What's a practical amount of money you need to retire for 25 years?

[Yavin4]

Not what the "financial retirement industry" says, I want a practical, realistic number. Most Americans are not going to have $1 million nor even $500,000. So, what's the most realistic number?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Hard to ballpark, because there are so many variables.

Do you own your home? Are you renting? What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? What sort of health insurance options do you have? Are you drawing a pension? What is your life expectancy? What happens if you outlive it by five years, or 10? Do you want to leave an inheritance, or spend it all?

[Yavin4]

5. Don't own a home, but I have substantial savings in a 401K, regular savings, and investments

I live in NYC, but I don't plan on retiring here. NYC is a young person's city, not for old people. Don't want to leave an inheritance.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. That's going to depend on a lot of things - where you live,

whether you have dependents, a spouse, or health problems. Do you have a lot of debt? Is your mortgage paid off? Are you making car payments? How much will you get from Social Security? I don't think there's a single number that applies to everybody.

[Raven]

3. Try this website:

https://financialmentor.com/calculator/best-retirement-calculator

[PJMcK]

4. What are your monthly living costs?

Multiply by 12 and then by 25.

Also, do you have health insurance?

At one point in my life, I was considering dropping out and gong sailing. If you own your boat, it's a relatively inexpensive way to see the world. At that time (mid-1980s), I calculated that I would need about $1,000 per month for food, repairs, entertainment and fees. From what I've read in the sailing press, today would be about $1,500.

Of course, it all depends on your lifestyle.

[phylny]

11. Our financial advisor also had us add a 3% increase yearly for inflation.

Your biggest expenses will be healthcare as you age.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Also - your living expenses might change after you retire,

depending on what your job was. Maybe you will no longer have the expense of commuting, buying lunch, a work wardrobe, etc. Or you might want to move to another (cheaper?) location.

[wasupaloopa]

7. Make a monthly budget.

List amounts for fixed payments like Mortgage, utilities, consumer debt, credit card debt car payments, TV WiFi. These are things you have contracted to pay every month. Use your current payment amounts.

Then list what you pay for food, shopping, entertainment, hobbies etc. these are variable payments. Things you buy or not buy. Use your current average for each.

Be realistic. How much monthly income do you need to pay for the above?

Decide if you are going to live at the same standard of living or not. How much can you save along with your spending?

You can answer your own question with a little homework.

[llmart]

8. Are you asking for yourself?

Or just in general?

If for yourself, are you single? Will you have other retirement income besides Social Security? Without a few more specifics it's difficult to answer you.

[Yavin4]

9. I'm asking in general.

Not just me.

[llmart]

10. OK

I don't think anyone can give an answer to that in general because everyone's circumstances are different. If someone's married, then there will more than likely be two Social Security checks each month and maybe even two pension checks and two IRA's. They share a house (presumably) and the accompanying bills, so yes, two can live more cheaply than one.

Decades ago the rule of thumb was that everyone should shoot for having $1 million in their retirement accounts. Believe it or not, $1 million dollars for 25 years of your life really isn't that much money. If you spend $40,000 per year x 25 years you've spent your $1 million. $40,000 per year even for a single person is about average and that's assuming you own your home. Yes, I realize they factor in a percentage of "growth" on that $1 million, but that percentage is the uncertainty.

[Garrett78]

12. $500,000 over 25 years is just $1667 per month.

I don't know about you, but my wife and I have monthly expenses that far exceed that amount.

[Kaleva]

13. I don't want for anything on $1158 a month SSDI so basic SS would be enough.