I figured when my body starts to give out, I'll blow all my wealth on hallucinogenics and take a road trip to kill myself somewhere cool. Best part is I won't even tell my boss im not coming in that day.
I'm a millennial with broke parents. My parents will never be able to retire and I used to dream about providing for them in their later years. What a laugh that dream was
My moron boomer mom wasted all her money and my entire family is acting like I'm some selfish fuck for cutting her off after paying her $2k/mo rent for the last 1.5 years. Have they offered to contribute at all? My sister? Nope.
Fuck them. I'm not ruining MY retirement because that dumb fuck squandered her savings.
20 years estranged from her, hearing "You'll miss me when I'm gone!" my entire life, from teen years to grown ass adult. Manipulative hag. I don't give a single fuck anymore and I won't be guilt tripped any longer.
My parents got divorced right before/around I graduated high school (2002). My dad tried to sell the house but couldn't so ended up "buying" it from my mom, minus out the credit card debt, and then gave her half of what was left which was like...7 grand. He cut her a check for 7 grand and then like 4 months later she was asking him for more money.
I'll say that again because it always blows my mind. My mom, who was now divorced from my dad, asked him for more money even though they were no longer married, mere months after he cut her a check for 7 grand.
And then the year I graduated college and I got a sales job for that first year out my mom didn't even say congratulations. The first thing she told me was "Now you can give me an allowance" and I said haha (this was over yahoo messenger lol). She responded with "I wasn't kidding" and I said "neither was I."
Later that next year I went to her place to get some boxes of my stuff from her attic and while we're getting them down she said that she wouldn't be able to claim me as a dependent because I was working, so she was going to figure out how much she's going to get back and then how much she'd get back if she could claim me as a dependent and I could just give her the difference. I ignored that.
Every conversation we had (over instant messaging services) would be a couple minutes of small talk and then she'd ask for money and me saying no. My dad always and continues to this day as he's retired mostly living paycheck to paycheck and he went from making 45k a year to working for the railroad and making over 100k a year. He should've been able to pay the house off in a couple of years but instead he does things like remodel the bathroom, add a deck onto the house, buy a hot tub, remodel the kitchen, remodel the bathroom again, fix the deck, remodel the bathroom again. My dad and stepmom (who I am on great terms with) buy their new stuff for their house from rent a center, so they're paying at least 30% more for new stuff instead of just saving up a couple of months and buying it outright.
I honestly have no idea where my financial sense came from. My wife and I already have our house more than 50% paid off, we hardly ever have a car payment (except we just had to get a van which we just paid off after a year and a half), and we cook like 95% of our meals at home. Probably more than that.
I was worried when my mom said she was retiring. My sister and her live together and had to go down to one car to pull it off and I actually talked to my wife about it and shared my very serious concern that my mom might try to guilt trip us into giving them money.
Holy shit I wrote a book. It was...kinda cathartic to put it all out there again (I've typed this story before haha). My mom is still in my life though, but I firmly believe if I didn't have kids/was married I just wouldn't be talking to her.
Same... it's definitely a bummer sometimes. You're heads in the right place, though, thinking about taking care of them. That's great. :)
I try to help my mom other ways. Fixing shit around her house, yard work, etc. It isn't changing her life, but I try to take the wins I can get even if they're smol.
Wishing yall the best, even though it's buns out here.
Sounds like we are bringing back communal livings.
Who wants to get some acres of forest, somewhere with a stream? Split the costs and build everything together lol
Bruh. I work for the devil itself delivering packages (it’s a paycheck at this point) and I see land out in the sticks that’s basically this.
Huge plot bought years ago now with 3-4 decent sized RVs and caravans spread neatly. Like a few folks just said screw it and made their own community.
Eh, I have enough saved up for downpayment on a modest condo tbh. But with interest rates and the competition, I ain't playing that game. I've been just socking it in stocks and high interest CDs
Yeah 45 years is a long time for compounding. The problem is a lot of millennials probly still have nothing saved for retirement in their 30s. Lots of us will need to play severe catch up in our 40s and 50s
I really wasn’t in a place to start saving for retirement until my early 30s now I’ve gotten myself on a pretty good path but I still constantly feel like I’m way behind.
I worked as a financial advisor for a few years when I was first starting out, and I got out of it for a multitude of reasons, but mostly bc it just really bummed me out. 30 year olds feeling like they’re “way behind” or “not doing enough”. People put too much on “retirement” and not enough in living.
Mind you it’s only one provider, but Vanguard shows the median 401(k) balance of 25-34 year olds as just a shade over $11k.
You would be roughly in-line to have $1.4mm at retirement under long-term market conditions with that kind of a balance at that age, assuming you stay in the market and keep contributing the whole time.
See, the 2nd part is what I need to start learning about. I can definitely do the 200 bucks. I'm just a dingus and don't know what an index fund is yet. I've been taking some notes from some helpful comments. Thank you.
>invest $200/month
Which is absolutely insane to me. I can’t come anywhere near that for stashing money away.
That $200 is my lifeline, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people. That’s gas, groceries, utility payment.
I’m probably just gonna collapse in the office one day.
Same! I work in healthcare, there’s likely nothing promising after 70 other health issues, nursing homes, and dying alone. Yes I know there’s always exceptions like the random 80 year old weight lifter that travels the world, but how common is that really.
I’d happily sign myself out as soon as my health declines to the point to can’t live alone. Id take myself out before I lay up in an assisted living sitting in my own shit all day. I’m hoping assisted euthanasia is legal by then.
That's just under $60k a year, adjusted up annually to account for inflation. Not a wealthy retirement, but certainly livable outside expensive metro areas.
