What should I have to comfortably retire at 55?

[leadcounsel]

Absent having so much money it doesn't matter, planning this out is like hitting a moving target.

Undershoot, and it would be a very stressful last years living on crumbs. Overshoot, and you leave money on the table. If you have heirs you care about that's a fine problem, but if not you wasted money you could have spent to improve your 1 life.

 

[gathermewool]

Assuming no additional information and going strictly by statistics, you'll live an additional 35 years. RV lifestyle will require an RV sufficient to actually live in, whether a towable one and a truck or otherwise. Probably will need a couple over the 35 years. Call it $500,000 cash, and $10,000 annually for fuel and maintenance (forget DIY on the road). Food, lots of eating out. Another $10,000 annually. Average medical, no idea so add that later.

Just for the travel and food for 35 years, that's $700,000 in constant dollars. Add the RV $500,000, you'll need minimum $1.3 million. Add any unusual medical or other expenses on top. I don't know how much SS a person might get retiring at 55 but guessing not much.

Which statistics show the average American living to be 90?

Also, you’re unsure of the medical expenses, but give such specific numbers for the travel, food and RV? Please explain how you came to those numbers.

 

[gathermewool]

How are some of you able to answer the OP the way you are? So little info to go on = literally impossible to answer.

 

[AZjeff]

My financial guys tell me that they can only tell me the numbers. They can't determine if I want to work longer and have a nicer/shorter retirement or retire earlier with a more modest retirement. That's up to me to decide. To retire at 55 and live the live of leisure takes a several million dollars.

Of course. You (or me or the OP) decide what you want to do and they can then tell you what your numbers will probably, likely, maybe, possibly look like.

We had things planned out then the plan changed unexpectedly.

 

[leadcounsel]

Which statistics show the average American living to be 90?

Also, you’re unsure of the medical expenses, but give such specific numbers for the travel, food and RV? Please explain how you came to those numbers.

Merely trying to be optimistic and helpful to the OP who literally provided almost nothing to go on. Average life expectancy is 77, but RVing reduces his risk in nearly all of the major categories of leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer, CV19, accidents, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, falls off ladders.) One might argue that being on the road increases car accident likelihood but in a huge RV I think survivability would be quite high.

Retiring at 55, prime of life, dropping most of life's stress behind, to go have an enjoyable RV life. No work stress or meetings and schedules, plenty of sleep, plenty of fresh air, presumably walking through parks getting exercise and maintaining a happy positive attitude! Considering heart attacks, lung diseases, and diabetes are the major killers, I'd say such a life would increase the typical person's life expectancy provided he gets exercise walking around national parks and watching diet, eliminating stress, plenty of fresh air.

Doing these activities, presumably means he's also not doing very risky activities, criminal stuff, drugs, heavy drinking, hanging out in bars and casinos like so many retirees, or sitting on the couch awaiting death without purpose. He won't be at home on a ladder or on the icy roof with Christmas ornaments or using a chainsaw to cut back the tree limbs, not sitting on the couch sucking down Rum and Cokes, etc. Now, if he said he was going to retire at 55 and sit in Vegas Casinos as his hobby, I'd have a different analysis.

I'm also optimistic that medical science will add probably a few years to life expectancy in the next several decades. LOL, I've put more work into my answer, than the OP put into his question or that you've put into any answer.

Sorry if my post in some way ruffled your feathers, although I cannot for the life of me understand why it possibly could. I'll try to be more careful. Next time, I'll spend a 1/2 day doing amortization, medical, and financial planning proposals for the OP, complete with 3-team presentation slideshow and binder handouts, to within a few dollars, that he'll need on his RV retirement adventures.

 

[Lubener]

I want to retire at 55, and drive all over the country to all the State/Federal parks.

What should my retirement look like for this to happen?

You need to consult a financial advisor not asking advice on a forum.

 

[Lubener]

How are some of you able to answer the OP the way you are? So little info to go on = literally impossible to answer.

Because everyone is a self proclaimed financial wizard.

 

[dervdave]

Your health

 

[CharBaby]

As I told my daughter and I did for myself. Keep in mind that his is only a small portion of things to do even before the investments. I can't sum up 45-50 years of dedication & commitment in a 10 minute conversation. This is just the mindset you many need to have in order to start. It's old fashioned but it works.

