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Are You Saving Towards Retirement?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Spunky, Feb 20, 2006.

  1. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    It is readily apparent that those who have made every attempt to "keep up with the Jones" and walk around like they are the "king of the neighborhood," are the most likely to complain about their stingy neighbors.


    These are the same people who are the ones who complain that they got a raw deal in life when they become senior citizens, who are eaking it out on Social Security.

    Everyone should read the classic, The Millionaire Next Door.

     
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  2. -1-

    -1- Don

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    :)Here's a few phrases that will keep you neighbors off balance.

    - Inconspicuous consumption
    - Stealth wealth
    - Luxury shame
    - Guilt downsizing
     
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  3. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    I recall when I first went to work on my last new job nearly 40 years, ago.

    There was this "dude" in the office named Pete Minor, who fancied himself as a really sharp dresser.

    I showed up wearing a cheap KMart "Ketch" brand $5 clip on tie.

    He looked at my tie and sated, while pointing to his, "This is a $50 Pierre Cardin tie, and you can't afford it."

    I replied to him, You're right. I can't afford it. The $45 that I save and invest will become about $10,000 in 50 years. How much will your so called premium designer tie be worth in a thrift shop 50 years from NOW?

    I lost track of Pete Minor years, ago. I retired at 50 years old, 14 years, ago. Everyone in my neighborhood has swimming pools, a beautiful lawn, landscaping and all the trapping of wealth.

    They all think that I'm a retired person living on a limited income. Yet, it was them who got up in the dark with temperatures in the single digits, to drive their heavily financed cars through the icy roads to park in the parking lot at work.

    They are indentured slaves to their mortgages, their car loans, their job and the apparently "rich" lifestyles.

    I OWN my own time and enjoy working at my hobbies, include sharing my finds and designs with other PriusChat members. I've enjoyed myself at a young age for the past 14 years. If you retire at 65, you can't "buy back" your youth at any price.
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i figure the government will take care of me.(y)
     
  5. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    You can also invest by buying lottery tickets, hoping you hit the big one before going on the government dole.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    lottery tickets or cigarettes, hmmm...
     
  7. Silver bullit

    Silver bullit Right Lane Cruiser

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    I lived below my means for 20 years and put as much as I could into retirement accounts. That's why I have been retired for one year.
     
  8. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    That's a no brainer that nearly 65 percent of the population, who lives from paycheck to paycheck, think that they are smarter than the rest.
     
  9. DadofHedgehog

    DadofHedgehog Active Member

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    To expand the framing a bit, I've lived in seven countries and worked in many more. That experience and meeting many, many well-educated people who ended up as nameless victims taught me that there are no guarantees - for anything - if you live long enough or are unlucky enough to see the unthinkable happen. Mob rule, inept economics management, externality-caused devaluations, major wars (hmmm... how about a major war in Europe anyone?) have all happened again and again within living memory in countries with seemingly rock-solid economics. My point: all the assurance planning for a distant future (our 401(k) plans, social Security, IRAs etc) is really a type of imperfect insurance which it is better to have than not - but which still cannot guarantee anything. I've met people who had gone through multiple devaluations of the Russian ruble, South Korean won, Polish zloty, East German mark, German mark, Yugoslav dinar, Israeli whatevertheycalltheircurrency this decade, etc etc. and whose reasonably planned retirement funds buy them a large cup of coffee today. Unfortunately, the US dollar is not exempt when we pull stunts like shut our government down because our elected representatives don't agree to pay our already incurred obligations. Sorry for the length of my post.
     
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  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    So why was your IRA money in a bank?

    Even the small portion of my household's IRA money in a credit union getting more than two orders of magnitude better than that, with no fees. But the bulk is elsewhere, doing essentially the same as the 401ks.
     
  11. Bingee

    Bingee Member

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    We don't need a 2008 .....
     
  12. -1-

    -1- Don

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    :confused: You'll never convince those living that lifestyle, they're not living the dream.

