Can I retire yet?

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anonymous said:
Move out of high tax states and better yet no income tax states and you are set.
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That's what we are thinking. I need to figure out a state that isn't too hot or cold and isn't too costly to live in. We are going to retire in a few years, We have no debt and no mortgage. We've saved since we started working and are wanting to live well and not have to scrimp on extras. I don't want to eat at the $5 cafeteria.
 






anonymous said:
That's what we are thinking. I need to figure out a state that isn't too hot or cold and isn't too costly to live in. We are going to retire in a few years, We have no debt and no mortgage. We've saved since we started working and are wanting to live well and not have to scrimp on extras. I don't want to eat at the $5 cafeteria.
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Starkville, Mississippi is really nice. Checks all the boxes Bob.
 






























Just google a map of high tax states— avoid those.
Determine what you like and dislike in a climate. Black Hills of SD are gorgeous. Mountains of E Tenn are beautiful. Maybe you like the dry heat and mountains in NM and AZ.
The east coast cities have lots to do but I can go visit whenever I want, no way I would want to live there. Cali is just horrible. Beautiful geographically but a real political mess and way to expensive.
Maybe you should just keep working until 80 so you can make 4 million dollar guy happy.
 






anonymous said:
Just google a map of high tax states— avoid those.
Determine what you like and dislike in a climate. Black Hills of SD are gorgeous. Mountains of E Tenn are beautiful. Maybe you like the dry heat and mountains in NM and AZ.
The east coast cities have lots to do but I can go visit whenever I want, no way I would want to live there. Cali is just horrible. Beautiful geographically but a real political mess and way to expensive.
Maybe you should just keep working until 80 so you can make 4 million dollar guy happy.
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Yes California is disgusting! Retired now from pharma but visit there often. Homeless everywhere! Could fill football stadiums full of down & out unfortunate situations because of California way of life and taxation. Legalized marijuana is definitely going to be another huge problem in a very short time and honestly it is already. It’s a damn shame the place is so beautiful but wouldn’t want to live there for reasons mentioned.
 






anonymous said:
Just google a map of high tax states— avoid those.
Determine what you like and dislike in a climate. Black Hills of SD are gorgeous. Mountains of E Tenn are beautiful. Maybe you like the dry heat and mountains in NM and AZ.
The east coast cities have lots to do but I can go visit whenever I want, no way I would want to live there. Cali is just horrible. Beautiful geographically but a real political mess and way to expensive.
Maybe you should just keep working until 80 so you can make 4 million dollar guy happy.
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Last line is seriously funny!

Living in a lower cost area really is a significant part of the equation. Choose correctly, and you can still be close to decent health care, airports, leisure hot spots, and culture....while you have more disposable income due to tax savings. We love to visit NYC and San Fran, but retiring would be tough to swing unless you've got $4/5 Million boy's money tucked away. Elsewhere though, very doable on less. Friends of ours retired 4 years ago at age 55 to inland NC and love it. He was a 30 year pharm rep and his wife worked on and off full time/part time. One grown daughter. They didn't have $5M saved, and have no worries. His pension is small, worked for a company that froze them years ago. But they saved. Then again, they never lived in $4/5 Million boy's type of McMansion either-always kept it modest and lived within their means, so there's that.....
 






anonymous said:
Just google a map of high tax states— avoid those.
Determine what you like and dislike in a climate. Black Hills of SD are gorgeous. Mountains of E Tenn are beautiful. Maybe you like the dry heat and mountains in NM and AZ.
The east coast cities have lots to do but I can go visit whenever I want, no way I would want to live there. Cali is just horrible. Beautiful geographically but a real political mess and way to expensive.
Maybe you should just keep working until 80 so you can make 4 million dollar guy happy.
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Thanks. I will keep looking. I don't know if I can stand AZ heat during the 4 months of summer. But, the dry heat interests me and of course, the winters, interest me. I'm also not sure I can deal with no fall. midwest has beautiful falls. Thanks for your input. I think NM may be too rural for me and far away. Cali is awesome, but one has to be loaded to live in S. Cali.
 






anonymous said:
Thanks. I will keep looking. I don't know if I can stand AZ heat during the 4 months of summer. But, the dry heat interests me and of course, the winters, interest me. I'm also not sure I can deal with no fall. midwest has beautiful falls. Thanks for your input. I think NM may be too rural for me and far away. Cali is awesome, but one has to be loaded to live in S. Cali.
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As someone else mentioned above, check out E Tenn. anywhere from Tri-Cities to Chattanooga. Beautiful mountains, not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter. No state income tax. Maryville outside of Knoxville is very popular for retirees, 10 minutes to the national park, 10 minutes to airport, small college town with university nearby and plenty of shopping within an hour drive.
 






anonymous said:
As someone else mentioned above, check out E Tenn. anywhere from Tri-Cities to Chattanooga. Beautiful mountains, not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter. No state income tax. Maryville outside of Knoxville is very popular for retirees, 10 minutes to the national park, 10 minutes to airport, small college town with university nearby and plenty of shopping within an hour drive.
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I’m married to a minority. Would it be ok to live in that area?
 






Lots of misinformation about retirement finances
Like most other things, follow the advisors motivation, usually money, then consider their advise.
They want you to have 4 million become they snatch a % of that off the top then get backdoor commissions on their investment choices. The more you have, the more they make. Of course they want you to have 4 million, hell make it 5.
Nobody can tell you how much you need. It’s rather simple however, consider how much you spend.
If you are going to retire then payoff your debt to lower your requirements. The less you need provides lower monthly requirements which in turn lower your tax burden. If possible, leave high tax states as people have been doing for many years. Consider what you want to do and what that will cost.

