$$$ for retirement
 

I see these commercials trying to scare me into saving money for retirement and some say you need $1 million in the bank to live until eight-five or some such non sense.

Looking at my in-laws, they are both in their seventies, their house is paid off, their cars are paid off, and they have no credit card debt. They have $100k cash in the bank, a few investments, have more or less no bills other than the regular power and utilities. They live off of social security, have few needs, and seem to have a positive cash flow every month.

Did I miss something?

I won't get anywhere near 85, but what a load of bullshit anyway.

My grandparents certainly don't have money put away but they have no real debts and enjoy their life. That's worth more than any amount of money...

All depends on how you want to spend your retirement. Do you want to just be getting by or do you want to have a ton of cash to travel and help out your kids and your grandkids.

So if they need/want a new car? Roof? Europe vacation? Then one gets sick and wham savings are gone and the last one is living on half the income.

They are ok but is that what you want? To be ok?

Also I am not sure how it works it the usa but here we have RRSPs that we can invest in and it is a tax write off.

And we have a winner.

I guess it all depends on your pension or whatever you call it in the US. 100k with no money coming in is definitely not enough. 100k with 75k a year in pension is another story.

It comes down to lifestyle. Imo for most people 1million in the bank is nowhere near enough.

They don't travel - at all. Maybe at most every five years they will take a vacation to Connecticut to see family, but for the most part family comes out to visit them. Father in law is very much a kind of "stay at home" kind of guy; It's impossible to get him to drive or fly up to see us.

Our daughter is really their only grand daughter, and they take good care of her.

The entire family is all auto mechanics, and they aren't the "new car" kind of people. They have a Durango and a Escape, both paid for. Even if the cars both died and they had to replace them, they wouldn't buy new cars - they would just buy a used SUV.

I don't know much about Society Security, but from what I see they each pull in $2500 a month. That's $60k a year, plus mom pulls in a small pension.

I think they are doing okay.

My Grandmother is the same age. She was living in a retirement apartment complex for the last 14 years. Last month, she fell AGAIN and the apartments refused to allow her to stay. Her rent there was around $1,500 per month. Now that she requires more care, we moved her into a different facility at a nice rate of only $3,500 per month.

She owned her own home. In fact, she owned 2 of them outright and lived between them until she was unable to be by herself.

It's the American way of living...work your ass off and sacrifice your entire life (when young) so you can enjoy seeing the world and travel when you are old...sure, I have been to over 25 countries. I have hiked the Inca trail in Peru, I have stayed in the Amazon in Brazil, I have hiked volcanoes in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. I have done all these things while I am young and physically could enjoy them to the max.

Most Americans (traditional types - certainly not the most GFY'ers) postpone actually "living life" thinking that they will do all of that after they retire at 65. I don't know how many never make it to 65 (car accident, cancer, heart attack) or are in such poor health that they can't do those things.

You can have all the money in the bank you can dream of but if you are too ill to use it or you don't even make it the age to use it then was your life wasted? I think it was if you lived dreaming of a future that you never got to.

what you need depends on what your expenses are. If you have a small house (paid off) and live modestly, 1mm should be more than enough. If you have multiple homes, travel the world , eat out every night etc....you need a hell of a lot more than that. Also, if the plan is to live off of what one has vs having money to leave to your kids, that changes everything as well.

math is math...if they have positive cash flow every month, they are fine. Assuming nothing changes expense wise or no major medical bills pop up

Why is this hard? Poor people can live poor. Rich people want to live richly. Ford Escape vs Mercedes Benz.

This speaks volumes about OP :2 cents:

People retire with 0$ so no you are not missing anything.

The pot growing operation in their basement?

You can get by on 100k but you'll have to reuse all your shopping bags. You know, to wipe your ass because tp is expensive.

Why do you need a commercial to get scared?

They don't have basements in Southern California. (Come to think of it, I've never owned a house with a basement.)