    :) I can't dispute your enviable position. But retirement at age 50 isn't for everyone, regardless of financial situation. At age 63, the past twenty working years have been the most satisfying and peak earning years. I enjoy work and the benefits, that's why I continue. I once read a quote from someone. "life without work, is no life". Definitely not 100% accurate, but there's some truth in that message. Social interaction if nothing else. I have many interest in life, but no true hobbies. I have no incentive to retire anytime soon. I'm just another working stiff.
     
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  13. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    Bank-credit union, it's a savings account, if you get .03 instead of .01 return it's still a losing battle, my point is, just like payroll taxes, I see no sense in others(banks, government's) making interest from lending my money out, while it compounds for me (negatively)
     
  14. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    I grew up dirt poor as one of five children. My father had to quit school at the 5th grade to go to work to help the family during the Great Depression.

    Each of the kids were lucky enough to get one toy as a Christmas gift for the entire year.

    All throughout elementary, junior high and high school, as well as college, we either took the bus or walked.

    Many times, we did not have enough to eat.

    When I got my first job, I walked to work for 6 months, before I was able to save enough money to buy a used car. My roommate also grew up poor.

    However, when he got paid, he spent it days after. He would complain about how "stingy," I was. Yet, at the end of the month, he would try to borrow money while complaining that I had too much. The later; he did not tell me directly, but as I found out through our coworkers.


    So, my threshold of happiness and expectations remained LOW throughout my life. Fortunately, on that account, I NOW have no wants but good health and the ability to continue to learn and explore new ideas.

    My jobs NEVER satisfied me. I always wanted to learn NEW things. Throughout my entire work life, my job stifled my creativity, because the management was there only to collect their paycheck. I had a lot of independent small businesses outside of my regular employment as a consultant and private contractor. So, I retired early at the first opportunity to pursue more challenging and productive endeavors.

    I am not wealthy when it comes to money. I am wealthy in that I can pursue my passion in life with my own time.
     
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  15. 70AARCUDA

    70AARCUDA Active Member

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    Money can't BUY every thing, but it does seem to be able to RENT or LEASE anything (wink,wink)!
     
  16. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    My expectations were so low that I can buy anything I want, but I don't want anything.

    The nice thing is having almost everything I ever wanted....Not what the commercials say and NOT what everyone thinks they need or even WANT.


    I have NONE of the trappings of what JONES consider as a symbol of success.

    Basically, I am satisfied and prefer the "dollar menu" to the most expensive item in the house.

    I can go out and pay cash for a Rolex watch. But, what's the point. I don't need or want one. I bought a $15 Timex three years, ago. I don't even know where it is. I'm on my own schedule.
     
  17. 70AARCUDA

    70AARCUDA Active Member

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    ...as Popeye says: "...I am what I am..."
     
  18. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    It blows me away how fast it seems that many have forgotten the likes of Lehman Brothers and their powerful lobby that allows for lots of impropriety but technically legal behavior ... I wonder how many times the banks can fail and simply be resurrected via trillion dollar paper printing. And if you do leave your money in the resurrected Banks you get no interest. That means as the trillions get printed your tiny pile buys less and less and less ... another form of legal robbery.
    So the retiree is forced to pull the money out and put it in the stock market where there is no assurance that the next bubble won't wipe it out ... Only a fool would believe that perpetual/sustained growth will continue and continue. You have to forget 2008 in order to think that way. So what's the point?
    Maybe people are saving ... but it doesn't look like they are saving because they don't put it in stock and they took it out of the bank ... preparing for the inevitable. I don't know ... maybe I give our country more credit for being more smart that it deserves?
    .
     
  19. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    The stock market boast a gain of 148% in the last 5 years. Basically, they are back to where they are, before the crash.

    That basically means that MOST of us lost five years of our youth and are back to where we were in 2007.
     
  20. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Yeah - don't worry our stock market messiah gurus like Greenspan/Bernacki (and company) will keep us safe.
    :rolleyes:
    148% .... weeee !!!
    At least the top 5% will have their pile out - in 7 miliseconds or less ... the rest of us will fend for ourselves