Did I save too much for retirement...?

[Texas Proud]

I actually cannot say I 'saved' too much... but I can say I now have more than I need due to the gains I have had over the past say 15 or so years...

It might be a fluke, but I just looked at my SS record and I now have more money than I earned by salary in my lifetime... how did that happen?

 

[zippy2020]

The issue of how "protected" IRA assets are was still up in the air last time I looked (which was a couple of years ago). There was no actual law that protected IRA/retirement accounts from bankruptcy, for example. The "generally accepted" rule, based on an older IRS action, was that up to $1M was protected, but beyond that it was very definitely "we can't be sure" territory.

If things have changed legislatively, I'd love to hear about it, as I have a nephew who has skin in that game, as the saying goes.

 

[ncbill]

The issue of how "protected" IRA assets are was still up in the air last time I looked (which was a couple of years ago). There was no actual law that protected IRA/retirement accounts from bankruptcy, for example. The "generally accepted" rule, based on an older IRS action, was that up to $1M was protected, but beyond that it was very definitely "we can't be sure" territory.

If things have changed legislatively, I'd love to hear about it, as I have a nephew who has skin in that game, as the saying goes.

BAPCPA explicitly protects IRAs in bankruptcy, current limit $1.5+ million, inflation adjusted every 3 years:

Is my IRA protected in a bankruptcy?

Note that rollovers from qualified retirement plans (e.g 401k) are protected for any amount.

So you could rollover $10 million from your old job 401k to a new IRA w/o any worries.

IIRC, the advice is not to add any more to that rollover...setup a new IRA for any new contributions.

State protections can be even better, since those generally don't require a bankruptcy filing.

E.g. in my state any type of IRA in any amount is protected from creditors.

 

[brett]

I did the retirement calculations two ways net of tax.

As a couple, then assuming my spouse survived me. The numbers were different for the latter. Adjustment for inflation, ROI.

Plus a cushion for LTC if required.

More was better than less.