Household G retirement savings annually

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Annual Gross Retirement savings (taxable + tax deferred)

$3000 or less
0
No votes
$3000 or less
0
No votes
$3000 to $5000
0
No votes
$3000 to $5000
0
No votes
$5000-$10000
1
2%
$5000-$10000
1
2%
$16500-$21500
7
11%
$21500-$26500
6
10%
$26500 to $30000
47
76%
 
Total votes: 62

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frugalhen
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Household G retirement savings annually

Post by frugalhen »

How much do you save Aggregate annually (including spouse) for retirement?

I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
Last edited by frugalhen on Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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tj218
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Post by tj218 »

Counting pension/employer paid?
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frugalhen
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Post by frugalhen »

tj218 wrote:Counting pension/employer paid?
No, thanks for letting me clarify. I'm looking for what we do on our own.
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livesoft
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Post by livesoft »

A poll showed that about 70% of the approximately 300 respondents max out retirement plan contributions:
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42313

For a 2-income over-50 couple that might be $56,000 a year or more.

I was surprised that so many hit their max possible.
Last edited by livesoft on Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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gasman
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Post by gasman »

Not that meaningful a datapoint. There are undoubtedly posters here who make around 50K Also undoubtedly posters who make 500K.

Although the saving rate of the posters on this forum at all income levels is likely to be above national norms.
sscritic
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Post by sscritic »

I don't understand gross vs net in this situation. I also don't understand why the numbers are so small.

Example:
Income $100,000
Taxes $20,000
Living Expenses $40,000
Savings $40,000

Is that net or gross? Either way, it is over $30,000
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Post by Call_Me_Op »

There should be a category for > $30,000.
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frugalhen
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Post by frugalhen »

you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
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Sidney
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Post by Sidney »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
They may be just prodigious earners.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
jeh676
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Post by jeh676 »

Including the HSA, we are over $30K. Wage earning spouse is 35. Gross pay around $125K. We max out all retirement vehicles for tax purposes.

We may tap into Roth money for college for the kids in the future.
thechoson
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Post by thechoson »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
We save about 30k pre-tax mostly. We are neither- 30 yrs old so not really trying to catch up, and 30k represents about 30-35% of our income, so we aren't really crazy savers either
fsrph
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Post by fsrph »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
I'm at the max for 401K and IRA yearly. I am not nearing retirement age .... it's just that I'd rather defer taxes on as much money as possible.

Francis
livesoft
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Post by livesoft »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
We have simple tastes, so have no need to spend money. It might as well go into savings. It's always been that way.
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Opponent Process
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Post by Opponent Process »

our savings has always been a percentage of income. not prodigious savings or catch up or anything fancy other than basically a simple percentage of income. most of these polls are proxies for household income. people who are looking for an apples-to-apples comparison should restrict the analysis to similar incomes. if you want to feel bad, compare yourself to someone with a much higher income. if you want to feel good, compare yourself to someone with a much lower income. it's all about context. post the question on this forum and you'll get an altogether different perspective:

http://www.homelessforums.org/
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sscritic
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Post by sscritic »

Already retired. I decided that everything I save is for retirement. Even if I buy a house, it is my retirement house. I just spend less than I take in.

Since my definition of savings starts with taxable income, reinvested dividends from municipal bond funds are not counted as savings nor are dividends and capital gains paid within my tax deferred accounts. Similarly, the 15% of social security that doesn't show up on my tax return is saved but is not counted as savings in my calculation.

Cool, I save even more than I realized! :)
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market timer
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Post by market timer »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
I'm happy with the lifestyle that I can afford by spending $50K/year as a single guy without a car or house. Everything else is saved.
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Ice-9
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Post by Ice-9 »

We're not high earners by any measure and we're 25 to 30 years from retirement.

By myself, I save almost $30k ($5k Roth, $16500 in 457, $8k in 401(a)). Used to save more, but now $600 a month goes toward paying down extra mortgage principal instead of taxable investments. She saves another $5k in her Roth and maybe $4-5k in her 401(a).

(The 401(a) plans are mandatory, so it's not like we deserve credit for that particular saving.)
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market timer
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Post by market timer »

Ice-9 wrote:Used to save more, but now $600 a month goes toward paying down extra mortgage principal instead of taxable investments.
Principal repayment is a form of savings.

Savings = Income - consumption.
DblDoc
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Post by DblDoc »

frugalhen wrote:you are correct, I should have had an over $30k option. I am curious, is the crowd contributing over $30k nearing retirement and trying to catch up, or just prodigious savers? If you can, please elaborate.
All three. < 10yr from retiring, trying to catch up and saving prodigiously.

DD
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tarnation
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Post by tarnation »

i found this very confusing. I'm not sure what gross retirement savings are.

