So, last night I finished reading Chatzky's "Ten Commandments of Financial Happiness" -- skipping a lot of it because of things that didn't apply to my life. What really got to me was the section on retirement savings. The gist of it is, she recommends saving much more than I am capable of saving. At this point in my life, with only five years of working life left, I would need to save $1140 a month to meet a post-retirement standard of 70% of my current income. I can occasionally save around $700, but that's my highest level, and it's only on the months where nothing is happening. I only bring home $2472 a month, so I can't logically save more than a thousand.
I know I've made a lot of mistakes that brought me to this point, but it's too late to rectify them now. I can only continue to do my best and not get depressed about it. Good to have the wake-up call so I don't get complacent.
I will start getting a retirement benefit at work soon -- any time now, as my two-year anniversary is May 17 -- so that will help a little.
Scary.
Retirement blues
May 7th, 2011 at 01:47 pm
May 7th, 2011 at 02:42 pm 1304779335
May 7th, 2011 at 04:26 pm 1304785573
May 7th, 2011 at 04:46 pm 1304786795
Have you considered the fact that $2472 less $700 is $1772, so if you had $1772 of monthly income, that is 100% of what you spend now? Your SS benefits are most likely at least half of that, if not more. If your savings are insufficient to generate the rest, there are alternatives you could consider. Part time work, a roommate, you might even consider buying your next home with a reverse mortgage. (You would put about half down, take a reverse mortgage for the other half. No monthly payments and you retain the rest of your cash.)
May 7th, 2011 at 07:23 pm 1304796209
May 7th, 2011 at 07:56 pm 1304798191
May 7th, 2011 at 10:39 pm 1304807954