Really, these articles need to stop.
Yes, you can retire with your millions.
Here are some actual headlines from some newsworthy outlets or bloggers or financial experts and authors…
Primary source: https://newsroom.bmo.com/
Source: X/formerly Twitter
Source: Washington Post.
From that Post article:
“Things happen. . . If you have $20, $30, $50 or $100 million, be like me, okay? If you have that kind of money, and you want to retire, fine.””
Just wow.
Please stop.
Please stop. Yes, you can retire with millions
I’m sure these articles and clickbait will go on and on for years to come but we’re here to tell you today such headlines have absolutely zero relevance to your personal plans.
Personal finance and your retirement projections are, guess what, personal.
Considering the 4% safe withdrawal rate in retirement?
Interesting but throw that out the window too.
That rule might never apply to some retirees whatsoever…
We have lots of case studies and articles on our site to prove our point (we’ll link to a few below…) but in doing some quick math for today, we used the following assumptions:
- Depending on your source, Gen Y / millennials, were born between 1981 and 1994/6. They are currently between 25 and 40 years old. For our quick example below, we’ll assume our millennial is age 30 right now in 2023.
- We’ll assume they have just started to save within their Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) over the last decade – with a TFSA value worth $115,000 today.
- They have no RRSPs and no intention of contributing to them.
- They have no workplace pension and might not ever have one.
- They have no real estate assets – they split rent with their roommate.
- They make $75,000 per year before tax in a good paying job and their only investing goal is to max out their TFSA for decades on end…which they will for today’s post.
- We’ll assume our millennial friend spends about $60,000 or so after-tax or about $5,000 per month.
- We’ll assume if they wanted to retire, today, they would like to spend even more: $5,500 per month.
- Inflation is set at 2.5% for the next 35 years and beyond.
- CPP and OAS kick-in at age 65 and our millennial saver never even gets 100% CPP even though they might work to that age and contribute the max. We’re just being conservative.
- We put a modest $200,000 inheritance in this millennials’ future, at age 70, because Boomers and some older GenXers are likely going to transfer, collectively, some incredible wealth over the coming decades.
- Rates of return are modest around 6% sustained.
Can this millennial ever retire?
Yes.
Here is the cash flow:
Here are the financial assets over time:
Our millennial friend will not only be able to retire, they might be able to spend even more than $250,000 per year when they are 80+.
Please stop. Yes, you can retire with millions summary
Diligent saving and investing, earning 6% over decades, can still do wonders for your retirement plan. Please ignore what headlines tout about this or that when it comes to your retirement number – it’s meaningless unless you run your own projections and do your own math.
Additional Reading:
If you want to accelerate your retirement plan, this is how much a side-hustle can help you.
This investor wants to retire at age 50. Do they have what it takes?
Need any support with your retirement income projections?
Knowing how to save and invest wisely, to help you get the most out of your portfolio, is something we can help with, in a low-cost way compared to most! We keep our costs low and modest to apply to all Canadians. We simply don’t believe you should be paying thousands of dollars to get the answers you are looking for…
If you are interested in obtaining private projections for your personal financial scenario, read more about our retirement projections service – for DIY investors by DIY investors!
A big thanks to the almost 200 clients who have sought out our services and time already – it’s been a pleasure to support you!
Another thanks to Rob Carrick for mentioning our site and services in The Globe and Mail.
From Rob:
“TODAY’S FINANCIAL TOOL
Cashflow$ & Portfolios is the name of a website built to help people learn how to reach their long-term financial goals with budget and long-term investing. Brought to you by a pair of veteran personal finance bloggers.”
Yup, that’s us!
We appreciate every comment and email and every client interaction.
Stay tuned for more case studies and articles over time – and you can ignore Suze Orman for the time being too! 😉
Mark and Joe.
