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Current 401k balance and age?

30,074 Views | 190 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by Baby Billy
Keeper of The Spirits
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In reply to GE • 12:34p, 6/11/18
AG
A couple reasons:

Time: We are older and don't want to have kids at home into our late 50s. Also, my wife wants to stay close to her pediatric neurology practice, and spending time away from the game allows her skills to erode.
Cost: That is pretty straightforward
Personal Preference: Wife is from a small family, only wants 1 and I am from a large family an would want an even number and like the idea of man to man defense, so 2 would be the max. It would likely be one bio, one adopted, or 2 adopted.
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monarch
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11:38p, 6/11/18
S
Age: 65; $298000 in traditional IRA plus $445000 in 401K. Currently enrolled in current employer's 401k (lost the ability to contribute for 12 months when I was between plans; currently enrolled in another plan).

Spouse: 63; has $400000 in 403b that is not being touched; currently drawing TRS pension at $37-38000/year.

Altogether $1,142,000 plus current pension plus when I start drawing my SS $$$ in 18-20 months when I retire. House is paid for, we escrow our tax $$$, plus I put approx 700.00/month into various savings accounts, etc.

AA
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South Platte
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12:10p, 6/12/18
43 years old and $365,000.

Unrelated annual pension coming in 18 years at $50,000/year.
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South Platte
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In reply to AgsMyDude • 12:12p, 6/12/18
AgsMyDude said:
28 yo, married 2nd kid on way.

61K for me and another 5 or so in the wife's

Got a bit of a late start due to student loans but maxing out Roth and 4% company match.

Thought I was doing alright but apparently not.
You're doing fine. It's only money. Congrats on starting your family . . . the payout on that is priceless.
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JDUB08AG
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3:23p, 6/12/18
AG
Considering how many people don't save a dime for retirement, pretty much everyone on this board is doing at least moderately well. I have a lot of respect for people who save something because a majority of people in this country "can't afford to save." Everyone can afford to save something, whether its $1k/year or $100k/year.
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monarch
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3:47p, 6/12/18
S
Klein ISD offers employees who hit 61 a class in where some financial pros come in and speak about retirement and how to prepare for it. I was 58 when I took the class (they had some openings) and I was astounded at the amount of people that were 61-62 who had under 25000.00 in any retirement plan and were also banking on SS money to fund their retirement. Well over 60% of the class participants fell into this category.

While I did mention SS money as a source of income, I'm not counting on it being there for my total retired life.

60%+ of the people were under 25000 and were counting on SS.
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Ragoo
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In reply to monarch • 3:49p, 6/12/18
AG
Don't TRS members waive their SS benefit?
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Cyp0111
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In reply to Ragoo • 4:09p, 6/12/18
Survivor benefit.
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monarch
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5:47p, 6/12/18
S
TRS people don't do a traditional 401K plan. The 403B is their version of private industry's 401K. Since my wife is a TRS person, she does not get my SS when I kick the bucket which I think sucks (thanks Congress). The money goes to our three kids. I think.
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Mustang1
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In reply to monarch • 6:39p, 6/12/18
AG
I would double check that info. My parents are in the same boat & my mother is set to receive survivor benefits if she outlives my father.
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AggieFrog
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10:03p, 6/12/18
AG
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Acesup
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9:29a, 6/13/18
44 years old

I've been at this job for four years, so only 90k in the 401k
249k in tax advantaged accounts (IRA, HSA)
50k in taxable
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TKEAg04
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In reply to The Anchor • 10:56a, 6/13/18
AG
The Anchor said:
queso1 said:
42 and nowhere near the posts on this board lol. Of course, I own my own law firm and commercial property. I'm amazed at some of the figures. I just hope you guys aren't wasting your youth saving too much.
My wife and I were stashing around 30% of salaries into retirement accounts until she became a stay at home mother. It made us rearrange things quickly. Now we pretty much spend every extra penny on vacations and memories and I'm okay with that.

