How much money do you REALLY need for retirement?

Yesterday I read an eye-opening article in Marketwatch:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stop-pushing-poor-people-to-save-more-for-retirement-2019-09-12?mod=mw_theo_homepage

The telling paragraph in the article is this:

"But first we need to get something straight: retirement saving isn’t about making yourself rich in retirement. In reality, retirement saving is about being able to maintain your pre-retirement standard of living once you stop working. And most Americans, including low earning workers, seem able to do that."

Here's what you REALLY need for retirement:

Enough money to cover "your pre-retirement standard of living once you stop working."

Got that?  No pie-in-the-sky million or more dollars.  (Unless you lead a much more extravagant life than I, in which case you're probably not reading a blog about Cheap and Cheerful Living.)

Using your present income/expenses as a base, you need to figure out how you're going to match your present income.  Social security?  401K? Investments? Savings?  IRA? (Unless it's a Roth IRA, you'll be paying taxes on your mandatory IRA withdrawals.)  On the expense side, you'll need to factor in health insurance (Med-B is automatically deducted from your monthly social security payment).  In my budget the top 3 expense categories are: housing (condo fees, cable, power, water), cash (groceries, gas, incidentals), medical insurance (Med-B, AARP supplemental insurance & drug coverage, air ambulance).  These 3 areas account for the lion's share of my annual spending.  What's ironic is that I spend roughly the same total dollars annually in each of the 3 areas.  

To make your plan work you need financial software.  Get it, use it, make it your best friend.  Without it you're just whistling in the dark.

Penny Pincher