re: Retirement nest egg - rethinking 4% rule, size of treasure chest we leave to descendants

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Have you thought about long term care insurance? My husband and I each bought a policy when I retired (he had retired a few years before). Benefits are available immediately if need be (the benefits are higher the longer we wait to tap into each policy, of course). I smile every time I see the policy. Gives me a great sense of security

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Money is difficult to access fully. They piecemeal it out. My dad has an excellent policy that has a cash value of over $350k. He’s in assisted living at @8k a month. Getting the money out is difficult, too many qualifiers. To fully access money, you literally need to be in a vegetative state, incapable of any self function.
Fortunately he has more income than costs, so it is not needed, but even with him on hospice, they aren’t paying out much.

This is part of the reason I'm getting out early. I don't want to leave a whole lot plus if given the chance I want to filled enjoy the last quarter of life.

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My approach will be to spend more early while have health and desire to do things.

Most 80 and 90 year olds have more chill.

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I’ve heard retirement planners break activity levels (and attendant costs) in retirement down like this:

50-something to early 70s is go-go-go and is costly
Mid 70s to early 80s is slow-slow-slow and is less costly
Mid 80s & on is no-no-no and is even less costly

Obviously this is a generalization and precludes major health or mobility issues.

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I can’t think of anything more impactful than paying for school, especially college. The return on investment and quality of life will pay dividends for the rest of the beneficiary’s life.

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How someone is going to gain marketable skills is the best ROI I can imagine. My schooling has and will pay back an absurdly high multiple of return.

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Retiring at 55yo.
Expecting 30yr retirement.
Planning for 40yr retirement.

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I retired 5 years ago at 54. I didn't use the 4% rule. I used the idea that if I needed 100k/year how long can I live. So at 54 I had just over forty years in investments/savings. What put me over the edge was a life insurance payout for my deceased wife. While the payday was nice I don't recommend it for anyone.

I had a high school senior and a sophomore at the time. College was taken care of by funding their 529's early on.

So five years in I found that I didn't spend 100k. Maybe 60k per year. Thanks to the market I now have almost 60 years in the nest egg. Even if I die a very expensive death, my boys will get a pretty nice inheritance.

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So sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. Time so precious! Nice reminder.

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Thanks. It wasn't unexpected but still was a shock. Retirement seems daunting but it really depends on what you have in the bank. Good luck.

ETA:

The 4% does work. If you are invested, even conservatively, you can return about 6%. So living in retirement should be accretive as long as you keep expenses low.

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One thing I'd suggest is you and your wife take really good care of yourselves Join a gym and lift weights and get some cardio in on a regular basis..

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This can’t be overstated. I’m doing what I can, but the wife does nothing. I keep telling her that all the shite she takes for granted will be infinitely more difficult in another 10-20 years, but she just doesn’t listen.