This is the most uninformed thread I have ever seen on Free Republic.
Of course the vast majority of Americans will “retire” and do just fine without $1,000,000 in investable assets. It happens every day.
Everybody’s situation is different - some people have pensions, some have social security, some have families, some have more the $1,000,000 in investable assets, some work until they’re older and don’t need $1,000,000 to live comfortably after stop working.
These clickbait articles are worthless and do more harm then good.
I like the books by Robert Kyosaki, you know, the ones where you retire rich, but only if you start out a millionaire already and gamble it all in the real estate market? My Mother in Law got his book for me, and I tossed it in the trash after reading it. Didn't want the responsibility of anyone else taking his advice if I had passed the book on.
My rule of thumb is that if authors of this sort truly were successful, then they'd be sitting on a beach collecting 20%, instead of writing hack articles for a newspaper.
I skimmed over some the replies and I agree that a lot of people here are uninformed. A lot of people over-analyze things too much. The key to a successful retirement is being as debt-free as possible and living a lifestyle in accordance with your means. A lot of people worry too much about how much they will leave to their kids. Trust me, your kids are going to blow whatever money they get on stupid things. For some people, their kids are sitting around waiting for them to die so they can get what they feel they have coming to them. I think that's sad but it happens way too often.
People who are retiring should not worry about how much they are leaving to their kids (and the taxman). Focus on having a good retirement for yourself. Even if it means reverse mortgages and digging into your 401(k) principal.
Forget the clickbait: it’s a great subject. What if you ended up near retirement age and had $1 mil? How to make it last? To me that is a fascinating question, since I won’t have pensions and 401ks and such.