Funding retirement - Page 2

[Purple Sage]

We're not but intend to start this year.

[bc1995]

We started late and we are not contributing enough. We plan to up our percentage as we can. Right now we are at 5% of dh's income, and his company matches that. He also qualifies for a really nice pension if he stays with this company for 30 years (which would put him right around retirement age of 65). If he gets the pension, all of what we are putting away now will go to the kids someday. That would be nice, but we are counting on it.

[RoadWorkAhead]

W currently contribute in that DH is union and has a double pension through the union, so in 30 years, he's set to have a very nice retirement pension. But next year after he's done with school, we plan to begin with 401ks, etc. and once the house is paid off/sold, we'll increase that amount even more

[UmmBnB]

I think we could always be doing more. I do put a considerable chunk in my plan, 15%. The place we're falling short is only investing through my plan and not balancing it out with a self employment retirement plan (for dh) and/or a Roth to balance the tax burden. When we are done with our debt I have great dreams of investing more.

[jentilla]

Interesting. Dh and I have laid "retirement" out a bit differently. He works from home which is a HUGE savings in itself. He works about 30 hours a week and makes a great salary. Up until March we put in 6% and his company had a match of 9% which was great. Now he will get 4% with teh new plan and we haven't yet signed up. Our goal actually is to invest in land and self sufficient resources so that our "overhead" is very low at retirement. Dh teaches online and will likely do taht in some capacity indefinitely. We plan on leaving property to our children and if there is some money great. Our goal is simple livinga dn to enjoy things now so we aren't socking tons away in retirement so we can play golf. We could live on less than we do without children/mortgage/utilities. Starting in 2010 I plan on funding a Roth for me, but again we both plan to work in some capacity until our 70's which gives us 35 and 31 yrs to add to our current plan.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by mnnice

That's not true any stay at home parent can have a spousal IRA (either Roth or regular) if their household income is below the limits.

Just to clarify. I stated that only DP could invest in a *401K*. We both have ROTHs. If we both were putting $ into 401Ks, though, that would be a lot more $.

[*andiflipping*]

We currently save 6% with some sort of company match. We simply can't afford more at this time with me staying home with the kiddos.

[Poddi]

We try to contribute to the full amount, but not always. How do I know if we'll have enough in 30 years? How would I know how much things would cost then?

[amyamanda]

We are putting our money into making our situation more self-sustaining, so we will need less retirement funds later.

We're downsizing to a smaller house and setting it up so we can do without utilities if need be; also planning to put in greenhouse/gardens for food. We are planning to go mortgage-free and debt-free as quickly as we can, so our financial obligations at retirement are hopefully nothing but taxes and some food/fuel. At least that's the simple version, LOL.

At that point, if we have money to invest, we'll invest it for retirement.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by Poddi

We try to contribute to the full amount, but not always. How do I know if we'll have enough in 30 years? How would I know how much things would cost then?

There are calculators available online, they make educated guesses about inflation and rates of return. The best thing to do is to aim at conservative numbers, for example that inflation will rise at a higher than average rate, that you'll get a lower than expected return, if you are set for that scenario, you'll be great if things do better than that.

Some calculators:

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/retir...entplanner.jsp

http://moneycentral.msn.com/retire/planner.aspx

http://sites.stockpoint.com/aarp_rc/....asp?act=LOGIN

Nothing is guaranteed of course, but you do the best you can.

[annethcz]

For those that are aiming for self-sufficiency, I think it's a great goal. But I can tell you as a 31 year old who is working towards more self-sufficiency, it can be a hard life. It would be an even harder life for someone who is 80 or 90. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but that it may not be enjoyable. At age 80, my grandparents still gardened and canned and walked to the post office instead of driving, etc. But now that they're over 90, they just don't enjoy those activities the way they used to. They're ready to live a slower, less busy life.

I think that tending a huge garden and raising animals is hard work now, I imagine I'll be tired of some of the effort and hard work by the time I'm 80. And what if I live to 95 like my grandparents? That's 15 years of life that I'll need to be able to pay for.

I think that some self-sufficiency and thriftiness in retirement is a good idea, but I don't think most people can remain self-sufficient until the end of their lives.

[MommyinMN]

Dh has a government job so he has a thrift savings plan istead of a 401k but they are similar. We are putting 12% of his pre tax (I am 90% sure it is pre tax) in and they match 8%. He is getting a raise in the next few weeks and we will be upping that to 15%. We both have Roth IRA's and have money in them as well as other money invested but we are not currently contributing to those. Once I go back to work (in 4-5 years) we plan on maxing everything out. For now we are just doing the TSP and paying extra on the mortgage. We are 27 and 28.

[mommyddeville]

With our current savings, there is a 90% chance we'll have enough saved for until we're 90 years old. That's assuming DH doesn't get a raise of more than 3% any year, and we never save more.

[Belleweather]

Wow. I actually put in contributing, but not enough. I'm putting the maximum amount my company will match (6%) into my 401(k) plan, and getting their match which is an additional 4%. I'm 30 years old, and also have access to a pension if I stay with this company -- I'd rather not, but it's nice to know there's an option. I assumed I should be doing way more, and that we'd bump up retirement savings after DH finished school and was in the job market.

But running through one of those calculators, it looks like even with no social security income, we'd still be okay. And with social security, we'd have a decent chunk of change left over. Yay! That makes me a happy girl!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by meowee

We save about 70% of DH's income, up from 50%. We are borderline misers.

That's amazing!

[Danielle283]

We put 5% into DH's TSP, and 7% into my Roth IRA. We were doing 10% into the TSP until a few months ago when I opened my IRA. We plan on getting them both to 10% with DH's next raise, or even ditching the TSP altogether and getting DH and Roth IRA too.

[Sarah W]

I'll say we're contributing, but not enough. We contribute 10% of our incomes to our TSP (military version of 401K). We'll also each have retirement from the military, so I am less concerned.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by meowee

We save about 70% of DH's income, up from 50%. We are borderline misers.

And you have 6 kids (or 5 with one on the way?). I think this is very admirable. Good for you!