What’s your number for retirement? Most consulting partners I talk to are $10-$20m. Wondering if that is average.

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The number of retired Partners that I know with $10-$20M at retirement you can count on one hand and have fingers left over, and those are right at $10M. A more realistic range is $5-$10M, and that’s only if they have been a Partner for more than 20 years. You generally don’t hit peak earnings, >$1M, until after age 50, and mandatory retirement for the Big 4 is 60-61. Do the math.

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Wow I didn’t know that

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I'm 55, have 7 mm saved, doubling down now with a few years left to work and feeling very comfortable

likesmart

How much do you think you need? $7mm seems like enough to pull in several hundred thousand a year for life and travel. Curious what makes you uncomfortable with that number?

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$50 million? You must mean PotHead Analytics.

likefunny

HA1 can you pls put me in touch with the recruiters that will get me to $50m. I must have missed that memo

likefunny

From what I have seen...most tend to hit 10m mark by 40 as Partner. Then, jump to industry and get to 50m mark by retirement.

funny

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. I have been at a Big 4 and in the top 25% in Comp and your numbers just aren’t there.

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$10m should give $500k pa through a typical retirement. ($400k to guarantee not running out). So it’s that plus house plus whatever else I can get to. In high COL location so way harder to save than if I was in Cleveland!

likehelpful

What about them? It’s a fact of life that any investment has to deal with.

Guidehouse - those may be true for big 4, but MBB partners should crack that by 35-40 - and you won’t see many that are 60 years old

likesmart

I think our partners start out at around 400k, and that’s before and after the sale. What do PwC commercial advisory partners start with?

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I don't need that much but I don't have kids

likesmarthelpful

How did you get to 3 by 37? Was it from outside of consulting?

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Mostly from consulting, some from investing my earnings. No student loans, no kids. Probably saved 50k+ every year since 2007 and 100k+ since 2011, much of which was plowed into a rising market. Made Partner a few years ago. Overall I think about half that comes from pre-Partner savings (with compounded returns) and half from these last few years.

likeupliftingsmart

K1 That’s only in B4

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That's quite a number...

Lol analytics - very very few consultants retire with anything close to 50M, just think about the math - it doesn’t work

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Head Analytics is so, so misinformed.

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Aren’t the pensions alone $400k per year?

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What careers can make one have 50M+ by retirement?

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Start your own business?

There are many small business owners pulling 400k with no formal education... I imagine consultants can do even better?

likefunny

Well, 28 posts and the first one was the best. Thanks McK 1

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Yeah I didn’t really have an offhand answer to the original Q since I frankly don’t have a number in mind, though McK1 seemed like a fair go.

I’m a bit over 3m at 37 and could see myself working another 20 years or more as long as it’s still fun, though I may want to take meaningful chunks off in that time. Getting into the 10-20m range seems realistic and while getting past 20m may be possible, I don’t think that would make much difference to me. Doubt I really need more than 5-10m to retire quite comfortably, so I’m lucky the overlap gives me a fair bit of room for maneuver.

Great question. The feedback that you “need” $10-$20M is unrealistic, in my opinion. By the time that Partners retire at 60ish, they should have their primary and potentially secondary residences paid off, kids through college and settled, if applicable, and $4-$8M in total for all wealth management vehicles. This is exclusive of a pension if offered. If you presume of life expectancy of 85ish, you should easily have $300k-$400k plus annually, at a minimum, not counting SSA benefits. If you are not paying for houses, college, alimony, etc., you should be having the time of your life, that includes travel, hobbies, fine dining , etc. As long as you take care of your health, this should truly be the golden years.

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Wow. Reading these comments puts my Manager salary right into perspective.

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Most can make about 10M . If you make partner early in 30s can definitely get to 20M . I don’t know too many who made above it . You need to be in at least in 2-3M range before mid 40s if you were to make that kind of money

Not $2M per year by 40 - but 2M saved by 40 . Just to clarify

Thinking about long term career goals, and financial comparison of each. Pretty familiar with average partner compensation, but have heard actual cash distribution or expense profile (e.g. self-insurance costs) can have a sizable impact on take home...what elements do we need to be aware of to form a complete picture?

Absolutely maximize very wealth building program You have access to at your firm. Open up an IRA, if you have not done so, and a Roth is even better. Open an HSA and contribute the max as it is pre tax dollars.

Lol what do you guys plan to do with so much money?
We burn our youth and energy to make this money for retirement, only to find you're too old and relationship less to spend that money

What exactly makes you old timers tick and continue to participate in the pie eating contest? How much is enough?

Depending on upbringing, the idea of creating a legacy for your progeny is attractive I’m sure. I’m not a partner but that would be the only reason I’d still be grinding; the idea that every extra million I can pass down sets up my kids and their kids and so on.

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