How Much You Need To Retire At 55

What Do I Want To Do In Retirement

Its vital to talk about how you want to structure your time when you retire well before you leave full-time work for the last time. Its normal to have different views about what constitutes a dream retirement.

Talk through your expectations about travel plans, making a sea or tree change and pursuing a hobby or even a new business. Its also wise to discuss whether and how you want to financially assist your children or care for elderly relatives. These factors should be taken into account when planning how you want to fund your retirement, as well as the type of lifestyle you will lead.

Am I Eligible For Old Age Security

Eligibility for Old Age Security depends on how much income you earn. The default value in the calculator is the 2019 maximum monthly payment regardless of your marital status. You can check the latest Old Age Security payment amounts to find out exactly how much money you’ll receive – and add it to the calculator for more accuracy.

Percentage Of Your Salary

Some experts recommend that you save at least 70 80% of your preretirement income. This means if you earned $100,000 year before retiring, you should plan on spending $70,000 $80,000 a year in retirement.

A benefit of this strategy is that its easy to calculate. And you can use the result to estimate how much you need to save for retirement. For instance, if your current income is $50,000 and you expect your retirement to last at least 30 years, youll need roughly $1.5 million for your nest egg .

However, a major downside of this guideline is that it doesnt consider inflation. You wont know how much youll need to retire unless you look at your current salary and adjust it for inflation. You can use an inflation calculator , which can be the simplest option, or you can use the rule of 72.

If you take 72 and divide it by the average inflation rate, youll get the number of years it takes to double your cost of living. For example, using a 3% inflation rate, itll take 24 years for it to double. While this is a good rule of thumb, the more accurate way is to use an inflation calculator.

Another downside is that its hard to determine how much money youll need because its hard to predict how long your retirement will last. That said, you can still use it as a guideline to start setting aside a percentage of your income into retirement and savings accounts.

You May Like: New York Life Retirement Plan Services

Rule : 70% Of Working Income

This rule estimates that you will need between 70% and 100% of your pre-retirement income in retirement: 70% if you are typical and do not have a mortgage, and up to 100% if you are still paying a hefty mortgage plus other atypical expenses while retired.

The idea behind this rule is that your expenses are generally expected to be lower in retirement: no mortgage payments, no longer need to save for retirement, kids are financially dependent, etc. After computing this amount, you can then proceed to calculate how much you need by going back to Rule 1 or 2.

For example, assume you earn $100,000 per year before retiring. Using the 70% rule, you will need approximately $70,000 in annual income to maintain your lifestyle in retirement. Going back to Rule 2, it implies you need:

â $70,000 x 25 â $1.75 million in retirement.

I think the 70% rule is a fairly liberal estimate of retirement income needs . A survey conducted by Sunlife and released in 2016, shows that Canadian retirees were on average living on 62% of their pre-retirement income.

Do You Have Enough To Retire At 55

If you have enough to retire at 55, what are you waiting for? I recently met with a client who thought he needed to work for another 10 years.

Find out if you could retire early, get your cash flow report now.

If you dont have enough

If you dont have enough money to retire at 55, dont panic! There are options available to help bring forward the date that you can retire. For example, you can:

1. Save a little more each year

4. Get a higher investment return*

* By taking more investment risk. There is no guarantee that taking more risk will deliver a higher investment return.

Don’t Miss: Jenner’s Pond Retirement Community

How Much Do I Need To Retire

To figure out exactly what it will take to retire in comfort, its important to consider what kind of lifestyle you expect to lead in retirement. Do you hope to travel? To Paris, or someplace a little cheaper? How often do you want to eat out? Go to the movies? The beach? Do you want to move closer to the beach? The grandchildren? These questions may seem trivial now, but they can help give you an idea about the income youll need in the future. If youre set on seeing the Eiffel tower, the Pyramids at Giza and the Taj Mahal, youre going to need a sizeable nest egg to draw upon. On the other hand, if you expect to live a rather low-key lifestyle, with far fewer expenses than you currently have, you wont need to save quite as much.

The important thing is to be realistic. Dont shortchange your future self by assuming you can live off of canned tuna and scrambled eggs. While some costs will likely go down in retirement, others may go up. Specifically healthcare costs are likely to rise in retirement. So its best to have a cushion for unpredictable costs like that. Plus, retirement is your reward for decades of hard work: treat yourself accordingly.

