A woman has written a letter to a money advice columnist asking whether her 69-year-old husband is right to worry that $3.7 million isn’t enough to retire on.
The New Zealand herald A reader told financial expert Mary Holm that her husband was starting to have health problems and she “wants him to retire.”
But her husband is reluctant to give up work altogether because he fears “we won’t be able to afford it and I’ll have no money left and live in my car when he dies.”
She explained that after selling their second home, the baby boomer couple would have “a mortgage-free home” and about NZ$4 million (AU$3.7 million) in the bank – which she said is “enough” for a comfortable retirement. .
However, her husband disagrees.
Ms Holm was stunned by the woman’s letter and admitted it was the latest in a series of correspondence from older readers worried about their finances when in fact they had nothing to worry about.
A woman has written a letter to a money advice columnist asking whether her 69-year-old husband is right to worry that $3.7 million isn’t enough for retirement (stock image)
She said the man’s concerns may have stemmed from being raised by “parents who fell on hard times during the Great Depression” or from hardships early in life.
“But that clearly no longer applies,” Ms. Holm said.
She told the reader that her husband was “way too cautious” – as evidenced by a simple calculation to determine whether someone can retire comfortably.
‘For every €100,000 you have saved (by age 65), you can spend €100 per week. For example, if you have $300,000 saved, you can spend $300 a week, and your savings should last as long as you do,” Ms Holm explained, noting this is “the top end of NZ Super”.
By this conservative calculation, the concerned boomer couple has 40 $100,000 lots, giving them an eye-watering retirement budget of $4,000 per week.
Australia’s youth face a lifetime of financial pain and disappearing homeownership opportunities (photo: Melbourne rental inspection queue)