Adjust How Much You Expect To Spend In Retirement
This should be more like: how much of your plan do you intend on withdrawing in retirement. If a person sticks to 4%, many plans will not run out of cash. On the other hand, 4% won’t offer anywhere near what you would like in terms of post-retirement income.

Adjust Your Time Frames, and Don’t Forget About Your Spouse
If after focusing on 4%, you may want to adjust who will work and who won’t. If you are in good health – now the second most important part of any retirement plan, you might want to begin cultivating another career about mid-way through your current one. Working, studies have shown, is actually more healthy than not – provided you do something you like, at an enjoyable pace, and with people who appreciate your contribution.

Adjust Inflation (up!)
What about taxes, the cost of upkeep and insurances (outside of your health insurance). Those everyday expenses that inflict so much pain on our current income take an even larger hit when that income is fixed.

Input Some Large, One-Time Costs During Retirement
If you are looking at long-term care insurance when you are in your fifties, you better have the rest of your plan fully funded. If your kids are worried about their inheritances, let them foot the bill. The biggest one-time fund you need to take with you in retirement is $200,000 for health insurance. Another $100,000 will barely cover the other nagging expenses that you absorb so easily when you are employed. If you can afford your house (hopefully it is paid for) and your debt is well managed, you can probably squeak by with a $400,000 nest egg and out live some of it. Now readjust your savings to the reality.

Hope this helps.

Best

Paul Petillo
Managing Editor/BlueCollarDollar.com
http://bluecollardollar.com