OT TV commercial

There's tv commercial that shows people with various length streamers going from a central point like a big bull's eye estimating how much money they'll need when they retire. The commercial says you need to plan for the amount you'll need. How can you plan "what you'll need"? We have friends just over 70, this winter he discovered he had prostate cancer, got radiation treatments, cost $60-to $70k (mostly covered by insurance). Now a week or so ago he had a heart attack. More expenses with time in the hospital. And, his wife is on expensive prescriptions, one of them is $800 a month-- and their insurance co. just notified them that prescription coverage is cancelled. How would anyone know how much they'll need?

Plan to save way more than you need; "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

I hear that kind of stuff all the time. The only thing I ever plan is 'to not have a plan', and get through whatever happens the best way I know how. It's worked so far, just hope I can continue my streak.....LOL Seriously given the way the economy is now, the way our elected officials keep changing the retirement age, along with a million other variables that we won't know about until they hit us up side the head, the commercial has an idea that might be good in theory, but nearly, if not impossible to do in real life.

Yeah, these guys say (while keeping a straight face) that you need 2 million bucks to retire. Really? How about the 50% of folks who have substantially less than $2 million- namely, NOTHING except Social Security? Are they just supposed to do the only decent thing and die?

You just do the best you can, with what you got. Many won't be wintering in the south of France, but wintering in the north of Dakota is nearly as much fun, "nearly" being a relative term.

And then there's the guys who write to the Sunday paper columnist, "Ask Dweezil about Retirement" with such cutting edge problems as: "I have $2 million in my 401K, and don't need to draw any of it. But when I turn 70 1/2, I have to start drawing it, and the required withdrawal amount will be so high that it will make all of my Social Security taxable. What can I do?" (actual letter in last Sunday's paper). My answer would be, "Maybe you could just shut up. Why don't you do the honorable thing and just never draw Social Security at all? If you don't draw it, its not taxable. You don't need it, and the country is going broke. And you're complaining because its taxed? You'd b!tch if you were hung with a new rope!"

I have a wealthy friend who did just that- never even applied. And noted billionaire Warren Buffet, when asked how much a month he got, just smiled and said something to the effect that millions of Americans need SS, but luckily, he didn't, and had never even looked into it, much less applied for it.

I like your thinking...

Financial planners often say that the time to start saving for retirement is when you get your first paycheck; or if you are self employed, that you pay yourself first from any income before you pay anyone else. If you do as recommended, you might have enough saved to retire when you get to retirement age.

Of course, that means giving up on lots of things that people like to spend money on - even though those things are not necessary to live.

It's your choice, but don't complain if you don't make the right choices.

I have a buddy that got a heart transplant at age 50. He's now 75. His anti rejection meds and other meds that help keep him alive cost over $2400 a month. Insurance doesn't cover those meds. How do you plan for something like that?

I live in IL where unemployment and under employment are huge problems. Many, MANY folks are struggling to survive. Forget about planning for retirement.

(quoted from post at 15:37:33 05/06/14) Plan to save way more than you need; "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

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I think that the rule of thumb is 1.33 times way more than you think that you will need.

It is not unrealistic for a couple in their twenties to save 2 million in an IRA/401k by the time they retire. And they're going to need it. On the other hand, if you're over forty and have less than $100K socked away you'd better not plan on retiring.

It's really not difficult to come up with a number. You know what it costs you annually to live today. Cut that number in half, making the assumption that your mortgage will be paid off and you won't be spending as much in retirement as you do now. Then multiply that number times twenty, since you can't expect to draw more than five percent annually without eating into the principal. (In other words, take your annual income less what you're putting into retirement and multiply that times ten.) Now that number is pretty much a minimum if you want to retire in your early sixties. If you don't think you can sock that much money away by the date you want to retire, then you need to adjust your expectations for when and how you'll retire.

Unanticipated medical expenses aren't the biggest unknown for retirement. Medicare covers most of those expenses, and if you get really sick there's a good chance your retirement will come to an abrupt end. Two much bigger unknowns are how long you will live and when you will start your retirement. These days, if you make it to sixty you stand a pretty good chance of making it to ninety. But early retirement is a much more serious concern: a lot of folks have had to "retire" in their fifties because they became disabled or lost their jobs and found themselves unemployable.

Retirement planning is simple if you start early. If you are over 25 and don't already have an IRA or 401k, you've already waited too long. Start now.

RETIRE??? What"s that??? Is that when you"re supposed to lay down and die???

(quoted from post at 16:19:18 05/06/14)
I have a wealthy friend who did just that- never even applied. And noted billionaire Warren Buffet, when asked how much a month he got, just smiled and said something to the effect that millions of Americans need SS, but luckily, he didn't, and had never even looked into it, much less applied for it.

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Yeah, but old Warren also thinks the rest of us need to pay more taxes.