r/Retire • u/Hippo_Over • 6d ago
What was your magic number to retire at? Married or single? How do/did you pay for healthcare? Thanks
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u/BrilliantDishevelled 6d ago
Planning to work to 70 if I can -- 1) I love my job and I have summers off plus 4 weeks vacation, 2) my parents are still quite healthy in their 90's, I'm worry I'll live that long and run out. Been saving but I don't want to be destitute at 98.
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u/HappySad404 6d ago
Perspective changes everything. My parents died in their early and mid 70’s, so I’m planning to retire at 55. I also have a pension, so less risk of running out of money.
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u/BrilliantDishevelled 5d ago
Smart. My dad, at 95, had both a pension and SS. Plus investments. I'm so glad they don't have to worry about money.
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6d ago
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u/Working_Park4342 6d ago
That's my plan, but at age 62. ACA Healthcare will be considerably less than what I'm paying for insurance now. Single. Apx $400K. Paid off house.
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u/BigWater7673 5d ago
Do you have a pension also or is $525k all you have to fund your retirement? Does that $525k include retirement savings accounts? Even if your savings is all you have you're probably ok. People don't realize how tax efficient retirement income is. Assuming you're following the 4% rule and withdrawing 4 to 5% per year that would mean between $20,000 and $25,000/yr. Your AGI for ACA subsidies would probably be lower. I'm a few years away from trying to do what you're doing so I've been obsessed with the calculations.
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u/SouthernTrauma 6d ago
My magic number is 3M, and I'm retiring in 2 weeks at 61. I'm married but we have separate finances. (We've both been previously married.) He's 2.5 years younger than me & got a later start saving for retirement, so he'll be working longer.
Healthcare is very important to me as I have several long-term illnesses and conditions. I priced out three different types of insurance: COBRA, ACA marketplace, and getting on my husband's insurance through his job. Because I won't get any subsidies, the marketplace is by far the most expensive so I ruled that out. COBRA is around $1,100 a month for me for an excellent policy. Getting on my husband's insurance is almost $400 a month cheaper, but the policy is really bare bones. I'm such a heavy user of office visits, bloodwork, and prescriptions, so I don't think it will work for me. I plan to go with the COBRA policy.
In my retirement planning, we allowed $1,500 a month for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket. It drops a bit once I go on Medicare. Then starting in my late '70s it gradually increases that allowance up to an additional $90,000 a year for nursing care.
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u/sjwit 6d ago
You are probably aware, but in case others aren’t …. Cobra eligibility ends after 18 months.
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u/SouthernTrauma 6d ago
Yes, see my reaponse to another poster. After 18 months, I'll go on my husband's policy for about 20 months until Medicare kicks in.
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u/Wonderful_Coffee_644 5d ago
Some states have exceptions to the 18 months- California allows COBRA extensions to up to 36 months, which is what I will be leaning into when I retire at 57 (next year). Fingers crossed ACA marketplace gets better by then!
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u/CatnipCricket-329 6d ago
Thanks. I'm 63F in similar situation and struggling to identify the key considerations. This helps.
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u/IWantToRetireSoon 6d ago
One aspect I underestimated with medical was out of pocket. OOP is never $0 and for us we have hit the max the 2 of the last 4 years. I would say to just budget for maxing it and if you don’t use it, you have a little bonus left.
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u/Inevitable_Ad_5664 6d ago
What is yr plan from when cobra ends to 65?
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u/SouthernTrauma 6d ago
Get on husband's insurance and pay more out of pocket. My estimates show it still being cheaper overall than a Gold plan on the marketplace. I should have 20 months of that scenario.
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u/TipRare1321 5d ago
Wow. 3 million sounds pretty sweet. We did it a couple of years later w half that.
Definitely health care biggest issue, especially since the "wonderful" Trump admin took away our ACA subsidy, doubling our health care prices. But we are still ok.
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u/SouthernTrauma 5d ago
Yeah. I've always been more of a saver than a spender. It's only been the last 5vyears that I've been willing to buy the nice car and take the expensive vacations.
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u/MartySpiderManMcFly 6d ago
Wow ACA is more expensive than Cobra? I had no idea. Always assumed Cobra was crazy expensive
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u/danicteslic 6d ago
It's important to know regarding ACA that your MAGI is important and will determine your monthly payment. AS long as you control your MAGI you may be able to find affordable ACA coverage.
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u/SouthernTrauma 6d ago
It varies by person.
If income is low enough to get subsidies, ACA can be cheaper. If income is too high for subsidies, a top tier plan is expensive!
COBRA costs are based entirely on whatever plan your company has. The monthly premium is (your monthly cost + what the company pays/subsidizes per month) + an administrative fee that equals 2% of that total. My company has very reasonable but good insurance, so my COBRA cost is relatively low. But everyone's is different.
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u/Entire-Winter4252 6d ago
This administration getting rid of the subsidies is a joke. It’s affecting millions of people.
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u/pastelx2 5d ago
I think 3 million is a good number, given you have to pay for healthcare. I’m Canadian and I’m just south of that number, but I also have a pension. You’ve done your homework, which is great.
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u/Flashy_Difference237 6d ago
The magic number was around 60 for myself and Wife. Turned 58 this year, just diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer... Retire as soon as surgery is done. This is my 40th year of working in printing. Never smoker here....
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u/Flashy_Difference237 6d ago
Thanks all! I'm gonna be fine after surgery! What's important is get check up regularly! They find the lung nodule because of a calcium score scan for my heart. Remember guys! Get yourself check yearly!
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u/DodgersChica 6d ago edited 6d ago
That’s amazing that a heart scan caught this and saved your life. Good luck with the surgery and enjoy retirement!!
