How Much Retirement Income Will I Need
A popular way to estimate this figure is the 70 per cent rule, which states you will need 70 per cent of your working income to maintain the lifestyle you want in retirement. So if you retire on a salary of £50,000 you would be looking at achieving an income of around £35,000.
For some people 70 per cent may be generous and they would be comfortable living on less. Conversely, others may struggle.
I Have About $700000 And Plan On Retiring Soon At Age 62 How Can I Make This Money Last At Least 30 Years
Making sure your money lasts isn’t your only goal for retirement. Presumably, you also want to be able to draw enough from your savings to live relatively comfortably the rest of your life. And I assume you would like to have some flexibility about how you tap this nest egg, so you can fund not just regular living costs but unexpected expenses and the occasional splurge.
I mention this not to quibble, but because understanding that you actually have several goals is important when deciding how to manage your $700,000 stash.
If making sure you didn’t outlive your nest egg were your only consideration, you could simply put your entire 700 grand into an immediate annuity, a type of investment that gives you a monthly check the rest of your life. As long as you’re prudent about how you go about it — sticking to highly-rated insurers, spreading your money among enough companies to assure you’re fully covered by your state’s insurance guaranty association — you could sit back and collect $3,600 a month, possibly more, for as long as you live.
Such shortcomings are why putting your entire stash in an immediate annuity probably isn’t the right way to go.
That may not seem like a problem. But if you’re sitting on a big pile of dough in your dotage, it means you could have spent more earlier on in retirement and presumably enjoyed yourself more.
Can I Retire At 55 And Collect Social Security
Social Security retirement benefits can be an important part of your financial puzzle. These benefits are designed to provide monthly income in addition to any income you have from qualified retirement accounts, taxable investment accounts, annuities or other sources. However, you unfortunately cannot begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits at 55.
The earliest age you can begin drawing Social Security retirement benefits is 62. But theres a catch. Taking Social Security benefits prior to reaching your normal retirement age results in a reduction of your benefit amount.
Your benefits can also be reduced if you start taking them at age 62 but are still working in some capacity. So, say you retire at 55 from your full-time job but you want to do some consulting work on the side. Once you turn 62, you could claim Social Security retirement benefits but your earnings from consulting work could affect how much you collect.
The flip side to Social Security is that you can be rewarded with a larger benefit amount by waiting to claim them. If you wait until age 70 to take Social Security, for example, you can receive a monthly payment thats equal to 132% of your regular benefit amount.
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What Is A Good Pension Pot At 60
When people think about early retirement, they think about pensions. Im often asked what is a good pension pot at 60? Or what is the average retirement age?
The average UK pension pot is £50,000, and the average pension income in the UK is £511 per week. But simply know what the average UK pension pot value is, or the average UK pension income doesnt help you to retire early. It may sound trite, but what the average person has in their pension pot has no bearing on your individual retirement plans. At best, its irrelevant. At worst, its a distraction allowing you to retire early.
Ultimately, a good pension pot is one that allows you to retire early, and provides enough income for the rest of your life. Clearly, this depends on how much income you need. Likewise, how much to save for retirement is a function of how much you will spend in retirement. Its situational theres no such thing as a good pension pot.
Instead of asking what is a good pension pot?, the question you should be asking is how much do I need to retire? This is a broader question that takes into account not only your pensions but your savings and investments too. It considers how much income youll need and whether you have enough saved up.
You will also need to consider any other income you will receive like the State Pension or any final salary pensions. Deciding what retirement lifestyle you wish to lead, will help you work out how much income you need.
Social Security Kicks In

At some point, Social Security will kick in. For anyone born in 1960 or later, the normal retirement agethe age at which you are entitled to full Social Security benefitsis 67. You can start taking benefits as early as age 62, but your monthly benefit will be reduced by about 30%. The longer you wait to start, the more youll receive each month. You can delay your retirement benefits until age 70 for an even larger monthly benefit.
The average Social Security monthly retirement benefit is $1,618.29.
If you can stretch your $500K in savings until then, your Social Security benefits will kick in and provide a welcome monthly cash infusion. Be sure, by the way, that you have worked enough quarters to qualify for Social Security.
