45 Years of age, at what level would you stop saving for retirement?

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Saw an interesting thread yesterday that suggested if you were under 40 and had $800K or more in retirement you should stop saving so aggressively and go enjoy a little more (assuming you plan to work until 60). Made me think, at what level would you stop being worried about putting more in (for this thread lets say you are 45)

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I’m 45 and continuing to invest a good amount into wife’s and my 401k for tax savings now. I feel like I spend plenty and not really much more I would want to increase spending on. I just want the option to stop somewhere in my 50’s if I don’t feel like waiting until 60.

I'm technically at a level at 38 where I could not invest another penny and would not have to worry about retirement. But what the frick am I going to spend my money on? There's only so much shite you can buy

In a few years I will have what I consider to be the minimum we'll need for retirement. At that point, I plan to work five more years but only put in the 401ks the minimum amount to get our employers' matching contributions (4%). I will keep the 401ks invested mostly in stocks to hopefully get some more growth. The extra money I would have saved and invested, I will use to pay down some debt, build up my cash reserves and make some home renovations.

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But what the frick am I going to spend my money on? There's only so much shite you can buy

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Diversify. Buy hard assets, specifically precious metals and bitcoin.

I would fit that profile and if anything I have gotten more aggressive.

I have long maxed 401k, HSA and backdoor Roth. But I have been increasing my brokerage investments substantially. That is because I had always planned to retire at 60 but I am in a position now to retire at 55. That excited me so now I am trying to see how many more years I can get back. 54 is likely if a few ventures play out. 53 would take some things falling in my favor but not off the table. Just turned 48 for reference.

I have a wife and 3 daughters so trust me when I tell you we still spend plenty. But it's always a balancing act between staying disciplined and enjoying life. We travel, my kids don't want for much, and we live in a great neighborhood. Not sure where we would substantially increase spending.

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At which point you can live on your nest egg without drawing on your nest egg, it would likely be time for me to pivot.

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I think he's referencing what some call "coastfire"


Where you aren't necessarily financially independent, but your portfolio is such that it is reasonably projected to hit your number when you want to retire (early).

Like I may still need to work in order to pay bills until I'm 60, but if I was super aggressive early on with my savings, I could theoretically stop saving for retirement and just let compounding interest do its thing long before 60.

Not that I'm advocating that approach, but some take it. I'm not far off from a point in my portfolio that, if I was fine with retiring at 60+, I could stop retirement savings now in my mid 30s and be fine.

I think there are a lot of tech people who made (and saved) boatloads of cash early on in there career, but then later get burned out and take a different, much lower paying, job. They aren't able to save for retirement like they used to, but that's really not a big deal if you have millions in your portfolio you don't plan on touching until much later.

Another factor to consider is that your contributions matter less and less as time goes on. The dollar I contributed at 22 might be 5 or 6 dollars at 60. But the dollar I contributed at 55 might only be $1.50 at 60. That's where a person might find more utility in other things (trips, paying for college/weddings, having less income in exchange for more free time with family, etc) besides retirement savings.

If I can get my 401k to 1M by 40, I plan to stop doing any in 401k and just stick with investing in taxable brokerage accnt.

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Saw an interesting thread yesterday that suggested if you were under 40 and had $800K or more in retirement you should stop saving so aggressively and go enjoy a little more (assuming you plan to work until 60). Made me think, at what level would you stop being worried about putting more in (for this thread lets say you are 45)

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You are describing Coast FIRE without the retire early part. I will be saving aggressively to try to pull forward the financial independence component. And then, I'll have the hands on steering wheel on whatever my family wants to do from that point forward.

I am defining financial independence as: Liquid Net Worth = 33x annual expenses. That's a safe withdrawal rate that should be good to last for a longer time frame.

I'm retiring next year and just cut back my retirement contribution to the company match this week. Will have one more Roth contribution in January.