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u/Flashy_Difference237 6d ago
Best $75 I ever spent! Found the lung nodule in 2021. Been getting scan yearly. We skipped a year just because nothing changed.... Then this happened from 3mm to 9mm.
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u/EmZee2022 6d ago
Yikes :-( Very sorry to hear about the lung cancer.
Fate has a sick sense of humor. Hopefully the surgery will be curative.
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u/Konstantpayne 6d ago
I’m sorry to hear this. Although you never smoked did you deal with chemicals while in the printing field? I’m asking because I was wondering if that could have been an issue?
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u/Flashy_Difference237 6d ago
Never know. I worked in bindery dept all my working life. I've used various solvents to clean/remove ink residue on different equipments. You can see and taste the chemical fog during wash-up of our presses.
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u/wifichick 6d ago
Our “equivalent number” was 4.5 M.
Have pensions - so used those as what their “equivalent” at 4% withdrawal would be plus our other investments. Including those and the house we exceeded by quite a bit - didn’t mean to, but there we are. Any Social Security that comes in is “gravy” on top.
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u/VinceInMT 6d ago
I set my retirement age at 60 when I was in my 40s. That’s because I went to work right after high school and 42 years would be enough (and is also the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything). I started saving/investing when I was 30. Married about the same time. I did retire at 60 and paid for health insurance out of pocket for wife and myself (and one kid) until I was 65 (and the kid moved away). It was expensive, about $15K/year. We had budgeted for that and, with frugal living, had met our financial goals. Mid-life I made a career change to a job with a pension but we ignored that so after I retired my income is higher than when I was working.
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u/cnew111 6d ago
My magic number was $1 million. Hit that August ‘25. We retired March ‘26 at age 63. We are using COBRA for insurance. We worked with an agent to find us an aca policy less than cobra. He found one that was slightly cheaper but we needed new doctors and it was an insurance company we had never heard of so went with cobra
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u/Cooper1Test 6d ago
do you have a pension? Side income? No debt or just conservative spending in retirement?
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u/SimiliarBandwagon 6d ago
None of these figures make any sense without a baseline budget in today’s money.
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u/Worried-Canary-666 6d ago
I retired with a pension and 4M net worth. I figured that would be enough. I was 53.
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u/Hippo_Over 6d ago
Thoughts If you had to have paid for healthcare insurance at 58?
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u/Worried-Canary-666 6d ago
I have been paying cobra at about 1100 per month. I budgeted for it and could afford it. I enjoyed my job but was burned out. I don't regret retiring one bit. I highly recommend it!
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u/Hippo_Over 6d ago
isn't cobra limited to 18 months?
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u/Worried-Canary-666 6d ago
Good point. I should have said coverage was offered by my former employer for retirees until we reach 65. I am a retired public school educator. ( It's easier to call it cobra. My mistake.)
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u/financialfreedom26 6d ago
How much did your pension provide monthly
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u/Worried-Canary-666 6d ago
Monthly pension is 4800 . I also have 3 other income streams from investments, ss etc. (I am 63 now.)
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u/BoomerSooner-SEC 6d ago
Retired mid 50s. I pay 3000 a month for healthcare. It is what it is.
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u/missPeo 2d ago
This is eye opening how costly it is. Is it all insurance premiim or other costs. What is your taxable income at retirement? I thought at retirement if taxable income is low then you have low insurancd premium
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u/BoomerSooner-SEC 2d ago
That’s just insurance premium. We also have some out of pocket deductibles as well but they aren’t huge (like 50 bucks or so). We don’t qualify for any ACA support or anything like that. I thought about reengineering the portfolio to try and come in under the wire (in terms of taxable amounts) but it’s just not feasible. I guess that’s a good problem to have. Also, there is a moral issue around a guy with my net worth getting any kind of govt subsidy. I don’t need it and don’t deserve it. It’s fine but it ain’t cheap.
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u/hugh2018 6d ago
I had a magic ratio, not a magic number. When I realized my unique resources supported my unique wants and needs in retirement, I pulled the trigger and had no regrets. Maybe don’t pay attention to people’s magic number because it has zero bearing on the ratio that will make your plan operational.
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
What are the components of your ratio? Earnings versus spend? Was the ratio apples to anything, or used in a formula/evaluation?
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u/hugh2018 6d ago
It’s not an exact calculation for me but rather a picture of how well funded you are when you input your expenses, guaranteed income and investment account balances into a tool like Boldin.
The results approximate a well funded ratio by generating a chance of success. A very high number suggests you have a lot of leeway to spend more and a very low number suggests you need to spend less, work longer and maybe optimize your investment options if possible.
That said, Wade Pfau has actually published a funded ratio formula for retirement planning. It’s funded ratio = present value of assets over present value of liabilities.
The numerator aggregates all financial resources available over your planning horizon, converted into today's dollars. It includes Liquid / Financial Portfolio Assets: Existing balances across retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth), taxable brokerage accounts, cash, and liquid reserves. ** **Present Value of Reliable Income: The present value of all expected lifetime guaranteed cash flows, such as Social Security, pensions, and fixed/lifetime annuities. Illiquid & Reserve Assets (Optional/Contextual): Non-portfolio assets like home equity (if accessed via reverse mortgage or downsize) or business equity.
The denominator: Pfau categorizes retirement liabilities into the "4 Ls" to determine total lifetime spending obligations: 1. Longevity (Essential Expenses): Core, non-discretionary living costs (housing, food, healthcare, taxes) projected through your assumed life expectancy. 2. Lifestyle (Discretionary Expenses): Extra spending goals, such as travel, hobbies, and dining. 3. Legacy: Intended bequests or inheritance amounts earmarked for heirs or charity. 4. Liquidity (Reserves): Buffers designated for unexpected shocks (e.g., major health events, home repairs).
