How Much Do I need to retire today?

3 Comments

1. Just curious as to how many people would be supported by the income. In my case, it is 4, but my initial thoughts on the subject at between 17 and 35 years old did not count on a homemaker and 2 kids from 35 on. It has gotten nothing but more expensive along the way. Did you include taxes and insurance on the house and upkeep and water and sewer even without a mortgage? Or is a rent expense in there somewhere? I kept trying to budget for minimal expense myself, but all the rentals require insurance, taxes, upkeep, maintenance and so forth. Also, for me, in the event of the rental becoming empty, it is a loss for how long the property is vacant. It sure becomes an issue when cash is not flowing in because the property taxes and insurance and also the natural gas bill have to be paid regardless.

   Nice to see you have a plan in place in case you left your job. From what I have calculated, I always pad my expenses by 10%. Somehow, I still seem to spend more than expected. For instance, we went today to get my daughter enrolled in the new school. The cost was not only more than what I expected to pay ( I was actually going to beg for a discount). It was 10% more than was quoted a month ago. The costs never go down. However, I rarely just get paid more money. My dividend for GE only went up 4.5% last year, the school alone jumped and with the 10% added to the last price, it is now 20% more than I expected to pay. Seems like work is inevitable for me for quite some time.

   Good luck with your plans. Hopefully, the dividends will grow to the point to cover your expenses, and you will be able to work less and enjoy your time more.

   Keep cranking,

   Robert the DividendDreamer

   Reply

   • No taxes if I keep my income below $18k, 15% taxes if I make less than $36k. The house will break even if I have roommates to cover all expense include property taxes and insurance. My current passive income exceeded by expenses, including business expenses.

     Mr. can work until he turns 70, and continue to work to support his lavish lifestyles. I’m not inflating mine. If he reduce his lifestyle to my spending level, then his current saving will make do. He can retire today with his savings.

     If we have kid, I’ll stay home to take care of the kid. Then when it times for school, public school. I’ll keep the kid’s life simple but exciting without inflating lifestyle.

     Side note:
     Back in the day, I made my own kites. If I have kids, I would like to make kites, build robot, build fire pits, camping, etc. Things that I want to do when I was little. Look at you, you spent time with your Dad that is why you are smart. He taught you things. I wouldn’t leave my kid’s education solely in the hands of strangers. I want set good examples. Giving my kid good solid guidance. It’s a lot more fun when you are actually retire with a kid, than being a working parent (tired, exhausted, worried, anxious, etc all of the emotional feelings, your kids will sense it too.)

     Cost of having a child may increase but children don’t demand video games, cellphone, techno, etc if you don’t introduce them into their lives. It’s the adults that are too exhausted and send the children in front of tv and video games so they can rest.
     As far as school, public school only. Younger than that, I take them to library and science museum, temple, church to interact with other little kids. They won’t miss their childhood.

     Reply

     • Sounds like a good set of ideas. Hopefully, you can implement them and enjoy the time you will garner by working less.

       As far as schooling goes. The public schools in our area are absolute trash. I would not want to go to one of them, so sending my kids to them is an issue for me. If we lived in another city or state, things might be different, but in our city, that is not an option for us. That expense will not go away. Also, my kids are athletes and they both participate in structured sports year round. It is an expense that has to be paid. They both have dreams and those dreams include potentially being college athletes. My daughter has been competing nationally for over 4 years and plans to go to the world’s in the next 3 years. Her potential is amazing, so that expense will not going to change. However, we enjoy the competitions and use them as family trips. So it really adds to our family emjoyment. I can truly say that watching my children train and compete and see them enjoy the fruits of their labor is more than enough to stimulate my desire to pay for those things.

       You have some great ideas about the libraries and museums. We have annual family pass to the zoo which covers three different things, and we use it all the time. That is our best bang for the buck.

       As far as the working goes, when I had kids, I chose to do all the school activities and all the sports events and practices at the expense of work. You would not believe how many kids have never had a visit from anyone when the school activities are going. I understand that because most people have to work. My wife usually makes cup cakes for all the kids in my children’s grade, so they like it when we go to the events.

       Anyhow, good luck with your endeavors. Hopefully, the dividends continue to pile up.

       Keep cranking,

       Robert the DividendDreamer

       Reply