Are You Saving Towards Retirement?

Jayman and I are mirror images, so I will not repeat himself -- err, I mean myself.

But to go off on a bit of a tangent .. I have lost my faith in indexed funds, and to the extent I am able, have divested from them.

I have an almost fanatical repulsion against speculation. If I see stocks rising without commesurate company real value (and not eyeballs, e.g.), I run. I am troubled by the large amount of retirement money that goes straight into index funds, especially a large company based fund like S&P. In effect, people are purchasing stock without regard for value. There is a self-perpetuating side to this, in that further funds then raise the price, thereby giving the investor confidence in the approach. I view it as a bubble.

The alternative requires a lot more work and due diligence that I can afford, but many cannot, so I am not sure what a general solution is.

 

Welcome to FL! My wife works for a co. h-quarted in Delaware. They pulled some of the same s--t. They took away the employee annual bonuses. Then they doubled all the co-pays on Dr. visits & scripts. Next the Christmas party went by the wayside. My wife has been working far beyond the call of duty for a woman supervisor. The sup. promised her more $$ for the extra projects, but every time she asks about it she gets double talk. The sup. is a real brash moron that NEVER should have gotten into Mgt.

Part of your problem is FL is a cheap nice person state with cheap employers who don't give a damn about their employees. They think having a high turnover rate is better than treating people like human beings. If you have to spend 1/3 of your day at a job the least they could do is place some positive value on your loyalty and productivity.

Here's a laugh. I moved here 16 yrs. ago. I was asked by employers if I showed up every day for work. I also was asked if I was on time. Two DUMB questions I thought. Only an idiot would not show up for a job most every day. I can't imagine being late for work. Where I come from most people don't do either of those things.

Like I said, welcome to FL. It turns out that there are many brain dead types here including the employers. If I can just win Lotto! No more work for this guy.

 

Um, I hate to say it, but it has been my sad experience, earned over 25 years of workplace crap, that *most* managers/supervisors are just as you described.

Let's not forget the outright loony ones who yell and scream.

I'm fortunate that the client I'm currently contracting for has a good management team in place. They're firm but very fair.

As far as your better half, I wish her luck. She has unfortunately ended up in a common workplace situation.

 

Forget nursing. Nurses are treated worse than teachers, firemen and police.

Try undertaking. There will always be dead people.

 

Yes, Annually in September. However, all the xtra projects were added as an incentive to a promotion. At her last review she was told a promotion would not be done at that time. Then came the xtra projects. Now my wife is getting frustrated. She sees how little work the managers do. Couple that with poor leadership and people are leaving. There was almost zero turnover there when she first started working for the co.

 

What do you mean that teachers, firemen, and police are treated badly? Those 3 groups have great benefits, fair pay scales, co. pd. retirement plans, early retirement, and other perks that most everyone else does not get. So what makes you think these groups have things so tough?

 

To resurrect an ancient thread...

Today on NBR (and apparently elsewhere in the press), there was coverage on fairly shocking, but unfortunately, not too surprising numbers re: retirement savings.

- you can skip ahead to the 1 minute mark

Some stats from the story:
36% of Americans have less then $1K saved
60% have less than $25K saved
44% have calculated their retirement needs

I've heard other similarly distressing stats before such as 49% of Americans aren't saving for retirement - May. 10, 2012 mentioning "About 49% of Americans say they aren't contributing to any retirement plan" and "People ages 18 to 34 are the least likely to be saving, with 56% reporting that they are not currently contributing to a retirement plan like an IRA or a 401(k). "

76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck - Jun. 24, 2013 says

Seems some people are outliving their means and overspending... If only some of those folks bought more efficient vehicles and with better resale value. I sure hope nobody in my area driving battering ram of death class SUVs is in the above 36% or 60% bucket.

There are WAY too many of those if you observe the vehicles going in and out of my local supermarket parking lot in the daytime on any given day, of course almost always being driven solo or w/minimal cargo or passengers.

 

Best advice I could give, forget retirement and keep working...

 

I do not so much think of it as 'saving for retirement' as 'hiding 30% from the IRS' but it works just the same.

 

I am one of the fortunate ones that works for an international company that currently still has a pension plan plus a 401K plan. The company eliminated the pension for new hires after 2004 and just announced they were freezing the pension plan in 2018, two years after I plan to retire. So I will be one f the last groups to retire with full pension.

For the 401K plan the company sends out an annual report on the status of the plan, investments, etc. They always list the percentage of employees that contribute enough for full company match by age group. The younger age group in the 20-40 age bracket only 40% receive the full company match, leaving free money on the table. The age group above 40 contributes more in the 60-65% range.

They also list the average account balances for the 401K plan for the different age groups. One item that really surprised me was that for employees over 55 the average account balance was only $140,730. For those closer to 55, and especially younger, who were counting on a full pension are going to be coming up a little short. I would think they will be looking back and wishing they had contributed a little more to the 401K plan.

 

Started reading from post #1, got in a ways and was wondering why everyone was spouting off about IRA"s, then noticed the date of the post's, point being, today an IRA earns what .01% and has "fee's" I'd rather fund the neighborhood tattoo parlor then give the bank(IRA) my money to use for profit while giving me none
To be precise, I recently took my (roth)IRA and bought another house, couldn't get a loan from the bank that had my IRA, the word "chutzpah" comes to mind.

 

I'm fortunate enough to work for a Fortune-50 with both a pension and a 401(k). I also have a military retirement that's good until the US defaults and I've got land and a building paid for. I didn't call it a 'house' because I'm gutting the inside for refurbishment.
House 2.0 will be paid off at retirement (GOD willing!) but I don't see myself hanging up the cleats @ 65.
My goal is to work until the dude with the scythe catches up with me or I'm deep in my dotage and depend on Depends.Social Security will probably survive in some form because there are too many low-octane people that utterly rely on it...and nothing else. It it happens, I'll use it to buy a motorcycle or a Prius.

 

"Withholding" sound more law abiding than "hiding".

 

"Depend on Depends". That puts things in perspective. Congratulations on your success. Always good to hear of those who work a plan and fulfill their goals.

 

I make a little under median income in the Silicon Valley. I own a home with a mortgage. My wife lost her job a couple years ago from the Great Recession and is only doing contract work so we've been on and off a 1 income household.

People are always surprised that I make well under 6 figures but still afford a home in a high COLA and max out my 401k and max out both mine and my wife's Roth IRA.

It's no great formula.
1. I buy my cars with cash. With a family of 4 (2 kids) it boggles my mind why a Prius or any other car isn't big enough as family transportation. Why do I need to own an SUV or minivan all year for relatives that visit once or twice a year?
2. My first home was a tiny 2 bedroom fixer upper for cheap. When the kids arrived and I stress "when" they arrived, not before, I sold and took the equity out to buy a bigger home. Who knows how long it takes to have a kid? (Up to 3 years according to my doctor even if both of you are perfectly healthy, not 9 months.) Meanwhile, we lived as DINKs (Dual income, no kids) and raked in the savings from owning such a tiny home so that we can afford a medium sized home when the kids arrived. Again, not a McMansion so that I can have a empty guest room for relatives. If I have a 3rd, I may decide to upgrade again to the 4 bed home.

That's pretty much how I max out retirement accounts, keep mortgage and car payments low. Moving every few years is annoying. Patiently waiting for your savings account to reach $25,000 to buy your next car is really difficult. But the alternative is to work more or get a more demanding and stressful job to make more money. I'd rather brown bag lunch to work and drive a paid off car and retire early if possible.


iPhone ?