I’m only 44 but I think about retiring every day. How many more years of this will I have to do before I am free? Is this normal? Do other people in banking feel this way? What is your target retirement age and how much in investable assets are you targeting in order to retire? I know there are a lot of variables but just curious what others are thinking about this. Would be much easier if we still had pensions. Given the low interest rate environment we’re in, I’m thinking $3 million minimum for a single person ($5-6 million for a couple) - not including home equity. I am in a high cost area but willing to move to low cost area if it means retiring sooner.
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retirementcalc.org is far too simplistic to be of any real value. No sense of time value of money, no serious what if trade offs, no concept pre tax, post tax, Roth, traditional, etc.
Much better to sit with a financial planner for a few sessions. You’ll come away with very different views.
inflation will only eat up all your retirement savings if you're invested in cash or slow growth stuff. If you own stocks, they will, for the most part, rise right along with inflation, just look at 2020 market performance. Hyper inflation is bad for the economy and fixed income people, but most of us, even "the rich", hold hardly any cash, it's always invested in something and that something will usually increase in price (as opposed to value) right along with inflation.
I lost everything in '08 due to being unemployed and a near fatal illness. Had to start over at close to 50. Did relatively well the last ten years, then, had to find a job due to being made redundant in 2018. WF gave me that opportunity. I realized very quickly what a mistake it was. A little over a year in at 61, I'm displaced. Why? Raising my hand over team members not following COVID rules.
HR was worthless. I took my severance and have a lawyer. At any rate.... at 62 with 5 years left until I can retire, I'll find something. All I need is 'decent' pay and less stress. Even Walmart would be better than the toxic environment of WF!
I plan to retire this year. Been with WF for over 34 years. For those that are younger save as much as you can so when you are 59 and 1/2 you can use those funds to live off of. I have maxed out my Roth and 401k for 2 decades.
Good look
You are exactly right to be concerned about the worthless fiat money of the future. If you think that the dollar devalued under Obama, which it did dramatically, just wait to see the impact of this current COVID relief bill, 9% of which goes to COVID relief and 91% of which goes to people with names such as Kennedy, Kerry, Biden, Pelosi...
This is why you should act now to lay off risk by investing in tangible property, whether housing, gold, or other tangible assets. Housing in particular is great now with super low interest rates... and you’ll be paying it back with near worthless dollars. We all saw the fragility of the overvalued markets with the brief COVID crash last year, and we don’t have a leader like Trump to bring us back again. All of the actions right now from gas and energy shortages to free Medicare for illegal immigrants point to a return of 1970s stagflation. The 70s were the worst post depression decade in history. 20% interest rates, death of the nuclear family from necessity of two workers, etc.
Don’t mistake a rising stock market for ever more worthless dollars. Of course if a dollar is worth half in 10 years a stock will be twice as high. Get yourself diversified into something tangible now.
@1sdc+19VzNbfV Would you mind very much explaining your strategy in more detail?
“ it’s all about generating income. Such as dividend. No need to touch capital. Find cash flow with your capital and it will largely stay the way it is and grow year over year”
Op is whining from an incredible position of financial strength. Hard to believe that anyone with normal expenses (Raising children, sending them to college, scrimping and saving for retirement) could ever amass such a fortune.
Charlie, it’s ok for you to retire. If it really does seem tight for you at this point, hen many of us will be happy to donate to the cause.
@2hes. Raises at Wells is like a slap in the face. Insulting and offensive. Really??? This is how much I got for my entire year hard works? How obnoxious
It is natural to think about retirement as especially if you are working for others. I also think in way. When there is a layoff going on and you are scare being laid off, then retirement thoughts come more frequently.
I'm 56 and I can't think of anything else but retirement. I despise working at WF and I'm looking to leave as this place has been reducing my pay since I started 15 months ago. First, "job families" cut my bonus potential by 30% and then, after working at a two person job for for a year, I got a 0% raise.
I'm looking for my last job and it ain't at WF...
I only think of retirement 2 or 3 times an hour.
Now displacement, I have those wonderful dreams every night...
Turning 44 in 2 weeks. I'm about 1/10 of my way to the retirement number I have in mind. I think about my retirement every day because I'm a fervent long-term planner in that respect. It's been on my mind ever since the day WF hired me over 2 decades ago.
I used to want to be retired by next year, but I realized long ago that it just wasn't going to happen with the field of work I chose, so I've altered my timeframe a bit. I don't plan to be working for any corporate master past age 50. I'm planning to buy an established absentee-run business and increase profits in it, then live off that.