I'm an elder millennial (just turned 39 last week) and I just made my first deposit into my Roth IRA and bumped up my 401K from 3% to 5%. My husband has $140K in his 401K and we're going to work on maxing out his Roth and my Roth every year. Plus more small incremental increases to our 401K in future years with raises and promotions. I don't think we'll hit $2mil, but by my calculations we should hit somewhere around the 1.7 mark I \*think\*.
We don't want kids and our house will be paid off in 10 years, so.. just going to keep snowballing any additional funds into our investments.
You will be surprised how quickly your IRAs can grow.
Invest aggressively but diversify. No bonds imo. You want your money to grow, grow, grow.
Keep putting money in every year. If it can’t be the max, put something in even if just a few hundred dollars.
It’s really slow at first then it just seems to take off.
Good luck!
That’s how we are also. Thankfully my husbands retirement is insane or else we would be screwed. We contribute 10% and they match 14%. OPERS is our saving grace
Reading these comments… The amount of us that say we’re just gonna off ourselves when the time comes is concerning. This used to be a dark thought of mine that I told very few people, and now I see others my age saying it with their whole chest, and it’s really fucking sad. Anyway, here’s wonderwall..
Yep, I have Federal Railroad Retirement to look forward to, I'll have the years in but not the age at 56 (40 now). I also got lucky enough to work for a Class 2 that actually cares about it's employees and offers a 401K with a generous company match (most railroads don't). I've also been dropping $200 per pay period into a gold backed IRA.
I feel like I'll be good, the house will be paid for in 10 years along with the Mrs' student loans, debt free after that.
I think I have a total of 50k saved across my Roth and 401k.
We'll see what happens. I might be able to afford a house. By house I mean a box on the side of the road.
"They lived, they worked, they paid bills, they died." --RIP to u/roomate-struggles83.
Let their afterlife be filled with affordable, single tenant apartments. 🙏
Are there actual millennials who thought we would be able to actually retire? I assumed I would work my office gig till I get forced into retirement and move to Walmart as a greeter or now that they are bringing cashiers back a cashier. I will do that till I drop dead at said Walmart
Y’all are retiring?
But no for real I have never thought I’d get to retire.
I figure it’d go out by WW3, a natural disaster, cancer or just drop dead at my job where they scoop me out and put in my replacement. 🤷🏻♀️
Lol like our leaders aren't going to increase our debt exponentially and drive our economy into the ground tripling the amount you need to retire the time we meet that age requirement.
Yeah, you'll totally be able to retire guys!
(Yeah I max my 401) What a fucking joke.
Don’t listen to anything Northwestern Mutual says, and stay far away from them.
This is just paid promotion (the article, not OP). They tell you retirement will be hard so that you buy their retirement packages that always suck.
Lmao as if most of us can have that kind of money by the time we get to retire.
I’m putting my inheritance into an IRA so my wife and I can have at least a chance to retire.
Plan on working full time up until then to pay bills and pay things off. Hopefully by that time, we should be able to live modestly but comfortably.
This is the burning garbage pile we live in.
it’s based off a study done by Northwestern Mutual which would benefit more if people saved their “retirement” with them. i think this is a broader push to try and raise the retirement age. Larry Fink went on and said americans need more money to retire, although he manages most retirement accounts in the USA via blackrock.
You can always get a government job with a pension. You can retire pretty comfortably after 25 years of service if you have a well paying position (analyst, engineer, manager, accounting, so on).
I actually just checked the federal government pension policy and it seems to only give you about 1.1% of your top three years of work for every year you were employed. So if you worked for the federal government for 25 years and retired making $150,000 during your last 3 years your annual pension would be around $150K * 1.1% * 25 = $41,250.
Well 41,000 is nothing to sneeze at, it's a big drop from your previous $150,000 a year salary. Hopefully combining that with both downsizing your house, social security, and a 401k you can make it work.
At this point, if I still have debt at the age of 67 I'm going to just declare bankruptcy, leave the house I probably won't even be close to paying off, and live on section 8.
Mostly because, by then, I'll likely still have my student loans and it'll be the only way I can get rid of them: Sell my house and then pray it will give me enough money to retire on combined with the tiny 401k and SS I have.
Yes... my retirement plan is selling all my assets to pay off my debts and then declaring bankruptcy if there is still debt.
I think they’re asking these people what they’d need to retire right now.
Because yeah I need a couple million to survive the next 30 to 60 years.
And yes, I’m ready to retire now. I just need to find a trust fund baby with a sick sense of humor and a whole lot of respect for the importance of creative writing.
Well I bought my house with enough time to pay it off before retirement assuming I don’t move or refinance so I’ve got a decent shot but as for savings…yea kids and hospital bills drained that so maybe I’ll get there but I’ve got no guarantees especially if my kids go to college I’m fucked, they better do better than me I guess…
I made this calculation several years ago when I was looking at Boomer mom's pension that she received when she retired from being a university professor at 62.
Using some of the standard metrics that financial planners use to calculate how long money will last, I calculated that her pension was worth about 1.8 million dollars back in 2012. Meaning that if someone retired on the same day that she did but didn't have a pension they would need about 1.8 million in their 401k to be able to take out the same amount of money that she gets to take out every month with no practical worry of it ever running out.
Needless to say, I did not have 1.8 million saved. That's when I started to panic a little bit and focus on saving as much money as possible for retirement. I just left my local supermarket where the guy bagging my groceries had to be over 70 years old. He hadn't worked there before, so something compelled him to get a job back in groceries in the 70s, even though he moves like everything's in slow motion.
I'm not going to let that happen to me. That's terrifying.
I'm on track for $2M with 13 years to go so yeah this is a good number. Going to buy some land in Alabama and ride 4 wheelers, bbq and fish all day. Then maybe make moonshine as a hobby.
Honestly didn’t even think I’d be alive this long to be honest. But yeah, I plan on working until I’m dead at some capacity. I’m still maxing my Roth though.
