Retirement income projections

[ExtraSlow]

I'm sure this will turn into a cock-off pretty quickly, but I thought I'd get some opinions.

For a married couple (who intend to stay married), what kind of monthly income in todays dollars would you be planning for in retirement?

Based on the pattern I've seen from some retired family members, there's a short period of active travel, but then a much longer period of relatively low expenditures. I guess you need to average that out somehow.

For a data point, my financial advisor told me to target around $10k/mo for the two of us. Seems like a hell of a lot of money for two people that won't be paying much for taxes, and won't have much for expenditures on mortgage, kids etc. Now clearly, financial advisors are motivated to get you to save more, so you can purchase more investments from them. I get how that game works.

So, finance wizards of beyond, what does a married couple require in retirement for monthly income?

[Disoblige]

ExtraSlow builds 99.8% of the cock-off rube goldberg. Now he sits and watches.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Personally I think I’d be pretty happy with $5k but I have a feeling my future wife will have other feelings...

[vengie]

Financial Advisors want you to save more so you have a more comfortable retirement. Does that in turn mean you’ll buy more investments and they make money? Probably.

You have a very flawed view or are working with a shitty financial advisor if you don’t think they have YOUR best interest in mind.

Now to answer your question, my wife and I are also targeting $10k/ month and a down sized/ paid off property

[A790]

$10k/mo net with paid off properties.

And you need a new financial advisor if you don't feel aligned with yours. Look into a fee-based advisor vs. one compensated based on the investments you buy. You wind up paying the same (ish), only in one case the fees are very obvious and in the other they are buried.

[sabad66]

With a paid off home, I think a couple could live very comfortably with $5000/month for both in today's dollars. To me that means a new and reliable car, good food, going out for dinner a few times a week, a couple of hobbies, and enough to save for 1 or 2 vacations per year, and enough for home maintenance.

$10k/month seems way too high unless they are thinking "tomorrow dollars"?

[The_Rural_Juror]

Finance is all about analyzing the options, and your financial advisor has totally dropped the balls by not looking at the cost for an un-married couple and putting your kids to work early. You need a new advisor.

[pheoxs]

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With a paid off home, I think a couple could live very comfortably with $5000/month for both in today's dollars. To me that means a new and reliable car, good food, going out for dinner a few times a week, a couple of hobbies, and enough to save for 1 or 2 vacations per year, and enough for home maintenance.

$10k/month seems way too high unless they are thinking "tomorrow dollars"?

Yeah, 5k/month net indexed with inflation should be a lot for a couple with a paid off home. Realistically you can probably share a car since neither of you are working, put a grand or two a month aside for vacations and you have a nice egg to live comfortably off of.

Now if your retirement expectation is to buy an RV and travel 8 months the year .... thats going to be different.

[ExtraSlow]

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ExtraSlow builds 99.8% of the cock-off rube goldberg. Now he sits and watches.

Accurate

[BavarianBeast]

The sad part is anyone outside of Quebec can call themselves a financial advisor/planner and most of them suck.

It should be relatively easy to map your retirement expenses out accurately by the time your 40. Even more so with the help of somebody with a financial background.

[vengie]

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With a paid off home, I think a couple could live very comfortably with $5000/month for both in today's dollars. To me that means a new and reliable car, good food, going out for dinner a few times a week, a couple of hobbies, and enough to save for 1 or 2 vacations per year, and enough for home maintenance.

$10k/month seems way too high unless they are thinking "tomorrow dollars"?

Depending on your age you need to plan for “tomorrow dollars”, this is the number one mistake a lot of people make only to end up reaching retirement with significantly less buying power than planned.

I won’t be retiring for at least 20 years, so yes $10k tomorrow dollars

[Buster]

The purchasing power of currency is going to fluctuate dramatically over your time horizon, so it's hard to predict in total terms. We look like we might be entering a period (could be long) of deflation.

However, I think in general, people over-estimate their monthly expense requirements, but under-estimate their longevity risk.

[taemo]

calculate your monthly expenses minus mortgage and that should tell you roughly how much you will need

we could live comfortably starting from 2000$ net monthly for the both of us.

[ExtraSlow]

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calculate your monthly expenses minus mortgage and that should tell you roughly how much you will need

we could live comfortably starting from 2000$ net monthly for the both of us.

This approach for sure leads to a lower number. I spend a shitton on kids too right now. They'd better be self sufficient by the time I retire!

[Tik-Tok]

$5k is what we're aiming for. However any serious medical condition is going to greatly diminish what we'll actually be able to do with that income.

Drugs and medical supplies aren't cheap when you no longer have a job that has medical benefits, and seeing as how most of Beyond wants to gut our socialized medicine, I predict it's going to get exponentially more expensive in 20 years.

[BavarianBeast]

All the people saying $10k/mo realize how much they need in investments to pull that, right?

Are you talking income or expenses?

[ExtraSlow]

Private medical insurance should probably be a part of your monthly plan.

I am also assuming I will not be accumulating any additional properties once I retire.

[Tik-Tok]

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Private medical insurance should probably be a part of your monthly plan.

I am also assuming I will not be accumulating any additional properties once I retire.

I'm quite cynical though, and imagine a medical plan will be virtually useless in two decades, like US health care. No previously known conditions, insurance doing everything possible to not pay-out, etc etc.

[killramos]

0. Gonna make sure I am a ward of the state. It’s the only way I ever get back all the taxes I have paid.

[vengie]

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All the people saying $10k/mo realize how much they need in investments to pull that, right?

Yes