WTF? Who gave her this awesome financial advice?
When will you be able to retire?
- Thread starter SEIOWA CLONE
- Start date
http://www.cfiresim.com
In general u need 25 times your expected spending.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/
I'll take a stab at it. Feathers will be further ruffled for some folks but it is what it is.
First of all, I think the best long term investment you can make is in your health. Eat decent and exercise in your 20s, 30s, and 40s and there is a good chance you just saved yourself thousands of dollars. And there's minimal costs with potentially massive returns. As an individual, you have that choice... to live a healthy lifestyle or not. That choice could potentially have a major impact on you financially down the road. It's your fault if you lived an unhealthy lifestyle and have to pay the price of that lifestyle in the future. It's your fault if you ballooned to 400 lbs and never did anything about it. It's your fault you can't walk up your staircase without being out of breath. It's your fault you cough and hack because you've smoked for 4 decades. That is your fault and no one else's.
Second of all, one of everyone's top reasons for saving should be so that your family (your children/grandchildren) doesn't have to pay for you when you get old. If your health drastically deteriorates in your older years and you've done your due diligence, hopefully you don't burden them with that expense. Unexpected things happen in life, save so you can hedge against them.
Now, I do agree that there is a very small portion of our society that is truly incapable of working (therefore incapable of building wealth). My original comment is not intended for those people. (We'll leave it at that, as this thread has already gotten more off topic than OP probably wanted)
If you're unhappy with your low paying job and can't make ends meet, then find a better paying job. That is on YOU.
If you had/fathered a child before you were financially able to support that child, that is on YOU.
If you didn't do the research to understand that your degree in Mongolian throat singing has no value on the job market and went into six figure student loan debt at some ritzy private school to get that degree, that is on YOU.
If you are making payments every month on a $1300 iphone while simultaneously complaining about having no money to put into savings, that is on YOU.
Once again, $100 every month for 45 years in an index fund is 350k with a very conservative rate of return.
People gotta take responsibility. For most people, the choices they make will determine their fate.
For real though, aiming for low 40s. Might get some part time work in something fun or interesting. Like there is a creamery in town and making cheese would be cool to learn.
I didn’t have a child in HS or early on. That wasn’t on me. That was on the women who kept turning me down.
Ehh it might be on you... I don't blame her.
I found your facebook profile pic:
Jk, jk.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
would depend what the credits were. Things that are irrelevant today like dinosaur diet formulation and the science of sundials?Did they combine some things together in one class or make swaps that were lower credit values? Drop a lab? Now I'm curious to see if my degree's credits have changed much.
And I'll debate all day with you that part of a university education vs. CC or trade school is to make well-rounded citizens, not just workers. So giving them that taste of philosophy, humanities, etc. has value to me. I will say I took a class that I thought was absolute crap at the time and was just filling one of those diversity slots for me but the concepts it presented have stayed with me and now I'm really glad I took it. Even though I kinda half-assed the assignments.
For example, DMACC does 4 credit courses, and schools like ISU are starting to balk at transferring in 4 credits for 3 credit courses.
The 4 credits is how they pretend to pay instructors, so DMACC is less willing to alter their format. Soon, those credits just won't transfer at all, so there's a reimagining needed all around.
Married with 2 kids. Ages 3 and 1. Day acre costs 20k+ a year.
Some people spend most their money on cars, or vacations, or restaraunts, or houses at the top of the budget, we spend ours on freedom. I certainly have my vices and do eat food from nice places at times. I have also enjoyed travel. My wife and I were both fortunate enough to graduate without debt. I drive a 05 Camry with 195k miles. We both have jobs in professional fields and make more than the average family. We just try to spend like the average family. My wife was approved for the mortgage on her own income.
When both people make more than the average American family, you should be able to save lots of money. Neither of us make over 100k. So it isn't like one is a doctor making 350k.
Can you ride out the next 4 years and still have that option in the future to take a new job or do you plan to retire in 4 years and just be done working. I think that is a big deal. Like a lot of my military friends retire from the military and then go get a Civy job.
I'm not arguing for folks not to take responsibility. It's dumb to even think that.
The world and people are more complex than what you are willing to admit to. It all sounds good, but life just isn't that way.
I do various types of IT-related consulting. The project I worked on two projects ago was in the domestic violence arena. Those victims (majority women and children) are so traumatized that it take years, yes years, to heal. Those victims do not always have the tools or opportunities that we have. It's basically immoral and unethical for those of us looking in from the outside without understanding what is going on to judge them. They might not be able to work for awhile, they might not understand how to manage finances, etc.
Also, let's say that the local water supply is intentionally poisoned and is harming childrens' brain development (which lasts forever). Do we blame them for the outrageous health issues that are going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Or the farmer's who have been told that Roundup is safe, and now they have cancer caused by it. Do we blame then for their health issues?
