How old are you and how much do you have saved for retirement?

[Tweak155]

I've not found much things to do that are fun that cost a lot money. Most everything I enjoy is either free or minimal costs. So what am I missing by not pissing away my dollars?

If you enjoy money itself then nothing. But it is odd to enjoy money.

Most people don't get to enjoy money until they spend it on something.

 

[bignateyk]

Age 28, $140K in retirement, $50K in home equity, $20K bank.

edit: Not a penny pincher. Just a two income white collar household with no kids.

edit2: Just saw you want it in salary percentage, so... about 1x salary if you combine wife and I for just retirement portion of savings.

 

[Jeffg010]

40 x3.2

This is only 401k

 

[dbk]

28, like 28k..weeeaak but i'm in govt so i'm gonna ride this out for like 25 more years

 

[Imp]

If you enjoy money itself then nothing. But it is odd to enjoy money.

Most people don't get to enjoy money until they spend it on something.

An elitist would enjoy the fact that they have mucho money when they hear about everyone else and how they are always bitching about how they're in debt, living paycheck to paycheck...

Just one perspective.

You'd think that millionaires would be happy being in the 1%, but at that point it just starts becoming a game about who can collect them all.

It's the same with education and manwhores. People love to talk about where they went to school, how many degrees they have, brag about how many bitches they've nailed, etc. Same idea.

 

[Tweak155]

An elitist would enjoy the fact that they have mucho money when they hear about everyone else and how they are always bitching about how they're in debt, living paycheck to paycheck...

Just one perspective. You'd think that millionaires would be happy being in the 1%, but at that point it just starts becoming a game about who can collect them all.

An elitist is just a frame of mind or point of view. Others would call that same person an idiot.

In the end, as long as you're paying all your bills / debts, I couldn't care less whether you save as much as you possibly can or just put away the bare essentials.

 

[skyking]

The shit has hit the fan a couple times in our lives, and we were in a good position to weather it out. I don't think that was elitist, just having some priorities.

 

[shadow9d9]

Yeah I had the same view for a while, but then I thought what will I do with money when I'm dead? Might as well enjoy it. $300k-$500k for example over a lifetime for vehicles isn't really much in the grand scheme of things. I guess it all depends on your goals.

Not everyone gets enjoyment from cars. I get none. They are just transportation vehicles for me.

As for enjoying money without spending it. There is a certain amount of peace and happiness knowing that you can survive emergencies and retire young if you wish. It is actually pretty huge imo.

 

[nehalem256]

27

0.96x 401K + Roth IRA
2.32x Cash and other Investments

3.28x Total

:awe:

 

[PricklyPete]

34, ~ x2.4 not including my primary home equity or my 6+ month emergency fund. We also have no debt outside of real estate. Hope I can keep this pace up as my wife and I move toward kids, but we will see.

 

[Jimzz]

For those that say you are not going to retire sometimes the job/market will retire you.

When you get older your options are more limited and many will not hire you, even if you want to work.

 

[Tweak155]

Not everyone gets enjoyment from cars. I get none. They are just transportation vehicles for me.

As for enjoying money without spending it. There is a certain amount of peace and happiness knowing that you can survive emergencies and retire young if you wish. It is actually pretty huge imo.

Yes but his justification was that his current car worked just fine. That's completely different than not caring / wanting a better car.

 

[ponyo]

I know this sounds perverse, but the more money I make, the less inclined I am to save it. I feel like I'll just make more.

I think it's just mid-life crisis. When you make lot money easily you can get cocky.

 

[Oldgamer]

wow, look at all those who have "0" savings.. and this folks is why we have Social Security, it is the one thing, the one investment that government has given you to fall back on when you do retire. Someday you will be glad you have that SS income!

It has been proven time and time again over the years people just don't save. (very few do if at all).

 

[kranky]

If you are young multiples of salary can make sense as a very general guideline but as you get older you really need to start thinking in terms of multiples of expenses.

This point is critical and is ignored by almost every "retirement savings calculator" I've ever seen. No wonder, since most of those calculators are on sites that have a vested interest in making you think you better save a lot more (banks, brokerages, etc.). Our 401k site has a calculator that is so far out of whack with reality it borders on the ridiculous.

In retirement you have to have enough to pay for your expenses. It has nothing to do with your income or a percentage of your income.

