Originally Posted by
PiscesGirl
I don't believe in rule of thumbs. You have to go with your lifestyle. If you have no mortgage and no debt, it's easy to live below your 70-80% of what that rule of thumb is.
I would think that whether or not there's a mortgage would be a HUGE factor concerning how much is needed for retirement. If mortage is like $1500 a month, that alone is $18k annually that won't be needed for retirement. We're trying desperately to pay the house off so we can stop worrying about mortgage. Big help!