Once my kids are grown and out of the house I'll sell it and expatriate to a much more affordable country, likely Panama or Colombia. That is unless I make enough profits to justify staying, though honestly with the way the country has been going it's lost a lot of the appeal. Maybe this ship can be righted, but it doesn't feel like it anymore.
The cash I'll save alone will pay for visits to the states to see my kids, should they remain here.
Why does everyone throw out a number - it’s all about generating income. Such as dividend. No need to touch capital. Find cash flow with your capital and it will largely stay the way it is and grow year over year. I’ll be out of here at 44-45 generating well enough income from my investment to cover my expenses And enough to reinvest with it too.
Total annual expenses in retirement minus total Social Security is what you need to fund.
Multiply by 25. Draw down 4%. If you earn 4% over inflation you’re set.
@OP. I do too. I have worked at many places before Wells and Wells is the worst by far. So if you don’t enjoy your job you are not alone. It’s not you, it’s Wells.
@OP+19SP1X1Q here. Lots lately.
Every f'ing day.
50 and 5-6mm is our goal. Currently just turned 42 and just crossed 3mm so on our way.
OP, you have worked in an incredibly high paying and affluent state. Trust me, you can retire now. Easily and super comfortably. You are so far ahead of my most aggressive retirement dreams and I am months away from 62.
I have been a 50 year wage slave, always worked at least one job and mostly two. All of my earnings went to bring up a family with a stay at home wife to raise the children, cover their college and save anything left for retirement.
I will be stepping out with a family net worth of $1.3 million, 50/50 investments and real estate. My wife will work another 2 years to cover medical as I am simply out of gas after a bad run of health issues. I realize that this sounds amazing but my pleasures are inexpensive and I actually had everything that I ever wanted for myself by 23 and the rest was for the family. Should I have saved more for retirement? No, we felt it better to launch children without student loans.
So, who is really wealthy?
Every. Single. G-d. Day. You are not alone.
OP- I think there’s nothing wrong with thinking about retirement now. In fact, I think 44 is a great age to start planning. You should start by assessing your financial situation: how much debt do you have, how much have you been able to save so far, what are your monthly/yearly expenses, do you max out your 401k every year, etc. Everyone will have a different retirement number and date based on these factors. Two people can be of the same age and have the same income but the person that has the least debt, the most savings and the lowest expenses can retire earlier and with a smaller amount.
Similiar age and think about it a lot. Plan is to soft retire at 50, no chance I do corp work past 50. Youngsters, save early and often.
I think about it, but at the same time the world will likely be a different place by then. It’s pretty obvious the current financial system won’t last another 15-20 years and the money I’ve saved may not be worth much.
Think about it everyday. 57 years old. Unfortunately been working for a company (WF) that doesn't pay me enough and worst part, their so called retirement benefit of medical insurance is not a benefit. Just medical insurance costs too much to retire. Would be nice to have 3 mil in 401k but let's be realistic for the average wf employee that makes 1/300 the amount of ceo. Most people don't have option to retire after raising kids, paying for college and not making what they are worth while still paying full price (wf benefit) for medical insurance at retirement.
Kinda insulting to think the average employee at Wells could retire early when average employee makes 70k and ask such a question when the employees reading this website are scared they will be laid-off tomorrow!!!
We're the same age, and I think about retirement every single day. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, you want to plan ahead. I intend to do a mini-retirement in the next 10 years or less. There is absolutely no way I will work for a corporation for the next 20 years.
I'm a huge fan of retirementcalc.org. It lets you input variables, and also bases your savings need/timeline on your expenses instead of your income. If you retired at 65 with 3 million, and spent 80k a year or $6,000 per month (without factoring in Social Security), you'd be leaving behind $3.7 million if you died at 95 - nice chunk of change for your heirs if that's what you want to do.
I'm 50 and most days I wake up excited about work. Have you been screened for depression? Sometimes having something to look forward to helps a lot. It doesn't have to be your job, but most people have to work int their 60s and that's a lot of time to spend feeling trapped.
I like my job but I still think about retirement, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not a WF or banking thing, just go ask 10 of your friends. At least half of them think about it.
If you are in your forties and thinking about retirement every day you are in the wrong career. It’s one thing to plan, but if you are dreading the next 20 years, you are still young enough to make a change.
It might be hard, but not as hard as going to bed every night dreading the next morning.
I am planning mine to retire early, that is why what you make today will help you achieve your goal sooner along with investing. I agree, but I think its 2.5 mil per person to retire.
If all goes well I'll retire at 55. I don't think about it every day, I like my job and life is too precious of a thing to wish it away waiting for some far off retirement date to come. None of us even knows if we'll live that long...could die in a car wreck tomorrow, so enjoy it while it lasts!