If you invest at an average return of 7% per year , your money will double every ten years. Therefore, if you have $500,000 at age 45, you can have $2 million at age 65 if you leave it alone. Why not work longer so you can enjoy life more? If you are going to live for 40 years or so you might get awfully bored if you are not gainfully employed. And if you are living off savings that must last 45 years, your lifestyle will never get more opulent, says John R. Frye, CFA, and Senior Advisor at Carnegie Investment Counsel in Los Angeles, California.
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Choose The Right Place To Retire
Your retirement savings might not be worth much if you blow 80% of it on buying a condo. But if you move out of the city and relocate to a small town, you might easily be able to afford a place for under $200,000. You might also field a smaller property tax bill and enjoy the affordability of a small town. From a financial perspective, relocating to an affordable town is an ideal retirement move.
Its important to take your retirement needs into account before relocating. It wont be financially savvy to move to a small town if you have to drive every day to a nearby city for your retirement activities.
How To Make More Money With Your Pension
Well, now that youve an idea of the figures involved you need to make sure that your pension is set up to succeed.
The structure of your pension fund is critically important.
Most people who have their money with Irish banks, tied agents and other advisors arent set up to succeed.
Thats because they have a limited array of choice and are investing into contracts with very expensive charges.
Its the equivalent of owning a 4 speed car with a leaking petrol tank.
The best pension plans in Ireland are made of the highest quality components in a low cost structure.
At The Pension Store, we can get you the best of everything by
Its important to do everything you can to maximise your retirement fund and if you want some further reading then there are some valuable tips contained in the article 7 Reasons Why Your Pension Fund Isnt as Big as it Should Be
Book a complimentary consultation directly into my calendar as a company director, self employed professional or company employee and well take it from there.
Kevin
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Are We There Yet
So far, you have:
- $30,000 of income from Social Security and pensions
- $20,000 of withdrawals from your $500k in assetsignoring taxes, to keep it simple, but you may pay taxes in retirement
That leaves you short by about $2,000 per year. Plus, you might owe taxes on your $20,000 of withdrawals, which were ignoring for now. However, if you assume taxes of roughly 15%, thats an additional $3,000 per year you need to budget for.
So, what can you do?
The first thing most people think of is cutting their spending. Thats also the most difficult. If you can snap your fingers and spend $2,000 less each year, thats greatproblem solved.
How to Fix a Retirement Shortfall
Besides cutting your spending, there are several other ways to close the gap. None of them are ideal, but its smart to know your options in case you find yourself with expectations that cant be fulfilled . Several tips to help you retire are below.
Work longer: From the category of Least Popular Solutions, you can work longer. Doing so is surprisingly powerful:
Withdraw more: Using our example, you could take your chances and withdraw the extra $2,000 per year. The result would be a 4.4% withdrawal rate on $500,000 of savings. Thats a bit higher than the traditional 4% rule, but its not off the charts, and it could workespecially if youre willing to adjust your withdrawals in response to market crashes.
How Much Pension Pot Do I Need To Retire At 55
You’d need at least an estimated £650,000 pension pot to retire at the age of 55 or 57. But as well as a good pension pot, you also need a good retirement plan. Here’s how you might set about creating both. Article by Nick Green.
Theres an old joke: Jumping from a plane is easy the hard part is hitting the ground. Similarly, choosing to stop work is something you can do at any age whats difficult is supporting yourself afterwards.
Anyone with a pension pot can access it however they wish from the age of 55. However, can does not mean should. Its usually good practice to preserve your pension pot for as long as possible before cashing in any of it, since this will be your main income in retirement. For most people, therefore, retirement will usually come in their mid-60s.
But suppose you did want early retirement at 55? How much would you need to save, and how achievable is it? Here are some of the things you would need to think about – with the help of a financial adviser.
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Option : Downsize Your Home
Downsizing to a lower value home can free up capital that can be used to provide you with a retirement income for longer.
If youre over 60 years of age, there are even rules that allow you to put up to $300,000 per person into super using proceeds from the sale of a home without needing to satisfy superannuation work tests or keep under contribution caps. Therefore, not only will you free up more capital, but this capital can be invested in a tax-free environment and give you tax-free income.