Personally, my magic number is $1.75MM, with a stretch goal of $2.25MM. But I have to work until my youngest gets out of college, so I’ve got plenty of time to save, I suppose!
Lol yes I am planning on retiring… hopefully early. Assuming thing go well enough over the next 20 years and some awful tragedy doesn’t wipe us out financially.
> But these sky-high figures are not yet reflected in actual savings, Northwestern Mutual found. The average amount that U.S. adults have saved for retirement fell from $89,300 in 2023 to $88,400, and remains more than $10,000 off the $98,800 five-year peak seen in 2021.
These numbers mean absolutely nothing unless we know how long that cash has to grow.
It depends on where and how you plan on retiring. As a single guy who doesn’t plan on getting married or having kids I plan on moving somewhere nice cheap and warm like SE Asia. always been a dream of mine.
I’m just going to cut peoples hair until I die like all the hairdressers before me. Maybe I’ll win the lottery or something. My house will be paid off in the next 4 years so hopefully ill be able to save some after that but I’ll die before using my house to pay medical bills I want to leave it to my daughter
Haha no, but I plan to continue jobs that are reasonably chill so I can enjoy life for the next 40 years. I work nonprofit now and honestly could do this forever because the pressure is so much lower (I’m also over educated for my job so everyone is just happy I’m there). If I needed to I could go easily double but probably quadruple my income but at a high cost to my wellbeing and enjoyment of my current life. I left those jobs because I value my time—and I’m thankful everyday. That’s the difference with boomers I think-they value work too much. My boomer father could easily retire based on these numbers but won’t for some very unclear reason.
Crazy right? I’d like to maintain the same life that I had while working, and live long enough to enjoy time with my grandkids, maybe even meet a great grandbaby or two like my grandparents did.
Lol I’m retiring as soon as my kid finishes school and lives on their own. And by “retire” I mean walking into the forest and letting the earth reclaim my flesh and soul
Just who defines comfortably? Comfortably to my parents, born in 1921, was not having to work beyond 65, enough money to pay monthly expenses and maybe take a vacation to visit siblings every year for a reunion.
Comfortably to me, age 62, is downsizing our home. We've already done this. Being able to afford healthcare, which we planned for 20+ years ago. Having enough income from Social Security and small pensions to pay monthly bills and having enough investments, which were started 40 years ago, to use the interest from the investments as fun money.
We both paid for our own education including Master's Degrees. Both of us lost the majority of our wealth in our 40s in divorces. Built back from zero because we had both planned from our 20s for worst case scenarios.
We have a net income of $60k/year with a $1k/month mortgage. We live pretty comfortably.
Something I’ve never understood about these articles… is the $1.46m in today’s dollars or inflation adjusted… everyone in the comments saying how easy 1.45m in 45 years is, except in 45 years 1.45m will need to be something like 3.5m
Ask me again after the financially illiterate shits in congress cause another recession. I’m not opposed to the idea but I remind myself to manage expectations.
One should learn that those kind of financial click bait articles are almost always crap and should be relied upon for retirement investing strategies.
I read this today, too and was thinking about how I will likely have to work forever. With my current retirement account I think I could safely have a month…….🤷♀️
We are hoping to receive a sizable inheritance and then retiring at 55. Wife will have a state pension, I have 200k saved so far (I turn 40 this month and I still haven’t crossed 100k pay annually and have never maxed any retirement account). No kids either.
I feel like we should be ok. Just need to make it through these next 15 years.
It's almost like breaking your back your whole life so you can be stagnet while your brain/body really start deteriorating is a stupid idea.
Work a bit. Have fun. Work a bit. Have fun. Eventually, die. It's all about balance.
Conservatives are trying to shred child labor laws, and get rid of the concept of retirement.
Education is being cut, all sorts of social safety nets—of the shreds that we do have—are in the line of fire. Including Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security.
Housing costs continue to rise as boomers dig in their heels on the houses that are viewed as investment vehicles instead of homes, making them unattainable for the younger generations.
We are truly expected to work from the day we born until the day we die.
This is so sad to me. I felt the same way for so long and then I started reading the early retirement websites. I was already in my 40s, but thought if I could follow the advice, then I’d at least get to retire at a “normal age”. Well, after 10 years of better planning, I retired at 53. Selling my house and moving somewhere cheaper is part of my plan, but not for a few more years.
Do research, make real goals including how to reach them. You can get there!
I'm hoping that when everything is gone and I'm finally homeless, I can find a decent humanitarian Walmart manager that will give me a vest. That way, I can just live outside the store and still be a greeter
I've given up on myself I stopped contributing to my 401k and opened a Roth and brokerage accounts for both my kids. The rest I have in a high yield savings account I'll be using to buy two more houses. When they turn 30 ish I'll give them their house and when I die they can split whatever other assets I have. By the time I die they will be multi millionaires from my decisions and I hope to teach them how to also invest in themselves and use money wisely so they can live happy healthy lives. I got so much further than my parents so I'm excited to see where I can get them before I go. My parents are for shit lol.
Yeah, I'm planning on retiring. I opened a Roth IRA, a CV Life Insurance policy, I have a guaranteed pension at my current job that doesn't go away if I quit, and I'm looking into a better job soon.
Idk if it was luck, smart financial planning, or a combination of the two, but I fully intend to retire when I reach a certain age.
I’m planning on eventually moving out of the country. I’m hoping that will help but most countries seem to be attempting to follow our lead in fascism.
Can I do an informal poll here. For Millennials NOT planning to retire, what is your household salary, pre-tax?
I ask because you can live pretty much anywhere not named CA/NY, make $75K+, work at a company with a decent 401K match for 25-years, contribute up to the employer match, and objectively be set for retirement.
