Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

soldforaspaceship t1_ja6c8gt wrote

I saw a financial planner recently in California and it was considerably more than 800k to retire comfortably here...

20

NinjaPlezeD t1_ja6uox0 wrote

Depends on where you live and what kind of lifestyle you want to have. These are averages. Bakersfield isn't the same cost as LA.

8

ButterflyCatastrophe t1_ja7af4j wrote

A retirement planner is going to look at the amount of principal you need in order to sustainably generate annual spending. ie: not spend principal, but add to it for inflation.

TFA is just looking at how much gets spent. ie: spend all the principal in 15 years.

Still useful as a relative benchmark.

4

Miserly_Bastard t1_ja6ameb wrote

This idea about retiring "comfortably" needs some work. It's very subjective.

If you live as the locals live, it's possible to spend very very little. That may entail eating a lot of local food or locally-crafted spirits each of which can be unbelievably cheap, living in regular local housing maybe without HVAC (or where you bring your own HVAC) instead of a modern apartment, and driving a scooter.

If you can't adapt to that and you also aren't rich enough to live like this and also be a member of a golf club then, honestly, you are probably going to have a worse time than if you'd just stayed put in a place where you're already adapted/acculturated.

11

christian4tal t1_ja6tvek wrote

In Europe that's not a very accurate description of the 'locals', are you referring to subsaharan Africa?

5

Miserly_Bastard t1_ja7kyr5 wrote

I was thinking of developing non-western countries for the most part. Having lived in SE Asia, that's where my head is, but yes you could apply the same lessons very broadly (e.g. if you live in Angola by choice then don't live in the same modern apartments where all the oil and gas expats live).

1

phdoofus t1_ja942a9 wrote

In the US, as soon as you start slapping 'farm-to-table' and 'locally crafted' labels on everything you start paying a price premium.

2

Miserly_Bastard t1_jaa5pkl wrote

It's not just that. We also mechanize and process the shit out of everything in large part because labor is expensive. Where labor is cheap, miraculously vegetables are typically less expensive than processed food.

We are also very used to eating comparatively giant portion sizes of meat and not very much offal. The developing world knows how to take tough meat, use it sparingly to maximal effect, and cook it well.

2

phdoofus t1_jabdxvw wrote

Was just eating really excellent braised beef tendon in Singapore. In the US, you never see it on the menu (except maybe some beef tendon in pho). Easy enough to find dried tendon being used as dog chews though. I apologize if anyone thinks I'm referring to Singapore as part of 'the developing world'.

1

restore_democracy t1_ja64smu wrote

Never really thought of Pakistan as a retirement destination.

9

BhagwanBill t1_ja65o9b wrote

Unless you're from Pakistan or have family in Pakistan, I cannot imagine anyone thinking of it as a retirement destination.

11

StartledPineapple t1_ja643kx wrote

As a Mississippian, I hope that the influx of retirees due to this article does not in fact increase the cost of living. Please consider our neighbor Alabama which has better healthcare.

8

DrSaurusRex t1_ja6xyvn wrote

Don't worry. No one's heading to Mississippi. It's on all of the "bottom 5" lists for the US...

14

Minionz t1_ja6gasy wrote

These amounts assume a retirement length of 15 years. Many people will live longer than 15 years if you for example, retire at 65. Not making past 80 years old is not something you want to count on. I personally know someone that did, and is dirt poor now as he burnt through his retirement in his 70s, buying gifts for people, splurging on grand kids etc. Unfortunate all around.

8

Philosopher_King t1_ja69fdm wrote

What does "comfortable" mean? They say 700k for US, yet the actual median retirement is, what, ~100k? (from what I could find with some quick searching). That's a lot of "uncomfortable" people.

7

Whalesongsblow t1_ja69yen wrote

Most Americans retire in a pretty bad position. Almost half of the US middle class will be in poverty at some point during their retirement. Go to your local Walmart and take note of the 70 and 80 year olds working there.

19

NotMyPrerogative t1_ja76eqi wrote

It makes me so dang sad everytime I see an elder working at walmart.

4

kungpaocheese t1_ja7i0uw wrote

You're paying their social security.

−8

TaliesinMerlin t1_ja87iu4 wrote

By the same logic, they paid someone else's social security. I'm not sure why that point is relevant here.

5

[deleted] t1_ja7lg5w wrote

[deleted]

1

[deleted] t1_ja7tia3 wrote

[deleted]

−1

lucky_ducker t1_ja80zi5 wrote

Social Security has been taxing wages, and paying out benefits, since 1937. I entered the workforce in 1977 and have been paying into SS my entire work life.

Pretty much anyone born after 1919 has been paying SS taxes their whole work life.

3

appendixgallop t1_ja6ds8z wrote

That's explained in the Methodology section. This is a decent article and it's important financial planning for everyone. Note that he's talking about retiring fairly early, and as a single person - there are financial consequences for both factors.

6

Cycleguy57 t1_ja694bt wrote

I can’t imagine that Americans could retire without millions of dollars considering that they would be bankrupted by a serious medical crisis. How much does Medicare pay?

5

lucky_ducker t1_ja82c8g wrote

Medicare with a good Medigap supplemental policy is actually pretty adequate for the vast majority of U.S. retirees. Only if you get a rare condition that Medicare flat out doesn't cover, or choose an expensive elective medical procedure, would you run up large bills.

What does happen quite often is that someone will require long term skilled care in a nursing home. Medicare only covers 100 days. Medicaid, the means tested medical coverage, will pay for long term care, but only after the beneficiary exhausts all but their last $2000 in assets (there is some protection for a primary residence, especially if there is a spouse still living there). The upshot is that a large majority of persons needing long term care end up dying with pretty much zero net worth.

3

Cycleguy57 t1_ja862yl wrote

Thanks for the info. I was always wondering about it.

1

Theburritolyfe t1_ja6ws5f wrote

If you live off of the 4% rule you are living off of like 30k a year. This doesn't work.

2

TaliesinMerlin t1_ja87cpj wrote

Did you include social security or other entitlement programs?

2

kungpaocheese t1_ja7in97 wrote

Why is basically half of Africa and almost all of Central America ignored? Liechtenstein is in the list though? Wtf.

Puerto Rico being ignored is super odd. Its a tax haven for Americans from the mainland.

2

sprinkles5000 t1_ja7vcie wrote

I hear the weather in Belarus is gorgeous in January.

1

Kelmon80 t1_ja81166 wrote

I'm not buying Switzerland being cheaper to retire in than the US, and retiring in Germany only being 1/6th less than in Switzerland (i'd guess doubling what's needed in Germany may be appropriate)

1

ryoma-gerald t1_jaajo9u wrote

Japan and European look like nice places to retire.

1

Gabagool1987 t1_ja6u0g4 wrote

TL;DR: Get out of Cali/NY and go to Florida/Texas

0

bgymn2 t1_ja7vuk5 wrote

Maybe you should have read. According to this FL and NY are the same.

3

babyyodaisamazing98 t1_ja8k9zp wrote

This seems really far off. Every retirement calculator and planner I looked at estimated between $3,000,000-$5,000,000 to retire in the states and live to 85.

0