{"id":49085,"date":"2025-08-07T00:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T00:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/49085\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T00:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T00:22:07","slug":"according-to-the-retirement-calculators-i-have-enough-saved-for-retirement-but-one-thing-is-giving-me-pause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/49085\/","title":{"rendered":"According to the retirement calculators, I have enough saved for retirement. But one thing is giving me pause."},"content":{"rendered":"

Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here<\/a>. (It\u2019s anonymous!)<\/p>\n

Dear Pay Dirt,<\/p>\n

My spouse and I are both 43, and combined we have $800,000 in retirement accounts. We both max out company matches, which are generous for both of us. By age 65, we could have $3 million! We\u2019ve been reading about the concept of \u201cCoast FI,\u201d and are considering reducing our contributions and enjoying life a bit more (plus paying down debt more aggressively). But turning down the company match, which is \u201cfree money,\u201d gives me pause. We both had it drilled into us to always max out our retirement contributions and get a full company match. The devil\u2019s in the details, but are there any general guidelines to making this pivot?<\/p>\n

\u2014Coasting?<\/p>\n

Dear Coasting,<\/p>\n

Your instincts about \u201cfree money\u201d make sense, and this question points to one of the biggest questions when it comes to retirement planning: When is enough enough?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a question only you can ultimately answer, but first, let\u2019s talk about Coast FI. For those not in the know, this is an investment strategy where your existing retirement savings grow enough through compound interest to fund retirement, and you don\u2019t really have to save more.<\/p>\n

This source<\/a> summarizes it nicely:<\/p>\n

\u201cCoast FI is the point at which you have saved enough to get to Financial Independence by the time you reach the traditional retirement age through compound interest alone. Once you reach this point, you don\u2019t have to make any further contributions to your retirement portfolio. You could stop saving altogether, and as long as you don\u2019t touch your investments, your portfolio will generate enough income in retirement \u2013 thanks to the magic of compound interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

With $800,000 at 43, you\u2019re ahead of most retirement benchmarks. If that grows to $3 million by 65, you\u2019d have a substantial nest egg in retirement. Of course, you could always save more, and it\u2019s generally unwise to turn down an employer match because, yes, it\u2019s like leaving money on the table. But I get it\u2014you want to live your life (and pay off that debt, which I agree is important), and I guess you have to figure out the price you\u2019re willing to pay to do that\u2026literally.<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s look at the benefits of cutting back your savings. Yes, you could pay off high interest debt, which would feel good and give you a guaranteed return, although it might not be as lucrative as that \u201cfree money.\u201d But the psychological freedom might be worth it to you. And there are other benefits to consider too: quality of life improvements, for instance\u2014but you have to figure out what that means for you. What else will you spend this money on, and is it worth what you might spend it on in the future?<\/p>\n

But just as there are compelling reasons to coast, there are reasons for caution. You never know what your healthcare costs are going to be, or how long you\u2019ll live\u2014you might need more than you think. Lifestyle inflation can be sticky, too, especially if you\u2019re looking to boost your quality of life now. You\u2019re also missing out on the tax advantages that retirement accounts offer.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d suggest running specific scenarios with your actual numbers. How much could you cut back, and what would that mean leaving on the table in the long-term? Look at your debt interest rates, the opportunity cost<\/a> of reducing your contributions, and your future lifestyle goals<\/a>. Chances are, there\u2019s some middle ground here. You could start reducing a little bit at a time and see how it feels. It doesn\u2019t have to be all or nothing\u2014dip your toe in the water for a few months and see what you\u2019re comfortable with. You can always ramp it back up later.<\/p>\n

\u2014Kristin<\/p>\n

More Advice From Slate<\/p>\n

Nearly four years ago, I found out my husband, \u201cChris,\u201d was having an affair, and I filed for divorce. He sold the house (it was in his name), avoided me, and used a bunch of legal tactics to make sure I couldn\u2019t afford to live there. He had family money and a high-earning job. I was working part-time to stay home with our kids. Chris wouldn\u2019t even divorce after I asked for minimal child support. After we separated, I relied on family, including my cousin \u201cVictoria,\u201d who helped with childcare while I worked full-time. She had her own kids at home and generously watched mine, too, at no cost. Since Chris and I were technically still married, my income didn\u2019t qualify for any type of federal benefits. I thought I was going to be stuck in this legal limbo forever.<\/p>\n

The latest sex, parenting, and money advice from our columnists delivered to your inbox three times a week.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[8786,64,63,99,186,184,185,3637,13190],"class_list":{"0":"post-49085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-finance","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-relationships","16":"tag-slate-plus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}