The cash won't always be coming in like this, and your plan completely negates the advantages of saving early/often... Compound interest. You can't get back time, and you can't get that compound interest longevity back. Everything else you listed is not investing, those are liabilities and expenses.

Agree good post.

I would rather live like a millionaire in retirement and take month long expensive vacations and play golf at a club because i saved to much money than live month to month hoping I don't out live my money.

Save all you can now while the money is rolling in, its the best thing you can do for your families future.

I want something of what you're smoking. I don't come up anywhere near 5 million bucks on a 16% B-fund I contribute to between 35 and 60 (I'm not working full time past 60). This is the type of stuff those mythical excel spreadsheets are based out of. Everybody makes 8% net yield YTY for 40 years, nobody gets furloughed, nobody gets bumped of out CA pay, nobody medicals out a day before 67 (by then). GMAB.

Accounting for loss of income, displacements and early medical out, you'd be wise to assume 5% net yields and amortize your contributions based on NB FO rate deferrals for the first 15 and then WB CA for the last 10. When you do that, you're much closer to a 1.5MM balance. 2.3MM with that polyanna 8% return for 25 years.

Assumptions are a tricky thing, especially if that SAH trophy wife is with ya based on the projected outcome of these common core math, Enron "mark to market" retirement income calculations. Caveat emptor fellas. :D

I've only been with them for about a year. They seem to be holding their own in this volatile market.

1) I thought the trophy wife was #2

2) Maybe he's a millennial and used Common Core math to get the $5M because he "estimated".

Precisely....DO NOT believe the carp you hear from your adviser. Those sunny predictions are never going to come true.

Common core has been around less than 5 years so that would make me a newhire with 50+ years to go! (Talk about seniority!)

I re-ran my number assuming 53k from 31-65 and it gave me a range of 3-6M at that date. (monte carlo)

Interesting calc. https://research.scottrade.com/knowl...ors/Retirement

One problem I have is that 401k calculators don't let you place more than 18k in the box...

EDIT: Also I put an extra 10% in the roth 401-k...

So you expect to make 218k for the next 34 years, I think that's the point. This will be the first year I will hit the 53k and I am not planning on that lasting

In the last 21 years, lUAL pilots made "industry standard" wages for, wait for it............5 years. The rest of the time, we were 30-40% below the leaders in the industry.

A couple of thousand United pilots ended up working else where for most of the last 17 years.

Put it in the bank, and invest it while you can. Don't count on current economic conditions, and industry profitability, lasting forever.

You don't need a "401k calculator. Any compound interest calculator will do. I suggest you put the Kindle app on your company iPad, download a few investing and retirement books, and start reading.