Roth IRA and a savings account are the only options I'm familiar with. What does everyone else do on here?

I took advantage of company-offered (and usually company-contributed-to) 401ks starting a long time ago. As I changed jobs, I rolled 'em over into a Roth IRA. Never borrowed from them, never withdrew. Over the past 25 years, they've done quite well. It *really* helps if your company matches contributions or puts in a fixed % of your salary (my current company puts in 3% of salary, even if I put nothing in...but I'm also putting in 3%).

The contribution comes out pre-tax, so it also lowers how much tax you owe. Win-win.

I personally plan on working well past 65, so I won't be touching it for some time. The investments have mostly been index funds over the years (though I did have some in Fidelity Magellan in the 90's when it was red hot!), so it's averaged over 6% annual growth.

This ^ ^ ^ plus Social Security and a pension from your job, if possible. (I don't qualify for Social Security because I get Civil Service retirement. Nowadays, you can pay into both, but when I retired, they were mutually exclusive.)

I paid into the Federal equivalent of a 401-K for years, and that money has saved our bacon a few times since retirement.

The best retirement plan?

Marry rich.

I tried that strategy.
The rich ones were all...not who I wanted to marry :(

Your standards are too high.

Marry in a minute what it takes a lifetime to earn!

For the OP, get a reputable CERTIFIED financial planner. Do not take advice from family, friends, or wankers (like me) here. Never, never, never get involved with a “special opportunity” offered by your church leaders.

Insist on clarity. Ask directly how the planner earns money OFF YOUR MONEY. Discuss tax strategies and investment fees up front.

If not satisfied, do not invest, thank the person for their time, repeat until you are satisfied.

It was always my dream to marry a wealthy woman too proud to have her husband work.

First, if you're company matches your contributions, make sure you participate up to the employer's maximum contribution. It's free money!

Second, keep contributing to your company's Keogh, 401K, 403B, or whatever is offered.

Third, start NOW. "When is the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago. When is the second best time? Today!"

Fourth: Use payroll deductions, so it's invested before you are tempted to spend it on anything else. Adjust your budget accordingly. A little sacrifice means avoiding hardship when you're old.

Fifth: Consider dollar averaging, putting the same amount into your retirement account(s), whether the market is up or down, put in the same amount.$100 invested when the market is down buys you more shares. Those shares will come back, eventually, and you'll own more of them.

Sixth: A Roth IRA means you can draw on your savings tax-free when you retire, and/or pass it on to your heirs tax-free. (But you're investing taxable income now.)

Seventh. Start with reasonable "Index" stock market mutual funds, and get yourself educated, so as you accumulate retirement wealth (lovely word, isn't it--"wealth?") you can intelligently diversify in different sectors and markets. I'm a mutual fund nut, myself.

Remember, You don't want to grow old and broke. You just want to grow old. Or you could stand on the freeway exit ramp with a cup!
--the $$fiend.

Grasshoppers don't worry about saving for retirement.

Thank ghawd for ants!!!

In my experience, lo these many years ago, ants eat grasshoppers.

Just sayin'

That's not how I remember the cartoon!!

Retirement? What's that?

Save that 10% you were paying in tithing plus more as you can. Have an emergency fund for short term stuff that ALWAYS happens to us all.

Participate in your 401k if you have one and make sure you contribute enough to get the company match if they offer one. When you get a raise, increase the amount you contribute by a little bit.

The younger you are, the more growth oriented investments you can participate in. Target date funds are one way to do this. Financial planners can help you find something that is comfortable for you. I highly recommend you see one.

Yes, IRA and Roth IRA accounts are good, if you don't have a 401k plan at work. It is all about when you want the tax goodie, now or later.

Why worry about that if Jesus is coming? Your money won’t be worth anything at the second coming, so you should give it to the church. That seems fiscally responsible. /s

I contribute to a 401K though work. I also have a Roth IRA. In a separate account, I am investing in companies that have extended histories of growing their dividends.

But to answer your question - start now with something. And every chance you get, increase that something. Make it the first thing you do when you get paid. Don't stop.

I second what fossilman said. It is well worth the fee to work with a financial planner who is a fiduciary. That means he/she only advises what is in your best interest. Virtually anyone can call themselves a financial planner. But if they aren't a fiduciary, they may very well try to convince you to put money into investments that are in their best interest, or that of the company they represent.

I got started by reading The Truth About Money by Ric Edelman. It has been updated many times to reflect current information. Edelman has an entertaining writing style that makes his books easy and enjoyable to read.

As someone else posted below, consistency is very important. Start now, keep saving. Don't try to follow trends, market timing, get rich quick ideas. Just put money into diversified assets every month no matter what.

A good planner can get you set up very easily. They will want to know your full financial situation in order to advise you appropriately. They should check to make sure you are adequately and appropriately insured to best protect your assets.

