SOURCE:


https://www.visualcapitalist.com/us-...by-generation/

 

And the Government only needs to take 21.7% of that and it could be debt-free

 

The one question I’ve never been able to get answered is “what’s my number?” What number am I shooting for in my retirement accounts so that I know when I can retire?
That question is always answered with more questions. More is better of course, but I’d sure like to know when I can pull the chute and be done.

 

ROUGH rule of thumb is to have enough in investments to be able to live on the Required Minimum Distribution percentage you have for an IRA or 401k and everything your investments earn above that would be reinvested.

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans...2031%2C%202022).

ROUGh approximation is being able to live on 3% of your investment earnings until age 72 and 4% (increasing constantly as you age) thereafter. So if you retire at 65 with $5 million in investments plan on getting by on $150k a year until age 65. Pensions and medical coverage from a previous career (ie., retired military) obviously can seriously alter that number of course.

 

That's pretty conservative. Conventional wisdom is 4% first year, and then adjust for inflation in subsequent years.

 

How much income in today's dollars do want in retirement? You can chose a range, minimum acceptable up to ideal, to account for a reasonable range of possible investment returns.

How much social security are you planning on?

Do you have any medical benefits such as tricare?

Do you have any outside income sources (pensions, rentals, etc).

At what age do you plan to retire?

How long do you expect to live? Trick question, but current health and family history matters. If you might eb at risk for not living very long, it might make sense to live it up while you can, and accept that risk that if you live longer you'll have a more modest lifestyle. Not too unreasonable, since most people travel less and are less active as they get older.

Most pilots should assume 90-ish lifespan, unless you have specific reasons to believe otherwise.


Given that info, it's very easy to calculate a conventional-wisdom portfolio requirement. Excargo threw out $5M, that's probably a good comfortable starting point if you have no outside income sources.

 

Origin of the 4% rule:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_study

 

Agreed. Endowments, to be fiduciary responsible, are adhering to the 4% rule. An endowed professorship, at $1 million, can spend 4%, or $40,000 per year, adjusting upward for inflation. Additional earnings add to the principal to compensate for the additional rate of inflation.

Spending more violates the rules for wise philanthropy. You risk running out of money, in the long run.

 

Pretty much zero chance we hit 5 million by the time I retire. Too many furloughs, too little income during the lost decade. I’ll probably clear 3 barring some other black swan event.

 

Well, keep as much as possible in tax free or tax deferred investments (401K, IRA, Roth IRA) and take advantage of the greater limits on investing in those after age 50.

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans...ibution-limits