What’s your number?

[skives]

whats your amount you think you’ll need to retire? Curious to see everyone’s answers.

[corn18]

$1.8M with a paid off house @ age 55.

[disneysteve]

Ideally? $2.5M. That assumes no SS. I do not expect to get there.

More realistically? $2.0M. That also assumes no SS. I think we can probably achieve that or close to it depending on the market the next 8 years.

Even more realistically? $1.5M plus SS. This assumes that there is some sort of affordable health insurance available to us. We can definitely hit that mark.

[skives]

So do you guys believe in what Dave Ramsey says to live off only the interest in retirement? Do you think it’s possible to make 8-12% a year in retirement safely?

[corn18]

So do you guys believe in what Dave Ramsey says to live off only the interest in retirement? Do you think it’s possible to make 8-12% a year in retirement safely?

Not a chance in Hades.

[Jluke]

25 times expenses in retirement. Not sure what that looks like today but I try my best to save.

[disneysteve]

So do you guys believe in what Dave Ramsey says to live off only the interest in retirement? Do you think it’s possible to make 8-12% a year in retirement safely?

Dave Ramsey is very good at advising people to get out of debt. His investment advice sucks!

NO. You can not plan on 8-12% returns. If you retire with that expectation, you're going to be looking for work very shortly.

I'm going with the 25 times expenses/4% withdrawal rate calculation.

[disneysteve]

So do you guys believe in what Dave Ramsey says to live off only the interest in retirement? Do you think it’s possible to make 8-12% a year in retirement safely?

Sorry. You actually asked 2 separate questions. No, I don't think 8-12% is a reasonable expectation. Yes, I think living off the income generated by your savings is important. That's where the 4% rule comes from. You want to be able to draw money out each year while minimizing your risk of running out of money before you die. If you can average 6%/year and draw out 4%/year, your balance still grows so that you can bump up your withdrawals each year to keep up with inflation.

[TexasHusker]

So do you guys believe in what Dave Ramsey says to live off only the interest in retirement? Do you think it’s possible to make 8-12% a year in retirement safely?

I sure do hope so - I’ve been doing it for 6 years now!

[disneysteve]

I sure do hope so - I’ve been doing it for 6 years now!

Except DR doesn’t do it with real estate. He tells people they can do it with mutual funds. That’s bunk.

[TexasHusker]

Except DR doesn’t do it with real estate. He tells people they can do it with mutual funds. That’s bunk.

I’m kind of doing a four-pronged approach:

1. Owning real estate
2. Managing real estate
3. Owning some franchises
4. Trading gold and silver of late

The talking heads always bag on precious metals as a long term play, but that is a misuse of the instrument; the fluctuations in prices are what provides that opportunity for some really good returns.

[kork13]

My "number" isn't really a number so much as an idea -- I want to have enough to fully replace our pre-retirement income. I expect that to come from real estate, pensions, investments, etc. In total, that could end up being as much as $5M-$6M in assets.

But I'm also 20-30 years away from even considering retirement, so I don't really think it's meaningful for me to put a number in stone & say "that's what I need." Between the unknowns of inflation, living expenses in retirement, our personal health, and a litany of other factors, there's really no way I can even begin to forecast what we'll need.

So I'm the meantime, I'm just saving as much as we reasonably can. Worst case, we'll end up with a huge estate when we die that our kids have to deal with (a.k.a. "Not my problem!" )

[MooseBucks]

My "number" isn't really a number so much as an idea -- I want to have enough to fully replace our pre-retirement income. I expect that to come from real estate, pensions, investments, etc. In total, that could end up being as much as $5M-$6M in assets.

But I'm also 20-30 years away from even considering retirement, so I don't really think it's meaningful for me to put a number in stone & say "that's what I need." Between the unknowns of inflation, living expenses in retirement, our personal health, and a litany of other factors, there's really no way I can even begin to forecast what we'll need.

So I'm the meantime, I'm just saving as much as we reasonably can. Worst case, we'll end up with a huge estate when we die that our kids have to deal with (a.k.a. "Not my problem!" )

Agreed. Based on my current plan and 5% yearly returns I’ll end up with 3.8mm when I’m 65. That’s 30+ Yrs away. Current requirement is to retire mortgage free and hopefully with a vacation home that is also mortgage free. So for us that’s going to drive if we retire early or continue working.

[disneysteve]

I’m kind of doing a four-pronged approach:

1. Owning real estate
2. Managing real estate
3. Owning some franchises
4. Trading gold and silver of late

What’s your plan for income in retirement? Or do you not see yourself ever retiring? The first 3 things on your list are jobs.

[TexasHusker]

What’s your plan for income in retirement? Or do you not see yourself ever retiring? The first 3 things on your list are jobs.

As of right now, I spend from 5-10 hours a week on all of the above. And I am often bored out of my mind. I’ve chosen to keep doing more not because of the desire for more income as much as I’m bored. I can’t imagine a day where I do absolutely nothing and still get a check - just shoot me in the head on that day.

I suppose if I ever wanted to spend zero time doing anything whatsoever, I would just sell the businesses, real estate, and gold coins, and buy an annuity.

Dave Ramsey’s model is built on 1) passive investing (mutual funds) and 2) the idea of one day doing absolutely nothing. So I don’t take his advice because 1) I am active investor - meaning I am mostly hands-on, and 2) one day doing absolutely nothing doesn’t appeal to me.

The returns in passive investing are going to be substantially lower - 8, 10, possibly 12 percent if you find a unicorn mutual fund.

The returns in active investing can be double or triple or even higher. But if the investment falters due to your laziness, incompetence, or ineptitude , it isn’t the Fed’s fault, nor the economy’s, nor the Republicans’ nor Democrats, nor the crappy mutual fund manager’s. The buck stops with you.