Do you have enough retirement savings?

At 33, I have a lot more than 480, but not my current salary. Think my 401k is around 20k. Not really worried about retirement though. If I live past retirement age I'm guessing I will inherit more money than I manage to save
 
No pension and planning to retire on Mummy and Daddy's dime crew checking in.
 
Rich wife's family and hoping more will come our way crew checking in.
 
Probably going to be working forever crew checking in.
 
At this point, I'm contributing 12%. I try to bump it 1% every year. I believe my wife is only doing 9%.
 
When i read these threads i am so confused by how american finances work and how complicated your lives are where money is concerned.

You guys constantly start threads about tax season, roths, ira's etc and i have no idea what this stuff means. I'm sure that there are benefits but being a brit i don't get why your finances are so complicated.
Here is how the average brit sees finance
Tax - don't think about it, it comes out of our wages
Healthcare - don't think about it, we all pay a bit of our wages then all healthcare is paid for
Pension - our taxes pay for that
Education - unless you want to go to a top uni its a few grand a year because its subsidised through tax.

I suppose that the self dependant mindest means that some people can be better off and you dont feel like you are subsidising the poor but somehow in the UK we can subsidise the poor while still making our own life easier and cheaper.

It does seem a bit like these threads are little more than people bragging about how rich they are, in my country that is considered vulgar.

It is confusing without a doubt. Healthcare is the biggest issue IMO. I don't mind saving for my own retirement though or dealing with taxes. Surely Brits also save for retirement beyond the pension? I mean we have social security, but everyone wants to save far beyond social security to live comfortably.
 
Probably going to be working forever crew checking in.
Rich wife's family and hoping more will come our way crew checking in.
No pension and planning to retire on Mummy and Daddy's dime crew checking in.
your alpha meter dropped 50 points faster then my brothers credit score that time he bought that vacation to bali on his credit card and then just stopped paying his account.
 
I'm not really too worried about it, as I don't see the hell in working when I'm old. I figure I'll enjoy it, working at Subway or some shit and being the quirky friendly guy who doesn't worry much. I much prefer to work less and enjoy the middle of my life, and save what I can. I don't have some great need to visit 5 different countries a year when I'm 65, tbh I don't get that at all.

Anyways I suppose it doesn't hurt that I married up, and teh wifey has a rich dad and he likes me. When he dies, my wife will prolly try to drag me to 5 countries a year, come to think of it.

I'll admit that I may be screwing myself over, but I see it pretty much this way.

Not anti-saving, by any means, and if I'd lived a life that lead to a financially successful career, I'd definitely be saving more. That said, the concept of retirement always comes off to me as "grind grind grind, then at 65-70, you can relax" which is noble, but color me ignorant, couldn't this marathon be run at a steady pace as well?

I don't mind, and would probably prefer, to continue working until I can't, as long as the job is low-stress. The idea of being the old guy stocking shelves at a grocery store, telling the youngins stories of how I traveled the world, saw/experienced various things, lived various ways, etc. doesn't bother me in the least. If with all that and my life ends up coming full circle, living in some yurt/cabin/whatever on acres in the woods of the Cumberland plateau instead of a lavish house/condo in a metropolitan city or gated community, I'm totally cool with that.

...I'm also banking on the idea that America will eventually have some form of universal health care by the time I hit old age (which is how I may be screwing myself :) ).
 
It is confusing without a doubt. Healthcare is the biggest issue IMO. I don't mind saving for my own retirement though or dealing with taxes. Surely Brits also save for retirement beyond the pension? I mean we have social security, but everyone wants to save far beyond social security to live comfortably.

The vast majority of Brits don’t have a pot to piss in. Those that should be saving for a comfy retirement frequently elect to piss their income up the wall.

The UK gives out money to anyone that chooses to coast through life, money it takes from those that don’t. Public sector pension liabilities in the UK are 75% of GDP.

I’ll need to save roughly £2M cash to enjoy the sort of retirement an NHS middle manager my age can expect to receive (having contributed around 11% of that fund themself).
 