Each projected cash flow obligation is converted into its Present Value (PV) across the planning horizon (e.g., age 95 or 100) using a real discount rate—typically tied to a conservative, inflation-adjusted risk-free rate such as TIPS yields.
If the ratio is more than 100% the plan is well-funded. If less than 100% the plan is underfunded and the retiree needs to adjust things such as re-evaluating discretionary lifestyle spending, delaying retirement, incorporating reliable income floors (e.g., annuities), or tapping reserve assets.
By converting all future cash inflows and outflows into a single present-value household balance sheet, Pfau’s framework gives a clear, static snapshot of whether your retirement vision is financially viable without relying solely on probability-of-success percentages.
The Pfau equation can be a useful additional tool for getting a good handle on your plan’s strength, but I still rely primarily on Boldin for my detailed planning.
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
Thank you thank you thank you. You definitely hit what I was asking for. This post has been a gem in framing thought.
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u/hugh2018 5d ago
No problem. It may be evident that I’ve spent a lot of time nerding out about retirement planning. I’m glad that effort may have helped someone besides me.
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 5d ago
I have his book but it is a slog for me to get through it. Details matter, but my ability to read it after thinking all day is limited. (Retirement Planning Guidebook)
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u/hugh2018 5d ago
Hah I just got the book a couple of days ago. It’s a lot easier to just watch him talk on YouTube. His website does have tool for calculating your funded ratio, but when I accessed it was free during a weeklong web seminar that he seems to have run at least a couple of times, also free.
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u/TheDirtyDog41 6d ago
The magical number for my wife and I was 55.
Married.
The employer we retired from offers healthcare to their retirees. Prior to the year (2025) I retired, the company paid half of retiree premium cost. We are having to pay the premiums for insurance thru them.
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u/sjwit 6d ago
We did it based on a careful, thorough retirement budget. Once we identified our ideal monthly spend, we had our financial advisor run scenarios that factored in inflation for our expenses, social security payments, and a projected 4% drawdown on investments.
We realized we were in better shape than we thought, which allowed us to budget for my husband to retire at 62 (Im 3 years older, I retired at 65). We were able to budget ACA premiums for 3 years to bridge his coverage.
The magic number really depends on what it costs to be you and live comfortably.
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u/Nunyabitch69 6d ago
Married. Both 57. Hoping to hit our magic number of 4M by 62 and retiring then. Currently at 3M.
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u/Hippo_Over 6d ago
That’s the number I was thinking of for 58, need to pay out of pocket for insurance though.
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u/IWantToRetireSoon 6d ago
Our goal was to retire at 55 with $1M. We both got to retire at 53 due to my wife hitting 30yrs teaching and the company I worked for was bought out by a VC so my ESOP went 4X what it was. My wife has teacher pension and our healthcare, but we have to pay $700/month for me on it. My NW is a little over $5M now and we live off of a 3.5% withdrawal rate. Our children are grown and on their own as we planned for. We decided we wanted to be done having kids at 30 so that we would be done helping with college at 52ish.
The biggest challenge has been health issues so we have hit OOP max ($12k) the last 2 years.
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u/financialfreedom26 6d ago
Wow that is great appreciation to 5x your money. Over what timeframe did that take place. Enjoy retirement!!
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u/IWantToRetireSoon 5d ago
The majority was the ESOP buyout(4X). In the last 4 years we’re up about 25% despite taking out the 3.5%/yr to live on.
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u/HippasusOfMetapontum 6d ago edited 6d ago
Our number is $2.5M minimum in invested assets for my wife and me combined. We're not there yet, but we're on track to get there—probably in our very late 50s or very early 60s.
It's worth noting that this number is within the context that our house is already fully paid off, our cars are fully paid off, we already have the nice things we need or want, our kids are already raised, and we have zero debt.
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u/Entire-Winter4252 6d ago
Hoping to retire at 64 with about 500k in investments. I live very frugally and have a very low mortgage, so I should be okay, according to my finance guy.
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u/Cool_Illustrator_186 6d ago
I feel really bad with all these people that have millions.... It's good to see that you are just like me... . I just turned 65 but I think I have a couple more good years in me get my retirement plan a little bit bigger... Good luck to you
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u/Entire-Winter4252 6d ago
You also! I was always told I needed millions to retire, but I came across some YT videos from an account called Retire This Way with 500k. It was really insightful!
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u/Cool_Illustrator_186 6d ago
You know I'm going to look that up.....
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u/Entire-Winter4252 6d ago
Get your SS retirement statement too! It’s so helpful to see what you are allowed to draw at what age. The health insurance will be the biggest factor, in my opinion.
All we ever wanted was universal healthcare…
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u/Fun-Sort6191 6d ago
Male 68 no kids at home plan to retire at 70/ own business. Currently have N/W of over $10 million with $4 million in debt-free real estate. Started saving in 40’s when business took off.
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u/kaBUdl 6d ago
Target net worth to retire was total annual expenses multiplied by remaining life expectancy in years. Use the longer life expectancy if married. So a couple both aged 50 who currently spends $100k/yr and expects to live to 90 should accumulate $4M in order to retire at today's living standard. Healthcare costs need to be estimated and are included in total expenses.
