The average cost of retirement is $136 per day, $4,083 per month, and $49,000 per year in the US in 2020, according to NorthwesternMutual.com.
- Retirement Cost Per Day: $136
- Retirement Cost Per Month: $4,083
- Retirement Cost Per Year: $49,000
What is the average cost of retirement? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: about $49,000 annually in 2014, the most recent year in which stats are available. Meaning, if you live for 20 years following your retirement, it will cost you about $980,000 (including taxes, not taking into account inflation).
If you are trying to determine how much you will need to save for your retirement, then $1 million sounds like a nice round number to strive for concerning saving. But the actuality is that determining how much your retirement will cost is a little more involved. The following are some important questions to ask.
How Much Does Independent Living Cost?
The average cost of independent living is $3,750 a month, with costs ranging from $1,500 to $6,000 in the US in 2020, according to Elmcroft.
How Much Does Assisted Living Cost?
WhereYouLiveMatters says the national average cost of assisted living is about $4,051 per month, according to the Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2019. The average assisted living cost per day is about $133 per day. The average cost of assisted living per year is about $48,612 per year.
How Much Does Memory Care Cost?
As reported by AARP the average cost of memory care is $2,500 a month with costs ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 in the US in 2020.
How Much Does a Nursing Home Cost?
The average cost of a semi-private in a nursing home is $248 per day, $7,441 per month, and $89,297 per year in the US in 2020, according to SeniorLiving.
How Much Does In-Home Care Cost?
As reported by Aging.com the average cost of in-home care is $300 per day with costs ranging from $200 to $350 in the US in 2020.
How Much Does a Retirement Home Cost?
The average cost of a retirement home is $5,000 a month, with costs ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 in the US in 2020, according to FinancialPost.
How Much Money Will You Need Each Year?
Don’t forget that $49,000 annually is the average. In fact, it will be very different for each one of us. Are you planning on staying close to home and spending your days taking care of your grandkids? You might not spend as much. Are you planning on taking a significant trip or 2 every year and get in plenty of camping and just get away from it all? You are most likely going to spend more. When you are younger, it’s harder to judge exactly what you will spend in retirement. But as you get an idea of your lifestyle, you can imagine retirement will be relatively similar. Are you spending $30,000 each year or $150,000? Take your personal numbers into consideration when trying to estimate the cost of your retirement.
How Long Are You Going Live?
An annual cost estimate is helpful, but only when you know over how many years you will be distributing that cost. As reported by the Social Security Administration, the average life expectancy of a 65-year-old man nowadays is 84. In women, it is 86½. However, those are only the averages. There’s a 1 in 3 chance a 65-year-old will reach age 90; 1 in 7 past 95. The average retirement lasts about 20 years, but what happens if you live longer? If you want to guarantee you will not run out of money, you should save for a minimum of a 30-year retirement.
How Will Inflation and Taxes Influence The Cost Of Your Retirement?
Costs increase. The things you can purchase nowadays with $49,000 are probably going to cost more in the future. Meaning if you are 30 years old and are planning for the cost your average retirement now, you probably should not adhere to that $49,000 yearly estimate — by the time you reach retirement, the average cost will probably be considerably higher. Inflation will also influence you throughout your retirement. That’s the reason over the 20 to 30 years or more than your retirement might last, costs are probably going to increase.
As well as inflation, taxes may be another huge cost in retirement. If you are planning on funding your $49,000 average using Social Security and capital from a 401(k), you are going to need more than the $49,000 in income annually. The reasoning is you will be obligated to pay taxes on the capital you take out.
How Will You Produce Income in Retirement?
As you’re saving for retirement, it can be easy to put all your focus on, say, saving (maybe you’re striving for the million-number mark). But once it comes down to funding your retirement, saving is only part of the formula. You should also plan for how you will produce your income. And that plan could impact how you save.
The best retirement plans comprise of income from various sources, including Social Security payments, pensions, revenues, IRAs, 401(k)s and possibly cash value from your life insurance. It’s also a good idea to have a mixture of non-taxable and taxable income sources such as conventional and Roth retirement accounts. The variety of income sources can enable you to be more tax-efficient when you’re saving and taking out your savings. It may also help you balance the increase you could get from higher-risk investments (helping you keep up with inflation) with the dependability you can get from ensured income sources such as Social Security, pensions and revenues (which helps take into account for the possibility of you living longer than you expected).
In the end, when you are intentional about how you produce income in your retirement, you can get more out of the money that you’ve saved. Meaning more in retirement at a lower cost!
If all this appears to be a little compelling, don’t fret. A financial advisor can assist you in getting an impression of where you are and what you wish for your future. Then they can help you create a plan that takes all of the components we discussed into account. Don’t forget, your plan is not only about retirement — it’s also about making preparations financially for the things you’ll want to do between now and your future.
Source:
- “Who We Are.” Northwestern Mutual, www.northwesternmutual.com/life-and-money/what-does-an-average-retirement-cost/.
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20545 N Lake Pleasant Rd #2577, Peoria, AZ 85382
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