[tom s]

about 2 years before I was ready to retire I kept a very accurate record of what our outlay was by month.I then tried to calculate what I needed a year to maintain our present life style.I about fainted but went on a mission to get there.Im about a year from when I have to take manitory IRA allotments and have it figured I will not have to dip into the principle with what the dividends are returning.Cost of living has gone up some but I also know that we have lots of room to cut back spending.It takes long range planning.Dont put all your eggs in one basket.Dont panic when the market does what it has done the last couple weeks,stay true to the plan.Good luck,Tom

[cdrookie]

$600/month for property taxes is a good reason to move!

Originally Posted by Jim Doran

Feel free to change / debate and alter assumptions. You won't hurt my feelings. I want to estimate the end number. Keep in mind, these are AFTER tax expenses. I've taken annual assumptions and broken into monthly bite size chunks.

OK, that's $300 / month for Hobby from James; good estimate unless your a racer
~ $600 / month for Property taxes
~ $500 Food
~ $400 / month gasoline / car repair
~ $??? Heathcare gap insurance ?
~ $300/month Misc. Healthcare costs
~ $400/month utilities ( heat, electric, cable, cell )
~ $300 / month vacations / trips / events

Keep em coming !

[tom s]

How about $1600 a month!Tom

[cdrookie]

MOVE... NOW!!!!!!!

mine is $600/YEAR! that was one of the stipulations i set when looking for a house---> no matter what/where/who/how, if i had to pay more than $100/month for taxes i wasn't living in that place!

[The Boss]

Where are taxes only $600 a year? I pay more than that in personal property tax on my trucks!

[PonchoV8]

Amazing. People have to pay taxes to own personal property. We're share croppers.

[cdrookie]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Where are taxes only $600 a year? I pay more than that in personal property tax on my trucks!

I live in greenville, pa, only have 1.39 acres though. anyone want to buy my place?

good info here, even if i don't understand all the lingo

[Bob Dillon]

Why don'tyouse guys tell your children about the GI bill?

A lot of kids in this generation seems quite immature and aren't ready for college. A stretch with our Uncle would add some maturity and then they can pay their own way.

Worked for me.

[tom s]

Just so you know Medicare is not free also!If you have made any money you will pay more!$105 min for part B.$272 if you made more than a certain number and sup is added on top along with drug coverage.No free lunch!Tom

[poncho-mike]

You mentioned you were going to incur college costs soon. I went through the FAFSA (financial aid application) application just last month since my son starts to college in the fall. Don't expect any help if you have even a modest middle class income and any assets.

I put myself at solid middle class. I'm a design engineer and my wife works part time in retail. I played around with a couple of estimators and it appears we are expected to put about 22% of our gross income each year toward college expenses.

There are various planners out there that offer to help you qualify for more money by adjusting your finances. Stay away from them, as some of the less scrupulous ones will try to talk you into moving liquid assets into illiquid assets, such as annuities. I believe money invested in some types of annuities and bonds may be exempt.

If you know how FAFSA works, there are some things you might want to consider before the kids start college. The FAFSA looks at your gross annual income and the value of your assets. The equity in your home and money in retirement accounts is not counted. It may make sense to set up a home equity line for emergency funds and put cash savings into paying off the equity in your home.

The FAFSA also looks at your gross income, so increasing your 401-K contributions do not affect the calculation. It almost appears that FAFSA assumes you should not be saving for retirement when your kids are in college.

I'm probably going to get hammered on this, but learn a little bit about technical analysis. Understand how to identify trends, when trends are changing, and don't be afraid to move your money out of the market to safety when things start looking a little dicey.

I max out my 401-K and Roth IRAs right now, and have for a few years. I'm 56, and I know my health or good fortune could take a turn for the worse at any moment. If all goes well, I might retire a few years early. If something goes wrong, at least I did my saving up front so I'm better prepared for retirement.

While I am almost out of debt, I do take exception to some of the statements made about getting out of debt. If you were smart enough to re-finance your home for less than 3%, then it may make sense to hang onto your mortgage for the long term. If you earn more than 3% in dividends (which are taxed at capital gains rates) and take the mortgage interest deduction (at standard rates), you will come out ahead.

The equity in your home is exempted, as is money in deferred compensation such as 401-Ks, IRAs, Roth IRAs, etc. W

[Jim Doran]

Bob, good suggestion on GI Bill. We have a friend in town whose son is doing just that.

Originally Posted by tom s

Just so you know Medicare is not free also!If you have made any money you will pay more!$105 min for part B.$272 if you made more than a certain number and sup is added on top along with drug coverage.No free lunch!Tom

Ouch, those are the type of expenses that most don't plan for. Adding to that if one plans to leave a fulltime job w/benefits prior to 65, you'll either need Cobra for 18 months to bridge ( not cheap at all ) or say hello to ObamaCare & state brockerages.

I still believe most of us are dramatically under estimating the amount of 'nest egg' we will need unless we continue to work. Things are changing very quickly.

[David Holmberg]

$500 a month in food? I wish.