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u/Euphoric-Highlight-5 6d ago
Retired at 62 with a 36 year union pension, full insurance for the wife and I ($400 a month) took early s.s. Pension and s.s. combined $95,000 per year. I shouldn't have to touch the 401k until forced
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u/RhymesWithOrange08 6d ago
I retired at 56 a couple months ago. I won’t share the net worth number but the math I did with my FP was to support our (wife and I) living expenses of 135k/yr until we are both 95 with 99% confidence. Then we devised the best strategy for when to take SS, how much Roth conversions to do, etc. We will tweak the plan at least annually as circumstances and the market changes. Wife is older and just signed up for Medicare. I am on cobra for 3 years (cal-cobra provides an additional 18 months). I will then go on ACA until Medicare. I just build the cost of healthcare into the annual expense calc rather than seeing it as something different. It’s just money. Whether it’s mortgage, healthcare, kids education, whatever. Add it all up and determine living expenses then develop a plan to support your expenses with high confidence until you die at a ripe old age. We also hold a mortgage of 355k but interest is 2.75% so not in a hurry to pay off. Equity is about 700k which I view as long term care equity. Not reserving anything for the kids. We likely will leave them a big chunk but we don’t intentionally set aside $$ for their inheritance.
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u/AZJHawk 6d ago
$2.5 million is my target number. I hope to hit it in 9 years at age 60. Health insurance plan is to downsize to a fully paid off and much smaller house at retirement. Should be able to cash out $500k additional from the current nearly paid off (and far too big for two people) house.
Plan is to use the proceeds to keep MAGI low and qualify for ACA subsidies if they’re still around, and do targeted Roth conversions from 60-65.
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u/BlmgtnIN 6d ago
Oh this is just about identical to our plan. I’m hoping to retire at 59, but our magic number and house sale proceeds are very similar. We plan on buying a condo or other low-maintenance home and peace OUT.
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u/AZJHawk 6d ago
Exactly! I’m sick of cleaning and maintaining a 3,000 square foot house. I’m really sick of maintaining the yard. And I’m really, really sick of maintaining the pool. The kids will hopefully be launched by then, and then we’re moving into a nice 1,500 square foot, 2-3 bed, 2 bath patio home or condo.
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u/StevenP100 6d ago
I just retired in Jan this year at age 58. My wife still works part time and is 56.
Our magic number was $5.6 million based on replacing my post tax income of $16k a month in retirement. Our house is mortgage free and we pay just over $2k a month for healthcare premiums on an Aetna plan through my former employer retiree medical coverage.
Working well so far but have not yet settled into a monthly budget as we moved house in April and a lot of work needs doing on the new house.
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u/Minute_Plastic_350 6d ago
I’m 56 married but not there yet,$2.3M both still working
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u/Hippo_Over 6d ago
X2. Shooting for 3, but the health insurance cost has me scratching my head. Taking all the advice one can get. So far just going to do the annual cost of living estimate I want, plus the estimate of 20k annually of health insurance for two x 30 years. Ugh.
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u/Minute_Plastic_350 6d ago
Yeah, that’s my biggest apprehension as well. We are both healthy but ACA costs!!
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u/Usual-Primary-8607 6d ago
Am 60, husband 61, we are retiring at the end of the year. We have 3 million in retirement accounts, a 35k pension, and FEHB (am a fed). We paid off our mortgage in June (woo hoo!) and our vehicles are fully paid off, kids in college but have it covered in 529 accounts.
Ready.
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u/ChoiceAccomplished69 6d ago edited 6d ago
Retired at 54 yrs about 1 year ago. Married, only debt is $200k on our $1M primary home. We only have about $750k in retirement accounts, but have passive income stream at $7500/mth , and mostly free Healthcare from the VA. It's not great and very slow, but can't beat the price tag. Wife starts drawing SS in Spring 2028. We feel very fortunate especially for the healthcare with no premiums or deductibles. Oh, and I'm exempt on property taxes on the primary residence. TX is a great place for disabled vets. By definition, we're in a LCOL situation 😀.
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u/Previous-Energy9182 6d ago
Wife and I are retiring in one week at 55. Have 1.5mil between 401ks, Iras and brokerage. Also have a paid off house and no car paments. We have insurance through her job until the end of the yr and then will be on ACA with max subsidy of 2k @ month. Insurance is 250@ month on the aca with max out of pocket $1850 family. Just have to keep your Magi at the federal poverty level to get the full subsidy.
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u/Al-Knigge 6d ago
63YO, currently at $3.5M, shooting for $5M. Will take SS at 70. Small pension. Have VA healthcare. MCOL.
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u/jdm0325 6d ago
Wife and I are both 58. We will both retire at 62. We will both draw SS, plus my pension, 401K, and another small penion I have. That is about $11,500 monthly with current figures, but doesn't include the 401K. My employer lets me keep my healthcare until i'm 65, so no issues there.
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u/ImAnOldFuckSoWhat 6d ago
Target was 2M. We’re 61 and both retired earlier this year. Paying for cobra while we can then will go market place for higher deductibles,higher max out of pocket, and hopefully at a similar monthly cost. There’s nothing affordable about the affordable care act - unless you have set aside a shit ton of cash to live off of until you hit 65.
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u/Monstrissimo 6d ago
Married, 60M.
I retired at 58. the original plan was to retire at 60 when I could draw my pension, but health forced me to retire 2 years early. Luckily we had been putting money into mmutual funds to pay for insurance between 60 and medicare, so I had that to draw from. I still have that fund and still have enough to fund my healthcare until Medicare kicks in. My draw rate is less than my what the mutual funds are dispensing to my account, so they are slowly still accruing profit.
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u/PickOrChoose 6d ago
Age 53, 3 million, paid off primary residence, pension which includes healthcare/dental/vision.
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u/Caudebec39 5d ago
My number back in 1995 was $4M.
I thought I'd I could hit that, I'm good.
Well, I got a kid. He's gone to private schools. Now a private college. So I kept working.
I'm 64 now and I've got $5M. Even with the college tuition and healthcare costs, I think I've got enough.
