[rjpeaks]

i really don't have to work. but I do because i love my job.

but i will probably hang it up in another 10 years max.

i scanned the first page - didn't see the other pages. It seems the younger crowd commented first. Hopefully some of the older crowd commented since it would provide some insight for the younger folks.

We have two teens, both make good money. We sold our triplex b/c we were not able to take full advantage of writeoffs and depreciation. We are lucky.

like i saw some others reply, contribute as much as you can towards a company backed 401K if possible.

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by rjpeaks

Hopefully some of the older crowd commented since it would provide some insight for the younger folks..

I'll give it a shot. Advice from the retired guy.

Max out your retirement contributions. The first one is pretty much a no brainer. If your employer has a matching contribution plan, and you're not taking full advantage..... But max out everything.

Here's the deal. At some point you will have bought yourself invaluable freedom. The freedom to retire early. Or take a job you like even if the salary is low. Or nonexistent. Or to keep doing what you're doing, if that's what you want to do, independent of money. Or go live where you want to, even if the job isn't there. Having choices is a wonderful thing, particularly when you can see the finish line.

This one goes hand in hand. Live a lifestyle that's below what you make, no matter what that is. Frees up money to do the above, plus gives you practice on a lifestyle that you'll be able to afford with a far smaller retirement fund than what you think is needed. Frees you from the mentality that you always need more, something which most everyone finds hard to shake. I always bought less house/car than I "could afford". I earned $100K my last few years, and lived on a $50K income. When I saw how well it worked, the decision to retire was easy and stress free. And I'd added a nice chunk to my savings.

In retrospect those kind of decisions worked really well. I'm not a miser, either, I drive a 1 series, own the nicest house I've ever had, and go abroad every couple of years. On that 50K income.

Here's a book from a guy who took this strategy to an extreme that's not for everyone, including me. Still has its points, and you should take the title seriously.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Lif.../dp/0140286780

[MiddleAgedAl]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I'm married to a CPA, i don't have to think about retirement. She thinks about it enough for the both of us. We save/invest more than the national average, but still have the time and means to travel at least 4 weeks a year. i would say that's a pretty decent balance.

So, what you're really saying is: if you want a good retirement, the key thing is to sleep with your accountant?

[Uber V8]

Tomorrow isn't promised and death is guaranteed. Live modestly, right now.

[MrPrena]

Originally Posted by FwdFtl

Tomorrow isn't promised and death is guaranteed. Live modestly, right now.

Very good advice YOLO.
However, I am one of those guys who would not be satisified with Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ghinis', or Robinson Helicopter.

I would like to be able to say,
"I want to get some crab leg at Redondo Beach Pier tonight. Fuel up the Jet"
Leave Aspen at 4pm, and come home by 8pm.

Therefore, I am just gonna live like this and invest hard.

[gtron]

Originally Posted by 2011CrazE89

I watch that show American Greed and it scares the hell out of me. Hard working people losing thousands, even millions overnight to so called "investors"

i watch that too and it makes my paranoia to the next level lol

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by MrPrena

Very good advice YOLO.
However, I am one of those guys who would not be satisified with Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ghinis', or Robinson Helicopter.

I would like to be able to say,
"I want to get some crab leg at Redondo Beach Pier tonight. Fuel up the Jet"
Leave Aspen at 4pm, and come home by 8pm.

Therefore, I am just gonna live like this and invest hard.

I definitely not saying YOLO. That's usually the worse advice one can give. What I am saying is enjoy some of the things now that you may have planned to enjoy later.

Besides driving a 6 speed Z06 when you have arthritis is no fun

[MrPrena]

Originally Posted by FwdFtl

I definitely not saying YOLO. That's usually the worse advice one can give. What I am saying is enjoy some of the things now that you may have planned to enjoy later.

Besides driving a 6 speed Z06 when you have arthritis is no fun

I agree with SOME part. I finally decide to buy a vehicles which I wanted (within the comfortable budget) this year.

