Update:22twain wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 9:49 amI suppose I'd better practice what I preach, so here is my progression in financial assets as a multiple of my estimated expenses (including taxes, and assuming current spending patterns) at age 70. At this point I will start to collect Social Security and take RMDs from my tax-deferred accounts, and have to pay taxes on them. My current expenses are lower because my taxable income is low, and so are my taxes.
Age 31: 0.5x
Age 35: 2x
Age 40: 5x
Age 45: 8x
Age 50: 11x
Age 55: 23x (includes the combined effect of the 2008-09 crash, and a jump of about 10x from an inheritance)
Age 60: 35x
Age 63 (retired): 38x
Age 65 (now): 42x
Age 67 (now): 50x
The pandemic obviously affected my ability to spend on travel. Also, we've had a big run-up in the stock market, even including the dip at the beginning of the pandemic.
When I start collecting SS, it will just about cover my estimated expenses. (So what will I do with the 42x 50x? I'm thinking about it...)
Context:
Unlike probably most people here, DW and I mostly handle our finances separately, and contribute to a joint account for household expenses. The expenses used here include my share of our joint expenses. Her progression was somewhat similar to mine. Being a few years older, she now has more than I do, and her SS is about the same as mine will be.
We live in a small town in the South, and were both small-college professors. Our salaries each reached a maximum of about 2x age-70 expenses in today's dollars. No children.