in the last years of working however. We were completely out of debt for our last 5 years or so of employment and were able to put away more than I imagined. We found that if we had to, we could live off of less than $3000 a month if we cut back to basics. I think a lot of people over estimate what they will spend in retirement but better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully, travel will be our greatest expense in the coming years but we are prepared for health care costs as well.