Here’s What You Need to Retire Comfortably in Texas

There are many in Texas who are getting close to retiring from their career. You've spent a majority of your adult life preparing for this moment and are ready to enjoy not hearing that alarm clock every morning. That also means you can't depend on a steady paycheck anymore. You will need to rely on what you've put back in savings or in your company's 401K program. So how much would need to be in those accounts combined to live a comfortable retirement? A new study just came out that has a surprising number.

Retirement

My mom and dad are both retired. My mom retired from teaching roughly 15 years. My dad retired about 10 years ago. For him, retirement lasted about six months. He got bored and went back to work at the same company but only part time. He did that for another three or four years when he retired permanently. They are both enjoying their retirement now just relaxing around the house and occasionally tackling a project.

My fiancé's dad recently retired. We talked to him the other night and his favorite part so far of retirement is being able to tackle a project on a Tuesday instead of waiting for the weekend to get it done. I kinda think he may end up like my dad and get bored and go back to work in a few months. My fiancé agrees.

Retiring Comfortably

Retirement certainly brings freedom. Retirement also brings a tighter budget. While there is money to draw from to take care of vehicle payments, mortgage, groceries and other necessities, there won't be any money being put back in from those regular paychecks.

So how much would be needed to live comfortably in those retirement years? A recent Northwestern Mutual study says that $1.46 million is needed. Wow! I was not expecting that. Just a mere four years ago, that number was $951,000. Why has it jumped so much? Inflation is the biggest reason (fox7austin.com).

Behind the Curve

I don't like that answer...at all. While I still have a good 20 years, or a little more, before retiring, that number makes me feel like I'm behind the curve...a lot. Higher inflation coupled with salaries staying stagnate and the prices of everything going up makes it extremely hard to put anything back.

But hey, as we Gen X'ers do, I'll keep plugging away and will hopefully have a nice nest egg come retirement time.

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