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Tampa Estate Planning Attorney > Blog > Estate Planning > You Can Retire With $500K In Savings If You Have More Gratitude Than Cash

You Can Retire With $500K In Savings If You Have More Gratitude Than Cash

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Sometimes prosperity is not about how much money you have, but rather your attitude toward it.  Certainly, your feelings of anxiety and deprivation are justified if you don’t have enough money to be sure of where your next meal is coming from, but if your idea of “enough” is a specific number in the bank rather than access to certain necessities, then it is your line of thinking that needs an adjustment.  The young folks call it money dysmorphia, but if you are old enough that your retirement date is on the horizon, then you know that it is just a matter of unrealistic expectations.  The financial planners who tell you that you need to save a million dollars before you retire follow this guideline quickly with promises to get a million dollars into your retirement accounts if you only pay these same financial planners to give you more of their advice.  The truth is that most people will never have a million dollars in the bank, not even if they continue working until they are in their 80s.  The average amount that 65-year-olds have in savings is $200,000, and a considerable number of them have nothing.  A Tampa estate planning lawyer can help you envision your retirement with the savings you have, not the savings you wish you had.

Three Percent Is the New Four Percent

Retirees used to plan to spend four percent of their retirement savings each year, which means that, if you retired at age 65, your retirement savings would last until you were 90.  This outdated advice leaves a lot of people running out of savings.  Instead, you should plan to spend three percent of your retirement savings each year.  The reason to follow the three percent rule is not simply to fund your retirement until age 98 instead of age 90, but rather that a dollar in 2024 does not buy you nearly as much as it did when retirement planners started advising people to spend four percent of their retirement savings each year.

The Most Affordable Home Is the One You Already Have

If you have been reading the news about sky high mortgage interest rates and about the uncertain future of real estate commissions, you are probably glad that you are not in the middle of buying or selling a house.  Almost any real estate transaction you can make will leave you poorer.  If you are young, that means that you should buy the least expensive house you can, and plan to stay there until well after retirement.  If you are near retirement age and you own your house, you should continue living in it, and perhaps transfer ownership of it to a family member.  Only sell it if you have made a final decision to spend your retirement in rented accommodations in a retirement community or assisted living facility.

Contact David Toback About Retiring With What You Have

A Central Florida estate planning lawyer can help you strategize about making your retirement savings go as far as possible.  Contact David Toback in Tampa, Florida to set up a consultation.

Source:

moneywise.com/retirement/retirement/i-have-500k-in-savings-and-want-to-retire-right-now

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