A lot of retirement calculators suggest that at retirement you will need less money then you are living on now. You should have your house paid off by then, the kids are grown and (hopefully) financially independent, you aren't 'saving' for retirement anymore (because your living it).

Others are starting to suggest that you'll need more for healthcare costs, to visit and treat grandkids, to pay for services that you may not be able to do (lawn cutting, housecleaning, etc), to play golf (every expensive sport), to travel, go on cruises, etc.

What are your thoughts? Do you think you'll need more, less or the same to live on during retirement? (not taking into account inflation)

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I pray to God that we will need much, much, less because hopefully we will have all this debt paid off! It's really scary to think about retiring with debt !

I would think that it would be either around the same or maybe more. With inflation and the cost of everything going up, by the time I retire, I am sure the cost of living will be higher. Hopefully, I will have my house paid off by then and also my cc, which will save me alot.. but with the cost of everything else rising, I am sure that I will need as much or more than what I am spending right now..

My thought is you can never have enough money, so.....save....save....save!!!!! Even in retirement you will still need to save and invest. If you have a lengthy retirement of about 30 years, you will not want to outlive your money. So, I disagree with the statement that in your retirement you stop saving for it. The instruments with which you choose to invest and save your money with change.

I would think about the same. I hope my kids will be financially independent, but I would like to be able to help them if needed, I assume we will move into a much smaller place without the yard and stuff. Hopefully that could be paid for totally from proceeds of this house. At least I know that student loans will be paid off. Hopefully credit cards too! We are not too much on traveling .

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~Happiness is a large family~

I would hope we would need less but I look for the worst and pray for the best.

I think you'll need at least the same amount of money for retirement, if not more. The theory of less sounds well and good, and ideally would be so- I'll likely consume less in terms of food, gas, etc, no mortgage. But, I'm not sure how realistic that is- not only are health care costs rising, but also not everyone is able to pay off a mortgage by retirement. Military and those with transient careers often don;t live somewhere long enough to pay off a typical mortgage. Or, what if the need arises to live in a retirement facility of some sort. Not to mention all the extras already mentioned- paying for extra help, travel, increased prescriptions, etc. And, its such an unknown- social security will likely not be of help to my generation, I could live 10 years or more than 30 years after retirement so there are so many things that could arise

Very scary thought!! I'm gonna have to rethink our retirement plan!!

I really do want to travel as soon as we are retired but I also do hope to have the house paid off so our expences will be less to do so. I also want to build up a retirement investments so that we can live off of the investments. I just posted a calculator yesterday that if you play around with it really shows the importance of investing and saving. I think for us that yes we will need more then we do now but if we make good sound choices then we will be fine. I also see down sizing as an option too.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

i see it as you will need more money so we are aggresively saving we are fortunate to have a pension 401k 2 ira's and we will get a medical suplment thru dh's employer to help pay for our medical insurance we will have more money a month than we have now but i think things will cost alot more in another 30 years and i'm definately not banking that social security or medicare will be there when i need it.

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'The will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.'

HAVE A BOOTIFUL HALLOWEEN

I think it depends on what you want to do when you retire. If you are going to still cook and do the things that you do now, you would need the same amount that you need now. However, if you are going to start to travel and to buy things for your children and grandchildren, I assume that you would need more. My parents are nearing retirement and have been discussing this with me recently. We have always had elaborate Christmases and holidays, but, they will be cutting back on that. They are having a difficult time because they still want to do the things that they do for us, but, won't be able to. Of course, they have thier home paid for, do organic gardening, and, live on a farm with chickens, horses, and, other animals. Traveling is something that they will begin within a year or so of retirement. In order for them to travel, though, they need the extra $.