How much should I have saved by 50?

Keep saving up for Joe’s 4 trillion dollar infrastructure plan

enough is enough wrote:

I’ve got a couple of years left in my 40s, and I’m wondering how I’m doing compared to the letsrun community at large. I’ve got a million in various retirement accounts, maybe $300k liquid, about $500k in home equity. Am I about where I should be or way behind for the forum?

Not near 50, but I was also under the impression you should have enough saved so if you had the rug pulled out from under you in your 50s (ageism, making too much money in your employer's eyes, whatever), you could retire early if necessary.

I have about the same amount of assets as you/net worth but I'm a lot younger. It dont matter. Let me ask you this, can you take the money with you when you die? No. Why are you so obsessed with "retirment savings?" Are you a sheep? Are you waiting until you retire until you give yourself permission to enjoy life? Tomorrow ain't guaranteed, buddy.

Don't worry about it, you're fine, and you've got enough time.

Not meaning to be dismissive, there's just too many variables, too much you haven't disclosed, and you are clearly in the ballpark, so appreciate that it is a Friday afternoon, and time is one thing you can't get back...

Will you be able to spend all you have?

That’s the goal. That’s what money is for.

Maybe you will get lucky and have major medical issues that will take it all.

X-Runner wrote:

Will you be able to spend all you have?

That’s the goal. That’s what money is for.

Maybe you will get lucky and have major medical issues that will take it all.

Yeah I know it is good to leave a little bit for others when you die, but I really have a hard time understanding why people pinch pennies when they're old but still have a bunch of money sitting in the bank. You cant take it with you when you die and you've earned it. Is it an ego thing or self worth related thing to have a bunch of money to pass along when you pass? Makes no sense why a lot of people aim to do this.

STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^ wrote:

I have about the same amount of assets as you/net worth but I'm a lot younger. It dont matter. Let me ask you this, can you take the money with you when you die? No. Why are you so obsessed with "retirment savings?" Are you a sheep? Are you waiting until you retire until you give yourself permission to enjoy life? Tomorrow ain't guaranteed, buddy.

Saving some is good.

But you have to do stuff when you are young. I never understood that thinking to save for retirement and start doing stuff then. If you haven't done it earlier you won't start when you are retired.

Hey backpacker, where do you sleep when you are backpack traveling? Hotels? AirbNb? Pitch a tent? Sleep on the street? I was thinking of taking a month off work to travel. Wonder how backpackers did it.

I would disregard pretty much all advise on this site. A general rule of thumb is anyone who tells you how much money they have/ make really only has about 10% of that.

Just live your life and save what you can. If you are super worried about it consider a career change.

STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^ wrote:

Hey backpacker, where do you sleep when you are backpack traveling? Hotels? AirbNb? Pitch a tent? Sleep on the street? I was thinking of taking a month off work to travel. Wonder how backpackers did it.

I always traveled in Asia and Africa with public transport and cheap hotels. The same in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia. Africa is a little more expensive for public transport and the hotels were not great for the price. Public transport is heaven in Mexico and lodging is cheap in Asia. I always went for the $5-10 places where the locals go. That's a fun way to travel and you learn a lot about another country.

Just grab a Lonely Planet of the country of your choice and go.

If you are in the US and haven't been anywhere I would start with Mexico. Great place to explore by public buses.

You are ahead of 90% of the posters. I had about 3 times as much as you at age 50 and was able to retire but I realize that normal people are unwilling to make daily sacrifices. One of the Brojos even asked how it was possible to have saved so much on my income.

Rich dude wrote:

You are ahead of 90% of the posters. I had about 3 times as much as you at age 50 and was able to retire but I realize that normal people are unwilling to make daily sacrifices. One of the Brojos even asked how it was possible to have saved so much on my income.

Well, because they are dodging white cops which takes away precious time to invest. Please be more empathetic.

At least 5 bit coins so you can travel to Iran, Russia, Cuba, and China.

This is Fidelity basic recommendation to retire and live with same lifestyle- Aim to have saved at least 1x (times) your income at 30, 3x at 40, 7x at 55, and 10x at 67

In 20 or 30 years time, there's a good chance that medical science will have advanced to the point that you could live indefinitely, and at least some aspects of aging will have been reversed.

People are zombies, so they can't comprehend this. They will come out with some bull about aging being natural, it will cause overpopulation etc etc, even though any sane person knows that when these advances come about they will literally kill to have another decade on the planet in good health, let alone an extra 1,000 years.

Anyway, point is - save all you can, because at 50, you're either the last generation in history to die, or the first generation in history to live to be 1000. Those few extra bucks in the bank might make the difference. You can thank me later. Like in the year 3,000.

curiousYank wrote:

This is Fidelity basic recommendation to retire and live with same lifestyle- Aim to have saved at least 1x (times) your income at 30, 3x at 40, 7x at 55, and 10x at 67

I was able to game this system by cutting back to 10 hours/week of work last year. Now I'm at 20x.

I had about 30x my income saved at age 50. Those numbers are not nearly enough if there is a market crash.

Rich dude wrote:

I had about 30x my income saved at age 50. Those numbers are not nearly enough if there is a market crash.

Nothing is enough if you lose most of it, but the idea is simple: If you are living comfortably on your current income and want to retire at 67, then you can maintain that lifestyle forever once you have saved 20x, with about a 4% return above inflation. That's not a difficult return to get without taking on a lot of risk.

I am a year or two older than you, probably. I have half what you do in the retirement accounts, a bit more in the liquid column, a bit less in home equity. I'm planning to retire at 55, but I also have a pension coming that will pay me about 50k per year before touching anything else I have saved.