minimum in bank? $200k or $2M

dragonflyinthesky · May 13, 2013

@freneez2 Uh, yea, I agree with you.  My plan is to wander off before they can find me in an alzheimer state of disrepair and get eaten by a bear.  If you find tacky ripped up clothes and dyed tufts of hair, its me.

CrossCountryGal · May 13, 2013

I'm pretty conservative financially, have a nest egg for emergencies, a bit in retirement, and some pennies rolling around in a CD. I take extended road trips and have a sticks and bricks home base. What I'm finding is life is always more expensive than you expect it to be, I'll never have enough money socked away to be 100% at ease, and that life is for living NOW.  Offroad - you and I have both lost our spouses to earlier than normal deaths and we've learned first hand just how precious life is.  My plan is to continue being conservative while living a frugal life fully and making some great memories.  If I run out of pennies before I die, I'm counting on my kids to feed me a bowl of grits/oatmeal occasionally while they gather round listening to my cool adventures

Zil · May 14, 2013

I do quite well with total retirement income $31,000. Inflation may hurt down the line, but I'm "resourceful". I know young people raising family on less money.

offroad · May 14, 2013

so hovering around an income of $30,000 yearly seems to be okay, as long as you have some medical insurance plan.  (wish I could retire now - but plans are not set yet) Most social security folks can get $15,000 a year at that magic retirement age of around 65 to 70 (it is creeping up  age of retirement folks!!  you allowed that law to pass).  So as of 2013 you could get by with $15,000 added to SS income. retirement and interesting times as a gypsy-tinker-vagabond are possible if you save a little coin folks.

IGBT · May 14, 2013

Yes, you can do it and you don't even need a high priced college degree. $10 an hour should be doable by anyone with decent high school grades. Working 50 hours a week, that is around $500, or $2000 a month.  Take out SS and medicare taxes and you still have about $1850 a month.  I doubt you pay much in federal and state, but call it $100, so you have $1750 a month. share a house or apartment with a few friends = $500 a month.  medical care from age 18 to about 50 is almost nil...especially now with the low income and O-care.  Food = $200 a month.  Ride bike to work (if you have a $10 an hour job, it should be pretty much right next to your living area...look around until you can find something that requires no commute). So housing and food = $700, leaving you with about $1000.  Save a third of that = $333 a month. $333 a month = $4000 a year.  Add another $1000 the government will give you as a savers credit = $5000 a year into a Roth IRA account. Invest the Roth 100% in the stock market and expect about 5% real return per year. (yes it will go up and down, but we are talking over a 40 year period). Running a calculator, at age 58 you will have $652,000 in todays dollars (a 5% real return) in a tax free account. This is all using $10 an hour job, no college education, working from age 18 to age 58.  Most people could probably do a bit better with some effort.

offroad · May 14, 2013

IGBT - thanks for the good discussion. In summary 1)  For those with the means, and the savings there is a solution financially at a low income level and low savings. 2)  For those at the beginning of their careers, you can save enough to take care of yourself. 3)  For those SS only folks, will start a new discussion on that.

IGBT · May 14, 2013

Check out RVsue.  She lives on about $1000 a month, which would be $12,000 a year and fit within your Social Security guidelines. I think I could live on $200 a month as a bare minimum...but it would be a Les Stroud type of existence with a hefty dose of rice and beans.  I think 25 pounds of basmati rice is about $11 at Costco and 25 pounds of dried beans is about the same. When you don't have to pay rent, medical, utilities, etc., things get really cheap (and somewhat uncomfortable, but hey). $200 a month you could get from a $60,000 portfolio and it would last you most likely the rest of your life. Someone could save $60,000 in 15 years without killing themselves.  Delivering pizza would probably get you there.