One of the other reason I am semi-retired is that I was recovering from severe arthritis. it is not bad now. I can walk. On a bad day, i need to walk little weird just to get by. Starting to suspect it is CO severe barometric pressure change.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by MrPrena

I agree with SOME part. I finally decide to buy a vehicles which I wanted (within the comfortable budget) this year.

One of the other reason I am semi-retired is that I was recovering from severe arthritis. it is not bad now. I can walk. On a bad day, i need to walk little weird just to get by. Starting to suspect it is CO severe barometric pressure change.

I'm not sure of your age but that is my very point, our health can at times be unpredictable and prevent us from doing the things that we may have planned and saved for later in life.

I'm glad you are able to enjoy such a nice stable of cars! Esp Godzilla!

[Billup]

Originally Posted by FwdFtl

I'm not sure of your age but that is my very point, our health can at times be unpredictable and prevent us from doing the things that we may have planned and saved for later in life.

You know, if people would take better care of themselves in this day and age, I can almost guarantee that people can have much longer and prosperous lives.

Everybody thinks you can get by, eating bullshit, smoking, drinking (ha, thats me), no exercise, no nutritional values...., grant it, people are living much longer lives than before, but if you want to bang gears when you're 60, you most certainly can do that.

At the same time, I've seen 50 year olds that can barely pick up a stick. If I die, I'll either be doing something I love, or I'll be over 100, fucking 20 year olds and having a heart attack.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by Billup

You know, if people would take better care of themselves in this day and age, I can almost guarantee that people can have much longer and prosperous lives.

Everybody thinks you can get by, eating bullshit, smoking, drinking (ha, thats me), no exercise, no nutritional values...., grant it, people are living much longer lives than before, but if you want to bang gears when you're 60, you most certainly can do that.

At the same time, I've seen 50 year olds that can barely pick up a stick. If I die, I'll either be doing something I love, or I'll be over 100, fucking 20 year olds and having a heart attack.

[dj_dub]

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever retire...but forced to work till the day I die. lol But for now just in case, save as much money as I can and max out my 401k because luckily my company matches a good amount.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I know I am going to sound like an outlier but...

I simply do not think thinking about retirement is nearly as important as people make it out to be. Assume you are 25... that is a minimum of 40 years away... you don't even know if you will be alive by then. If you plan on retiring real early, then you better make way more than you do know or live so frugally, it's near pointless. Assume, you have a lot of money by the time that you are 65... so what? Your health likely will not allow you take advantage of it... People in other countries outside of the USA do not put nearly the emphasis on this as people in the USA do, I don't know whether this has to do with the profitability of selling retirement plans or what...

In any case, give me $100k a year for the next 35 years and I am good. You can do the math lol.

This is the live for today, lease cars reverse mortgage generation. It' snot sustainable for generations.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by John 070

This is the live for today, lease cars reverse mortgage generation. It' snot sustainable for generations.

YOLO is wasting every dollar you have... living modestly as someone has pointed out and at least having your future in the back of your mind is something completely different than listening to fear mongering about whether someone will or wont have enough for retirement. I swear I think the cut on retirement plans must be huge for a salesman.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by 128Convertibleguy

I'll give it a shot. Advice from the retired guy.

Max out your retirement contributions. The first one is pretty much a no brainer. If your employer has a matching contribution plan, and you're not taking full advantage..... But max out everything.

Great and 100% accurate. The only excuse for not maxing out the 401k to the IRS limit, as well as the ROTH IRA to 5k if you and spouse are not phased out! is that you have no pulse and are dead. No other valid excuse exists.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by ASAP

YOLO is wasting every dollar you have... living modestly as someone has pointed out and at least having your future in the back of your mind is something completely different than listening to fear mongering about whether someone will or wont have enough for retirement. I swear I think the cut on retirement plans must be huge for a salesman.

You believe that or just being facetious? You can look up the expense ratios on your 401 funds. My Vanguard and T Rowe are good, Fidelity ok, and PNC awful (my employer's choice).

Imho many Americans are a simple layoff away from everything being gone. We all have friends who experienced that in 2009.