My husband and I started working with a certified planner who is fee based and a fiduciary, about 18 years ago. We didn't blindly do everything he suggested, but followed most of his advice and maintained discipline about saving and investing. Thanks to that, when my husband got brain cancer and died 4 months later, my advisor was able to help me shift into my new circumstances with minimal trouble. I was able to stay in my home, get my daughter through college, etc. As bad as it has been to find myself widowed almost 4 years ago, at least I didn't have to deal with financial ruin at the same time.

Start now
Invest consistently
Dollar cost averaging
Diversification
Live below your means
Use advice of a fee-based fiduciary
planner

You can achieve amazing results over time!

Die young. Problemo solved. (jkz)

Nobody yet in this thread has mentioned the NUMBER ONE step to take:

LIVE FRUGALLY, starting yesterday.

-no $5 coffees every day
-cook 99% of your own meals rather than eating out
-no expensive vacations
-no fancy living quarters
-no expensive cars
-cut down on Christmas giving
etc., etc....

Pay heed to the small expenses. A large ship may yet sink with small leaks. ("Poor Richard," a.k.a. Ben Franklin)

Living for today, or tomorrow?

Tough call.

Personally I like the philosophy don't worry about the future. It isn't here yet. Don't worry about the past since it can't be changed anyway. All we have is the present. And that is why it's called "the gift."

> Personally I like the philosophy don't worry
> about the future. It isn't here yet.

I'm as big a flibbity gidget as there is, but even I know that while the future isn't here yet, eventually it will be your present. I have nothing against ignoring the future consequences of one's current actions, but I don't preach it.

A wise man once told me to live on 90% of what I made and to in vest the other 10% for retirement.

The company I have worked for the past 21 years has a 401k plan. I put in 6%, they match with 3% more. Then there is an annual profit sharing addition that has been anywhere from 10% to as little as 2%. I actually now put in 10% for past 10 years, even though the company match is 3%. This pot of $$$ is now worth close to $800K.

As previously mentioned, save at least enough to get all the company matching funds. You are crazy not to. If you do not have such a plan, you can do a Roth IRA, or even a 401k for just yourself.


And start NOW and early.

That is how TSCC has amassed vast wealth is from its members forking over 10% of their 'firstfruits' over the duration of a lifetime.

If people were to pay that to themselves instead of to a church like TSCC, they'd be investing in their retirement. Not too many plan that far ahead, believing the Lord will provide when that time comes (retirement.) Thinking the church they've been paying to support all those years will be there for them. Only it isn't. At the end of life, it asks for whatever is left in the form of an estate gift.

No wonder it's so filthy rich as a corporation. What business enterprise wouldn't be without much if any of an overhead?

Emphasis on filthy. Money has not been kind to them.

There was a time I used to believe saving for retirement mattered. Until I read a report compiled by the New York state comptroller showing that only one of every three people actually make it to age 66. For the people who are living longer, they're setting new records. For those who don't, what good was saving for their future when it wasn't theirs to begin with?

No one has a crystal ball. People should save according to their means. Not to the point that they put off living for today. It's tough raising a family in an economy where the middle class has lost its footing, and there is a growing disparity between the elite (top 1%'rs, and the upper class,) and the sinking ship that's the rest of society.

Education is the best investment tool for the future. If not your own, then your children's future. The better educated one is, the better the chances they will be able to pull themselves up by the boot straps and raise their living standard. That's the best investment we can make in the future. Is in our children IMHO.

The study you refer to, but don't provide a URL for, is markedly different from what the SSA reports, here: https://www.ssa.gov/history/lifeexpect.html

You say a study shows that only 1/3 of some group makes it to age 65. A lot depends on who is in that group. The study I noted has "...almost 54% of (men) could expect to live to age 65 if they survived to age 21, and men who attained age 65 could expect to collect Social Security benefits for almost 13 years (and the numbers are even higher for women)."

Are you seriously preaching that saving for one's future is not a big deal? If over half of US male workers are going to make it to 65, and the number is even bigger for females, it sounds like the odds are against you. Again, I am most definitely someone who lives for today, but I certainly don't suggest such a course for others or posit that it has sufficient merit to be worthy of serious consideration.

Do you really believe SS actuarials? If any government agency has something to hide it is SSA. They want the minions paying into the system to believe they're going to live long enough to collect benefits.

The truth of the matter is those who die before collecting will get nothing, except a $255 death benefit, if that, to their survivors.

They pay a lifetime with no guarantee they'll get anything in return. It's only for those who live long enough to collect. The rest be damned.

Sure it's "only" insurance. But it's mandatory, not voluntary for employees who have no choice but to pay into that system come hell or high water.

Well, I suppose you know best...

But I think you're going to be hard to take seriously, having written above, the following:

> There was a time I used to believe saving for
> retirement mattered. Until I read a report
> compiled by the New York state comptroller
> showing that only one of every three people
> actually make it to age 66.
>

The implication is that you were being financially diligent, as those here advise, but then you read that one report and gave it up. That report you gave credence to, but the one I cited is suspect, on your word? Well, you are the top tier law school graduate, trained in critical thinking, etc., etc.