36 around $250k combined (purely a guess - I haven't looked at it in a few months)
I'm just about the same. 36 with $278k combined. My wife stayed at home for a couple of years with our second, and we are probably going to have her stay at home again in a few years. I'm genuinely impressed with some of these savings accounts!
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Ragoo
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In reply to Ragoo • 11:04a, 6/13/18
AG
Ragoo said:
$290K 401(k) @ 32.75 years

makes up less than half of our total investment portfolio though
update 7 days later and just a hair under 300K

want to know how to build wealth? compound growth. and being a consistent saver, doesn't need to be a lot of money, but needs to be something every paycheck.
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South Platte
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In reply to Mustang1 • 11:09a, 6/13/18
Mustang1 said:
I would double check that info. My parents are in the same boat & my mother is set to receive survivor benefits if she outlives my father.
It depends on which option the TRS retiree selects when they retire. There are a number of options to continue a survivor payout at varying levels, which affects your monthly annuity.

I think he was referring to social security - - I don't know the rules on that and don't even care. Any dollars we get from social security 10, 20, 30 years from now is pure bonus.
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Mustang1
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In reply to South Platte • 11:12a, 6/13/18
AG
I am referring to SS
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PeterPan
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10:09a, 6/14/18
Thought this would be a fun way to reply :

Age : Total family balance, just my balance (Family combined income) ........ balances pulled on my birthday each year.

25 : 30k, 5k (112k)
26 : 63k, 14k (128k)
27 : 98k, 29k (135k)
28 : 137k, 47k (164k)
29 : 152k, 55k (181k)
30 : 222k, 84k (205k)
31 : 311k, 114k (218k)
today : 326k, 115k (226k)

According to my spreadsheet, we project to hit $1mil of 401k balance somewhere between age 38-42 ... depending on the stock market, of course.
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Ridge14
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11:01a, 6/14/18
26, been back in grad school for one year with another one to go. Unfortunately the last job didn't have 401k matching.

401K: 58,000
Roth IRA: 30,000
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Guitarsoup
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11:23a, 6/14/18
AG
$0 and 38
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RogueAg
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1:11p, 6/14/18
AG
Man.... some of y'all are very giving when it comes to information. I guess I'm more old school that way... but interesting to see. Lot of people making smart decisions here.

I'll just leave my info at.... 43yo.... into 7 figures in combined retirement accounts now.
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South Platte
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In reply to RogueAg • 2:26p, 6/14/18
You win.

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agdaddy04
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10:01p, 6/14/18
AG
The dividends are where my 401k really started seeing massive gains. As soon as we got to a plan with Vanguard funds the growth I've seen has been unreal. Our fund options with prudential sucked.
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JSKolache
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In reply to monarch • 3:26p, 6/15/18
AG
monarch said:
TRS people don't do a traditional 401K plan. The 403B is their version of private industry's 401K. Since my wife is a TRS person, she does not get my SS when I kick the bucket which I think sucks (thanks Congress). The money goes to our three kids. I think.
You can thank TRS for that, not Congress. When the .gov moved all federal employees off the old federal pension system and into paying/receving SS -- in the early 80's -- most states and local govs did the same.

Now the only ones left holding the bag & facing the SS offsets are the few states & systems (Teacher Retirement System is one) who to opted of of SS. Notably, State of TX employees do pay SS - only the Teachers continued to opt out. They made their bed....

But it a pretty good bed. Teachers with 30+ yrs will make more out of the pension than any of us ever will from SS. It just gets messy when they want both....
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canagian
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3:35p, 6/15/18
AG
Sounds like a lot of you are doing great. But speaking as a retired "old", keep in mind that the last 9 years of market gains have been unlike anything previously seen in a loooong time.

If you'd invested $1000 in the S&P on Jan 1 2009, that would be worth over $3200 today -- sounds like many of you have only been investing during this boom period.