I'll admit that I may be screwing myself over, but I see it pretty much this way.

Not anti-saving, by any means, and if I'd lived a life that lead to a financially successful career, I'd definitely be saving more. That said, the concept of retirement always comes off to me as "grind grind grind, then at 65-70, you can relax" which is noble, but color me ignorant, couldn't this marathon be run at a steady pace as well?

I don't mind, and would probably prefer, to continue working until I can't, as long as the job is low-stress. The idea of being the old guy stocking shelves at a grocery store, telling the youngins stories of how I traveled the world, saw/experienced various things, lived various ways, etc. doesn't bother me in the least. If with all that and my life ends up coming full circle, living in some yurt/cabin/whatever on acres in the woods of the Cumberland plateau instead of a lavish house/condo in a metropolitan city or gated community, I'm totally cool with that.

...I'm also banking on the idea that America will eventually have some form of universal health care by the time I hit old age (which is how I may be screwing myself :) ).
I prefer a balanced approach for sure. Yes you could die tomorrow. Or you could live to be 100. I’ll try my best to accommodate both.

I stand to get a decent inheritance but I also want to be an a position to leave something for my kids.

Right now I max out my company retirement plan just to get the company match then I try to contribute extra to a separate retirment account. I have a separate savings account that I contribute to weekly and it’s meant for “fun stuff” like vacations etc.

I have a large extended family. For Xmas and birthdays I ask them to give my kids cash and I put that into “college” savings for them. This is better than them getting a mountain of toys they won’t play with. I also find that my family is relieved to not have to go shopping. Lol. My more immediate family will still buy them toys and such. I put “college” in quotes because I don’t intend for it to be used for post secondary education only. If my children choose a different path and decide not to go to college then this money can be used as a down payment for a house or something else.
 
It is confusing without a doubt. Healthcare is the biggest issue IMO. I don't mind saving for my own retirement though or dealing with taxes. Surely Brits also save for retirement beyond the pension? I mean we have social security, but everyone wants to save far beyond social security to live comfortably.

Yes, it is law here that all employers must provide a pension for every employee, however for people in shit jobs they may only provide 1%. Most good employers will provide a proper pension option, i think my last employer matched you up to 9% of your salary.

You can get by on state pension though it is definately just getting by, there are other provisions too, retirement homes are very common and popular options and can be relatively cheap. We also have things like a winter heating allowance.

Another big thing here is the bus pass. Public transport in the UK can more or less get you anywhere and we actually use buses a lot unlike a lot of people in the US. When you reach retirement age, whether you are retired or not you get a bus pass from the state which entitles you to free local bus travel meaning you don't really need a car and you can stay mobile.

If you have even a half decent company pension here to supplement your state pension you should be fine.
 
Nearly half of all Americans will retire broke (less than 10k in retirement savings).
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What you SHOULD have at a bare minimum:
  • By 30: Have the equivalent of your salary saved
  • By 40: Have three times your salary saved
  • By 50: Have six times your salary saved
  • By 60: Have eight times your salary saved
  • By 67: Have 10 times your salary saved
At 40, I have less than 3x salary in my retirement accounts because I barely contributed to them in my 20's. Huge mistake but I am trying to catch up by maxing out employer plan and a Roth IRA. But reaching 6x salary by 50 will be difficult without some sacrifices.

How are you guys faring?​

Married, both in our 40s, not even close (shade north of 6fig.).


We each have pretty nice employer plans (nurse and teacher) that hopefully make up some of the difference, but i can't give an honest account without having the numbers in front of me.
 
If my children choose a different path and decide not to go to college then this money can be used as a down payment for a house or something else.

Oh please, you'll go full asian dad if there's a hint of doing something other than college.
 
Oh please, you'll go full asian dad if there's a hint of doing something other than college.
Dude. They’re already 3 and 1 and they’re not doctors yet. You know they ain’t going to college.
 
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