You too can accumulate $1,000,000 in retirement funds … and then create a retirement income stream

Let’s keep it simple

Can a worker of average means accumulate sufficient funds to retire and maintain their lifestyle? Absolutely!

How realistic is it to accumulate $1,000,000?

Starting young and never giving up while increasing the savings rate with growing income makes such a goal very realistic – however, a goal of retiring well before age 65 makes that more difficult, but that is a choice that affects lifestyle before and after retirement. Here is a back of the envelope example.

A worker age 25 earning $30,000 a year saves $250 a month – 10% of earnings until age 65. Earning an 8% return this accumulates $870,757.96. Assume a average 10% annual return and the balance jumps to $1,579,150.84. Note this is a fixed saving amount, not ten percent of increasing income and thus well understated.

It also does not include any employer contributions which are possible for at least a portion of working years. Add a 3% employer 401k match to the 10% contribution returning 8% and the balance becomes $1,184,222.11.

In this admittedly simplistic example. However, over forty years the worker only saved $120,000 of the total value.

At age 65 with annual raises of only 2.5%% his salary will have grown to $80,551.92 – practically, his savings and investments will – should – have kept pace.

What seems an overwhelming goal is not when exercising discipline and leveraging time and the power of compounding.

Most average Americans are not savvy investors nor are they inclined to use detailed software and spreadsheets. A Monte Carlo calculation probably means how to find the casino. No, I’m not putting people down, but the reality is most people are not financially literate nor do they seek to be. In my experience the majority of people saving for retirement are risk adverse, a bit wary of the stock market and tend to be overly conservative

Now that we know it’s quite possible to accumulate retirement funds, let’s look at what I see as a realistic example of an another individual using their retirement assets.

Let’s call this person Jack – he reaches age 65 and wants to retire. Being responsible all his working life Jack has accumulated $1,000,000 in retirement assets over the last forty years and $200,000 in other investments. His current income is $65,000 per year. This is a big decision and Jack needs some assurance he will have a steady income until the end.

He has invested in index mutual funds p, ETFs and fixed income. How can his goal be accomplished?

One option is to live off retirement investments using the 4% withdrawal method. That yields initial income of $40,000 or 62% of current income. That’s below the prevalent 70-80% recommendation – and way below my outlier of 100%. Jack needs to decide if that is sufficient at least for now. In addition, is Jack, the wary investor, comfortable relying on the stock market in retirement?

While conventional wisdom says maximize your Social Security for the future and delay collecting until age 70, Jack could start SS at 65 and receive $1,517 a month. His total income would be $58,204 – almost 90% replacement. Good short-term move, but bad long-term strategy?

The question for Jack is how important is a steady, hopefully guaranteed retirement income. How much risk can he tolerate? If his answer is very important and minimal risk, he may consider delaying Social Security and use a portion of his retirement assets to buy an immediate annuity. Investing say $350,000 could get him $2,198 per month. To some people buying an annuity is heresy. But that income together with 4% of the remaining $650,000 retirement funds equals $52,000 or 80% replacement – with more income later from Social Security.

Now we are getting there, but is buying an annuity a smart move at 65? Turning over $350,000 may be tough for Jack, but how else does he reach at least 80% income replacement with as guaranteed as possible income?

For those “never buy an annuity” folks, maybe it’s time for a rethink. The fees, interest rate, risk of losing money are secondary to a steady – less stress – income for some people – maybe Jack. Inflation, even early death risk, can be dealt with by the annuity terms.

Jack’s $200,000 non-qualified funds could generate more income and be used for emergencies or smoothing withdrawals in down markets. It could be invested for income and later help offset inflation.

What started off simple ends up with important decisions to be made and question to ask.

• Has Jack really accumulated enough money?

• How much income replacement does Jack need – want?

• Can Jack meet his goals including income security needs at age 65 and beyond?

• Is Jack sufficiently protected from inflation?

• Can Jack delay Social Security – perhaps to 70?

• Should Jack ever buy an annuity?

• Can Jack, a very average guy, make the right decisions on his own?

What other options are there for Jack, the very average American?