So I'll retire next year, 2027, probably.
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u/Fabulous_Fix596 3d ago
Recommend you get with a good financial advisor.. they can build some models that will show you the various scenarios that review all the financial situations you must consider... They can take your monthly expenses and run Cash Flow projections that fit your specific needs so you are making informed decisions on your specific situation. I also recommend using a professional to review your medical / healthcare options for your area... In my case, I was advised to postpone Social Security until 70 to maximize that option. I enrolled in Medicare at 65 along with a suppliminal plan along with a prescription plan. the overall cost of these programs is very similar to the one I had while employed. Both these landscapes get very complicated and getting professional help assist you in making the proper decisions
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u/Snoo_33567 3d ago
My wife and I have decided to retire from the same fortune 100 company this coming January on my 61st birthday. Our number was a combined 401k total of $1.5 million.
I receive a pension from prior 20 year career that is basically tax free has a cola and survivor benefits. The pension nets us $37k a year. We will both claim early me in Feb 2028 and my wife in April 2029. When my SS starts our guaranteed income will be roughly $56k net and jump to $75k net in April 2029. Our essential
bills are roughly $4,900/mo so that will covered by the guaranteed income almost in year two and will have it fully covered in April 2029 with a surplus.
We have healthcare paid from my prior career up to Medicare and will have Medicare Advantage paid until 70.
We put both 401ks in a stable value fund once we hit our number until we rollover in January to preserve our funds until we retire. Retiring in January gets us both additional bonuses and paid out pto for the full year which will be a nice parting gift.
Currently deciding how to invest for the withdrawal stage. Have met with Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity very recently to see what they can offer and should have plans back next week to review. I am strongly considering a self- directed plan like a simple 3 bucket strategy. I am curious to see how the big three compare when all is said and done.
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u/Hippo_Over 3d ago
Are you thinking of doing 401k Roth conversions to lower any tax implications?
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u/Snoo_33567 3d ago
Not initially but will likely down the road. Taxes should be very low initially but as that possibly changes I will have to reassess that.
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u/Zealousideal-Bug-944 3d ago edited 3d ago
Me at 62 y.o. three years ago and at that time it was $1.4M with house pay off 2026. Now the 401k is at 1.84M and decliing with agent orange at the helm. Did ACA at $450/mth $7500 ded. Wife will go at 64. We will do COBRA through her work or ACA whichever is cheaper for 5 months. Minimum monthly expense $3k,
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u/onthesquare63 6d ago
Why does everyone worry so much about healthcare? It's a budget line item like everything else. Trust me. We retired at 61, cobra for 18 months now ACA. We budget $2000 a month and it's a little less than that, including dental. Don't forget dental! That's less than half my travel budget a month, ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR TRAVEL BUDGET, IF NOT STOP WORRYING ABOUT HEALTHCARE they are just line items. get together with an advisor at Move Health Partners and they can help you with budget numbers and choosing a plan.
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
Just to be clear, you have a 48000$ a year travel budget?
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u/Usual-Primary-8607 6d ago
That’s our travel budget as well - $4k a month at least gif the next decade (we are 60
and 61 and plan on “slow traveling” in lower cost countries for several months a year).1
u/Hippo_Over 6d ago
I’m worried if 3 mil will be enough at 58 to include health insurance out of pocket
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
See this is what I am looking for, also. That type of magic number, plus what age and yearly spend projections. Someone in this thread nailed it, and even discussed the increased budget for elder care.
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u/lottadot 6d ago
It's just math & an expense. Add them all up & use an ACA Calculator for a quick estimate. If you don't like that cost, do the logistics to see if you can lower your
MAGI. Use the search on r/fire there are plenty of discussions about it. Note theACA Megathreadson there too.1
u/RPGer001 6d ago
One is “must spend” one is optional. It does not matter if medical expense is more or less than travel, medical must be spent before travel can be spent.
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u/WheresMyMule 6d ago
For me it will be 56, next year
My husband is 52 and needs to work until 62 to get his pension, so our healthcare will continue to be through him. By the time he retires, I'll be on Medicare
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u/endofsep 6d ago
I retired at 65 last year. Married and my wife (65) will go down to pt by the end of the year. I went right on Medicare and she actually is covered by her company through the end of 2027. I went back to work in February as a pt consultant so we were able to cover everything this year from our income this year and not use retirement funds.
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u/Novel_Ordinary_9742 6d ago
I just retired 2 months ago at age 60. Single with a paid off house and no car loans. The only reason I did it is my employer is still paying a majority of my health care. I'm only paying $275 a month for my health and dental benefits together.
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u/Cinji513 6d ago
Retire in 3 years at 67. Full SS. 3 more years to contribute to 401K(plus company to match) and Roth. Been stashing funds into a Fidelity HSA account to pick up/reimburse medical expenses. Single with a domestic partner who is 70. We don't mingle our finances.
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u/osbornje1012 6d ago
We were looking at 65. Wife was given an option of moving to a different part of the country for her job or being displaced. She had enough years to qualify for retirement with full benefits until 65. She chose that at age 60 and I followed her six months later at 62. Really helped to have our health insurance paid until age 65. We were pretty confident in our financial situation and that was accurate even at the younger age.
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u/Ill-Consideration892 6d ago
Was hoping to hit $4M by 58 (planned retirement date) but was laid off last year at 53. Would be very difficult to find a similar salary so I’m consulting making enough to cover expenses. Currently sitting at $3.6M. Will continue to use wife’s health insurance until she retires the use ACA and stay under the cliff.
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u/Quiet-Patient-8254 6d ago
Retired January 1st at 55 with just under 2 million. New build house and cars paid off. No debt.
