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Old 03-22-2010, 07:15 AM   #2 (permalink)
GreyWolf
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Location: Eastern Canada
So much of this depends on the individual. You need to take into account your family situation... will the kids be gone & on their own (don't assume you won't be supporting them at least partly through age 30 at least); what do you plan/want to do when you retire (travel, buy a retirement home, watch tv); your genetics (is your family long- or short-lived, are there histories of degenerative diseases); plans for your estate (spend it all or give it all to the kids); when you want to retire; and a host of other things that a competent adviser will get you to think about.

A safe plan, and a conservative one (i.e. more savings), is to plan to replace your salary at retirement through pensions/savings. If you can do that just off your investment income & pension, you're pretty much golden. You can continue your lifestyle into infinity (inflation is usually offset by lower spending as you age, but you might need to consider it if you're a long-lived family). This doesn't take as much as you might think... a million dollars should be able to safely generate $70,000 to $100,000 a year in investment income (yes, that's 7% - 10%, but it can be done).

Less conservative is assuming you're going to die and won't need any money after that. Then all you need to do is figure out when you will die, and plan an annuity which will run out at that time. If you do this, make sure your planned date of death is met. Otherwise, you will probably achieve death shortly later, but in a much less comfortable fashion.
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