According to the latest news, the answer is: probably not.
This last Saturday the New York Times came out with a sobering perspective on the conventional wisdom that a million dollars is enough to retire on. In a nutshell, between the effects of inflation, the riskiness of the stock market, taxes and dismally low interest rates most of today’s retirees don’t have enough saved. Their prescription: save as much as you can.
Click here for the story.
For a simple living yes A million is enough to retire. Anyway there is more things to do than working to be a millionaire.
I could live off of a million right now, but there is no way I could in 40 years when I turn 65. I’ll probably need at least $5 million at that point just to keep up with inflation. It’s kind of discouraging, but as long as you plan ahead any number is achievable.
Izza,
Actually…a million might not be enough. A realistic withdrawal rate is something like 2% per year, which gives you something like 20,000 per year. Thats not much to live on. If you have children, or dependents or want to pass anything onto your children at all, you’ll need a lot, lot more.
Best,
James
Jake,
Thanks for the comment – if you took an aggressive trading strategy you might able to turn one million into 4 in sufficient time – its difficult though if you don’t work at it.
Thanks,
James
I will be retiring with a lot less than 1 million dollars. I can retire on about 1/4 of that and live a simple life. I am living on less than $20,000 per year now so I will do alright on $20,000 in the future (about 10 years until I retire).
I have no intention of leaving an estate for my heirs so I will be fine on a lot less than the aspiring millionaires.
Jane,
Why don’t you want to leave something for your heirs?
Kudos to you for living on less than $20,000!
-James