Study: Retirement at 65 no longer realistic for many

I always figure that there's always got to be somebody making it on less than you are, so you live like that guy and save the difference.

I always figure that, but I don't actually follow up on it. My retirement plan is to have a lot of kids and assume one will take care of me.

 

This. Retirement at 65 became unrealistic the day I declared my major.

 

Maybe it's just something in people's DNA.

A health-conscious person can refuse all kinds of tasty foods because he wants to eat healthy. And he likely feels a little satisfaction hours after refusing the cake or pie or whatever, congratulating himself on his self-discipline because "I really didn't need it."

But that same person may not be able to resist exhausting his paycheck every week, convincing himself that he "needs" something that he could easily do without.

Vacations to Europe $200 concerts and iPads and $150/month smartphone data charges are basically the 1,000-calorie milkshake that some people cannot resist.

 

Some people also want to have life experiences greater than eating beans for dinner every night while their bank account grows, untouched.

It's a balance, I know, but sometimes you need a little fun and release in your life. At least in my experience, anyone I know who is really tight with money seems like a miserable, selfish asshole.

 

If you are a miserable, selfish asshole, you are out of balance.

If you have no idea how you are going to retire or pay for any large, unexpected expenses, then you are also out of balance.

 

If I live that long, I honestly feel like I can retire before 65.

I do the 401K thing, plus have two IRAs. Our stock portfolio is in pretty good shape (thanks 100% to my wife and not me - she lives for it, knowing almost hour to hour what the stock market is doing). Not only that, we live well under our means, not above it.

And honestly, that's not even a conscious decision to do so. We're just easy to entertain! We might see two movies at the theater in a calendar year. We don't have Playstations or Wiis, buy a lot of CDs, aren't clothes horses, etc. A good summer evening is just sitting on the porch drinking beer. If I didn't drink so much, I could put that money away and retire at 55. We do have a big-ass TV and HD cable. We rarely go out to eat because I like to cook. For example, I fixed a pork shoulder, beans, chips, buns and slaw on Saturday for under $20. That fed five people we had over, plus I have about three days worth of leftovers for us. We always take a nice week-long beach vacation, but that's kind of skewed because my wife's sister owns a beach house. It costs us gas and groceries for what it would cost someone else easily a grand.

Plus, the real kicker is I plan to get the bulk of my retirement the old fashioned way: inherit it. I am an only child and will inherit a 45-acre family farm that has two houses on it (mine, my folks - both of which are long since paid for). We don't have any children, so I have no one to leave that to, and I plan on the last check I write bouncing.

 

You need more experience.

My father is very careful about finances. Growing up in the Depression will do that to you. It's from him where I learned never to pay a penny of credit card interest --- nothing he ever said, mind you, just the feeling from being around him that paying 23% interest for anything is, well, stupid.

But he is the most generous person (in time as well as money) you'd ever hope to meet. If he's "selfish", it's to himself (if that's even possible). The only time he shows interest in something he sees advertised is when he asks us, "Would YOU like to have that?"

 

I said "really tight," not "wise with a good sense of value."

 

Of course this maxim doesn't apply to upper-level executives, who keep right on raking in the cash while those darn public employees and teachers earning $50k keep destroying the country..

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/average-executive-pay-soars-to-1-7-million-1536412.html

 

The other major expense you won't have in retirement: saving for retirement. Why doesn't anyone ever account for that?

 

Oops. Good point.

Right now my "expenses" fall into the following percentages:

Mortgage: 18% of gross income
401(k): 10%
Health insurance: 5%
Homeowners insurance: 4%

Having the three biggest expenses come off the books should make retirement much easier.

 

Conversely, some expenses will go up. You'll probably have higher unreimbursed medical/dental/vision expenses.

If you're interested and can afford it, you may travel more or play more golf.

On a smaller scale, all the retired people I know eat out more often. Women in my and my husband's families who were fabulous cooks now consider the kitchen to be the place where they pour their morning coffee.