So someone who saves 20% of their income, gives 10% to charity, pays 17% in taxes and has a mortgage costing 15% of their income (which will be paid off before retirement) doesn't need the 80% of pre-retirement income that most calculators say you need. In fact they could probably live it up big time on 60% of their income.

It's frustrating to see younger co-workers want to give up on saving for retirement just because our 401k site tells them they better start saving 25% of their income now.

I read a study recently that said someone who saves 16.6% of their income over their working life would be OK to fund a 25-year retirement over any 25 year period in the last 100 years - even the worst performing period in the market. And that 16.6% INCLUDES 401k matching. As long as you use low-cost investments, asset allocation, and periodic rebalancing you'll be fine. But it's so important to start early.

 

[gorb]

27.

0.15

 

[Imp]

An elitist is just a frame of mind or point of view. Others would call that same person an idiot.

True. The elitists would think the spenders are idiots, the spenders think the elitists are idiots, rinse and repeat forever.

Whatever floats everyone's boat works for me.

 

[Gunslinger08]

This point is critical and is ignored by almost every "retirement savings calculator" I've ever seen. No wonder, since most of those calculators are on sites that have a vested interest in making you think you better save a lot more (banks, brokerages, etc.). Our 401k site has a calculator that is so far out of whack with reality it borders on the ridiculous.

In retirement you have to have enough to pay for your expenses. It has nothing to do with your income or a percentage of your income.

So someone who saves 20% of their income, gives 10% to charity, pays 17% in taxes and has a mortgage costing 15% of their income (which will be paid off before retirement) doesn't need the 80% of pre-retirement income that most calculators say you need. In fact they could probably live it up big time on 60% of their income.

It's frustrating to see younger co-workers want to give up on saving for retirement just because our 401k site tells them they better start saving 25% of their income now.

I read a study recently that said someone who saves 16.6% of their income over their working life would be OK to fund a 25-year retirement over any 25 year period in the last 100 years - even the worst performing period in the market. And that 16.6% INCLUDES 401k matching. As long as you use low-cost investments, asset allocation, and periodic rebalancing you'll be fine. But it's so important to start early.

I think the problem is that most people spend way too much money. This is a more recent development, so the current pool of retirees still know how to live within their means. Once we start seeing the younger baby boomers retire, I think we're going to see a lot of sympathy pieces about low SS benefits and retirees who didn't save enough/at all living on meager rations in low rent apartments. I don't think that saving more than you need to is really a bad thing, but I will be super pissed if I die before retirement and I could have had that Ferrari.

 

[Jeffg010]

wow, look at all those who have "0" savings.. and this folks is why we have Social Security, it is the one thing, the one investment that government has given you to fall back on when you do retire. Someday you will be glad you have that SS income!

It has been proven time and time again over the years people just don't save. (very few do if at all).

You think SS will be around when the young people get there?

 

[NoCreativity]

Early thirties, about 5x.

 

[swanysto]

I am not quite sure how to answer this. I don't technically put any of my money into savings. All my money goes to bills, groceries, car payments, etc, etc. But my wife's whole paycheck goes into savings. While there is a good chunk of money in there now, I can see it going down quite a bit when we go to buy a house. However, we have a five year plan after the house, of her continuing to put her whole paycheck in savings. So theoretically, I will be 37 with 4.5x my salary if we put our current savings as a down payment. If we only put some of it, the 4.5x should be higher. We can currently support 1, maybe two children on my salary without going into hers. House payment should be less than our rent payment, cause we pay way too much for rent in the city.

 

[ponyo]

I should just have lot of kids. I know a guy with 9 other siblings. His dad is in his seventies. He makes all his 10 kids give him $1,000 each month for spending allowance. So this 70 something man lives the good life while some of his kids suffer.

 

[K1052]

31

7.5x

 

[MomentsofSanity]

38 and about 250K in fixed incomes and stock. Most money the last couple of years went towards the wife's new business venture which, now that it has hit profitability, should allow us to resume putting money away. Modest home in the country and drive a shitty Caliber!

I'll be having a mid-life crisis very soon I suspect.

 

[Engineer]

Age 44 - about 4 times (our - my wife and my) annual salary (in everything: IRA's, savings, etc).

Have about 1.7 to 1.8 times salary (both salaries) in home equity (100% paid for) but don't really count that as I have to have a place to live.

Will also get about $500+ per month from a pension.

Wife will get a few hundred from a pension (depends how long she works for the school system).

Hope to get SS.