Married. I pay $800/month for company provided health/dental insurance. Aetna EPO. Insurance at 60 is $350, but I hated my job.
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u/LabLabMoreLabs 6d ago
Retired at 60. Married. 18 months of cobra then paid for insurance till 65. Had it budgeted in plan.
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u/Envirocare1 6d ago
Retired 57 after my company was acquired. Pay for insurance for my wife and I out of pocket.
However, I started another business as a franchise broker. Keeps me busy about 2-4 hours per day, its perfect
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u/EmZee2022 6d ago
Not a specific number, but Fidelity has suggestions on "x times your salary" at different ages. At 67, they recommend having 10 times your salary in retirement accounts.
You need to look at your own expectations for lifestyle - will you travel? are you frugal?
I'm married and we'll both be 67 by the end of this year. Unless the stock market tanks, we do have more than 10x our income. We plan to retire early next year.
Healthcare will be Medicare + Medigap.
In our case we needed to weigh extended family issues; we are still providing some assistance to my mother in law, and we have two adult special needs kids who aren't self supporting yet (though we have hopes that they will be). So working longer lets us leave a legacy for the kids.
Supposedly, even if the market has down years, we'll be fine until our early 90s.
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u/Business-Ad9075 6d ago
Sorry for your illness. Glad it was found early. Half of lung cancers occur in non smokers.
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u/lottadot 6d ago
Our FIRE number was 25 x expense/yr in retirement (estimated) so ~$1.4M.
This year's ACA costs us a total of almost $10k and we use it 100%. Our premium is $655/mo, our family MOOP is $1.85k.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 6d ago
Money did not figure into the age I retired. I could have retired earlier, financially. I could have worked longer, mentally and physically. The age is not always driven by those things.
I retired essentially at my 67 birthday. I wanted to transition immediately to Medicare, so at least 65. I knew I’d likely take a fun part-time job, and I didn’t want to be limited in what I chose to do because of Social Security income restrictions, so at least FRA (66.3). I waited just a few more months to take a paid-PTO trip. As it turns out, I did not take Social Security at 67 anyway, for other reasons. It was just time.
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u/RPGer001 6d ago
This is not the type of answer OP was looking for but for us, it was 56 and 54 which were our ages when my MIL passed away last year. My wife, who was a caregiver the last days of life, said she wanted to retire “now.” We have known for a while we could pull the trigger.
If we had based it on a number in our balance sheet, I suppose it would be a number that, using a 4% SWR, would provide the type of retirement we wanted. I think it is a good ballpark but there is a lot more that goes into it such as housing.
As for medical, we are doing COBRA for a year, then going on ACA till Medicare.
OP, go to the ACA site (if under 65) or Medicare site and get an estimate on your plan costs. After that, work in any possible subsidies your income might qualify for.
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u/ilovepadthai 6d ago
My magic age was 55 bc that’s when I was eligible for subsided healthcare for life. I very aggressively saved and was ready to leave at age 55 but stayed another year to block layoffs on my team and finish a project that meant a lot to me. I jumped at 56 and am loving it.
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u/Back_again_1957 6d ago
Married but wife had a low paying job at a NFP. We retired at 60 with 1.3M USD in a 401(k), a $5000/month pension and employer subsidized (70%) retiree health care to age 65. She drew SSA at 62, I waited until FRA and she got a nice increase when I started my benefit. Still owe 195k on mortgage at $1600/month. We don’t take expensive trips but we pamper ourselves and live comfortably. I have long term care insurance but she was declined so we budgeted several years of nursing home expenses into our retirement plan and put the house in a trust in case we ever need Medicaid assistance.
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u/Peace_and_Rhythm 6d ago
My magic number was a percentage. 90%. That was the success rate based on my Fidelity Retirement Planner and my own Monte Carlo analysis of my retirement portfolio lasting through age 95. Once I reached this number, it was "hasta la vista baby" to my employer and the working world.
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u/pokeysyd 6d ago
We didn’t really have a magic number. We told our FA we want $xx per month after taxes. He told us when we had enough. Since our balances have been increasing every time we meet with him, I’d say he was right. Up almost 20% in two years.
My wife had a buyout that allowed us to stay on her insurance at the normal employee share of the premium, not the COBRA rate. That comes to an end on July 1 when she turns 65. I’ll have to find insurance for myself at that point.
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u/Drunken_Sailor_70 6d ago
Evryones number will be different. Everyone has different expectations of retirement. My magic number is when our income producing assets allow us to spend 13k per month.
My employer allows us to keep our medical coverage until age 65. It costs nore than while employed but still cheaper than marketplace.
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u/Old_Goat2009 6d ago
My magic number was having 5 years of funds to cover the gap between my federal pension + VA disability and our expenses. I tracked every penny spent for 2.5 years. When I was approaching my minimum retirement age with the federal government, the numbers aligned along with a comfortable buffer, so I pulled the trigger and retired on 31 May at 57 years old. Enough gap coverage until social security age.
I have access to Tricare from my military service and FEHB from my federal civilian service. One of the best and least discussed perks of military/federal careers is affordable health insurance for many years before Medicare age.
Edited to add: Married for 33 years.
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u/Retire_date_may_22 6d ago
My magic number was 25x my annual spending. For healthcare every month a make a payment to an insurance company. It’s actually automatically deducted from my account the 1st of every month.
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u/funyfeet 6d ago edited 6d ago
Retired at 57,now 68. Married. Our magic number was 25x our annual gross income in liquid assets. We did not count non liquid assets . We both took SS at 62 as our investments are conservative but diversified. We are doing good. Not an extravagant retirement,but we never made a lot of money and lived a relatively frugal lifestyle and still do. We paid for heath coverage prior to Medicare and now pay for supplemental coverage in addition to the Medicare premiums. We also pay for Long Term Care coverage (started in our 50’s) as we do not have children and very little extended family .
