Mortality, or being able to keep being useful, or something else? (I'm not being flippant: I live next to a graveyard which reminds me that I'm not getting out of the first of those!)

I guess its a combination of Mortality and lack of independence/increasing dependence, while bodily functions slowly get less and less effective. I am very afraid of the idea of fading away. Perhaps I would be more comfortable if, e.g. I knew that my end would come at a very specific day and that I would remain healthy until then and the poof!

Then you should know the joke about the difference between an English actuary and a Russian actuary. The former tells you your life expectancy ie an age you might expect to die, whereas the latter gives you a date, time and place.

I suspect I'm somewhat older than you, and faults are already accumulating and have been significantly so for 20 years or more. I can see how it may eventually become too tiresome to carry on if some of the breakage can't be fixed. But there are often compensations...

Re: Ask HN: How much have you saved for retirement?

#70

Post by whack »

1ba9115454 wrote: post #62
whack wrote: post #27

I believe the guideline is that in order to enjoy a $X/year retirement income (adjusted annually for inflation), you need a nest egg of $25X. So if you'd like to retire with $100k/year, $2.5M would do it. And even less if you are willing to factor in social security income. If you adopt a buy-and-hold investment strategy over the course of 20-30 years, with a good mix of index funds, the above should be easily within…

Not sure it's safe to assume the stock market will go up and up. Perhaps it will, but where does that money come from?

The S&P 500 has a PE ratio of ~20. Which means that for every $20 of stocks that you earn, your portfolio of companies are generating $1 in yearly profit. These profits alone represent a ~5% ROI. That's where the money comes from.
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