What do you consider 'comfortable for retirement '?

Ron said:
I have a customer who is a 3rd gen business owner and probably the cheapest dude Ive ever met.
His dad is late 80s...mom passed recently. Dad needs help to care for himself. They looked at a few homes and he said the cost was going to exceed $150k/yr. Not sure how normal that is I havent investigated these.
He says they are hiring 2 nurses at $75k/yr to rotate 12 hour shifts. Living at his dad's house and providing care. Said dad stays in his home. Nurses make as much or more than what they would and have a much less stressful job and he gets direct concentrated care.

I thought it was in interesting thought.
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My wife’s dad is the area director for assisted living Lutheran Homes...just got an award in Vegas for it too. In his oversight, $20k/mo is the highest and $4500/mo is the cheapest. But depending on insurance, some/a lot of that can be offset.
 
We are dealing with caregivers now. Off the record, under the table, cash is 12-15 an hour. Low level from a caregiver firm (taxed, insured, everything), runs 18-22 an hour for skilled or CNA level. RN is 25 and up. Doesn't take long to eat up a lifetime of savings.
 
Ron said:
I have a customer who is a 3rd gen business owner and probably the cheapest dude Ive ever met.
His dad is late 80s...mom passed recently. Dad needs help to care for himself. They looked at a few homes and he said the cost was going to exceed $150k/yr. Not sure how normal that is I havent investigated these.
He says they are hiring 2 nurses at $75k/yr to rotate 12 hour shifts. Living at his dad's house and providing care. Said dad stays in his home. Nurses make as much or more than what they would and have a much less stressful job and he gets direct concentrated care.

I thought it was in interesting thought.
Click to expand...

I like that idea of staying in my house more than going to a retirement community, but my parents are very social people, and those places provide a lot of social activities for those who desire it. I'm a little bit more of a hermit. 10-15 yrs of 24 hr care for dying from Alzheimers or some other slow killing disease would wipe out $1,000,000 just in care costs. I'm honestly not sure if I am crazy for thinking about this stuff so much or if other people are crazy for not thinking about it enough. I just don't want to end up lying in my own fecal matter and piss and getting slapped when I am old and half out of it. I think a lot of people look to their kids to take care of them when they get old. I don't want to be a burden to my son.
 
Full Disclaimer: I'm a Financial Advisor since 2008 with my Series 7, 66, Life Insurance and Long Term Care Licenses'.
I'm happy to talk to anyone free of charge just PM me. I don't check here as much as I used to pre-baby but I will get back with you.

Your biggest enemies in retirement are inflation and medical cost.

I'm going to keep it real general. 80% of your highest year of income is the minimum you should use for spending money in retirement . How did I get that number? Chances are you should have all of your debts paid off and will be driving less thus being able to "live comfortably" in retirement.

Lets use a simple example assuming retirement at 65 and you and your spouse are 1 out of only 3 American's that does not need Long Term Medical Care(LTC). Lets say your last year of work, you and your spouse make $100,000. 80% of that is $80,000/4%=$2,000,000 at retirement. If you start at 4% withdraw, you should be able to raise your income in a properly balanced investment portfolio 3% every year to keep up with inflation.

So Spending money counting inflation,
1st year. $80,000 x 1.03=
2nd year $82,400 x "
3rd year $84,872.... and so on.

What about social security? Currently, the Social Security Board of Trustees projects program cost to rise by 2035 so that taxes will be enough to pay for only 75 percent of scheduled benefits. Go to ssa.gov to check on your s.s. benefits.

Now lets say you fall on the statistical side of being 2 out of 3 married couples over the age of 65 that may need Long Term Medical Care. In today's dollars in North Carolina that can average $9,000 per month per individual for in home care and average duration of care can be 3 years unless you have Alzheimer's / dementia which could last average of 9 years.

$9,000x 12monthsx 9years = $972,000 in Long Term Medical Care for one of you.

That's Today's dollars and medical care is inflating faster that 3% per year. So the reality is everyone should SERIOUSLY consider keeping yourself healthy enough where you could qualify for a Long Term Care policy. LTC insurance has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Now you can get a policy that is Life Insurance that has access to the death benefit for LTC needs tax free. ( FOR IN HOME CARE, no one wants to go to a nursing home.) That way if you don't use it, your family doesn't lose it. That was the biggest downfall of the old style LTC policy's.

You don't want to "self insure" and pay for LTC from your taxable IRA's, trust me.

PM me for free personalized retirement predictions and LTC/Life insurance quotes.
 
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