How Long Will My Money Last
What you really need to know is how long can you cover your expenses before your savings are completely exhausted. Therefore, understanding your expenses is the first step to calculating how long your money will last.
When calculating your expenses, you need to include everything that your savings will need to cover including groceries, car expenses, any loan repayments, taxes, travel, etc.
The next step is to estimate the investment return you expect to receive from your savings. For example, if you have bank savings, you might say that your savings will earn 1% p.a. . Whereas if you own shares, you might assume they will earn 8% p.a. .
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How Long Will My Money Last Calculation
Now, we can calculate how long your savings will last. Simply use the following formula each year until your savings reach $0:
Savings amount + earnings rate expenses taxes = closing balance after year 1 .
For example, if I had $300,000 invested in a managed fund expected to earn 5% p.a. and total expenses of $30,000 per year. My first year calculation would be:
$300,000 + 5% $30,000 = $285,000.
You may find an excel sheet is useful to project this out over a number of years .
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How To Retire At 60 Without Running Out Of Money

If you want to retire at 60 with the guarantee of never running out of money, you need to purchase an annuity. An annuity provides you with a guaranteed income for life. Its the only way you can be certain that the income will continue forever.
But the problem is, pension annuities provide very little income. You will need a big pension pot to do this.
Alternatively, you can flexibly drawdown an income from your pension pot. This allows you to take as much or as little money as you want when you want. But its not without risk, if you withdraw too much you will deplete your pension.
This is where working with an independent financial adviser can help. Regular reviews of your pension can help make sure you dont run out of money.
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Is It Possible To Retire At 45 With $500000
If youre like many adults, the thought of taking early retirement has probably crossed your mind at least once or twice. For most of us, its simply not an option as the financial ramifications are complicated .
Still, we sometimes hear about friends, family members or complete strangers who decided to clock out early and gamble that theyll be able to make ends meet for the next several decades. Heres a quick look to see if its possible to retire on $500K if you are 45 years old.
How Might My Income Needs Change Over Time
This is another key point to consider. Early in your retirement you may want to spend more, enjoying your freedom, travelling and treating yourself. Later on you may settle down and begin to spend less but later still there may be a need for expensive long-term care. These changing requirements may influence how you decide to take your pension.
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Can You Retire Comfortably On Only $600000
If your retirement savings are seven figures, then you are likely to live a comfortable retirement life. But with some adjustments, you can be comfortable with a smaller sum as well.
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Whats the ideal amount you can retire comfortably on? There is no universal answer to this question. The easiest route to take in this regard is the more you have, the better it would be for a comfortable retirement. Many financial experts put the number somewhere north of a million, but are seven figures savings imperative for a happy retirement?
No. You can retire comfortably on a sum like $600,000 if you take the right steps . With the right financial choices, a $600,000 nest egg might be enough for an adequately funded retirement without depleting your savings at a dangerous rate.
How Much Do I Need In A Pension To Retire Comfortably
Well, the simple answer to that depends entirely on the amount of income you want each month when you retire, over and above the state pension.
The more you want, the more you will need to have in your fund so the starting point to any retirement plan is figuring out what this number is for you.
Assuming you qualify for it, the state pension will give you about 1,075 each month as a single person or 1,999 p/m if you have a dependent spouse.
Thats your income floor which means anything you want on top will need to come from whatever income producing assets you manage to collect over the course of your career.
Things like a business, an investment property or a pension fund.
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How Much Do You Need To Retire Comfortably In Australia
Calculate how much money you might have, how long it will last and how much youll need in retirement, with our retirement calculators
Working out how much is enough for retirement depends on many factors, such as your lifestyle, plans for the future, and the number of years youll spend retired. Additionally, estimating how much youll have when you plan to retire depends on factors such as your current salary, super balance and assets. With so many factors, its easy to see why you might need a retirement calculator to get an idea of your retirement savings needs.
By using our helpful retirement calculators, you can get an indication of whether theres a shortfall between how much you are estimated to have and how much youll need in retirement, and put a plan in place to address the situation.