The Botanist and others have made reference to working hard all one's life to have a comfortable or "easy" retirement. I'm curious as to the monetary figure you expect to have upon retirement to provide that comfort.

Note that the poll is not what you expect that you will need..........it's the figure that you will reasonably expect to accumulate. Obviously, if you're 55 years of age and have $100K in the bank, you're not getting to $1M in 10 years.........so, kindly be realistic in the projections. Assume a 10% return (wildly optimistic I know) on all current funds.

soon as I get my real job after college I plan on pumping what ever I can into a retirement account..

Bah, 80 acres in Montana I'll buy prior to retirement, then just a little to live on. Hell even in retirement I still plan on working to some degree.

I voted in this poll. I think it would interesting to see how people vote by age group and expectations in life. AustinsCE's message is an excellent example. His perspective is not based on money but lifestyle. To me, that is a useful perspective. Probably the best, IMO.

B

I probably should have restricted the poll to those who are above age 40. It's a bit of a stretch to ask for the expectations of folks that are more than 25 years away from retirement. Many have wild aspirations............

I agree with Austin'sCE.
I labored 20 years for a stock held company. Never gave retirement a thought. I was having too much fun serving my customers. I had my health, a house, and my Benz's.

In the last five years the company changed it's direction. Began filtering out us older gents through micro management. So I decided, on my 57th birthday, now is the time to get out. While I was still in control.

I took an early retirement and focused my motivation on what I really love to do. Cars. Nothing elaborate. Just collecting parts for others. Kinda like treasure hunting.
Now I am my own boss while still making ends meet. Best decision I have made in a long time.

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Selling used Mercedes parts on Ebay...always changing...
cdplayer51 take a look!
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Probably over a million, the catch is that in 40 years $1m won't be much. Maybe I'll be able to buy a sandwich.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have over 500K invested in Real Estate and now its worth??????

I plan to keep working til I keel over.

I used to think if I had a mil I could retire and live well. Now I'm not sure 2 mil will do it, what with inflation and all.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I think $2M is still the number...........it can give you $100K to live every year..........that's usually sufficient unless you're extravagant.

Does primary residence home equity count?

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

That's an excellent question.

It probably should not count as most folks aren't able to use that equity for daily living expenses.

I'll be turning 39 in January so I'm just on the arbitrary threshold. $1.75-2MM has been my goal all along. I've been contributing more than I could probably afford for the past 6 years and now that I'm back to stable financial footing again I'll probably pump even more in to my 401k. It's not so much to support any extravagant lifestyle, although I'd like to enjoy my retirement years boating or rv'ing the country. I do have long-term concerns for my middle son with Down syndrome and I'd like to be sure he will be taken care of (via Special Needs Trust).

Assuming the country comes out of the current financial $hitter, I still think that's a realistic goal. Whether or not it will be enough come retirement age is another story. My wife would really like to start teaching once our youngest starts school in the next couple of years so that would certainly help. We have no desire to move out of our current home, viewed as undersized by most , but her working might allow us to put on a well-needed addition and finally build a vacation/retirement home on our lot in ME and still keep on track.

I know there are no guarantees in the business world, but my father (64) is planning retirement next year and his cousin-in-law (62, my boss) should be sometime within the next 5 or so years. So with any luck my financial pic should get a little rosier once my brother and I take over the reins since they both make considerably more than we do (my father deservedly so ).

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Retire? Whats that?

That's the interlude between careers.

I don't think I'll ever totaly retire. I'd like to be able to do what my uncle does, he takes 3-4 months off a year. It gets a bit longer each year. He has a house in FL where he spends most of the winter when not traveling or fishing. I'd rather just have a boat, and sail it for a few months than come back work for a few months, than go back and sail.

Having several dozen rentals helps a lot with the retirement income. You just need people who can take care of them for you. Once they are paid off the cash flow is pretty damn good.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200