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Is it me or is it crazy that I'll need millions to retire comfortably?

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  • JaredS
    2021-03-26 02:02:44 PM
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    My grandpa is 95 years old, supported three kids on a union salary from the local utility company while my grandma had the harder job raising three boys, retired over 30 years ago, and he and my grandma have lived on his pension and Social Security since then. They certainly aren't millionaires, but they have never been wanting for money, either.

    Fast forward to today, I'm in my mid-late 30's, married to a woman who makes more than me, save diligently, spend wisely, have no children, and yet we are going to need to save exponentially more than my grandpa ever had to if we want to retire at the age he did.

    What went wrong in such a short period of time? I would suggest the main culprit is the abolition of the pension in favor of 401k's, which effectively transferred the responsibility of saving for retirement from the company to the worker. What do you think?

  • J.K.Logic
    2021-03-26 03:26:02 PM
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    Still hard for me to wrap my head around a million dollars not really being that much money anymore. That article suggests $1.9 mil to retire comfortably. Even on the low end $1.2 mil.. there's just little chance most of us getting anywhere close to that without prudent and dare say lucky investing over a long period of time. Which is not very realistic with so many of us living paycheck to paycheck.

    With rising inflation that number will likely be much much higher too. So with social security, a 401k and some savings its no wonder why more and more seniors are still finding themselves never really able to fully retire, even when they do most everything by the book. Always working part time jobs at the very least to make it all work.

    I've gotten to the age where I don't think savings alone will cut it. Think its best to invest intelligently and hope for the best.

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