How many of you at retirement age haven't saved enough? How is it?

One of the questions was about what people would have changed. The poster mentioend hiding his money so that he didn't have to pay full fare at an Ivy League school. I second that becuase my daughter is attending a highly selective school next year and we will have to pay $70K per year due our significant savings even though our income is not high. We always maxed out retirement savings and we paid off our house and cars. The only other recommendation that the school made was to invest in something that they don't track such as artwork.

One poster asked what seniors needed money for. My mom needed it for Bingo and the slot machines! We tried to talk her out of the slot machines for years until she went to Vegas, drew a royal flush on the progressive poker machine and walked home with 80 grand. Back in Austin she stopped at her local bingo parlor and immediately won 500 bucks!

Everybody has their own unique retirement plan!

No. He gets to live in a more expensive dwelling that likely appreciates faster than the $1M would.

and he gets 0 money from it

You don't seem to grasp what money is. He is living in a dwellnig worth twice what you are recommending. That is what he is using the $1M on. You would choose to use it on somethign else. It is a personal choice. After 20 years, he has had the pleasure of living in a dwelling that is then worth $3M while you would be in a dwelling worth $1.5M and you will have $1M in the bank becuase you said you would spend the yearly earnings from the $1M.

I have found in my lifetime, that the people who make recommendations to others, have net worths lower than those who they make recommendations to. They should be listening to the wealthy rather than making recommendations to them.

A few years ago, I lost my job at the age of 60 and had to suddenly get my stuff together and created a spreadsheet with different scenarios about how long I would continue working. In my case, the variables that were significant were at what age my wife and I began taking social security, the remaining balance on our mortgage and the value of our 401k and the rate at which we withdrew from our 401K. I would advise people to do something similar and also to watch expenses closely enough to understand how much money you will need in retirement. I think for many the cost of housing and having some form of medical insurance coverage are key. Medical insurance to avoid paying list price for any significant medical procedure. When you near 60, insurance will probably cost $1,500 or more per month but it is pretty easy for a hospital stay/emergency to cost $75k to $200k at list price. I’m fortunate to have a company pension on top of social security. If you have a good handle on how these variables interact you can make intelligent decisions on how large a 401k you need and what your retirement needs and income will look like

Getting ready to retire any day now, and I have more than enough.

I don't need to work anymore but still do because it is interesting, and convenient since I can work from home, and so it seems almost foolish to quit.

But I have some very engaging, creative pastimes that I am amply set-up for and could easily make some income from if I wanted to, which i don't.

So, in essence, the money is no longer the determining factor, but time is. How do I want to spend the limited time I have, with no promise that it might not be short.

Anyway, the key to our fortunate financial situation is years of maxing out retirement savings almost to an obsessive level. We have been very fortunate.

"How much do you wish you had saved? Would it have possible for you to do so?"

I wish I had saved 12.4% more every pay period. No, it's not possible under current law because the government says I have to invest 12.4% in their poorly-conceived pyramid scheme called social security.

Never ever go into assisted living

58

$ 140K CAD (haven't made enough $$ to save since I was 53).

Lots more. If not for job layoffs in my '50's and parents in need of help I would have kept earning one way or another.

Paid rent & food, there's been no 'fun' for some years.

Yes I worry about the future, but scaling back would be homeless and I'm not there yet.

Stupid question. Regrets are pointless.

The apartment is more likely to increase in value, or retain value, than an investment account at present IMO.

-What age are you? 61

-What’s your net worth/ how much did you save? House - $750 (paid for), Roth IRA/401K - $850k, cash - $450k, Pension - $50k/yr (starting next year), SS - $37k/yr (if start next year), real-estate - $250k
-How much do you wish you had saved? I wish I would have put more into the Roth IRA when I really didn't need the deduction from the 401k deposits. I always put away 5% (employer matched at 5%) and sometimes 10% but wish I would have always kept it at 10% or higher. Last few years have been maxing out both Roth IRAs and 401Ks. I wish I would have obtained more real-estate. I don't trust my pension, ss, or the markets.