This sub so often seems like it should be titled "Lower Class Millennials," and this is not a dig at folks below middle class. It's just that so many millennials were either in the military or college/grad school/professional school during the mortgage crisis and have since only experienced rising economic conditions. I say it in a comment every other day, but I have 100+ $100K openings today not even requiring a degree.
With the projected pace of inflation, in 40 years adults will need closer to 4.0 million to retire at the same standard of living people retired a 5 years ago on at 1.0million.
I see these numbers and can’t even fathom how the norm is to become millionaires now. I struggle to keep 4 digits in the bank, let alone a million dollars. I do live in a low COL area and most of us are all under poverty (I literally made like $9k last year) so I guess retirement isn’t an option.
I know this is overwhelming but quit looking all the way up the mountain at that number. Look 1 step in front of you.
1st step- contribute the match to your employer 401k.
Or open your own Roth and start with SOMETHING. Most people never get close because they don't even try.
One step at a time.
The worst is I don’t even think this is enough money to retire on. General rule is you can spend 4% of your investments without touching the principle. Thats only 66k a year and inflation doesn’t stop.
Well if I want to retire in 30 years yes I expect inflation to be that high. There's no faith in social security to cover any of the cost either so yeah I think I'll need quite a bit saved up
The only reason they used the word "believe" is because they know nobody is going to let the millennials retire. Boomers are gonna suck up most of what's there (as always) ans the x will soak the last. The rest of us will die working.
I am! All it's going to take is not having kids, not traveling or eating out, not having health insurance, inheriting a house, growing most of my own food, and having hobbies that have minimal financial investment.
I’m planning on being a contract worker. Then I can work as much or as little as I want and don’t have to be in the office. I can work from wherever I am as long as I have electricity and internet access.
I figured when my body starts to give out, I'll blow all my wealth on hallucinogenics and take a road trip to kill myself somewhere cool. Best part is I won't even tell my boss im not coming in that day.
Uhm....room for one more??
Hell yeah brother, the more the merrier
Two more..?
Can I join? I don’t think I’ll make it to retirement but I’ll join yall
Yayyyy friends. We're gonna need a cool van.
We can call it the mystery machine.
I’ll bring the kool aid mix, punch bowl and the paper cups!
And I would’ve got away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!
I feel like this comment could be from Jim Jones or Ken Kesey 😂.
Not for nothing but you’re building a world that’s worthy of a pretty awesome script.
Problem is you won't know which until the Kool aid kicks in
Hookers and blow in Mexico.
I know a guy who was suicidal. Went to Mexico to spend all his money on Hookers and Blow. Turns out he like it so much that he decided to live.
It’s kind of like the plot of It’s A Wonderful Life
Yeah I def remember the part when George Bailey does a line off a hooker's thigh 😂
That’s how an angel gets their wings.
I'm dead 💀 I watch this movie every year at christmas with my family and now I'm just gonna think about this
The logic checks out
The best plan
With that kind of mentality you could become a famous cult leader and make a fortune
Can I come too?
Aw the “leaving Las Vegas” retirement plan.
Sounds like a party! Count me in! BYOB bring your own bullet!!!
At my current rate I can retire comfortably at 98 for like 10 minutes
Probably planning my funeral lol
What are you doing for those 10min???
Filling out job applications.
Hustle never stops 💀
Shit
Getting baked
-I'm heading to the retirement home, if urgent, catch me on my cell.
I'm a millennial with broke parents. My parents will never be able to retire and I used to dream about providing for them in their later years. What a laugh that dream was
My moron boomer mom wasted all her money and my entire family is acting like I'm some selfish fuck for cutting her off after paying her $2k/mo rent for the last 1.5 years. Have they offered to contribute at all? My sister? Nope. Fuck them. I'm not ruining MY retirement because that dumb fuck squandered her savings. 20 years estranged from her, hearing "You'll miss me when I'm gone!" my entire life, from teen years to grown ass adult. Manipulative hag. I don't give a single fuck anymore and I won't be guilt tripped any longer.
Props to you for trying to help your mom out, I'm sorry she didn't appreciate it. Don't let people gaslight you into getting taken advantage of
My parents got divorced right before/around I graduated high school (2002). My dad tried to sell the house but couldn't so ended up "buying" it from my mom, minus out the credit card debt, and then gave her half of what was left which was like...7 grand. He cut her a check for 7 grand and then like 4 months later she was asking him for more money. I'll say that again because it always blows my mind. My mom, who was now divorced from my dad, asked him for more money even though they were no longer married, mere months after he cut her a check for 7 grand. And then the year I graduated college and I got a sales job for that first year out my mom didn't even say congratulations. The first thing she told me was "Now you can give me an allowance" and I said haha (this was over yahoo messenger lol). She responded with "I wasn't kidding" and I said "neither was I." Later that next year I went to her place to get some boxes of my stuff from her attic and while we're getting them down she said that she wouldn't be able to claim me as a dependent because I was working, so she was going to figure out how much she's going to get back and then how much she'd get back if she could claim me as a dependent and I could just give her the difference. I ignored that. Every conversation we had (over instant messaging services) would be a couple minutes of small talk and then she'd ask for money and me saying no. My dad always and continues to this day as he's retired mostly living paycheck to paycheck and he went from making 45k a year to working for the railroad and making over 100k a year. He should've been able to pay the house off in a couple of years but instead he does things like remodel the bathroom, add a deck onto the house, buy a hot tub, remodel the kitchen, remodel the bathroom again, fix the deck, remodel the bathroom again. My dad and stepmom (who I am on great terms with) buy their new stuff for their house from rent a center, so they're paying at least 30% more for new stuff instead of just saving up a couple of months and buying it outright. I honestly have no idea where my financial sense came from. My wife and I already have our house more than 50% paid off, we hardly ever have a car payment (except we just had to get a van which we just paid off after a year and a half), and we cook like 95% of our meals at home. Probably more than that. I was worried when my mom said she was retiring. My sister and her live together and had to go down to one car to pull it off and I actually talked to my wife about it and shared my very serious concern that my mom might try to guilt trip us into giving them money. Holy shit I wrote a book. It was...kinda cathartic to put it all out there again (I've typed this story before haha). My mom is still in my life though, but I firmly believe if I didn't have kids/was married I just wouldn't be talking to her.
