Take this Job and Shove It?

Everyone’s had the thought after a long, grueling, stressful day on the job – if only I didn’t have to go back. How much would it take to make that thought a reality?

The recent FIRE movement (Financially Independent, Retire Early) has gotten more and more younger people crunching the numbers. The article below, originally posted at Business Insider, presents possible scenarios of how much someone would need saved and invested based on their retirement age goal. My take – it just reinforces the fact that if retirement at any age is your goal, it takes planning, discipline to save and attention to investing to get there – the amounts aren’t small…

——————————————–

Most Americans have been in the working world for at least a decade by the time they reach their mid-30s. For some people, that’s enough.

With an early retirement craze taking hold in the US, you’d probably be in the minority if you haven’t wondered, “How much money do I need to quit my job and never work again?” On a quest to crunch the numbers, we consulted Brian Fry, a certified financial planner and the founder of Safe Landing Financial.

Fry used a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the starting balance someone would need in a taxable investment account the day they leave work to live on either $100,000 a year or $65,000 a year in dividends (fixed income from bond investments) and capital gains (income from equity investments), after paying taxes, until age 90.

To run the simulation for a hypothetical retiree, Fry had to make assumptions about the retiree’s investments and tax treatments. You can find the full list assumptions accompanying the graphic below, but in short, he used JPMorgan long-term return estimates used for investments, a conservative 3% inflation estimate, assumed no state or local taxes, and did not factor in Social Security.

In addition, the investments are assumed to be held in a taxable investment account, not a retirement account like an IRA or 401(k), since you can’t withdraw money from those accounts without penalty before age 59 and a half.

According to Fry’s calculations, an investor who leaves work at age 35 would need at least $5,225,000 in a taxable investment account on the day they retire in order to have an annual post-tax income of $100,000.

If the investor reduces the target annual income to $65,000, he would need about $2 million less — or $3,250,000 — invested on the day they retire.

Fry recommends investing 80% of the lump sum in stocks and 20% in bonds, which is considered an “aggressive” asset allocation, because of the age of the investor. However, he notes, it’s important that retirees update their financial plans yearly or whenever they experience a significant life change.

“Investors tend to be their own worst enemy when experiencing investment losses,” Fry said. “If you don’t have the time, interest, discipline, and expertise, it’s better to work with a fee-only certified financial planner that can tailor your investments to track to your financial plan.”