I used some of Rob Singer's numbers in one of our Las Vegas discussions to come up with a warning about relying on a 401k for retirement income. This would apply to all workers including professional gamblers:

Let's say Worker X earned $100,000 per year and socked away 7% into his 401k plus got a 100% match. That would have meant a combined annual 401k contribution of $14,000 and over 25 years in private industry that would mean $350,000 in the 401k. Not every worker gets a 100% match and to be honest I know few companies or employers that make a 100% match. A seven percent annual contribution is to be commended. Professional gamblers don't get a match.

Let's also assume that our worker got lucky with his investments and managed a 5% annual return over the 25 years. Keep in mind that would not be 5% every year for 25 years on all $350,000 but just on the total year by year as he accumulated that total of $350,000.

I went to Bankrate.com and used their retirement calculator. http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

What I found was, using 0% inflation and 0% taxes, that our Worker X would have a 401k worth $364,000. To be honest, I don't know if that's correct, but 5% return on the total of $350,000 is $17,500 and 5% on the first year contribution of $14,000 is $700. 25 years X $700 = $17,500 and what's missing is the compounding on the 5% return. Anyway... we're pretty close.

This illustrates the problem with a 401k. With a total of $364,000 and no additional 401k contributions and a living budget of $3,000 a month, that 401k will be exhausted in 121 months which is about 10 years. Don't forget to add social security.