How much do you need / want, before you retire?

I am not going to GC anytime soon.
Let's not go against the digital tide either.
I'm sure @Sackie has other career tips for you in GC. :>)

 

I'd put up my hand as a volunteer, but sadly I don't think others would appreciate an old, overweight woman traipsing around the gold coast in a bikini.

 

OK poll is on.... who wants to see Big Al in Mankini (raises hand)......

 

I sure do, but this is a family friendly forum!

 

A big BonFIRE is about to happen... even if they are USD

 

Working together improving rental is so much more fun than working by yourself.
[/QUOTE]
Working with your children on the property portfolio is fun . It's just like it was when I first started investing except the numbers are larger.[/QUOTE]
I agree, I think it depends on PERSONAL VALUEs. For some travels are experiences for others teaching one how to fish maybe instead or helping others? Just one example, so to me it comes down to our values what we perceive as fulfilment and living, not what others state.
Sustaining this balance is the key, what balance, for some it may mean different things.
To fill totally fulfilled I think takes mindset, awareness first, then forming certain habits and eventually it's the attitude or all in the mind if one feels fulfilled.
But agree, certain 'good' habits enable better life rather than 'bad' habits. It's not all about financial wealth, hence to me being healthy encompasses many, many, many other aspects.

 

Wow, what an interesting 10 pages. amazing how radically different everybody is. It seems that I'm of more modest requirements than most here. I'm 65 now and won't retire for another 2.5 years ( when Mrs Croc turns 60 ). I actually like working so no problem there. I estimate that we'll have combined super of around $1m and ppor is paid off. Kids are big and self sufficient. I've compiled our spreadsheet based on only drawing 60k in today's money and making full use of the government part pension. It doesn't sound like much to live on but I don't have a lot expenses. Our travel will be mostly in our caravan. Done all the overseas stuff already. I could be wrong but it seems that I don't run out of money until I'm 102. Our house in today's market is around $2.4m and no doubt we'll eventually sell and downsize. After reading this thread I'm a little concerned that 60k indexed might be too small.

 

It’s plenty. You only need enough. Enjoy your retirement.

 

well planned retirement. i haven't got one yet but after speaking to my FP yesterday, I need to get a plan together...

 

Assuming the $60k pa is mostly tax free, it is the equivalent of $75K pa pre-tax. Many live quite well on that amount. Too much reading about the wants/needs of others does tend to raise unnecessary concerns. Work with what you, and you alone, have.

 

I 'retired' aka stopped working for a payslip when I was 36yo but at the time I was living off about 35k net rent a year and living in Thailand where the cost of living is much cheaper. I didn't need 100k to live off. I haven't worked since then and my rental income is now almost triple that but I started early at 19yo with my first property and that's the main reason I was able to retire early. I still have a 30k mortgage on my first property which is now worth 1.3m. I bought, renovated and sold many properties over the years way before The Block was a thing, kept a few and now live off the rental income from them

 

They've now morphed into selling calendars and charge $5 if you want to take a photo of them

 

But you can still live in an average house with an average lifestyle and enjoy it

 

I think it depends on you and your values and how open your discussions are. If kids are adults and you held open discussions throughout years on various topics with them then I see no reason not to talk about financial aspects too.
We always tell our kids that investments we made are for us to spend it if we choose to do so. In slight way informing them they are to make their own journey not just to count on inheritance. I also tell them I plan to live to at least 100 years so what's the point in just waiting.
It's a balancing act, as they need to mature to certain point, but its only a journey and what's the end game? To us its all about family and health first then financial aspects.
All people's financial thermostats differ so that's more of a challenge IMHO.
But I can see many legal cases for some serious inheritances, so perhaps having prior open discussion with all family members may in some way aid this process?

 

Really appreciate your perspective and everyone else that responded. I've been mulling this a lot over the last week while I've been using propchat to occupy me during isolation. I think you're right and it should come down to what one's kids are like rather than my own instincts or beliefs about what is 'right' in theory.

Thanks for getting me through my iso-boredom propchat people!

 

Has anyone considered the concept of CoastFIRE that is once you have enough invested to meet your needs once you hit your retirement date, take on a different perhaps less stressful job? Just to have something to do?

I’m not sure what a less stressful job would be that wouldn’t involve more repetition eg being a barista or whatever. That would probably frustrate me more than a job which is in my field for which I’ve gained expertise and experience to be honest!

 

Sage advice.... too many people wanting 100k..... in most instances sadly this is not realistic.

However.... 50-60k is very very realistic. If you jut owned your own home and had say 550k as super and say 1 IP worth say 700k paid off for a couple...they could retire at 60k.

Not advice and check with the relevant professional on some things you can do:

1. After age 60 retire on July 1 of that year if possible. That means any holidays, etc are taxed potentially lower. You may even be able to put the stuff over 20% tax into super and pay 15% contributions tax as you have immediate access.

2. Following year (61) sell IP as it is tax advantage. If you bought for 330k plus say 20k in entry/exit costs. That means you have 350k tax table. But if you have no income in that year and split between you and your wife....that means $175k taxable. If each of your super is under 500k you can bring back 3 year of super contributions back...so that would give you 82.5k into super at 15% tax instead of 40%. So you would pay about 12k in super and your table income reduces to 92k which you would pay 20k. So about 32k each.

Pumping remaining into super as non-concessional would take your super to about $1m. Simply down down say 60k per year...yes you are eating capital...but also at 67 you will be just eligible for the aged pension...and that will continue to supplement at about 60k per annum. Sure you will have less at 80 but then you won't need as much

Something to thing about....

 

I am doing that now, working in a much simpler job, still don’t love it as it is boring but don’t mind it either as I am transitioning out of the workforce and it seems making slow progress for me.

 

I was going through the process of replacing working income around 15 years ago.
Although I find the terms a bit silly, if you're financially independent, they don't matter.
Maybe it makes them feel better and it's their way of setting milestones.

I would say the idea is to what you like and what you're good at without external pressure and expectations. And I think it's much easier if you're self employed.
And if you're not you can become self employed. Take the part of your job you like and contract out all the rest.

And I also think that FIRE has some minimum numbers for most people, based on location, instead of the "whatever you think" type method they seem to adopt.

 

Overall I agree, but I think that we can forget that a lot of people are in careers that don't easily lead to self-employment or outsourcing eg nursing, teaching. In those situations stepping into a less demanding job, or part time or even casual job before retirement is definitely a sensible option.

I think identifying what you find stressful and eliminating that is probably the biggest improvement to work life happiness