Also if a couple maxes out, it is (16.5K+5K)*2 or $43K which is above the top choice on the poll. In addition we do I bonds and HSA.

Question, how do we account for the difference in Roth and Trad, i.e. if the respondent does $43K of Roth is that really the same as $43K of trad? Aren't they really saving more due to prepayment of taxes.

I wouldn't consider mortgage prepayment retirement savings unless one is planning to sell and cash out of house when retiring.
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rob
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Post by rob »

21 so far @30K... wow... My hats off to you guys....
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Opponent Process
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Post by Opponent Process »

rob wrote:21 so far @30K... wow... My hats off to you guys....
well, again, we're probably not talking about household incomes of $50K (about the median household income) saving $30K. that would be impressive.
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frugalhen
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Post by frugalhen »

tarnation wrote:i found this very confusing. I'm not sure what gross retirement savings are.

Also if a couple maxes out, it is (16.5K+5K)*2 or $43K which is above the top choice on the poll. In addition we do I bonds and HSA.

Question, how do we account for the difference in Roth and Trad, i.e. if the respondent does $43K of Roth is that really the same as $43K of trad? Aren't they really saving more due to prepayment of taxes.

I wouldn't consider mortgage prepayment retirement savings unless one is planning to sell and cash out of house when retiring.

I should have said aggregate savings per household, not gross savings, sorry for the confusion.
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Madd Hatter
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Post by Madd Hatter »

HHI 110k

Max out his 50/50 Tradl/Roth 401k & Roth IRA, her Tradl 403b & Roth IRA, and his individual HSA for perhaps the last year = $46,500.

No kids so no 529. Bought $5k in Ibonds this year. Not sure what else we can do tax-advantaged wise.
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PaddyMac
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Post by PaddyMac »

We have a baseline income needs, and everything else is saved, trying to retire as early as we can (we're 50 now). So fortunate to have had a couple of good years, and can save around $100K a year including SEP, taxable, Roth, and HSA. This year we added a 401k so can save more tax deferred instead of putting so much in taxable (also so that we can qualify for Roth).
letsgobobby
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Post by letsgobobby »

his and hers 401ks alone are over $30,000...
kiligi
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Post by kiligi »

We save over $30K a year, have about 30 more years until retirement. High income definitely helps in saving larger amounts, but you still do need to make the commitment. I only wish we had done more saving in our 20s.
etarini
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Post by etarini »

sscritic wrote:Since my definition of savings starts with taxable income, reinvested dividends from municipal bond funds are not counted as savings nor are dividends and capital gains paid within my tax deferred accounts. Similarly, the 15% of social security that doesn't show up on my tax return is saved but is not counted as savings in my calculation.
I calculate our annual savings the same way - it's only counted as savings if it is money that we earn from wages. Money making money (interest, dividends, capital gains) doesn't count. We're about four years away from retiring, and we're now in a good position to do some serious saving.

If I take gross wages, subtract all taxes (Federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, auto excise taxes, property taxes, but not sales taxes), we've saved between 55 and 70% of this after-tax income over the last six years. If we can keep it up for four more years, we should be okay.

Eric
Mr Grumpy
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Household G retirement savings annually

Post by Mr Grumpy »

Gee. Reading this makes me feel somewhat inadequate. I guess it should be as a percentage - with us it has been between 20-25% per year, but that's in the neighborhood of $12,000 to $17,000 for many decades. I'm starting retirement and feel I have enough, but just barely. We'll see.
kiligi
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Re: Household G retirement savings annually

Post by kiligi »

Mr Grumpy wrote:Gee. Reading this makes me feel somewhat inadequate. I guess it should be as a percentage - with us it has been between 20-25% per year, but that's in the neighborhood of $12,000 to $17,000 for many decades. I'm starting retirement and feel I have enough, but just barely. We'll see.
Actually, I was thinking the same thing. :) There's not much to be proud of if you are saving $30K on a $500K income. Unless that's retirement income.

I do think % savings shows much better where people's saving priorities are. The number of years they've been saving that percentage is also important. I know that our savings % has varied year by year (bonuses or lack thereof can have quite a large effect).

Currently, we save about 30%. We already max out our tax deferred/advantage options. I would like to increase that amount, but need to work on how we want to allocate taxable investments going forward in order to do so. I find it easiest to increase savings when I actually have a plan.
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tarnation
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Post by tarnation »

Madd Hatter wrote:HHI 110k

Max out his 50/50 Tradl/Roth 401k & Roth IRA, her Tradl 403b & Roth IRA, and his individual HSA for perhaps the last year = $46,500.

No kids so no 529. Bought $5k in Ibonds this year. Not sure what else we can do tax-advantaged wise.
You can get $5k /per SSN, So buy another $5K in I bonds. Also, at the current treasury yields EE bonds are even looking better (strange days indeed).
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