[kevinbahnz]

I would like to think about my retirement but for right now i'm just trying to get to a debt free life. I was debt free for about 5 years until last year when i bought my first house then I went on a spending spree. I think I live pretty well below my means I just lost control after becoming a homeowner. The house is only 1x my income and will be paid off in 10, X5 in 3 years and CC in 2 years. Whatever I have left goes in the mattress.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by John 070

You believe that or just being facetious? You can look up the expense ratios on your 401 funds. My Vanguard and T Rowe are good, Fidelity ok, and PNC awful (my employer's choice).

Yes, I believe it... simply because there is an extremely stong push for retirement plans in this country. There is no other country in this world that puts nearly the emphasis on this subject that the US does. I think the reason is two fold...

1)I think someone is making a lot of money of retirement plans.
2) It is cheaper for a corporation to pay towards your retirement as they get a tax advantage over paying you direct salary.

Those are 2 very strong reasons to fear monger everyone. Like I said, modesty is key.


Imho many Americans are a simple layoff away from everything being gone. We all have friends who experienced that in 2009.

That is an issue that has nothing to do with retirement... that is an issue with people making way too little and buying much more than they can afford and literally having 0 savings. That to me is just straight idiocy that nothing can help.

As far as 2009... you and I know both very well what happened then... even for retirement plans.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by ASAP

That is an issue that has nothing to do with retirement... that is an issue with people making way too little and buying much more than they can afford and literally having 0 savings. That to me is just straight idiocy that nothing can help.

As far as 2009... you and I know both very well what happened then... even for retirement plans.

Yeah I think we're in agreement....people here sometimes feel shocked that the avg e46 driver per BMW mkt earned $140k. Today with the prevalence of leasing the number prolly is far lower.

Imho one should have savings before toys. Personally 1 yr income earning 0.009 in an internet savings acct is my rule. It's irresponsible imho that if one lost their job bye bye home and kids live in a trailer while daddy drives his leased M6 to Goodwill lookin to pop some tags.....

[John 070]

Originally Posted by kevinbahnz

I would like to think about my retirement but for right now i'm just trying to get to a debt free life. I was debt free for about 5 years until last year when i bought my first house then I went on a spending spree. I think I live pretty well below my means I just lost control after becoming a homeowner. The house is only 1x my income and will be paid off in 10, X5 in 3 years and CC in 2 years. Whatever I have left goes in the mattress.

Debt free is king (I'm not 9 yrs left on house). What's interesting is the FICO score myth. I've borrowed money, pay it back, every time I apply for a cc they give me >25k. Never paid late. I know my score is north of 850. Stupidly, have about 15 cc's.

Our credit union was offering free FICO scores. My wife, owes nothing, paid cash for her Audi, uses two cc's for rewards and like me pays in full every month, never had an installment loan. Paid late once because she cosigned for a relative, stupid, never do that.

Turns out, my wife's score is higher than mine. There goes the myth you should owe and be paying back to increase your score.

[Nkc]

Kinda missing the point here but I guess in OT, anything goes.

I understand that a lot of you might choose to work and may not see the word retirement as feasible in the near future. What I'm asking is what's the figure that would have you completely say, "FUCK IT, I'm done son"? Be it a lottery, inheritance, shit load of income, or even maybe just massive savings.

What I'm more interested in is the end game for everyone. Is it common practice to plan for it or just pointless to even think about unless a certain amount of annual income is made?

For those of you that actually plan/wish for a day that they won't have to work for money, what's the plan and what's the amount required?

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by Nkc

Kinda missing the point here but I guess in OT, anything goes.

I understand that a lot of you might choose to work and may not see the word retirement as feasible in the near future. What I'm asking is what's the figure that would have you completely say, "FUCK IT, I'm done son"? Be it a lottery, inheritance, shit load of income, or even maybe just massive savings.

What I'm more interested in is the end game for everyone. Is it common practice to plan for it or just pointless to even think about unless a certain amount of annual income is made?

For those of you that actually plan/wish for a day that they won't have to work for money, what's the plan and what's the amount required?

I think I can live with $60k/year with everything paid off for 30 years. So that's what 1.8 million??