Are you saving enough for retirement?

[Doctorfever]

My parents recently retired (well Dad is semi-retired, loves his work). There was some concern years ago that they might not be leaving much behind for us kids…. Told them to spend every penny they have. Enjoy life! They have earned it.

With that said, I do feel like I should try and leave something to my kids, but one just never knows how long my wife and I will live.

Does anyone here plan on leaving something for their kids, like a specific number?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

My parents recently retired (well Dad is semi-retired, loves his work). There was some concern years ago that they might not be leaving much behind for us kids…. Told them to spend every penny they have. Enjoy life! They have earned it.

With that said, I do feel like I should try and leave something to my kids, but one just never knows how long my wife and I will live.

Does anyone here plan on leaving something for their kids, like a specific number?

With the cost of housing now I'm planning on helping my kids with downpayments when they reach that stage, but I'm less concerned about leaving an inheritance. If one of my wife or I lives until 80 (hopefully!) our kids will both be in their 50s. By then it seems reasonable for them to not need money from us.

Basically an early inheritance when they need the money, but I think if there's anything left at the end I'm more inclined to do a charity for a big chunk.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

My parents recently retired (well Dad is semi-retired, loves his work). There was some concern years ago that they might not be leaving much behind for us kids…. Told them to spend every penny they have. Enjoy life! They have earned it.

With that said, I do feel like I should try and leave something to my kids, but one just never knows how long my wife and I will live.

Does anyone here plan on leaving something for their kids, like a specific number?

As the old saying goes… if you don’t fly first class, your kids will.

I won’t plan to leave my kids anything. But there almost certainly will be money for them when we go. I’ll help them along the way when then need it. That’s way more valuable then leaving them money when I die.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

My parents recently retired (well Dad is semi-retired, loves his work). There was some concern years ago that they might not be leaving much behind for us kids…. Told them to spend every penny they have. Enjoy life! They have earned it.

With that said, I do feel like I should try and leave something to my kids, but one just never knows how long my wife and I will live.

Does anyone here plan on leaving something for their kids, like a specific number?

Do not intend to leave much, much better to help them when they need it than save it for when they have already established themselves. Natural disasters have caused a significant layout recently and they have recovered enough to insist on paying me back which is nice. I need that cushion in case something happens again.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

Wife and I saved like crazy through our 30's, hit our "number" to retire in our late 30s. CoVid hit, and I was a huge beneficiary, we have more than doubled our net worth now, but I love my job and it pays super well, so no plans to retire anytime soon.

The "Hardest" part for us is moving from "Save as much as you can" to "time to YOLO" - yes I know that sounds awful, but it's true.

Update: Net worth continues to grow, I have since been promoted yet again and make even more $ at my job which I still enjoy.

Wife quit her job at the start of 2023 and has spent the time with the kids, she is looking to start a new job soon, but it is only a 1 year contract so if she decides she doesn't want to work she can easily walk away.

I have purchased a fancy car that people would say costs too much money, and we (the family) are leaving for a 6 week vacation to Asia this month, showing our move from "save everything" to "enjoy now."

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

My parents recently retired (well Dad is semi-retired, loves his work). There was some concern years ago that they might not be leaving much behind for us kids…. Told them to spend every penny they have. Enjoy life! They have earned it.

With that said, I do feel like I should try and leave something to my kids, but one just never knows how long my wife and I will live.

Does anyone here plan on leaving something for their kids, like a specific number?

I find that funny. I have zero expectations to inherit anything from my parents and, assuming I live well to their adulthood, I don't plan on leaving my kids anything.

My Dad always said he believes there should 100% inheritance tax as everyone should start out the same. Now I don't believe 100% inheritance would make everyone the same. My kids are going to get a lot of advantages from educated/engaged parents, sporting opportunities, international travel experience, etc., and likely won't need much as far as loans for university between what is in RESPs and other funding programs that they are eligible for. I also plan on educating them about finance in a way my parents never did.

If I was going to give money to my kids, I would give it to them when they are just starting out, like for a downpayment, and not later in life when they are hopefully established and taking care of themselves.

[CliffFletcher]

The problem with inheritance is people don’t get it an age where it can help them the most. Much of the trillion+ that will be passed down from the Boomers will go to helping their middle-aged kids in retirement. And when kids could most use a gift of money - in their 20s and early 30s - parents often aren’t at a stage themselves where they can provide it. Most people don’t have a large reserves of cash when they’re still paying off a mortgage themselves while saving for retirements. And of course the biggest chunk of inheritance most people pass is from the sale of property, which typically happens once they’re dead.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Weitz

As the old saying goes… if you don’t fly first class, your kids will.

That’s really good advice; I’ve not yet adopted it despite my wife’s urging. We flew first-class from Oz. It was really nice but expensive.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The problem with inheritance is people don’t get it an age where it can help them the most. Much of the trillion+ that will be passed down from the Boomers will go to helping their middle-aged kids in retirement. And when kids could most use a gift of money - in their 20s and early 30s - parents often aren’t at a stage themselves where they can provide it. Most people don’t have a large reserves of cash when they’re still paying off a mortgage themselves while saving for retirements. And of course the biggest chunk of inheritance most people pass is from the sale of property, which typically happens once they’re dead.