I have three boys and they eat that much a week. (not quite, but pretty close)

Excellent advice here.

[PonchoV8]

A guy at work is getting his masters in engineering on the GI Bill.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Jim Doran

I still believe most of us are dramatically under estimating the amount of 'nest egg' we will need unless we continue to work. Things are changing very quickly.

I plan on working past 65, probably past 70 depending upon health. I may not be doing exactly what I'm doing now, but I won't be sitting around the house waiting for death to come! 5 day weekends and 3 day weeks would be nice however.

[goatmanmitch]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Where are taxes only $600 a year? I pay more than that in personal property tax on my trucks!

There are places around here, especially if you remodel. No personal taxes, either

[Doug]

One big reality in estimating retiree spending is the amount of money you will be spending to support your children and grandchildren (even though they do not live in your household). It appears nobody lists that in their itemizations.

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by Jim Doran

As a planning metric, assuming a 4% return, $1,000,000 will net your $40,000 year ( gross ) on expenses. This plus SS needs to cover ALOT of things. If your luck enough to have to still have a genuine pension, then add that in and your probably better than most.

If you had made these assumptions during the last 10 years you would be screwed. Fixed income has been given the death blow. Not sure how long it will continue, but models have changed. Risks are greater than they were. New Normal.

That said, you should ALWAYS max out what is matched by employer. It is free money, and as long as it is available you would be crazy not to take it. It also helps to compensate for inflation vs. lowered returns experienced during last decade. With treasuries and other bonds returning less than your 4% Tgt., you need all the help you can get.

[Tim john]

Originally Posted by Doug

One big reality in estimating retiree spending is the amount of money you will be spending to support your children and grandchildren (even though they do not live in your household). It appears nobody lists that in their itemizations.

Doug, That is a SAD reality now a days but valid to consider. I have no intentions on "supporting the kids" I will encourage and or reward them for good behavior but under no circumstance am I going to be supporting them at adult age. If one job does not work they had better get three. They need to have enough foresight to place themselves in the market place that will provide a stable and rewarding income. They need to get the necessary skills and have an excellent work ethic whether it be gaining additional education, experience, contacts, etc... to be employable and stay employed. I will coach them, encourage them, answer any questions to the best of my abilities, try to guide them in the right direction but to support them that is not going to happen. Now like I mentioned above I will reward them for good behavior and in that I mean, working HARD, saving 15 %, tithing with their church of choice and giving, by doing so I believe these to be good qualities in a person so I will “reward” this type of behavior if they need the help, perhaps make a mortgage payment or an electrical bill payment, phone bill, taxes, etc… as long as they are making strides in the right direction I will be there every step of the way. Taking the easy way out (hand out) is not an option. I see too many parents get caught up in raising their grandkids and or supporting their own kids at adult age because no one is holding them accountable. I see these same kids mooching off their parents buying new trucks and or cars, boats, treats, trips, etc… and yet have the audacity to tell their parents how “rough” it is out there in the job market. The way I see it is that they are rewarding bad behavior and they are not helping their kids, they are encouraging this behavior. This may rub a bunch of folks raw but working hard has never hurt anyone.

This is not my saying (Actually it came from Dave Ramsey’s Grandmother) but it goes like this: A good place to go when one is broke is to WORK !

Tim john---

[TheSilverBuick]

I own two houses and one is $550/yr and the other is $750/yr.

I personally think using 7% growth as a good number for investment planning in stable and moderate stocks. My 401k end of year statement showed up last month and showed I had a net gain of 19.6%! That is definitely not the norm as I think a couple years ago I had a year it only went up by the amount I (and my company) contributed (blah!).

I'm aiming to be on the same plan my Old Man is on. When he retired at 62 he had zero debt and minimized his monthly living expenditures, and once the transistion to retirement dust settled he was clearing around $1200/mo disposable income after bills. That is comfortable living. I hope to do even better, but I've just turned 33 so have a while to get there, but my 401k is approaching $150k now and I'm game planning to pay off a mortgage between now and retirement.

I really like Roth IRA's but after only a couple years of contributing to one my income has exceeded the $127/yr so I can't have them any more, which pisses me off. Why not is my question? It's not like I can drop $20k/yr into one.

[Jim Doran]

SB, as you get closer to retirement, the mix of investments gets less risky and 4% is the accepted planning number on a conservative portfolio during your retired years.

The world your old man and my old man retired in was very different. They got employer sponsored health plans in retirement. If you retire today at 62, you must fund healthcare until age 65 when medicare kicks in. You then also need medigap insurance. Deductibles are going up, co-pays going up, prescriptions going up. This is the new normal.

I view healthcare costs as the SINGLE biggest expense I'll have in retirement for my wife and I. I could afford to retire at age 55 ( I'm already debt free ), but bridging healthcare is the obstacle. While I'm no fan, believe it or not, ObamaCare and the state exchanges help early retirees in this area.

Yes, I too hit Roth limits a long time ago. There is a back door Roth conversion you can google.