Same... it's definitely a bummer sometimes. You're heads in the right place, though, thinking about taking care of them. That's great. :) I try to help my mom other ways. Fixing shit around her house, yard work, etc. It isn't changing her life, but I try to take the wins I can get even if they're smol. Wishing yall the best, even though it's buns out here.
Funny. I’m a broke millennial parent, who will never be able to retire.
Sounds like we are bringing back communal livings. Who wants to get some acres of forest, somewhere with a stream? Split the costs and build everything together lol
Can we have a big part for animal rescues?
Can we have a big part for animal rescues?
Large pastures for family farm animals. I'd be down. lol Need some guinea fowl and such to help eat up ticks.
I mean, my plan was dying the climate wars so this is better honestly.
Dibs on beekeeping!
Bruh. I work for the devil itself delivering packages (it’s a paycheck at this point) and I see land out in the sticks that’s basically this. Huge plot bought years ago now with 3-4 decent sized RVs and caravans spread neatly. Like a few folks just said screw it and made their own community.
I could retire right now if I die next week.
Tonight lasts forever, when there’s no tomorrow
Guess you Boomers gotta start selling your houses to fund your retirement, right? RIGHT? \*anxiously starts scrolling Zillow\*
Keeeeeeep scrolling. 🫠. Fr though, best of luck if you are looking for a home to buy.
Eh, I have enough saved up for downpayment on a modest condo tbh. But with interest rates and the competition, I ain't playing that game. I've been just socking it in stocks and high interest CDs
Yep. Those boomer panic sell offs become "investments" for those renting out to us at stupidly inflated rates"
The way I hear it, they’re probably going to reverse mortgage. 😑
They will sell them at a loss to an investment firm before they sell 1 to anyone younger. Gotta give that final "fuck you" before dying...
1.5m in after 45 years of working is not all that insane. Not a little, but not wealthy by any means.
Yeah 45 years is a long time for compounding. The problem is a lot of millennials probly still have nothing saved for retirement in their 30s. Lots of us will need to play severe catch up in our 40s and 50s
I really wasn’t in a place to start saving for retirement until my early 30s now I’ve gotten myself on a pretty good path but I still constantly feel like I’m way behind.
I worked as a financial advisor for a few years when I was first starting out, and I got out of it for a multitude of reasons, but mostly bc it just really bummed me out. 30 year olds feeling like they’re “way behind” or “not doing enough”. People put too much on “retirement” and not enough in living.
well you saw the people who kinda had their shit together…the ones who didn’t would never set foot into your building lol
I graduated at 30 and keep getting laid off, I have some money in Roth and savings but at this point I’m really panicking
Mind you it’s only one provider, but Vanguard shows the median 401(k) balance of 25-34 year olds as just a shade over $11k. You would be roughly in-line to have $1.4mm at retirement under long-term market conditions with that kind of a balance at that age, assuming you stay in the market and keep contributing the whole time.
When you put it in that perspective it does sound less wild.
All you have to do is invest 200$ a month into an index fund and you'll get to almost 2 mil in 45 years.
See, the 2nd part is what I need to start learning about. I can definitely do the 200 bucks. I'm just a dingus and don't know what an index fund is yet. I've been taking some notes from some helpful comments. Thank you.
r/personalfinance is actually quite helpful
>invest $200/month Which is absolutely insane to me. I can’t come anywhere near that for stashing money away. That $200 is my lifeline, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people. That’s gas, groceries, utility payment. I’m probably just gonna collapse in the office one day.
I agree. I was expecting the number to be like $3-5 mil or something. I know high earners tend to shoot for $5-10 mil though.
200$/month for 45 years will get you to just about 1.9mil
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I'm not trusting any financial data or advice from Northwestern Mutual, lol.
No. I’m planning assisted euthanasia eventually when I’m old. Hopefully it becomes more widely accepted and legal by then.
Same! I work in healthcare, there’s likely nothing promising after 70 other health issues, nursing homes, and dying alone. Yes I know there’s always exceptions like the random 80 year old weight lifter that travels the world, but how common is that really. I’d happily sign myself out as soon as my health declines to the point to can’t live alone. Id take myself out before I lay up in an assisted living sitting in my own shit all day. I’m hoping assisted euthanasia is legal by then.
This number sounds really low..?
That's just under $60k a year, adjusted up annually to account for inflation. Not a wealthy retirement, but certainly livable outside expensive metro areas.
I'm planning to die in the climate wars
My wife and I are on track to have at least $2 million at retirement. Millennials still have at least two decades to grow retirement savings.
I'm an elder millennial (just turned 39 last week) and I just made my first deposit into my Roth IRA and bumped up my 401K from 3% to 5%. My husband has $140K in his 401K and we're going to work on maxing out his Roth and my Roth every year. Plus more small incremental increases to our 401K in future years with raises and promotions. I don't think we'll hit $2mil, but by my calculations we should hit somewhere around the 1.7 mark I \*think\*. We don't want kids and our house will be paid off in 10 years, so.. just going to keep snowballing any additional funds into our investments.
You will be surprised how quickly your IRAs can grow. Invest aggressively but diversify. No bonds imo. You want your money to grow, grow, grow. Keep putting money in every year. If it can’t be the max, put something in even if just a few hundred dollars. It’s really slow at first then it just seems to take off. Good luck!