We’ve given a lot of money to our kids, aged late 30s and early-40s. My wife’s parents did it for us. We may as well do it when they could most use it.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

That’s really good advice; I’ve not yet adopted it despite my wife’s urging. We flew first-class from Oz. It was really nice but expensive.

I find premium economy is a good plan, especially for long haul flights.

I've flown business class to Europe, but holy crap is it expensive unless you get a smoking hot deal.

[chemgear]

I always figured CP members were basically max RRSP & TFSA every year. ($60-70 K savings every year).

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by chemgear

I always figured CP members were basically max RRSP & TFSA every year. ($60-70 K savings every year).

You have to have double professional incomes for that to work - if both spouses don't get max RRSP room per year there's less room for tax advantaged savings.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

I find premium economy is a good plan, especially for long haul flights.

I've flown business class to Europe, but holy crap is it expensive unless you get a smoking hot deal.

The delta between premium economy and business isn't that big these days. Premium economy is a huge ripoff.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by nik-

The delta between premium economy and business isn't that big these days. Premium economy is a huge ripoff.

Depends on the individual situation quite a bit. Also, the westjet companion vouchers are good for premium economy but not business, which can make the spread between the two bigger for some situations.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

With the cost of housing now I'm planning on helping my kids with downpayments when they reach that stage, but I'm less concerned about leaving an inheritance. If one of my wife or I lives until 80 (hopefully!) our kids will both be in their 50s. By then it seems reasonable for them to not need money from us.

Basically an early inheritance when they need the money, but I think if there's anything left at the end I'm more inclined to do a charity for a big chunk.

Makes sense.
I hope to do the same helping my kids with down payments.

I don’t necessarily intend to leave my kids a large inheritance, but there will definitely be enough there, depending on how long we live and how long we are healthy enough to travel.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by shermanator

My update: 2021 was very good to my retirement plans. At the rate things are going our house will be paid off in 18 months. I liquidated my RRSP with a former employer in June and moved it into a self directed RRSP. Returns on that have been very good. Even with the volatile 2022 so far I've still done quite well. We will likely live a mortgage free life for a few years before upgrading houses, but whether we actually move or not will depend on what the market is like whenever we decide to make the leap.

If we stay where we are we can likely retire in our mid 50s, but it is probably more likely that we pivot careers to something a little less stressful even if that means sacrificing earnings along the way.

Update from 2 years later.

House was paid off last May. Good thing, because I was laid off in July, so for that alone I am very happy with my strategy from the previous 15 years. Got 4 months of severance and was back working in 3 months. Didn't touch a cent of severance so dumped the majority of it into my RRSP (and pissed away a few grand for fun). Moved the DCPP part of my former employer's plan to a LIRA and the consolidated the rest in my self directed RRSP. New employer has a DB pension and I'm still trying to figure out how to work that into my plans.

Was down 3% in 2022 and up 13% in 2023 which seems like it was better than most? New investments are mostly going into index funds but I also pumped a decent amount into banks when they were getting beaten up. Once in a while I'll get distracted by a nice dividend yield and grab more of that.

Going to spend a couple more years filling up the RRSP and TFSA until they are maxed out before considering upgrading my living situation. Daughter's RESP is in decent shape.

Financially, life is good.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The problem with inheritance is people don’t get it an age where it can help them the most. Much of the trillion+ that will be passed down from the Boomers will go to helping their middle-aged kids in retirement. And when kids could most use a gift of money - in their 20s and early 30s - parents often aren’t at a stage themselves where they can provide it. Most people don’t have a large reserves of cash when they’re still paying off a mortgage themselves while saving for retirements. And of course the biggest chunk of inheritance most people pass is from the sale of property, which typically happens once they’re dead.

I've seen a few people leave things to their grandchildren instead of their children, though this is mostly people who didn't have a pile. When my mother-in-law died we didn't get anything but my kids both got some money that will either help them through school or give them a good start on a home deposit when they're older.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

I've seen a few people leave things to their grandchildren instead of their children, though this is mostly people who didn't have a pile. When my mother-in-law died we didn't get anything but my kids both got some money that will either help them through school or give them a good start on a home deposit when they're older.

I think that will become increasingly common. Seniors tend to die at around the time grandkids are reaching adulthood. Then again, I know people my age whose retirement plan is to live off the money their get when their parents die. So it all depends on how whether people can afford to pass it down.

[puckedoff]

I guess re-visiting this, maybe about 7. 8 on a good day.

[Scrambler]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Ditto. My current plan consists of hoping I die before I'm broke.

Wow, that's actually my plan too! Not proud to say it but my depression is bad so that may unalive me some day, also got stage 3 malignant melanoma a couple years ago which may come back in a stage 4 and metastasis into something worse, so I suppose my odds are fairly good.

My main and perhaps only goal is to support my two daughters who are now 5 and 9 before I go. The better they are set up for the future, understanding how the world works, and what they need to succeed in it, the better I'll feel before it's time to go. I've made 'OK money and saved a lot of it over time, I'd rather they have that instead of my retirement. Hence why I gave up on RRSP's a while back and focus on topping up the max amount permitted for my TFSA's and RESP's