I know lots of retired folks who live very comfortably on SS and a few 100K. Most retirees are old enough to see the folly in keeping up with the Jones’s.
 












The problem with recommending one amount of money for everyone as a minimum to retire is that it doesn’t account for their individual needs. That’s not helpful and it might actually discourage some people from saving at all because they feel hopeless.

The reality is that lifestyle expectations in retirement and expenses are much more important when calculating your nest egg requirements. Minimizing debt should be anyone’s first priority. Then it comes down to where you want to live, what you want to do, and factor in a reasonable estimation on how long you expect to live.

From there you can figure out a reasonable amount needed each month to meet your personal retirement lifestyle. You can factor in any potential sources of retirement income such as SS or pensions and calculate any shortfall you’ll need to make up out of savings.

People can retire on what seems like trivial amounts of savings if they are frugal and live within their means. Plus, if a person spends their life being responsible with money and putting a little away for their golden years there’s nothing to suggest they will suddenly become irresponsible spenders in their retirement. This means they will make it work with their savings just as they made it work during their working careerswith their salaries.

The big concerns I would have is healthcare costs if I wanted to retire before becoming eligible for a Medicare and the potential long term care costs later in life. You can mitigate the risk of the later with LTC insurance and the former by budgeting more per month for your healthcare expenses until you reach 65.

My advice: think long and hard about what your personal expectations are regarding the lifestyle you want in retirement. Then plan accordingly and don’t worry about any anonymous forum poster throwing out random dollar amounts without knowing anything about you.
 






anonymous said:
As someone else mentioned above, check out E Tenn. anywhere from Tri-Cities to Chattanooga. Beautiful mountains, not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter. No state income tax. Maryville outside of Knoxville is very popular for retirees, 10 minutes to the national park, 10 minutes to airport, small college town with university nearby and plenty of shopping within an hour drive.
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Thanks--great points. A good friend of mine lives in Johnson City and loves it. I do think it's quite humid there though.

What about Asheville, NC? Anyone wanting to move there? I'll look into Knoxville. I definitely don't want a lot of snow or humidity--I'd love So. Cal, but we wouldn't be able to afford that area coming from the Midwest.
 






anonymous said:
Thanks--great points. A good friend of mine lives in Johnson City and loves it. I do think it's quite humid there though.

What about Asheville, NC? Anyone wanting to move there? I'll look into Knoxville. I definitely don't want a lot of snow or humidity--I'd love So. Cal, but we wouldn't be able to afford that area coming from the Midwest.
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If you are eclectically oriented and enjoy beers Asheville is your choice. The Friday evening drum gathering is fun.
 






anonymous said:
The problem with recommending one amount of money for everyone as a minimum to retire is that it doesn’t account for their individual needs. That’s not helpful and it might actually discourage some people from saving at all because they feel hopeless.

The reality is that lifestyle expectations in retirement and expenses are much more important when calculating your nest egg requirements. Minimizing debt should be anyone’s first priority. Then it comes down to where you want to live, what you want to do, and factor in a reasonable estimation on how long you expect to live.

From there you can figure out a reasonable amount needed each month to meet your personal retirement lifestyle. You can factor in any potential sources of retirement income such as SS or pensions and calculate any shortfall you’ll need to make up out of savings.

People can retire on what seems like trivial amounts of savings if they are frugal and live within their means. Plus, if a person spends their life being responsible with money and putting a little away for their golden years there’s nothing to suggest they will suddenly become irresponsible spenders in their retirement. This means they will make it work with their savings just as they made it work during their working careerswith their salaries.

The big concerns I would have is healthcare costs if I wanted to retire before becoming eligible for a Medicare and the potential long term care costs later in life. You can mitigate the risk of the later with LTC insurance and the former by budgeting more per month for your healthcare expenses until you reach 65.

My advice: think long and hard about what your personal expectations are regarding the lifestyle you want in retirement. Then plan accordingly and don’t worry about any anonymous forum poster throwing out random dollar amounts without knowing anything about you.
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Man, you need to relax and understand you are going to be dead someday.
 






anonymous said:
The problem with recommending one amount of money for everyone as a minimum to retire is that it doesn’t account for their individual needs. That’s not helpful and it might actually discourage some people from saving at all because they feel hopeless.

The reality is that lifestyle expectations in retirement and expenses are much more important when calculating your nest egg requirements. Minimizing debt should be anyone’s first priority. Then it comes down to where you want to live, what you want to do, and factor in a reasonable estimation on how long you expect to live.

From there you can figure out a reasonable amount needed each month to meet your personal retirement lifestyle. You can factor in any potential sources of retirement income such as SS or pensions and calculate any shortfall you’ll need to make up out of savings.

People can retire on what seems like trivial amounts of savings if they are frugal and live within their means. Plus, if a person spends their life being responsible with money and putting a little away for their golden years there’s nothing to suggest they will suddenly become irresponsible spenders in their retirement. This means they will make it work with their savings just as they made it work during their working careerswith their salaries.

The big concerns I would have is healthcare costs if I wanted to retire before becoming eligible for a Medicare and the potential long term care costs later in life. You can mitigate the risk of the later with LTC insurance and the former by budgeting more per month for your healthcare expenses until you reach 65.

My advice: think long and hard about what your personal expectations are regarding the lifestyle you want in retirement. Then plan accordingly and don’t worry about any anonymous forum poster throwing out random dollar amounts without knowing anything about you.
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Blah blah blah. 3M minimum. 5M to be worryfree chap.
 






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