What are you realistically shooting for as a total amount to have in your 401K when you retire?

If you read 20 articles you get 20 different amounts and they vary drastically.
As a result, I am looking for real world feedback from whom ever wants to reply and curious what you are shooting for
based on your research.

This is also with the expectation that the house is paid off.

Having one at all.

I have a profit sharing plan at work, as well as a 401k.  I have a couple of IRAs as well.  

I would like to see a million dollars total before I retire.  I might not make it.  I am going to try however.

My grandparents had around 3 mil saved for their retirement. One of my parents just retired and other will soon follow in two yeas or so. They have between them about the same amount.

I'm squirreling what I can but I'm also of the opinion that whatever I have, if anything at all, when I retire will be gravy. I'm not above pulling it all, taking the hit and hiding it in the bottom of my gun safe if the government shows indicators of getting grabby.

Given the 401k cap as it is today, I'm shooting for $1.5M to $2.0M inflation adjusted.  I'd need to make 4% per year after the effect of inflation to accomplish that.

401k isn't the only leg of my investing plan though.

Anyone depending on stocks and bonds for their retirement is going to have a big wake-up call in a few years, maybe less.





Good luck with that.





The money is being hyperinflated as we speak.  It hasn't hit ground yet because it's still held up at the banks. When that money finally starts flowing to the economy, the bottom will fall out of the dollar, quite swiftly.





The Dow looks high now, right?  Go check out the "returns" on the Dow over the last 10, 20, or 30 years, adjusted for inflation and discounted for taxes.  You're losing money fast.





And that doesn't even account for the fact that, eventually, they will raid retirement accounts to fund the government.  You'll be sitting on a pile of worthless treasury bonds.





IMO, the only thing worth investing in right now is hard assets that the government can't just take from you without warning.





Putting money into a 401K right now is a fool's game, IMO.

 

What is a 401k you speak of?

15-20+ million in total funds.





I hit 1 when I was 32 and now am in the multiples at 39.





I go to bed every night hoping for the crashes the gold bugs here shit themselves over.





I sincerely hope everyone here retires well.  

 

With all due respect, this statement right here in bold demonstrates that you don't understand how the stock market works.  It's an accurate criticism of long term bonds, but not stocks.  

The craziest thing about your statement is that I don't think you understand the implications of what you are saying if there was any truth to it.  If what you were saying was true, nobody would build new factories, nobody would develop no products, and nobody would invest in equipment because you are basically saying that deploying your capital towards those types of productive ends is a losing proposition.

Now if you tell me that shit is going to hit the fan, the economy is going to fail, and profits are going to tank wiping out all the wealth that capitalism has built, then you'd at least have a valid argument.  If that's the case, who cares about hard assets?  We'd all be dead or wish we were in a matter of months.

Apprently you have a goose that shits gold and meets your investments with a no limit 100% match. That or Bradley Cooper gave you some of those pills.

A person making 100,000/yr (twice the median income) paying no taxes and having no other expenses socking everything away could save 5 million in 50 years of working. That person would then have to triple that 50 year total to meet your minimum. Absolutley insanely unrealistic for 99.95% of Americans.

The wife and I are planning on 3 million at retirement age to maintain a slightly higher than average lifestyle. We'll adjust as budget allows.

From the research I've done and the folks i've talked to people who are currenlty in their mid twenties should strive for 2 million savings, accompained by owned (paid off) assests (house,cars, etc).

I hope to have five million in investments at retirement age. This is IRA's, rental houses, etc.

I am 36 now and think this is quite doable but I do have a high income to work with.

For the simple math above assuming 50 yrs of 100k to equal five million you are assuming zero gains. 100k invested one time at 8% will be 5.4 million in fifty years without a single extra cent needed to be added.

I think one should aim for having ten times the amount they want to spend each year in retirement in investments.

