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Newbie looking for general financial advice

Posted on 1/23/25 at 12:45 pm
Posted by mudcat tiger
Louisiana
Member since Nov 2018
298 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 12:45 pm
I’m 57 and make 75K a year. I only have $250,000 in my 401 plan. I went through a divorce several years ago and had to give her a chunk and also had 4 kids so I was not able to invest much. I’m currently putting 8% in 401 currently. What shape am I from a retirement standpoint?
Posted by LEASTBAY
Member since Aug 2007
16344 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 6:51 pm to
Can you afford to up 401k to 30%? I would go as high as possible. Unless you have a bunch of debt.
Posted by Grinder
Member since Nov 2007
2486 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 8:21 pm to
You have some work to do.

What’s the absolute maximum you think you could put into 401K per year? Max at your age is over $30K a year.

Max out contributions for the next 13 years ($400K), keep it invested in VOO or Total Stock Market, and start your Social Security at 70 and you’ll be good.
Posted by HarveyBanger
Member since Mar 2018
1271 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 8:27 pm to
At your current rate you are still 20+ years from retirement by my calculations in order to generate the same amount of cash flow you are currently making without taking into account social security. Taking into account SS at full retirement age of 67 you maybe be able to pull it off in 12-15 years. These are rough numbers without having more specific information and assuming no company 401k match and no increase in salary.

Bottom line is you will need to up your retirement contributions considerably in order to retire by 70 in my opinion.
Posted by Thundercles
Mars
Member since Sep 2010
6133 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 8:56 pm to
quote:


I’m 57 and make 75K a year. I only have $250,000 in my 401 plan. I went through a divorce several years ago and had to give her a chunk and also had 4 kids so I was not able to invest much. I’m currently putting 8% in 401 currently. What shape am I from a retirement standpoint?

Questions to ask are:

How much longer are you able to continue working?

How much debt do you have?

How much are you expecting to take home in SS benefits?

You should expect to keep working until a few years beyond full SS age. That will be dictated by how lean you want to live until you stop working.
Posted by anc
Member since Nov 2012
20411 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 8:57 pm to
Like others said, you need to be saving as much as you can. It's likely that you are going to have to rely on social security with a little help from your 401k.

I don't know your full salary history, but if you make $75k, you are probably looking at $2700 a month in SS at age 67. If you could up your contribution to 10% and get an 8% annual return, you should have about $650k in your 401k,

Using the 4% safe withdrawal rule, you can take out about $2200 a month, so you are looking at about a $60k income at retirement if you retire at 67.

If you want to retire earlier, you are going to have to get after it.
This post was edited on 1/23/25 at 8:58 pm
Posted by Megasaurus
Member since Dec 2017
1392 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 9:19 pm to
lots of variables here that are not known but I can tell you that if you keep your spending under control, that is one variable that you can control. That being said, if its just you supporting yourself in retirement and you do not carry a bunch of debt into retirement then obviously you wont need as much money. Lots of things will have an effect....

How long do you plan to work?? stop at 67 or later??
Any debt being carried into retirement..housenote..etc??
will you turn on social security at 67 and supplement that with your 401k??

The good news is you wont need all of your 401k funds on day 1 in retirement..you may not need any at 67...that depends on you and the situation you find yourself in at that time.
Best thing you can do right now is evaluate your 401k and make sure you are in the right type of investments for your goals (asset mix-stocks %, bonds%, etc.) Then you need to figure out if you can save more without putting yourself in a bad financial situation now, if you can..save more. How much more? As much as you can without making yourself crazy over it-only you know your personal situation.
Posted by tigerbacon
Arkansas
Member since Aug 2010
4501 posts
Posted on 1/23/25 at 9:34 pm to
So the rule of thumb 401ks double every 7 years on top of what you put in. Plus if you wait until 67 for SS you should be fine and love a comfortable life. Just remember the average 60 year old has less than 100k saved in a 401k
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