Retirement - First Imagining of What It Might Look Like

Ooooh boy, do I LOVE planning! Esp hypotheticals around living a life of leisure. 

In the past, "retirement" has been this very vague thing that would happen sometime *waves hands* in the future. However, recently, I received a notice in my email about my US Social Security, and it sparked a thought, which led to another thought, which made me open an Excel file and start doing some nitty-gritty planning. 

Here is my first draft of my retirement plan (lots 'o' controversial stuff in here, lemme tell ya):

2024 - 2038:

1. I currently don't qualify for SS - I have not had enough working years in the US yet. I need about 4 more working years in the US to qualify. 
2. Therefore, I need to move back to the US and get a job. This is great, actually! I intend on moving back after my PhD (if I get a job at my coveted dream job organisation) to be closer to my parents/sister and help out more at home. I'll be about 45 at that point. With a PhD, I *should* be making 2-3x my current salary, in US dollars, and will be able to contribute to my 401K and other US retirement accounts again. I also want to buy a townhouse or similar in the US to get on the property ladder.
   
3. I'll keep my NZ retirement funds intact in NZ. They'll sit there and grow. I don't think I'll be able to contribute to it from the US, but that's OK.

2038 - 2040:

1. If I'm lucky, I can retire at 59.5 years of age, in 2038. I am exhausted and tired from working and ready for retirement NOW. But I need to last until then - that is the age I can start drawing down on my retirement accounts. I'll need about $60K to fund a $3K/mo lifestyle (I currently live on about 2/3 of that figure and still manage to save a little each month) to last 2.5 years, until the next step. 
2. Move back to NZ at 59.5 years of age. I am looking at Northland very fondly...Whangārei or Bay of Islands? I fully expect (sadly) that my immediate family will have all passed by then. None of them are in good health today, and I definitely do not expect them to live until 2038. NZ offers a MUCH better lifestyle, especially healthcare system, etc. for old age compared to the US. I'll maybe rent out my US townhouse, gaining some passive income, or sell, depending on the market.
3. Live wholly off of my US Roth IRA and US investments until I start qualifying for government pension schemes (SS and NZ Super).

By 2042:

1. Transfer/cash out all but $50K NZD's worth (at investment time) of my US retirement funds to NZD during the first 4 years of living in NZ again. I will be a "transitional" tax resident for this time period, so won't have to pay NZ taxes on my US investments for that duration. After 4 years, I'd have to pay a huge amount on NZ taxes on my US retirement investments each year under current rules.
2. Because NZ doesn't have a capital gains tax, potentially use the cash to buy a condo/townhome in NZ. Or at least use it as a downpayment.

2042 - 2045:

1. At 62, I'll qualify for SS from the US. I'll elect to start it as soon as I'm eligible (rather than waiting until full retirement age at 67) for many many reasons: 
• I want to *enjoy* my life as much as possible, as early as possible. I may elect to still work part-time in some way, but I'm keen to get that $$ ASAP.
  
• I already know I can live on very little income easily. Even $3K is luxurious by my current standards.
  
• The earlier you start drawing SS, the more $$ you get over your lifetime (vs waiting til you are 70). Life/living til 70+ isn't guaranteed! I'd lose out on $60K between ages 62 and 67, for example. You can of course delay the gratification and wait til full retirement age or until age 70 to get more per month, but you have to figure in the cost of the $$ you lose by waiting, plus the opportunity cost of getting that income in your "good years" of early retirement and health, when you can enjoy yourself more and travel, etc.
  
• To get NZ Super (their version of SS) at 65, I HAVE to have already applied for any other retirement schemes I'm eligible for, in this case, US SS. This means I would have to apply for SS before full retirement age at 67 anyway, in order to qualify for NZ Super at 65. It therefore makes zero sense to wait.
  
2. By current estimates, SS will provide me with approximately $1K USD (~$1.5K NZD) per month. The other ~$1.5K/mo (about $54K more between 2042 - 2045) will be sourced from my rented or sold US house and/or cashed out Roth, Traditional IRAs, 401K, and other US investments.
3. I'll still have some US funds, the $50K NZD's-worth of investments. The golden thing here is that they only count the value of the investment at the time it was bought, not the CURRENT value, so that $50K NZD of initial investments could be worth hundreds of thousands of USD by then - post coming on that soon, as I plan to max that out NOW, keep those investments as long as possible to give them the chance to grow, and reap the rewards in 20 years.
4. In total, I need at least $60K (to cover years 2038 til 2040) + 54K (to cover shortfall between 2040 and 2045) = $114K in my US retirement and investment funds to retire at age 59.5 and live a lavish (to me) $3K/mo lifestyle. Currently, I have ~$40K USD in investments and plan on contributing at least $1K/mo when I have a good paying job in the US again. Using a conservative 6% return rate over just 13 years of growth with a $12K per year contribution, I hit that target very easily, with a lot leftover ($311,903).
5. The above does not factor in the cash I have on hand currently, either. I have about $90K in savings or my lending investments that I can pull out relatively quickly. Most of this is earmarked towards specific goals, like travel, however over a half of it ($50K) is earmarked for a house down payment. That needs to be re-homed ASAP. (And I know JUST the place for it!!)
   

 2045 and beyond:

• At age 65, I'll be eligible for NZ Super and to start drawing down on my Kiwisaver. By current rates, NZ Super is worth ~$2100 NZD per month, minus the value of the US SS income. 
• To live off of $3K/mo, I'll need to make up the $900/mo shortfall using my investments. Following the 4% drawdown rule and assuming I am solely pulling funds from my Kiwisaver, I'll need ~$270K in my Kiwisaver by 2045. It currently is valued at $72K. If I never put in another dime and it hits a 6% return rate over the next 23 years, I'll hit that $270K target.
• If need be, I can live off of the $2100/mo. It'd be tight, but doable.
  

So, there ya have it! All of this comes with a HUGE caveat, of course. It is based on current rates, investments, medical health and well-being, politics, climate, etc. To be honest, I look at the years involved: late 2030's, 2040's and I just think...there's no way we'll make it til then, society will have for sure collapsed, the SS and Super will have run out, etc. But just in case -- I think I have started figuring out my financial plan for retirement!