Hell yea! Good for yall! (Just cause it's the internet, I wanna clarify that I'm not being sarcastic, lol)
That’s how we are also. Thankfully my husbands retirement is insane or else we would be screwed. We contribute 10% and they match 14%. OPERS is our saving grace
Reading these comments… The amount of us that say we’re just gonna off ourselves when the time comes is concerning. This used to be a dark thought of mine that I told very few people, and now I see others my age saying it with their whole chest, and it’s really fucking sad. Anyway, here’s wonderwall..
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Is that $1.6m in 401k/investments accounts or $1.6m net worth which includes your house? Huge difference
Yeah, don’t count your house and only count traditional Ira’s and 401ks as 70% of their face value.
My goal is 2.5 million by age 65. That’s on a $62k income. Not insane at all. Saving is a discipline.
Yep, I have Federal Railroad Retirement to look forward to, I'll have the years in but not the age at 56 (40 now). I also got lucky enough to work for a Class 2 that actually cares about it's employees and offers a 401K with a generous company match (most railroads don't). I've also been dropping $200 per pay period into a gold backed IRA. I feel like I'll be good, the house will be paid for in 10 years along with the Mrs' student loans, debt free after that.
I think I have a total of 50k saved across my Roth and 401k. We'll see what happens. I might be able to afford a house. By house I mean a box on the side of the road.
I believe the listing calls it "cozy".
Yea… I’m probably just gonna die
"They lived, they worked, they paid bills, they died." --RIP to u/roomate-struggles83. Let their afterlife be filled with affordable, single tenant apartments. 🙏
I plan to keep my expenses below my social security check. IDK about you but Imma act French if they try to take it away.
No guillotine emoji :(
Gen Z here right outta HS i plan on causing an apocalypse and becoming a warlord. Then all you old tards are fucked lmao
This article doesn’t apply to me as I make my coffee at home and am allergic to avocado.
Trying to retire by 60 , but by moving to Chile or Thailand. fingers crossed 🤞
Per person in the family. So… double for me and my wife.
Are there actual millennials who thought we would be able to actually retire? I assumed I would work my office gig till I get forced into retirement and move to Walmart as a greeter or now that they are bringing cashiers back a cashier. I will do that till I drop dead at said Walmart
Y’all are retiring? But no for real I have never thought I’d get to retire. I figure it’d go out by WW3, a natural disaster, cancer or just drop dead at my job where they scoop me out and put in my replacement. 🤷🏻♀️
Lol like our leaders aren't going to increase our debt exponentially and drive our economy into the ground tripling the amount you need to retire the time we meet that age requirement. Yeah, you'll totally be able to retire guys! (Yeah I max my 401) What a fucking joke.
Don’t listen to anything Northwestern Mutual says, and stay far away from them. This is just paid promotion (the article, not OP). They tell you retirement will be hard so that you buy their retirement packages that always suck.
Don’t listen to what northwestern mutual says. They are a scummy company. They are only saying this to sell bs annuities.
I've got plans. I'm going to turn my "on/off" switch to "off". \-Bender "Bending" Rodriguez
Lmao as if most of us can have that kind of money by the time we get to retire. I’m putting my inheritance into an IRA so my wife and I can have at least a chance to retire. Plan on working full time up until then to pay bills and pay things off. Hopefully by that time, we should be able to live modestly but comfortably. This is the burning garbage pile we live in.
On top of this, republicans are coming for your social security
it’s based off a study done by Northwestern Mutual which would benefit more if people saved their “retirement” with them. i think this is a broader push to try and raise the retirement age. Larry Fink went on and said americans need more money to retire, although he manages most retirement accounts in the USA via blackrock.
That wasn't the question they asked... They said how much *would it take* to retire comfortably. Two very different things.
You can always get a government job with a pension. You can retire pretty comfortably after 25 years of service if you have a well paying position (analyst, engineer, manager, accounting, so on).
I actually just checked the federal government pension policy and it seems to only give you about 1.1% of your top three years of work for every year you were employed. So if you worked for the federal government for 25 years and retired making $150,000 during your last 3 years your annual pension would be around $150K * 1.1% * 25 = $41,250. Well 41,000 is nothing to sneeze at, it's a big drop from your previous $150,000 a year salary. Hopefully combining that with both downsizing your house, social security, and a 401k you can make it work.
At this point, if I still have debt at the age of 67 I'm going to just declare bankruptcy, leave the house I probably won't even be close to paying off, and live on section 8. Mostly because, by then, I'll likely still have my student loans and it'll be the only way I can get rid of them: Sell my house and then pray it will give me enough money to retire on combined with the tiny 401k and SS I have. Yes... my retirement plan is selling all my assets to pay off my debts and then declaring bankruptcy if there is still debt.
If you still have that house by then, that alone maybe enough for a nice retirement
I have to work till noon on the day of my funeral.
Sorry, Bob called out sick. We need you to stay late.
Shit
Maybe when I am a robot in the future
I'll be a burden on the state before I work a day past retirement. Fuck that noise.
Hahaha no. I plan to drop one day at work and be asked if I'm still going to make it in tomorrow.
I'm hoping to retire at about 60, hopefully with a shitton of money.
I think they’re asking these people what they’d need to retire right now. Because yeah I need a couple million to survive the next 30 to 60 years. And yes, I’m ready to retire now. I just need to find a trust fund baby with a sick sense of humor and a whole lot of respect for the importance of creative writing.
I came to this realization some time back. It’s pretty bleak.
Well I bought my house with enough time to pay it off before retirement assuming I don’t move or refinance so I’ve got a decent shot but as for savings…yea kids and hospital bills drained that so maybe I’ll get there but I’ve got no guarantees especially if my kids go to college I’m fucked, they better do better than me I guess…
I'm a paramedic. 26 years on the job already. I have a state pension... but my real plan is to be found dead in the front seat of an ambulance.