Living Costs In Retirement

Life changes when you retire – and so does how you spend your money. Whatever your plans, it’s important to keep on top of things and think about the lifestyle you want.

Take a moment or two to work out a budget. That may sound daunting or just plain boring, however the better you know and plan your own finances, the more confident you’ll feel about the decisions you make now.

Recommended Reading: Is Now A Good Time To Retire

How Can I Save Money By Switching To Wealthsimple Invest

We charge a fraction of the fees that traditional mutual fund investors pay. Our management fee is 0.5% , plus underlying fund fees of about 0.1%. The average mutual fund investor pays 2% in fees.

Our smart technology helps keep your portfolio on track with auto-deposits, automatic rebalancing, and dividend reinvesting. And, we have a team of experienced financial advisors available to answer your questions and provide advice – whenever you need it.

Note: the total savings above, calculates the what you’d save if you were investing with Wealthsimple Invest compared to a traditional mutual fund investor. We compare the growth of your current savings between now and your retirement based on the rate of return selected. All figures are for illustrative purposes only, actual results will vary and fees among other factors are subject to change.

What Can Change Your Retirement Income Needs

Calculating your income needs in retirement is not an exact science. Life happens and it may leave your retirement plan in tatters. Some possibilities include:

• Health issues that cause you to retire earlier than planned or which result in higher-than-expected medical bills early in retirement
• Financially dependent kids in retirement
• Divorce
• Significant mortgage payments
• Run-away inflation or a market crash, and much more.

If for one reason or the other, you are unable to save enough money for retirement at age 60, or 65, or earlier depending on what your plans were initially, the following strategies may be useful in managing your âsavings/income gapâ:

1. Work for longer and delay government pension till later: Working for a few more years and/or delaying when you start receiving OAS/CPP can significantly increase your eligible payouts down the road.

2. Semi-retire and work part-time: Every year you delay dipping into your retirement nest egg means more money to spend in the future.

3. Start saving aggressively: The earlier you start saving, the better for you. Time is the game-changer when it comes to the returns you are able to earn on your investment portfolio. If you are running out of time, you will need to put aside more funds more often.

6. Other Government safety nets: If your income in retirement puts you in the low-income bracket , you may qualify for additional government benefits, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement or the Allowance.

You May Like: The Only Retirement Guide You Ll Ever Need

How To Calculate Retirement Savings

In addition to using the above methods to determine what you should have saved and by what age, online calculators can be a useful tool to help you reach your retirement savings goals. For example, they can help you understand how changing savings and withdrawal rates can impact your retirement nest egg. Though there are many online retirement savings calculators to choose from, some are much better than others. The T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Calculator and MaxiFi ESPlanner are two worth trying.

How Much Money Do I Need To Retire In Canada In 2021

In the retirement series, I wrote about the Canada Pension Plan, RRSPs, Old Age Security, and other employment pension plans.

Taking it a step further, I want to address a question Iâve often asked myself :

How much money do I need to have saved up before I retire?

How can I retire at age 50, 55, 60, or 65 years old?

How much income will I need in retirement?

or more specifically: How much money do I need to retire in Canada?

These, of course, are important questions!

As you grow older, you start to wonder if youâre putting aside enough money for retirement and if your retirement nest egg will hold up when you finally do retire.

While I do not have all the answers, Iâll take a stab at providing an answer that hopefully gets you started on the road to arriving at the magic number or multiple that works for you.

Recommended Reading: Can I Retire At 65 With 2 Million Dollars

How Much Do I Need To Retire At 55 And Never Worry About Money Again

July 14, 2019 by admin

For many people, the thought of being able to retire at the age of 55 is very appealing. By this time, you have done most of the work of raising your family and gotten most of the successes you wanted to from your career, best of all, youre still active and healthy enough to be able to enjoy most of your favorite leisure activities for years- possibly even decades.

However, the truth is, taking retirement at the age of 55 is considered an early retirement. Youre still about seven years before you will even be able to collect partial retirement benefits. Retiring while youre young- and still having the money to be comfortable requires some very careful planning and lots of saving.

If youre trying to figure out how much do I need to retire at 55, then youll want to pay attention to the following important points.

