Comments on: Why You NEED More for Retirement

By: Carnivals and Festivals and Links, Oh My | Momma's Blog

Carnivals and Festivals and Links, Oh My | Momma's Blog — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:53:20 +0000

[...] Why You NEED More for Retirement by Master Your Card [...]

By: Tales From The Road Less Traveled » Blog Archive » Carnivals and Festivals and Links, Oh My

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:31:44 +0000

[...] Why You NEED More for Retirement by Master Your Card [...]

By: Rich Life Carnival #3 » Your Finish Rich Plan - A Personal Finance Blog

Rich Life Carnival #3 » Your Finish Rich Plan - A Personal Finance Blog — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:30:34 +0000

[...] presents Why You NEED More for Retirement posted at Master Your [...]

By: Kristy

Kristy — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:54:57 +0000

Hi Momma,

Thanks for checking out the post! I’m glad you’ve found it useful, but I’m even more happy at the fact that your numbers match up. That means you’ve already thought about your retirement in detail and have a plan of action to get there! Best of luck to you!

By: Momma @ Tales From The Road Less Traveled

Momma @ Tales From The Road Less Traveled — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:44:10 +0000

Thanks for this post! It’s always a little jolting to see these numbers in print, but I’m happy to say that they align with my spreadsheet and planning :)

BTW.. I found this post on the Carnival of Financial Planning.

By: Kristy

Kristy — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:33:44 +0000

The $8 per meal is an average. I commend you and your family for not eating out a lot, but I’m sad to say that the vast majority of people are not that way. Eating out is a way of American life, it seems. But, if you take the average cost of meals eaten out plus groceries – including an average of sit-downs at restaurants and fast-food, then it works out to be about $8. The caveat to that, of course, is that if you live in pricey areas like L.A. or Manhattan, you may have to up that number as food markets and dining in general tends to be a lot more expensive. Even with your modest $48,000 you’ve seen that you don’t have that much saved, which was the entire point of this post. I just read today about baby boomers having to stall off on retirement because they don’t have enough saved and the economy isn’t doing so hot. My point is to make people really think about their retirement savings because people always underestimate. It is better to be safe than sorry, especially with your retirement. Thanks for the question, though! I’m glad that you’ve thought about it for your own situation!

By: Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:58:38 +0000

I can’t see where you’re getting the $8 per meal – unless you’re counting on eating out 21 times per week. On second thought, that would be nice. :-)

I just ran the number for my family’s food budget: $200/month for 2 people, $100 per person. That’s $3.34 per day, or about $1.11 per meal. (We rarely eat out, and I plan the week’s meals from what’s on sale.)

Of course, we’re a LONG way from retirement, and food costs will probably double or triple by then. But it looks like we’ll need about $48,000 in “today’s money” just to eat – still a large number, and more than we have saved now! Thanks for the thought-provoking post.

By: Kristy

Kristy — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:27:10 +0000

Oh, sorry about that….yes, 52 weeks instead of 365 days…that’s doubling the 7 days a week the way I typed it.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:42:19 +0000

Thanks for spotting that, Collision!

By: Collision

Collision — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:20:58 +0000

That $2+ million for food had me worried for a minute… that’s way more than I earn in 20 years and I earn a good living. I think you meant 7 days a week x 52 weeks a year = $349,440.

Still a lot of money !