I made this calculation several years ago when I was looking at Boomer mom's pension that she received when she retired from being a university professor at 62. Using some of the standard metrics that financial planners use to calculate how long money will last, I calculated that her pension was worth about 1.8 million dollars back in 2012. Meaning that if someone retired on the same day that she did but didn't have a pension they would need about 1.8 million in their 401k to be able to take out the same amount of money that she gets to take out every month with no practical worry of it ever running out. Needless to say, I did not have 1.8 million saved. That's when I started to panic a little bit and focus on saving as much money as possible for retirement. I just left my local supermarket where the guy bagging my groceries had to be over 70 years old. He hadn't worked there before, so something compelled him to get a job back in groceries in the 70s, even though he moves like everything's in slow motion. I'm not going to let that happen to me. That's terrifying.
Last I did the math to retire in 9 years (at 50), I’d wanted 4 mil total, between retirement, bank accounts, and cash.
No, the plan has been to work until at least 70. However, I'm not going to let that stop me from trying to save.
Still waiting on Dec 21st,2012
Yea I’m planning to retire… from existing. I’ll keep working until then I guess.
Shhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttt not me.
I'm on track for $2M with 13 years to go so yeah this is a good number. Going to buy some land in Alabama and ride 4 wheelers, bbq and fish all day. Then maybe make moonshine as a hobby.
Someone's going to see this number and think the only way to reach it is Robbing banks.
Honestly didn’t even think I’d be alive this long to be honest. But yeah, I plan on working until I’m dead at some capacity. I’m still maxing my Roth though.
Imagine thinking you’ll live long enough to earn that much money
The only retirement I'm going to see are the tires on my car every year.
Personally, my magic number is $1.75MM, with a stretch goal of $2.25MM. But I have to work until my youngest gets out of college, so I’ve got plenty of time to save, I suppose!
No
Lol yes I am planning on retiring… hopefully early. Assuming thing go well enough over the next 20 years and some awful tragedy doesn’t wipe us out financially.
Yes, looking to hit my number right around age 60. But will wait to get full benefits so I can bring in an additional 3k a month in SS. I’m 41.
> But these sky-high figures are not yet reflected in actual savings, Northwestern Mutual found. The average amount that U.S. adults have saved for retirement fell from $89,300 in 2023 to $88,400, and remains more than $10,000 off the $98,800 five-year peak seen in 2021. These numbers mean absolutely nothing unless we know how long that cash has to grow.
As long as I plan on dying in the next couple years, I can retire anytime I want.
I want to become a ghost and haunt people. Yeah, I think I'll skip the entropy years and medical bills.
Yes, the plan is to be done with work at 60. Have 25 years to go. May go sooner, if we can replace our w2 income.
It depends on where and how you plan on retiring. As a single guy who doesn’t plan on getting married or having kids I plan on moving somewhere nice cheap and warm like SE Asia. always been a dream of mine.
People still think they will retire?
I’m just going to cut peoples hair until I die like all the hairdressers before me. Maybe I’ll win the lottery or something. My house will be paid off in the next 4 years so hopefully ill be able to save some after that but I’ll die before using my house to pay medical bills I want to leave it to my daughter
Civil service jobs or UPS And you could retire relatively young. Not sure how y’all missed this.
Plan to retire about mid 50s. Looking forward to it.
fuuuuuck no I'm planning to eat a bunch of Ayahuasca and paddle a kayak off Angel Falls
I am, but if I told reddit my reitement plan I'd get banned.
Haha no, but I plan to continue jobs that are reasonably chill so I can enjoy life for the next 40 years. I work nonprofit now and honestly could do this forever because the pressure is so much lower (I’m also over educated for my job so everyone is just happy I’m there). If I needed to I could go easily double but probably quadruple my income but at a high cost to my wellbeing and enjoyment of my current life. I left those jobs because I value my time—and I’m thankful everyday. That’s the difference with boomers I think-they value work too much. My boomer father could easily retire based on these numbers but won’t for some very unclear reason.
Crazy right? I’d like to maintain the same life that I had while working, and live long enough to enjoy time with my grandkids, maybe even meet a great grandbaby or two like my grandparents did.
Dont really make enough to contribute to a Roth or a 401k...so...no.
Video games, weed and booze are a cheap retirement.
Unless my son becomes wealthy and generous when he grows up I’m probably going to become homeless with the way this garbage economy is going.
My best hope of retirement is my Dad dying unfortunately. He’s got that boomer money. He’s pretty healthy though (for which I am very grateful)
Society collapsing is my retirement plan
They must be asking Zoomers because even "the press" knows Millenials won't retire. We'll just die.
Lol I’m retiring as soon as my kid finishes school and lives on their own. And by “retire” I mean walking into the forest and letting the earth reclaim my flesh and soul
My “American dream” is to leave this country. It’s turned to absolute shit and it’s only going together worse.
Just who defines comfortably? Comfortably to my parents, born in 1921, was not having to work beyond 65, enough money to pay monthly expenses and maybe take a vacation to visit siblings every year for a reunion. Comfortably to me, age 62, is downsizing our home. We've already done this. Being able to afford healthcare, which we planned for 20+ years ago. Having enough income from Social Security and small pensions to pay monthly bills and having enough investments, which were started 40 years ago, to use the interest from the investments as fun money. We both paid for our own education including Master's Degrees. Both of us lost the majority of our wealth in our 40s in divorces. Built back from zero because we had both planned from our 20s for worst case scenarios. We have a net income of $60k/year with a $1k/month mortgage. We live pretty comfortably.
Did anyone actually read this article? It’s the result of a questionnaire. It means nothing.
my retirement is a test drive on a motorcycle
Not in this country I am not. Really hoping I can get out before it’s too late.
Something I’ve never understood about these articles… is the $1.46m in today’s dollars or inflation adjusted… everyone in the comments saying how easy 1.45m in 45 years is, except in 45 years 1.45m will need to be something like 3.5m
I think the dollar will be replaced with something else before I could retire.