Would it have possible for you to do so? I was very conservative and I paid off my house by age 44 at the expense of investing it elsewhere so I could have changed that and it would have worked in hind sight but that may not be true for anyone in the future. It has been awesome not having a mortgage for the last 17-years though. I didn't save for kids college education (7 of them) but since I had the house paid off, I was able to help them some (also at the expense of my retirement investing). My wife has been a stay at home mom and she could have worked later on but I like it the way it has been and so does she. I got out of the market before the 2008/9 crash and didn't get back in when I should have and that cost me a lot.
-What did you do with the money you would have saved? vacations/parties/family? was it worth it? I haven't done anything yet. Trying to figure that out. I should have traveled more than what I've done already. Don't know when you will leave this world and it is harder to do things once your older. We live frugal and can easily get by on the pension and SS and not touch anything else. I will travel some, do some service projects, help the kids out some, and will do a few fun things.
-Do you worry about money? yes, I shouldn't as much as some, but I don't trust the markets, ss, my pension being there forever. I would like to buy a small homestead that I could at least raise food on if TSHTF and at least I could help ensure I eat.

Do you have to scale back your lifestyle? How so? I don't expect to since I live a pretty frugal lifestyle as is.
- Do you regret not saving enough? I regret the mistakes I made (not getting back in the market when I should have and not putting more into the Roth and 401k). I don't regret paying off my house early and besides not having a mortgage since age 44, I have also only borrowed to buy some cars and nothing else. Credit card companies have paid me but I haven't ever paid them. It has been nice not worrying seriously about money for most of my life. It's not all what you earn but how you spend in relation to your earnings. I think the Dave Ramsey philosophy isn't bad at balancing risk (I was less risky than what he says to do). I could have been a lot wealthier if I would have speculated, but I could of also got severly burned.

Age ~30 Net worth is ~800K... 1/3rd in equity in my home 1/4 in other property (no cash flow but low taxed). Rest is about 50/50 split between 401k and index funds, large emergency fund (one year of runway). Didn't really get into saving outside of maxing out 401K and for a house till a couple years ago and then just dumped money into the market to diversify.. obviously hasn't payed off but I still have 5-10 years before I would pully any of that out to retire/work on personal projects/businesses.

I save a ton. ~75% of my income.. way more than most people should but just at a point in life where I can work a lot and save a lot. My spending has increased a bit which makes me slightly concerned but still living off less than I made straight out of college. I am not an expert by any means missed 7 years of HSA funding that would have really helped in about 40 years.

Grew up poor so don't want to end up like that but also don't like spending money on things I don't need. I Don't think having a retirement is a hard thing to achieve with a high school education unless you are single and have kids/physical disabled. You just have to be willing to be frugal and love saving and compounding interest.

Examples of frugality: my favorite meal is rice and beans

Live in a neighborhood where I make ~7x the average income.

Don't currently have kids.

The examples aren't rules, they don't work for everyone but being frugal/living off less than you make is extremely important

And by anyone I do not mean on the same timeline I am on but by ~65

I guess for most it is not a choice. More necessary than a true life choice.

Arrogant as ever.

I doubt you've lived a hard day in your life, let alone a year or 18 months. Look around the streets of your city, try to count the young down and out people. Many of them may be in the last year of their life too.

Who is spending $10000 a month making their last year enjoyable? Who is doing their frigging hair? What an insufferable latte-lib. Get used to having your head bit off when you talk down.

I would agree with you until Biden came into office. Inflation is on fire. We will never know how bad it will be in next 10 to 20 years. We could be looking at $100K Corolla and $20 for a gallon of milk. It also depends on where you live.

Don't you get capital gains tax on selling a house if you don't put it back into real estate within a year or two?

Maybe other state have different laws, but you wouldn't get $1 mil in CA, each spouse can only take $250k tax-free form a real estate sale.