No.  I don't hold a 401k.  I just referred to my retirement account.  I have my standard account under my corporate name and a tiny little ROTH.  Since I make most of my income out of investments and just a small portion from real estate and other sources, I don't pay enough into the system to operate even the ROTH anymore.
If it makes you feel better I lost 150k on IBM today until my stops activated.  I made a great deal more than that though... so you are probably still salty.  I'm not sure where the emotion is coming from unless you are just calling me a liar (which is totally fine.  It's the internet and you have no reason to believe a thing a say).
I had edited my original post when I was writing it and didn't repost that I have to manage my account outside a 401k.  It's simply an LLC account from my previous business (gas station) that represents my retirement account.  
As far as returns, I am the goose that shits the golden egg.  But that comes with having control over my own accounts.  I don't spend outrageously (I don't own a Rolex or a Lambo even though I could buy any version of either), and the fact that I LOVE investing and to a smaller degree trading.  I spend most of my day doing homework and I have an investment strategy that fits my personality.  My condo is around 2000 square feet and I drive a Chevy Avalanche.  
I'd LOVE to have a company like IBM that offered matching, but I do everything on my own.  
What you talk about with "most people in their 20's" is also an average.  The truth is, don't have kids.  You will be a millionaire faster?  Don't make life choices that drain your capital.  Don't have kids early.  Don't go on vacation.  I didn't even date for YEARS.  I saved every penny I had until I could buy a house and a few duplexes.  That was while I was working 20 hours a day at my gas station.  I sacrificed.
Now I get to do what I want.  Since I was 32, I could sleep all day and drink all night if I wanted to.  I don't... I get up at 3am and usually check my 3 F's ( Futures, Forums, and Foreign Markets).   If you choose to get married in your 20's and work for someone else, you made a choice that will put you in a lower tax bracket than me and on a totally different parabola for retirement.  There is nothing wrong with it.  But I sacrificed.  Other people make their choices and sacrifices.  My parents did.  My friends with kids do.  They are just as happy as I am.  
I once had a nasty neighbor that looked at my new motorcycle and sneered, "Nice bike... Bet it costs a lot..."  I looked at his kid riding his bike around the driveway and said, "About as much as one of those without the healthcare costs," and walked back inside.  Sums up my view on life.  Everything is a trade off as long a you have your health.
It's not about magic.  It's about making the life choices that lead to being comfortable and what your definition of comfort is as long as you have been wise enough to work in a field that gives you the capital you need to invest and make your own future.
I really do sincerely wish everyone here to retire as comfortably as I am in my daily work.  But... most people are lazy and would rather spend time on these forums or watch a baseball game than read WSJ, IBD, or just plain look up the target price for their current holdings and put stops on what they already own to preserve their wealth.  I have no pity or patience for them.  They are the ones who think the stock market is magic.  They are the ones who lost big last market slide.  I just don't waste my time with them anymore.  



It's no different than watching someone wave a loaded gun around and pointing at their own head.  It's your money.  Own it.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What he said...

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/664680_Emergency_fund___convert_cash__buy_goods__or_leave_alone___inflation_discussion_.html&page=3#i11357120

ar-jedi

Anywhere north of 500K will do.  Dont need that much really.  I refinanced the house about 3 yrs ago to a 15yr low interest loan.
With no debt, it doesn't take much for just living expenses, but I also want to get a side business going of some sort to supllement

A lot of truth in these comments.  We all have choices that will influence our financial lives.  I started like Loveless.  Work, invest, repeat.  My first stock investment (as a 21 year old recent college graduate) returned a little over 70% the first year I owned it.  I was hooked.  I was maxing out IRAs and 401Ks while my buddies from college were having fun.  I thought that I'd have at least 1 million in investible assets by age 30 then the sky was the limit.

Then something happened.  I realized that I wanted to enjoy the journey a little more.  I wanted to get maried and have a few kids.  Best decision I ever made.  When I'm sitting on my porch reflecting on life someday my true assets will be the memories of family, friends,  and especially children.  Would I trade the memories for another million or two or three?  No, not me.  I still pay attention to investing and retirement planning but it does not consume me.  I wake up everyday very happy with my choice.  It's not the correct or the only choice but it worked very well for me.

Whatever I have in there it should be worth at least $50 by then.

Realistically, I don't expect to be able to ever retire.

As of right now? $3 million, and not one red cent more.

1.5-2 million. On top of $100k (current value unadjusted for inflation) annual retirement income from Railroad Retirement, Social Security and a couple of company pensions.

If you stay invested in the markets when you retire, and the markets continue to return what they have over the last century, you could plan to draw out 4% of the value of your account every year and it would most likely be at its original balance on the day you die--95% chance of that based on a bunch of statistical analyses I don't fully understand and don't want to.  You retire with $1 Million, you could draw out $40.000 a year to live on and probably still have $1 Million to leave your kids when you die.  That's a rule of thumb that financial advisors use to figure up "how much you need to retire" -- 4%.  You have a pension, draw social security, they can factor that in, too.  So you'd need less than $1 Million to retire with $40,000 a year.  When you're retired, your taxes go down, your house is paid off, your health insurance bill goes down, no kids, you'd be alright on $40,000 a year.  Inflation starts CREEPING up slowly over time, stocks would probably keep up, bonds/notes would sorta keep up if you bought short duration, you'd still be OK.  The only thing that would really fuck you up is a serious inflation spike, or a seriously great bear market that lasted throughout your retirement years.

$ 0.

I don't have one. I'm self-employed and don't have any taken out at my part-time wage earning job.

I do plan on having several pounds of precious metals by then though. I don't trust that we'll still be using or have a dollar that's worth anything.

-JC

5000 bricks of 22lr.

As much$$ as possible.

The vast majority of people don't have their 401k or IRA accounts primarily invested in dollars.  This is an important point if you don't understand that.  Saying that you have gold instead of equities because you don't trust the dollar is like saying you wear boots instead of tennis shoes because you don't trust high heels.

I am with you, I know if i continue to work my butt off for 20 more years it will be way more.  But at some point I will rather have the time than the money. Time with my family and doing what i want is starting to seem more important than amassing assets I will never need. Just read a story about a guy that died that was worth 40 million, but had no one to leave it to and it wil probably go to the state.

$750K

40K a year might cover your health insurance premiums.

None. As soon as I retire from my current employer of 18 years I'm yanking it out and moving it into a self directed IRA.

I'm surprised no one has said, "ill have 2 million at retirement.... And ill waste it all on hookers and blow, in that order!"

There's Medicare.