Saving for Retirement
Your Retirement Lifestyle
How much you've saved will determine how well you'll live. Take a look.
By Mary Beth Franklin, Senior Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, February 2009
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Most experts recommend that you replace 75% to 85% of your preretirement income to meet your needs after you stop working. But the size of your nest egg will dictate how many extras you’ll be able to afford.
If you don’t have a pension, you’ll have to make up the difference with your personal savings.
The snapshots below reflect a couple who retired at 65 and earned $90,000 a year while working. They need about $70,000 annually -- 78% of their preretirement income -- to maintain the same lifestyle, according to the "2008 Retirement Income Replacement Ratio" study, by Aon Consulting and Georgia State University.
We assumed that the couple initially withdraw 4% of their savings, adjusted for inflation each year, and imagined how they might spend it.
Retirement Lifestyles on a ...
$500,000 Nest Egg
Take a look where your money goes and the simple pleasures it affords.
$1-Million Nest Egg
Doubling your savings adds an extra $40,000 a year to fund your retirement dreams.
$2-Million Nest Egg
You'll have money to spend on a whim, but a greater tax bill, too.
Reader Comments (1)
Posted by: Bruce Harville at 05/30/2009 10:47:32 PM
Although Kiplinger's retirement section is oriented primarily to financial planning, it seems to me that it's equally important for future retirees to plan how they want to spend their time as well. I'm doing this and developing a list of retirement activities that will be creative and satisfying, and lead to learning, growth and engagement with new people. I've started a blog to capture ideas for activities, and would welcome postings from Kiplinger's readers. My blog is at www.harvillequarters.blogspot.com. Thanks!