*You need to start saving right out of high school/college. If you worked in school, save some money.
*Get rid of college loans as fast as you can.
*Buy the home you want, pay it off as soon a possible and stay in it till you retire.
*Educate yourself on investments for your own good and be only as aggressive for what makes you sleep well at night.
*Get into a field(that you'll enjoy) and that makes you the money in order to do this.
*Don't get into debt from the start. Don't have huge bill over your head.
*Don't factor in a companies retirement plan or social security while your saving/investing. If those are both there, fine, they'll add to the spender.
*If you're starting at age 40+, you're already behind and you'll have to be very aggressive.
*If you are making big money, save big money.
*Your partner needs to be on the same page as yourself.

 

[dbias]

Well I went the route of becoming a city firefighter. Was able to retire at 52 with pension and insurance and didn’t take much of a toll on my health so far.

 

[bullwinkle]

Everyone has different financial resources and needs, no 2 situations are identical. With exponential price increases due to inflation, I’m not sure that even a couple million in cash is enough to retire before 65 (& the onset of Medicare eligibility)-a major illness, for you or your spouse, could vaporize the maximum benefit of an ACA marketplace health plan pretty quickly. Now, a government job with a pension & health care in retirement-that’s a whole different ball game!

 

[Astro14]

Because everyone is a self proclaimed financial wizard.

There is an interesting set of expertise here. Chemists, doctors, professionals of all types, with expertise in their field.

There are many members who are qualified to answer his question.

There’s quite a few financial experts, and millionaires, on the board. Most people with wealth didn’t brag about it, however, so you wouldn’t know who they are.

But asking here isn’t the worst place to come for advice.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Apparently it's around $6,000,000 per a family member who was contemplating this very thing. That's today.

That number may move if you have passive income like rental real estate and/or public pension and your home is paid off and where you live.

Can you do it for less? Sure, but let me tell you it's less than ideal. I know a guy who's in his 90's and retired at 55 (cardiac issues).

They've lived through 3 economic recessions.
4 Weddings (1 daughter, 3 sons)
They cut coupons
They always bought the cheapest new 1-car for their needs and drove it into the ground.
They've lived in the same house which has never been updated.
Until 10 years ago they did their own maintenance on the house.
Other than an old barely maintained beach house in coastal Georgia they never traveled other than to visit family.
They buy the cheapest clothes. SALE SALE SALE.
One big expense is a country club membership at one of the premier clubs in Atlanta. I think his dues are grandfathered in. That's their social outlet.

So this guy and his wife have spent more than half their adult lives living like paupers. There's nothing wrong with that per se other it was more than half of ones adult life of just existing.

Their saving grace is that both lucked out health wise.

Nothing sucks down a retirement fund like paying $60k/yr for assisted living while the spouse who's in excellent health and younger has $45k/yr in expenses for living in the house.

Old schoolmate tried to move her elderly quadriplegic mother into assisted living. It was one of the cheaper facilities at $9k/mo and all three siblings were contributing. Her father, who's been taking care of mom for the past 15yrs almost by himself, has remained in their marital home and at 75 has developed health problems of his own because of the stress and lack of self-care.

 

[LazyDog]

In addition to your initial desire have a back up plan just in case something goes wrong.

I had to stop work and age 52 and no regrets but my expenses can greatly change depending on where we are.

In Mexico or Manila, we could live very nicely in 1,000 dollars per month.

 

[IndyIan]

Your health

Yep, one of my neighbors saw the writing on the wall when he was working for Nortel, so to get his retirement savings out a sinking ship he retired in his early 50's and took a lump sum instead of his pension. He's in his 60's now and quite fit and healthy and does some hay to sell and works part time at the local LCBO liquor store(a low stress government job here) for some spending money and paid chatting with the neighbors while earning another small pension. It's not a glamorous retirement but it sure isn't bad.
Another neighbor is about the same age with millions in land and investments and worked a lot, and does spend far more, but has diabetes and heart problems and can barely climb in and out of his $100k pickup...

 

[PimTac]

How are some of you able to answer the OP the way you are? So little info to go on = literally impossible to answer.

From what I’ve gathered the answers are general which is appropriate. Only the OP can figure out what he needs based on the lifestyle going forward plus any other conditions.

The only thing I would add is to be generous in the amount of $$ you need. The times ahead do not look healthy financially.

 

[demarpaint]

I wouldn't be asking on an oil forum. A financial planner should know the answer.

 

[wpod]

What happens once you have traveled where ever and seen what you want to see and think what you have thunk? Then what? You will need some serious returns on what ever you have over the years invested in.

 

[Cujet]

Concise answer: $4M, no debt.

Reason. Inflation, market troubles, bank interest rates, energy and health insurance costs.

 

[JavierH19]

No one can give you anything of a ballpark without knowing numbers and personal factors that will influence those numbers. The only answer you'd get is a conservative one that's at least a million over the guess number.