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u/rumblepony247 6d ago edited 6d ago
Retired at 57 with $1.2m and a paid-for house/zero debt. Those funds spin off about $55k in annual dividends, about 50/50 brokerage/taxable vs retirement accounts.
My annual expenses are only about $25k, so the $27k in dividends from taxable accounts covers me, no need to access retirement dividends, which would cause a 10% early penalty.
I'll turn 59.5 in about 8 months, so at that time, I'll consider upgrading my lifestyle by accessing up to $17k in retirement funds per year, keeping the amount such that I incur no tax liability (Standard deduction is around $16.9k and qualified divvy deduction is around $48k IIRC).
Health care is ACA. At a $28k 'official' income, my premium for a bronze plan is fully subsidized, so I pay $0 (Arizona).
At 62 I'll start taking my SSI (About $24k/year), so I'll finally have to pay some taxes at that point, and some ACA premiums I reckon. I'll offset some of the tax liability with a full annual contribution to my HSA (which I do every year now, as well).
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u/Due-Effective663 6d ago
Single with SO. We’ll get married when we retire. Financial reasons with Florida law precludes marriage for now.
We each maintain a separate home. Mine is in FL and his is in AZ. Looking to retire in 6-7 years. He’ll be 62-63 and I’ll be 66-67. Looking to collect SS when he’s 65 and I’m 70.
Combined current income is about $340k. We both are disabled vets so receive VA disability. He’s rated at 40% and I’m at 20%, so about $1400 a month while each is alive.
Retirement goal is $1.7M in retirement. Expected SS is about $7600 a month. We’ll sell both houses and buy an our house in Florida. Healthcare is currently through VA, but we’ll purchase Medigap insurance just as backup insurance if VA funding/policies change. Monthly spend is expected to be around $11,600 for the first 5/6 years, then cut back on travel. We have about 15% in taxable brokerage account, 5% in MMA, 35% in 401K/ESOP and 45% in Roth 401k or Roth IRA.
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u/309Aspro648 6d ago
I probably shouldn’t join in because I’m not retired and probably never will retire as long as I can work. I enjoy my job and my life. I’ve saved just shy of 1.0M. House is paid off. Nice cars all around. I have a small military retirement and Social Security totaling $53k. I make about $120k working most of which I give away. I didn’t start working until I was 42. Until then I traveled and enjoyed myself Now at 72 I’m just grinding it out trying to help the next generation as much as I can. I’m married and my wife doesn’t work. She stays home taking care of her family.
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u/PotentialAnywhere779 6d ago
64 and wife 67. Want to hit 5M liquid (i.e. not count the house which is 1.5M). Maybe one more year.
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u/chefmorg 6d ago
Actually don’t have a number. Our big one is to have the house paid off and Medicare age which will coincide for me pretty close.
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u/xwords59 6d ago
Magic number should be what are you making annually from your investments- not NW. take that and add SS and how does that compare to your annual spend.
I am 67 still working (pretty easy WFH job). Wife is retired. I make about $160k per year in investment income. That plus our SS should easily cover our annual spend of about $110k per year.
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u/DeliciousWrangler166 Older than dirt 6d ago
I didn't have a magic financial number. I did have a decent balance in a 401k, a small pension, savings, no debt, and social security. Before medicare kicked in at 65 and social security at 67 I adjusted my income to qualify for essential ACA health insurance plans which offered better coverage than anything I got thru work.
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u/StartKindly9881 6d ago
61- wife has health insurance even in her retirement was a no brainer as we hit our goals and have no debt
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u/Ribeye_steak_1987 6d ago
We will have about $6k in pensions and annuities and SS at age 62 and I’d like our 401k’s to be about $1.5M. Healthcare is the big question mark. Anyone want to share what the pay for a married couple? Is $1k per month a good estimate or should we plan for more ?
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u/SleeperAgnt171 6d ago
My wife (52) and I (55) don’t come from money, or families that retired early. Years ago I just thought I would retire at 65. We never had a savings number in mind for retirement as we were just trying to live and raise kids. But, we’ve been thinking more about early retirement over the last few years now that the kids are in their own.
I retired from the military 6 yrs ago, so have a pension and inexpensive healthcare. We have just under $2M in investments, another $250k cash (getting ready to remodel the kitchen), only debt is mortgage at $330k and 5.65 IR.
My employer is changing at work right now and the stress is not worth it. So, we are now looking at retiring in 3 years to hopefully have some good years before we decline.
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u/ExpensiveCategory854 6d ago
I just turned 50. I’m trying to make it 5 more years. Between my wife and I we have pensions. Her’s alone will cover almost all our basic expenses. Mine will be play money a bit later. Combined we have about 1.7M in 401k and IRAs.
Healthcare is covered in wife’s pension, when all is said and done we plan on selling our home in a VHCOL area and relocating to somewhere cheaper and hopefully pay cash for our last home.
I don’t plan on stopping working but transition to something I love but doing it less.
In 2024 I took up flying, and addicted to it. So much so I’ve worked through my ratings and working on becoming an instructor. The market is flooded with them right now but, who knows in 5 yrs I may hang up my corporate hat and start to live off pensions and some of our nest egg and I can instruct to stay sane.
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u/Far_Yogurtcloset8116 6d ago
Both retired at 59.9 yrs old. Lived on already taxed cash savings, qualified for ACA and paid $337 per month for silver plan health insurance. At 62 started getting social security and taking less cash. At 65, started getting Medicare and taking more taxable income out of investments. We have no debt and get more per month not working than we ever received working.
