Retirement savings - RV-Dreams Community Forum

MM Kieffer · RV-Dreams Community Member

Retirement savings

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Maybe because a lot of us don't touch our IRAs/401Ks unless absolutely necessary until we reach 70 1/2 and have to do RMDs. That is one of the reasons that we took SS at 62, so that our tax-deferred accounts could keep earning money for us and those can be passed onto your descendants, unlike SS, when you die if there is anything left in them.

Barb

MM Kieffer · RV-Dreams Community Member

I forgot to post that we are only 51 and need to contribute until at least 62..........and I would guess that would be the case for many under the age of 65.

If you only figure living expenses for full timing.....that is pretty easy.

Selling our business for 500K and not having enough retirement $$$ at this age will be the true hurdle.

But if we don't sell our business we won't have our sanity to make it until 60;)

So. we will study some more and see what we can come up with.

LandYachty · RV-Dreams Family Member

Retirement savings is like the budget. We know couples who have little to no savings and those who have seven figures. You learn to live on what you have. We TRY to not dip into our savings each year more than it makes in investment income. In 2016 medical bills and a major breakdown didn't allow us to follow our rules. We wish we had 500K, and/or the income from that. We do not. We boondock whenever and volunteer for Christian work projects which gives us free hookups. If I were you I would cut back my lifestyle and put every buck you can into retirement. That was our plan but at 59 I (principle bread earner) was totally disabled and it took years to get SSDI, so we ate up a lot of those retirement savings (for 5 years). I have done taxes for RVers and consult (no charge) Email if you wish. landyachty@gmail.com

-- Edited by LandYachty on Tuesday 20th of December 2016 08:51:51 AM

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

IMHO. Budgets should be based on net income, not gross. Net income in this case means after taxes, 401k, 457B, medical savings, etc.

PrairieRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

It seems to me you'd have the same issue living in S&B after selling your business. If you want to continue funding your retirement accounts, you'll need to manage your living expenses accordingly. JMHO

MM Kieffer · RV-Dreams Community Member

Again.....I agree with all the points made here......But when sites and forums are visited and they all claim a "cheap" RV lifestyle.......And never include any inclusion of FULL retirement savings(pre65 age).....I find it either they have it all Packed away (can live off interest and/or part time work) or they are fooling themselves that some day they won't be able to work camp or be broke.....Does this make sense..... Here's our scenario we can both live and work camp for $2,500 a month, but adding the $1,300 retirement savings.....Not so good..... So the idea would be to cut our living expenses back to 1200......That is going to be tough..........Am I missing something...Thanks folks😋

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you are paying for health insurance, cutting your expenses back to $1200/mo is not very realistic, IMO.

The funding of retirement accounts, as well as the cost of health care, is what lead to my decision to continue to work a corporate job. 3.5 years ago we went on the road with my work from home job and Dale's art show biz. When that work from home job disappeared earlier this year, we evaluated the options and came to the conclusion that if we still wanted to pursue our goal of retiring early, in the next 5-7 years, work camping just would not generate the income we needed to make that happen. So, back to the corporate world I went, took about 3 months, but I did find another work from home job with a little less pay, but better benefits and plans to continue to fund the IRAs, 401K and other accounts so we can achieve our goal of retiring long before we qualify for Medicare.

Everyone has to make their own choice on this and determine the budget / style of life you want to live. It's a personal decision, but neither of us wanted to be working into our late 60's. Volunteering? Probably, but not working.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Barbaraok wrote:
Maybe because a lot of us don't touch our IRAs/401Ks unless absolutely necessary until we reach 70 1/2 and have to do RMDs. That is one of the reasons that we took SS at 62, so that our tax-deferred accounts could keep earning money for us and those can be passed onto your descendants, unlike SS, when you die if there is anything left in them.

Barb

We also only take the RMD and reinvest that. We're fortunate to be able to live comfortably on our "fixed income" and even manage to save a little of that. However, our objective isn't to have something to pass on to our kids. It's to provide for my DW should I precede her. Part of our "fixed income" is my military retirement check, which goes away when I do. While her SS will go up to as she is currently drawing on my SS as a spouse, I want to ensure she remains financially independent as long as she choses. If there is anything left for the kids, that's just a bonus.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Are you missing something? NO! If you need (as determined by your own prioritzing of your goals) 2500/mth to live and 1300 monthly to adequately save for your retirement... then your budget should have a target income to meet those goals. If all you figure on is income of 2500/month then, yes, you will not be saving much, if anything. Either you'll have to genereate additional income or cut your living expenses or a combination of the two. Your needs are not what others need. Nor are your priorities what others have. You have to make what you have, work for you. Either that or you will have to work longer than you planned to achieve your goal. Perhaps you should delay your plans and refigure how you can achieve your goals. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Just sayin'.

We kicked around our budgets for living expenses and for the rig purchase and outfitting for over a year to mold it into something we could live with and still provide for the future and any conceiveable emergency... we finally have something we feel meets our needs and financial situation. We tweak it everytime we find out new info that better fits our "plan" which is scheduled to unfold in about 30 months or less if we are lucky. Good luck with yours.