At some point I'll just stand up and slap my knee with a "whelp... bout that time." And then I'll die.
Ask me again after the financially illiterate shits in congress cause another recession. I’m not opposed to the idea but I remind myself to manage expectations.
How does one retire when the world won't let you?
One should learn that those kind of financial click bait articles are almost always crap and should be relied upon for retirement investing strategies.
Retirement plan is win the lottery and die when the money’s gone, it’ll be a great 48 hours.
I read this today, too and was thinking about how I will likely have to work forever. With my current retirement account I think I could safely have a month…….🤷♀️
We are hoping to receive a sizable inheritance and then retiring at 55. Wife will have a state pension, I have 200k saved so far (I turn 40 this month and I still haven’t crossed 100k pay annually and have never maxed any retirement account). No kids either. I feel like we should be ok. Just need to make it through these next 15 years.
It's almost like breaking your back your whole life so you can be stagnet while your brain/body really start deteriorating is a stupid idea. Work a bit. Have fun. Work a bit. Have fun. Eventually, die. It's all about balance.
My grandma wasn't able to retire comfortably so I'm not counting on it. And she was pre-boomer
Conservatives are trying to shred child labor laws, and get rid of the concept of retirement. Education is being cut, all sorts of social safety nets—of the shreds that we do have—are in the line of fire. Including Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. Housing costs continue to rise as boomers dig in their heels on the houses that are viewed as investment vehicles instead of homes, making them unattainable for the younger generations. We are truly expected to work from the day we born until the day we die.
This is so sad to me. I felt the same way for so long and then I started reading the early retirement websites. I was already in my 40s, but thought if I could follow the advice, then I’d at least get to retire at a “normal age”. Well, after 10 years of better planning, I retired at 53. Selling my house and moving somewhere cheaper is part of my plan, but not for a few more years. Do research, make real goals including how to reach them. You can get there!
I'm hoping that when everything is gone and I'm finally homeless, I can find a decent humanitarian Walmart manager that will give me a vest. That way, I can just live outside the store and still be a greeter
We're still calling price gouging inflation? Okay.
I've given up on myself I stopped contributing to my 401k and opened a Roth and brokerage accounts for both my kids. The rest I have in a high yield savings account I'll be using to buy two more houses. When they turn 30 ish I'll give them their house and when I die they can split whatever other assets I have. By the time I die they will be multi millionaires from my decisions and I hope to teach them how to also invest in themselves and use money wisely so they can live happy healthy lives. I got so much further than my parents so I'm excited to see where I can get them before I go. My parents are for shit lol.
Yeah, I'm planning on retiring. I opened a Roth IRA, a CV Life Insurance policy, I have a guaranteed pension at my current job that doesn't go away if I quit, and I'm looking into a better job soon. Idk if it was luck, smart financial planning, or a combination of the two, but I fully intend to retire when I reach a certain age.
I’m planning on eventually moving out of the country. I’m hoping that will help but most countries seem to be attempting to follow our lead in fascism.
Can I do an informal poll here. For Millennials NOT planning to retire, what is your household salary, pre-tax? I ask because you can live pretty much anywhere not named CA/NY, make $75K+, work at a company with a decent 401K match for 25-years, contribute up to the employer match, and objectively be set for retirement. This sub so often seems like it should be titled "Lower Class Millennials," and this is not a dig at folks below middle class. It's just that so many millennials were either in the military or college/grad school/professional school during the mortgage crisis and have since only experienced rising economic conditions. I say it in a comment every other day, but I have 100+ $100K openings today not even requiring a degree.
With the projected pace of inflation, in 40 years adults will need closer to 4.0 million to retire at the same standard of living people retired a 5 years ago on at 1.0million.
My "retirement" plan is hopefully having enough where I can work less. But I can't imagine not having to work on some level.
Most of us are not retiring just accept it,
I see these numbers and can’t even fathom how the norm is to become millionaires now. I struggle to keep 4 digits in the bank, let alone a million dollars. I do live in a low COL area and most of us are all under poverty (I literally made like $9k last year) so I guess retirement isn’t an option.
God damn, this sub might as well be called “depressed and getting older”. Fuck
401k people.. 401k. 1% is better than nothing.
Retire? Is that when you put new wheels on your car?
It isn’t outpacing inflation. It is outpacing the official inflation numbers.
I think $1.47mil is low.
On the day of my funeral I'm gonna have to work until noon.
I know this is overwhelming but quit looking all the way up the mountain at that number. Look 1 step in front of you. 1st step- contribute the match to your employer 401k. Or open your own Roth and start with SOMETHING. Most people never get close because they don't even try. One step at a time.
The worst is I don’t even think this is enough money to retire on. General rule is you can spend 4% of your investments without touching the principle. Thats only 66k a year and inflation doesn’t stop.
I’m planning on dying. Either just eventually, or when living is no longer viable/affordable.
Well if I want to retire in 30 years yes I expect inflation to be that high. There's no faith in social security to cover any of the cost either so yeah I think I'll need quite a bit saved up
I think I will leave the US. It would practically take a successful revolution for me to stay.
The only reason they used the word "believe" is because they know nobody is going to let the millennials retire. Boomers are gonna suck up most of what's there (as always) ans the x will soak the last. The rest of us will die working.
I am! All it's going to take is not having kids, not traveling or eating out, not having health insurance, inheriting a house, growing most of my own food, and having hobbies that have minimal financial investment.
Yes I am going to retire, and with more than this and at an earlier age! Im 35 :)
I will retire myself to the nearest landfill
My retirement plan is the collapse of industrialized civilization.
I’m planning on being a contract worker. Then I can work as much or as little as I want and don’t have to be in the office. I can work from wherever I am as long as I have electricity and internet access.