Your Big Costs In Retirement

Think about any big costs that might be part of your retirement plans. For example:

• paying off your mortgage

Source: ASFA, June quarter 2021

ASFA estimates that the lump sum needed at retirement to support a comfortable lifestyle is $640,000 for a couple and $545,000 for a single person. This assumes a partial Age Pension.

ASFA estimates that a modest lifestyle, which covers the basics, is mostly met by the Age Pension. They estimate the lump sum needed to support a modest lifestyle for a single or couple is $70,000.

Recommended Reading: Do You Still Pay Taxes When You Retire

How Much Do I Need To Retire At Age 60

This husband and wife both turned 39 in 2020, and theyre saving fairly aggressively, especially for people in their age bracket. But although their contributions are moderately high, they only commit 10 percent to stocks. They could take more risks if they still have 20 years until retirement at age 60.

Here is where they stand:

• Ages: 39
• Amount added to savings each month: $2,000
• Percentage of savings in stocks: 10%
• Other debt: $45,000

While their savings arent terribly high, they contribute a healthy portion every month. So in 20 years, it will have grown substantially. Their retirement savings is projected to last until they reach the age of 81, which is past their life expectancy.

They are projected to have between $720K and $1.1M by the time they reach their early retirement age, and their projected need is between $460K and $2.4M. But they also lack a lifetime annuity or Medicare Supplemental Insurance, which could lower those figures to $310 to $960K.

Even without additional insurance, this couples savings should last through retirement. They have long-term-care insurance, which covers the risk of unexpected health care costs. If they increased their savings distribution to 25 percent stocks, they should have a well-funded retirement.

• Maximum amount needed to retire by age 60: $460K and $2.4M

You dont need a partner to live well and retire early.

May Not Be Too Early To Retire But It Is Too Soon For Social Security

As you work to navigate the income equation in hopes of retiring at 55, cross Social Security benefits off your list of potential income sources in the short-term. Eligibility for Social Security benefits starts at 62 for retirees. Also, you’ll want to weigh whether you should file for benefits as soon as possible or hold off for larger checks. This might mean taping retirement accounts to delay Social Security longer, at least after you turn 59 1/2.

Social Security benefits include 35 years of average earnings, so unless you started working at age 20, the Social Security Administration will use $0 salary for the last few years when calculating your benefits.

Also Check: Virginia State Employee Retirement Benefits

How Much Money Do You Need To Retire

A common guideline is that you should aim to replace 70% of your annual pre-retirement income. This is what the calculator uses as a default. You can replace your pre-retirement income using a combination of savings, investments, Social Security and any other income sources . The Social Security Administration website has a number of calculators to help you estimate your benefits.

It’s important to consider how your expenses will change in retirement. Some, like health care and travel, are likely to increase. But many recurring expenditures could go down: You no longer need to dedicate a portion of your income to saving for retirement. You may have paid off your mortgage and other loans. And your taxes are likely to be lower payroll taxes, which are taken out of each paycheck, will be eliminated completely.

Be sure to adjust based on your retirement plans. If you know you wont have a mortgage, for instance, maybe you plan to replace only 60%. If you want to travel every year, you might aim to replace 100% or even 110% of pre-retirement income.

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.

Let us match you to your perfect financial adviser

Find a financial adviser near you

Also Check: Best Healthcare For Retirees Abroad

The Benchmarks For Those Closer To Retirement

The range gets wider as you get older, so we also provide more detailed estimates for people approaching retirement. This helps someone find a realistic target based on income and marital status, which affect Social Security benefits.

A Closer Look at Savings Benchmarks Later in Your Career

Assumptions: See Savings Benchmarks by AgeAs a Multiple of Income above. Dual income means that one spouse generates 75% of the income that the other spouse earns.

How Your Marital Status Affects Your Pension

Your pension isnt affected by whether you have a partner or not. However, your household income and outgoings can be drastically impacted.

If you have a partner whos also retired, their pension income will boost the total household income you both have at your disposal. This can be particularly helpful if you still have outstanding debts like a mortgage to pay.

In addition, living costs tend to be more affordable per person when shared. For example, the cost of heating your home probably wont be too different whether youre living alone or with a partner. So sharing that cost with a partner cuts your personal outgoings in half. The same applies to council tax, utilities, and grocery bills.

Also Check: What Is The Best Type Of Retirement Plan