For Retirees...Just Curious: What Percent of Your Final Salary Is Your Current Retirement Income.

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
Financial analysts have always said people will need 70 - 100% of their salaries to be able to live comfortably in retirement. I know there are those who live comfortably on lesser percentages, as I did for the first 11 years of my retirement. I've read about people who were living full, happy lives on 50%. I don't want to know what your salary was, the dollar amount of your retirement income or it source(s), I'm just asking what percent of your final salary is your current retirement income? Mine is 84%.
 

Due to the fact that I now must take Mandatory Distribution from my IRA which was once all 401K assets that I rolled into a IRA when I retired in1990 my income this year will approximate 120% of my final salary. I had to start taking MD 10 years ago since I am now 82.
 
My annual expenses are approx. 30% of my final year base salary.

My income fluctuates from year to year and is approx. 78% of my final year base salary.

If you deduct the FICA, state and federal income tax from my final year base salary my actual spendable cash income in retirement is higher than my final year base salary.
 

with us time cost money and one thing we have plenty of is time .

so our retirement budget is about 100-110% of working income .

we were not free to do as we like each day while working . now each day we are out doing our photography , grabbing lunch somewhere or taking the grand kids out , etc ,etc .
 
Like Aunt Bea pointed out, the answer to the question in the OP requires clarification if the intent is to reflect living standards after retirement. It is not only taxes but things like the money you were putting away for retirement that you might not be doing any more either. So what might look like 40% at first glance might me a lot closer to 80% or higher if you include those details.
 
that's hard for me to calculate as I started taking all my earned pensions AND my full Social Security 3 years before I actually retired.. so it's hard for me to figure out.. But if I just use my final salary and my husbands final salary.. and remove the social security and pensions.. we are now living on approximately 95% of my final salary made from actual employment.
 
I haven't calculated the amount, no reason to since we are living well. With only taxes, food, entertainment & utilites to pay for living with zero debt, translates to life being good for us.
 
I never compared those two incomes, because, happily, there was no need to do so. My investment portfolio is heavily weighted on dividend payers.
 
the ratio of interest ,dividends and capital appreciation that makes up how your income is conceived does not matter . you still should know what your spending a year so i am not following what the make up has to do with the total amount you live on ?

we don't have exact budgets but i certainly can tell you how our total spending relates to what we were earning pre retirement . whether it is interest , dividends or some capital appreciation being spent it is all the same and all coming from your portfolio value one way or another
 
Current retirement income is roughly 45% of gross income of my final year. I made a good income my final few years due to company bonuses(profit sharing etc). If I compare to my actual monthly salary, which I was able to live on, it's roughly the same. Expenses are a little higher due to health insurance and 2nd home. But I live well within my means as my annual w/d rate is less than 2%. Those 70-80% boilerplate income projections does not work for all.
 

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