If I live in a food desert in a large city, how am I supposed to get good nutrition consistently?
Why do you think it is so important to so many people that health insurance cover pre-existing conditions? Why does one party want to take that away?
Like I noted, your lens is very narrow, and it's not a minimal percent of folks that are incapable. It's more that what you think.
After my 'warranty' ended on the car I've had I'm like **** warranties since nothing was covered that I looked into so cool that worked out for you.
All my cars before this were hand me downs and right now my next one is going to be a few years old and paid for straight up and driven into the ground, and on to the next.
I retired September 30, 2016. I was 62 at the time. What has surprised me, and maybe we have just had bad luck, but unexpected expenses have really been a drain on our savings. I had to replace a driveway ($9,000), I am getting a dental implant ($4,000), my camper has needed several repairs (about $10,000 total), my wife needed hearing aids ($3,500), my cheap south end zone bleacher seat tickets turned into the most expensive tickets (Sukup) in the stadium ($1,700 plus Cardinal level donation). There have been others but things like this are just killers when you have no income at all. The only thing that has somewhat saved me is the stock market being up about 38% since I retired. But that is just a crapshoot, you can't time your retirement by predicting a bull market.
By the end of this year I will switch to Medicare and also start Social Security so that alone will make about a $2,500 a month difference in income/expense reduction. I guess if I have any advice, it's just to maybe keep working until you can take Medicare and Social Security. If you want to retire earlier then save up a boatload of money, I would think $2 million minimum.
But of course it depends on where you live and how you live. Here in Omaha our property taxes are sky high, sales taxes are high, gasoline taxes are higher than most states, car registration fees are outrageous. Small population means each person has to forfeit more cash to the City, County and State. Just these taxes cost me about $1,200 a month. So, there are just a lot of factors to consider for retirement. I don't know why anyone says you will need less money to live on in retirement. That has not been my experience. If anything, due to more traveling and vacations, you spend more. Sorry I wrote too much, but retirement needs a lot of thought and planning, at least I think so.
By the end of this year I will switch to Medicare and also start Social Security so that alone will make about a $2,500 a month difference in income/expense reduction. I guess if I have any advice, it's just to maybe keep working until you can take Medicare and Social Security. If you want to retire earlier then save up a boatload of money, I would think $2 million minimum.
But of course it depends on where you live and how you live. Here in Omaha our property taxes are sky high, sales taxes are high, gasoline taxes are higher than most states, car registration fees are outrageous. Small population means each person has to forfeit more cash to the City, County and State. Just these taxes cost me about $1,200 a month. So, there are just a lot of factors to consider for retirement. I don't know why anyone says you will need less money to live on in retirement. That has not been my experience. If anything, due to more traveling and vacations, you spend more. Sorry I wrote too much, but retirement needs a lot of thought and planning, at least I think so.
I didn't say you are arguing for people to not take responsibility, because you're right that's DUMB.
Saying that life trajectories aren't linear is EXACTLY what I've said. Save so you can hedge for the unexpected.
And again, here you are picking out extreme examples of people outside of the demographic that my original comment is for. Intentionally poisoned water?!?!
What next, aliens from Neptune visiting and giving everyone alien herpes? Jesus, man. I understand the point you're trying to make but my word...
Once again, you've succeeded in finding something to complain about.
Bottom line, if you aren't saving and have the ability to do so, IT IS ON YOU.
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Dealers really started pushing that used car market 10 years ago it seems, so the margins were there. The interest seemed to drive up prices. Anymore, the financing options make it easier to decide on new, as long as you're not doing what the above person mentioned of trading off every year or two.
I looked at both options a couple years ago before I bought a new truck. I came to the conclusion that trucks hold value, I'll drive it into the ground. Plus the 1-3 extra years of newer options helped. With cars, it definitely makes you bite the cheek since you lose value when driving it off the lot.
Not having any student loan payments helped, as the wife paid hers off early too. I was fortunate that my parents emphasized filling out every scholarship available, went CC route before ISU, and raising cattle helped too. The wife worked her butt off early on out of college and so that was a blessing when we got married.
I hope to retire around 65 to the OP. I know I'll have a hobby to fall into once done, if I don't attempt to retire earlier for the travel itch. Won't ever be rich, but hope to live comfortably. Started early on the 401K/Roth contributions. And to the OP, follow what your heart thinks. I know that's cheesy, but if you love what you do, it'd be hard to leave and hate the new place. I'm sure many have chased the $ before, only to realize the grass wasn't greener on the other side. It's not always about the money. I've had some good and bad decisions in my life, fortunately I've made more of the good and realize it's more about the experiences than chasing the almighty dollar. Good luck in whatever you choose!