I met an old man (American) on a bus in the Andes Mountains about 15 years ago. Dude was in his early 70s, very cool guy. We chatted for a few hours and he told me to go and do everything I wanted to do now while I was young, because it was bullshit waiting until I was older because you can't enjoy it as much and it's harder on your body as you age. Not to mention, there is no guarantee you will live to be older anyway. He regretted not doing things when he was young.

I wouldn't trust Social Security, most of the money in that account is IOU's from the government, it's called the National Debt. What, did you think that all came from China?

I'm glad I almost have my house paid off! Should be by next year!

It is going to be considerably harder for younger people now then older people now to retire.

Pensions no longer exist
Interest rates are flat
No more huge appreciation of real estate over your life time
People are renting longer and saving less

Also remember that due to inflation a million dollars cash now is going to be worth way the fuck less in the future.

Yea, it's gonna be a mess in the future especially once everything is automated

Paying off your house right now is the worst move you can do. Interest rates are at all time lows, pulling out all that paid off equity and investing it is pretty much what people need to do these days.

The interest doesn't amount to much, we only owe a small amount on the condo we live in. We are planning to get some land and build a second home. A place we can retire. Also looking at getting a RV and write off the interest on that on taxes. The IRS considers any interest paid on a motor home or even some tent trailers as interest you can write off!

Already have money in investments and getting more. I'm looking at a big stock purchase right now.

A TV commercial with an agenda?

What's up with that?

Alot comes down to personal lifestyle choice, for example my parents saved quite a bit, now in their late 70s they still have the freedom to whatever the choose to do.

For example, They had owned their home which I grew up in, but after Katrina the refugees that moved in the area made it go downhill and now is one of the crappier parts of Houston. So even though when they retired had no plans of ever moving they decided to move to a much nicer(safer) area and had the money to upgrade.

When they moved it's a gated community, so they decided to buy a golfcart, again never planned for it, but had the means. Now in their new community, they take a number of trips each year with the other retired folks there, never planned it but do have the freedom to do it.

Their life wouldn't have been the same without having the means to roll with changes and so I want to make sure I have enough to have that freedom when I retire.

This is so hysterically embarassing on so many levels

Many well packed folks in this thread.

This seems to be a large part of it - owning your own house. Housing is your biggest expensive, and by the time you retire you should own your own house free and clear of any banks.

What happens in US if you have mortgage unpaid or just no house at all (you've been renting all your life) and no money saved in bank when you're in pension age?

And if social security ever goes away... or fails to keep pace with rampant inflation?

Then your grandparents become your new rent-free tenants.

yes, the interest doesn't amount to much, that was the entire point I was making...

I agree with what you are saying and I too have travelled many places around the world and enjoyed myself and I will continue to do so. However, I also feel its important to be putting money aside for when you are older. I have a daughter now and it makes me happy knowing that I will be able to pay for her education amd more when she gets to that age. As you get older your priorities change.

I understand it is the cheapest money to borrow on, but it is still debt...but what a great feeling to sit back and not pay a mortgage company every month. I have a little under a year on a ten year mortgage and am looking forward to paying it back to the house and doing upgrades. Free of any loans. Bettering my investment so to speak.

You are very fortunate to have had this opportunity afforded to you, I have been working my ass and investing every cent back into the family and business, with the occasional break ;)

No debt = Freedom

what's wrong with borrowing at 4%, investing that to get 8%, so as a result making 4% profit on money you never had in the first place?

My mom owns her house outright, she has no bills and has a couple incomes. She has money in bank. She lives her life the way she wants and is pretty happy. I love when I visit her and she shows me pictures from her latest trip she took!

If the interest were higher, then the tax return would be better, but it's not, so we are paying it off. I'm hoping to pay off a second property before I retire so we can have the first one as an income property and live very comfortable!

I had some credit card problems that took me down the rabbit hole into bankruptcy before I got into porn. I have a CC now but pay it off every month - more to help keep credit going than anything else.

We owe money on the house and the condo, two cars, but that's it.

Sigh, nevermind

Also if you think a tax refund is a good thing that's part of the problem