I wonder if you will gain any adherent to the new outlook you developed since reading that N.Y. State report?

No, you're wrong on all fronts.

My advice if any, is if you have it to save, then you should.

If you need it to live, that's where the priority is first.

Most people don't make enough to support their family on one income to get by. I worked two jobs to raise my children as a single mom. There are a lot of people just like me struggling to make ends meet.

We didn't have the luxury of savings. My children were my most important investment in the future. So that is where my disposable income went when they were growing up. I know many people in the same boat.

Without SS, the "safety net" though it wasn't meant to be a person's sole retirement plan, it is for a lot of Americans. 401's have been known to dry up. Thrift plans have been known to go bust when companies go bankrupt or when the economy tanks like in 2008. (I don't put much faith in those although many Americans do.) And SS is expected to take a 25% reduction in 2035. Which is why I may hold out until I'm 70 to draw that in order to maximize that benefit, assuming I live that long.

If I live long enough to retire I'll be alright. Not because of anything I've managed to squirrel away, but because I've been civil service for the duration of my career. I choose not to worry about what I have no control over like the economy. I will manage to get by. If I die before I retire, then I will have worried over nothing at all. Easy peasy. I just let go, and let God take the reins.

The median lifespan in the US is about 83 for men and 85 for women. So half of American women die at 85 or later; and half of men at 83 or later.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2018 09:33PM by Lot's Wife.

Sorry, but I'm going to wait for Amyjo to cite the NY State Comptroller's office on this issue, thank you very much!

"Only one of every three people makes it to age 66".

Either you misread that or whoever wrote it is grossly incompetent. I recently attended my 50th HS reunion. About 50% attended. About 15% were deceased. We were all 68 give or take a year.

If 2/3rds of people were dead before age 66, *everyone* else would have to live beyond 100 to get an average lifespan of 78. Also, 2/3rds of all obituaries would be for people under age 66.

Math, it's not just for breakfast anymore. ;)

Pick the right parents

Pick the right spouse

Pick the right lottery numbers

Buy a hundred shares of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965.

(Tongue firmly in cheek)

Listen to Dave Ramsey on talk radio for starters.
1) the best indicator for retiring as a millionaire is to actually put aside the money faithfully each and every month.
2) if a 20 year old saves their income for just two years and lives at home and invests the $25000 a year in the dow jones etf, They will be a millionaire by the miracle of compounding interest.
3) Save 15% of your income.
4) the number one asset to becoming a millionaire is your income. Hence work a full time job and create a side hustle to get your income up.
5) America is so great with so much wonderful opportunity that there is no reason anyone shouldn't be a millionaire at 65. Faithfully save at least $200 a month, "Even a friggin moron can do it." (Ramsey)
6)max out your a roth, because of the tax advantages at retirement. I also started an HRA account, there are no taxes going in and no taxes going out (it's even more tax sheltered than a roth).

How do you go about the process of investing in the Dow Jones etf? Is it complicated? Does it have a failure rate? Should I pay someone to help me learn to invest? Does it work like an account, where money can be taken out for large expenses/debt?

Also consider real estate. becoming a landlord, it's very steady income and demand is increasing for quality apartments especially in this gig economy with everyone moving around every couple of years. No tradition and stability in peoples lives.

capitalize on it.

Don't give it to an investment banker. And I don't know about financial planner either. I don't trust any of them and trust is everything when it comes to my money.

Snake oil salesmen, the lot of them.

Studies show that on a risk-adjusted basis, money managers do not outperform random chance. So the winning strategy is indices--those with the lowest fees.

They complain they're not making enough money off of your money (and you're making squat) when they are the ones who picked the investments. Damn near smacked the asshole banker who got all high and mighty when he tried that out on me. But he wasn't worth going to jail for. I closed my account took my cash.

A wise decision.

I'm not sure how those guys stay in business given how poorly they have done for so long.

Hey! Where does playing video games factor into preparing for a salubrious retirement?

Buy and read the book “Rule One Investing” by Phil Town.

I am an accredited investor, which outside of cancer was the most difficult challenge of my life.

Read the book, and make a five year plan.

Thanks! Loving the advice on here.

https://medianism.org/2017/06/12/median-vs-mean-life-expectancy/

From the above link, which has female and male histograms that can't be pasted here. Captions on the histograms:

Numbers of women expected to die at each age, out of 100,000 born, assuming mortality rates stay the same as 2010-2012. The expectation is 83, median 86, the most likely value (mode) is 90.

Numbers of men expected to die at each age, out of 100,000 born, assuming mortality rates stay the same as 2010-2012. The expectation is 79, median 82, the most likely value (mode) is 86.


So plan on a lengthy retirement. Don't hire the NY State Comptroller to run a bake sale. :)

Spend less - save more.

anon2828 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What does everyone else do on here?

I have a good time. Oh...

Make more, Spend less

Die young(er).
Stay healthy(ier).
Live, well, while you can.