The New Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?

Chapter 11. WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM?

What matters most in retirement is income. Making your money grow takes a backseat to making your money last. And, unless you are very wealthy and are concentrating on leaving an estate to your children, the concept of making your money last includes drawing down all your assets at a rate that makes them last as long as you do. You don't want to drain your pool of assets too soon, so you'll spend some time replenishing the pool during your early years of retirement. In other words, you may have to keep working.

If you're approaching retirement, you have tough choices. If you're a younger reader, this section will help your resolve to save more and invest wisely. Basically the choices are limited for generating income in retirement. You can either work longer or spend less.

Given the recent losses in the stock market, the idea of working longer has become more accepted. In fact, you might want to go back to the web site mentioned in Chapter 3, www.livingto100.com, and rethink how long you're likely to live, and therefore how long you need to keep working—either before you officially declare your retirement or even during the early years of your retirement.

You may be planning to retire from your job, but statistics say you won't retire from earning some sort of income. And you're more likely now to delay that retirement. A midyear 2009 poll by AARP showed that 27 percent of those ages 55–64 had postponed plans to retire, and many feared that ...