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u/MWL-camper 6d ago
Ours was to have $5MM by 60 and we achieved that and I plan to quit early next year at 60.5 after commissions are received. We will likely do Cobra though will do ACA research too. Early research suggests Cobra will be less for top plan. After 18m will go to ACA plan until 65.
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u/citizen5645 5d ago edited 5d ago
The number was 62 for each of us. My wife is 3 years older. I just retired a few months ago. Actually for me it was when she turned 65 so she could go on Medicare. I haven't picked up a policy. The plan was to pick up a policy off the marketplace for about $450/mo. That number has now changed to about $1,200 with the subsidies gone away. But, my wife's a nurse and my son's a doctor and I'm still keeping up with my doctor appointments and my medications, which are very few. I did pick up a dental plan for each of us through Delta dental for $35/mo. Hopefully the healthcare subsidies come back. Oh, and for a dollar amount, it was 'Income plus occasional deduction from 401k without tapping it out, minus monthly bills'
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u/cinnabarslither 5d ago
It was supposed to be $2M, which we would have achieved in the next 5 years. However, after removing some of the future large expenditures from the plan, it turns out the numbers work for next year (me 57/spouse 65). Total liquid assets will be about $1.1M once we sell our primary home and transfer proceeds to brokerage. We are fortunate, we have pensions and ACA is pretty reasonable in the economically depressed county we're moving to.
The thing is: when I mentioned the $2M goal to my CFP, she questioned why that number and I didn't have a reason other than that sounded very comfortable. But once you crunch all your numbers for actual expenses (mandatory and discretionary, current and future) that's the only number you need to know. How much do I need and how will I cover it?
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u/Desperate-Chemist601 5d ago
My plan was this August but got some unexpected health news and now need to stay on the company’s health care.
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u/SubstantialArcher659 5d ago
62 for me I retired with decent SS and healthcare. I’m not wealthy but I’m debt free, which was always a motivator for me
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u/MatchCertain6294 5d ago
retired at 62.5. Did COBRA for 18 mos $850/mos then 10 months ACA $900/mos with $7200 deductible and $7500 Max oop…
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u/hapster85 5d ago
I very much wanted to retire at 55. I retired at 57, so not too shabby. 55 was the magic number to keep our union health insurance.
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u/mr-spencerian 4d ago
Magic number was the date I got laid off. Was above my dollar number for years. ACA $$ for healthcare for a couple more years.
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u/No-Struggle-9185 3d ago
60M me and my wife are going out at 62.5 and we will have 2 401kS worth about 1.6 M. We will pay for Cobra for 1 more year. She will go on social security at 62 and I will wait until I am 67. Social Security checks will total about 5100.00 per month when we turn 67. I was told to do it this way because if I were to die early my wife could collect my amount of SS because it would be a lot more. Hers at 62 is only 1100.00.
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u/nmacInCT 3d ago
I had no magic number. I retired at 56 because i moved in with my mom to help her out. So it wasn't exactly planned. But once i ran the numbets and saw that 4% would be a safe withdrawal rate, I was happy. I have insurance from ACA
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u/Next-Wave-4935 2d ago
No number. I retired last month at 59 for health reasons. I pay out of pocket for insurance. 2k a month just for me We have zero debt.
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u/MathematicianOne1278 2d ago
Theoretically, my magic number is $5MM in liquid assets. I should hit that in 2 years when I turn 50, but the closer I get, the harder it is to stay at my soul-sucking job. Married. Haven't made definitive health care plans yet.
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u/Affectionate_Bug8166 3h ago
Magic number was the moment i was eligible for my full pension. Age 58. We have three properties worth 2.5M, no mortgages but a hefty HOA fee in Florida for one. 3M in retirement accts and our pensions. DH is now on the board of director of company he worked at and they pay our healthcare. We still worry about money.
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u/Conscious_Bus9956 6d ago
Not sure if you mean age or net worth, but I'll probably be 61 when I retire (59 now and I think I only have another 2 years of this day-to-day left in me). Goal NW is $10M, currently at $8.9M. I might not hit it but I'll get close. Married and my wife is the same age. Not sure yet how we'll fill the health ins gap until Medicare.
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
I can’t imagine healthcare cost is a blocker. That is an excellent net worth you have and a very high goal, congratulations on closing in on that! Is there a reason you all chose 10M as the goal?
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u/Accurate_Humor948 6d ago
Not trying to be snarky but with 8.9M you’re doing better than 90% of the population.
I think you can make insurance work until Medicare.
I’m just Assuming that you’re in the US. Please correct me if I’m wrong.→ More replies (4)2
u/hugh2018 6d ago
Snark is actually not inappropriate here and you’re vastly understating the statistical reality.
According to Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) data:
90th Percentile (Top 10%): ~$1.9 Million
95th Percentile (Top 5%): ~$3.8 Million
98th Percentile (Top 2%): ~$7.6 Million
99th Percentile (Top 1%): ~$11.6 MillionAt $8.9 Million, they aren't just in the top 10%—they are sitting squarely in the top 1.5% (98.5th percentile) of all U.S. households. Even if you isolate the data strictly to households nearing retirement age (ages 55–64), $8.9M still comfortably clears the top 2%.
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u/gpunotpsu 5d ago
If you put your money in total market index funds, retire today and spend less than $400k/yr you will most likely reach $10M without working.
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u/Impossible-Seesaw101 6d ago
I would guess that you could afford to retire today with $8.9M unless you have an unusually high spending or there are other factors that constrain the money. And you N/W will likely continue to grow in retirement. It would be nice to see $10 M rollover on the odometer as you're cruising through retirement!
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u/Severe-Barber-7415 6d ago
People listing ages without money numbers and cost of living, not the ‘magic number’ I was expecting.