… not 80 yet, but I regret not retiring 5 years earlier.
free link:
intercst
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I am too young to know what I will regret when I am 70 years old.
I do not know where I will be money wise.
My cardiologist told me that my newly implanted aortic valve should last 10 years but it’s designed for another new valve to slip into it once it fails. He told me to plan to live to 90. (As a cancer survivor, that’s assuming I don’t have a recurrence.)
That’s another 20 years.
Wendy (both parents died around age 70)
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Yep. Advances in medical care for those who can afford it are making waiting until age 70 to start Social Security a no-brainer – even if you have health problems.
intercst
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The way these articles ALWAYS work:
There are 3 classes of people:
- People who didn’t save enough for retirement, and are somehow scraping by. They regret not saving more (the first lady in the article).
- People who saved a lot for retirement, and now find they have way more than they need. They regret not retiring earlier (intercst).
- People who saved just enough for retirement, and manage fine in retirement.
The media only interviews members of the first two groups, not the last group, because those are the only ones that provide enough interesting content.
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I think there are very few people who save “just enough”, and die spending their last dollar (or close to it.)
I don’t think I saved “too much” for retirement. I saved a reasonable amount given that I knew there was a possibility I could be retiring into the next Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, or the inflation of the late 70s and 1980s.
As it happened, the 30-year period of 1994-2024 has closed right about at the median of the distribution of possible outcomes with the retiree having 4 times his starting balance after 30 years of withdrawals under the “4% rule”. (See table at end of article)
intercst
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That’s not what I meant by “just enough”. To me, just enough means that you roughly can continue your expected withdrawal rate with perhaps a few splurges along the way if the market is performing nicely during your 30 year (or whatever) period of retirement.
And “saving too little” means that you might start with a too high withdrawal rate, and it gets worse over time because you are spending more than you should safely be spending. If you get lucky, you die before running out of money, but if you get unlucky, you live in penury, or at least have way fewer choices, for the last decade or so.
And “saving too much” is when you start withdrawing extra safely, and then the years go by and suddenly you see yourself at an 0.3% withdrawal rate. Then you are like Warren Buffett, except with $10M+ or so at death (perhaps to donate to charity) instead of $100B+ like WEB. Maybe the 4% reset method, but not necessarily reset each year (perhaps every 5-10 years?), is the best choice? I don’t know.
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Very true.
As an artist I am setting up streams of income that might go well beyond age 70. In the next year I’d like to be job free. Should be nice if I get there.
I can “work to age 70” if the streams of income happen without even showing up to my own office.
Intercst, didn’t you retire at 35?
I retired at 53. I’m in group three and have no regrets. I retired in the dot com boom when my net worth hit 2x 4%. Now i’m more than 20x. No complaints.
My parents lived to be 96. Many years to go. Might make 110. Lots unknown. Hope it all hangs together.
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