That same $1000 invested on Jan 1 2000 was worth only $600 on Jan 1 2009, a similar time horizon to that noted above. Basically, the market in 2009 was in the exact same place it had been in 1997. So don't put too much faith in your spreadsheet projections that assume double-digit increases every year.

I started working and saving in the late 80s and lived through 2 different cycles where the market dropped by 40% over a 2-3 year period. That could happen again any time soon. It's not easy watching your retirement balance decline even though you've continued to pump $ away.

I'm fortunate that this most recent 9 year run happened late in my career, allowing me to retire early at age 54 in 2016 with a few $mil socked away. Company still subsidizes medical costs in retirement or even that might not be possible.

So keep doing what you are doing but don't get carried away assuming the party will last forever. If you are young, keep pumping $ into equities because time is on your side even if there are corrections coming in the future. If you are older, you might consider investing a little more conservatively.
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cheeky
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4:21p, 6/15/18
AG
Age 48. All of my qualified accounts were converted to Roth and then invested in angel/venture/private equity deals between 2013 and 2015. I have $70k in the new 401k started in 2015. It will be another 3 to 5 years before I can accurately quantify the total value, but it's a comfortable amount and almost all of I will be tax-free for life.
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12thAngryMan
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In reply to canagian • 6:20p, 6/15/18
AG
Agree 100%, canagian. A lot of us here have been spoiled by mostly/all boom years. However, any time I start to have doubts, I revisit the following article: World's Worst Market Timer

Don't let the drops scare you out of the market, keep investing when equities become cheap, stay fully diversified, and ride it back up (assuming no structural economic changes cause societal Armageddon). Easy to say when retirement is still 10+ years out; I do realize you can't be so carefree if retirement is looming.
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CPDAggie10
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11:49p, 6/15/18
AG
I'll play. 30 years old and $234k in my Roth 401k.
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cheeky
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9:36a, 6/16/18
AG
Canagian, valid observation, but that 9 years includes two of the worst bear markets on record, following a ridiculous boom of the 90s. Markets are more more normalized since 2010 and equities are forecast to return upper single digits over the next cycle. So probably some down years ahead but unlikely to pattern like 90s and 2000-10. Greatest probability to earn is staying the course in the down periods because recoveries tend to be abrupt. Miss a few of the best months and, well that explains why most retail investors tend to realize 1/2 or less of the available returns in the institutional world. Congrats on the early retirement

$200k+ in Roth at age 30 is outstanding
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TexasAggie_97
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9:21a, 6/17/18
AG
805k for wife and I at 42 years of age. That is just our 401k it does not include IRA accounts, stocks, Mutual Funds, cash reserves, other investments, etc.
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ProAg07
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9:15p, 6/19/18
AG
34 not married, yet...
$500k in SEP IRA
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59 South
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9:30p, 6/19/18
AG
Mid 30s with about $450k combined 401k. About $600k if you include other accounts (2x Roth, HSA, taxable).

Both really didn't get much of a start until 2009 due to blitz student debt payoffs and the 50% market crash.
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Hanrahan
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9:34p, 6/19/18
AG
40 yrs old, me and wife. 858k in combined 401k accts, but I haven't worked a real job/contributed to a 401k in 8 years. Most of our money in real estate investments.
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BombayAg
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In reply to AggieEyes • 2:54p, 6/20/18
AggieEyes said:
Might be interesting to get benchmarks. I'll start.

530k and 41 years old.

I started in 2008.

When you say 401k, do you mean your IRA also?
I've worked at several companies and when I leave, I roll the money over to an IRA. So my 401k is only what I have from a current job.
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Cyp0111
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In reply to BombayAg • 3:38p, 6/20/18
I consider this a retirement savings discussion. I think all Before and After tax savings accounts.
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AustinAgAnonymous
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6:09a, 6/21/18
AG
25 years old

10k in wife's retirement (teacher)
13k in my Roth IRA
10k in my 401k

Not bad for only my second year in the workforce I thought? Opening up the wife a Roth here shortly and will be maxing that out as well.
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