by Sensible Investor » 10/08/17 at 23:28:53
I put my info into the "best retirement calculator" at Bankrate and found that I can contribute $0 and retire on 80% of my income at 58. The interest rates I put in there were pretty conservative, 6% pre-retirement and 4% post-retirement. I've evolved from "retire early abroad" to that I'd prefer to be more or less independent and be able to get some bullshit job to pass the time along with hobbies. With this path, I could conceivably still hold a job until 59.5, 62, or beyond. My next door neighbor is 69 and still drives a livery car around part-time in order to pass the time, he doesn't need the money at all. He's got a $50,000 per year pension with health benefits, he waited until the full retirement age to collect social security, his house was paid off long ago, and he has a sizable IRA. People who stay active like that seem to age better than those who just seek leisure.
So..... as of earlier tonight the 401k contribution is now down to 6%, 100% Roth option. I'll get the 6% Roth, plus another 6% traditional from the match. Up until a few months ago the 401K was 100% traditional and nearly maxed out, but I'll be focusing on the Roth and HSA space in order to minimize the RMDs in the future. Still maxing out the HSA and Roth IRA for now.
I'm still 33. I'll always be happy that I gave myself such a head start. We really live at the best time to be an American, in a financial sense. They give us so many incentives to save for our own futures it's really amazing that so many people fail to do anything at all. Even more amazing is someone like Rob, who was on a path towards a comfortable retirement but did so many things so catastrophically wrong.