Retirement savings ....Yikes !

[J F]

Take up a pipe, gentlemen.

 

[MossRoad]

Ya just break 'em out for special occasions, huh? Weddings, graduations, etc. :thumbsup:

Corn on the cobb!

 

[MossRoad]

It would be nice if there were a "Retirement Planning" class, either available or mandatory, in each grade 9-12, plus every year of college. Mandatory would be great, but the howling would kill it, I'm guessing.

My kids school has a required Personal Finance class. One semester. Mandatory for graduation. They can test out of it with parental approval. But I doubt it talks about retirement planning.

I forced my now 20 year old to open a ROTH IRA last year and stick at least a thousand dollars in it every year and she has to increase it to 15% of her earnings when she starts making more money from her summer jobs.

Had I known about IRAs when I was 18 and not 26 I could be retired at 55 instead of waiting until I'm 67!

 

[MossRoad]

Take up a pipe, gentlemen.

I'd need to put my retirement savings back in to grip it.

 

[MossRoad]

Take up a pipe, gentlemen.

I'd need to put my retirement savings back in to grip it.

 

[dave1949]

It's good to keep a budget because it informs. But more important is to think strategically about one's financial future, what is possible and what isn't. Without that process, a detailed history of expenses can be like documenting a disaster. The price of a can of Spam in 1960 while interesting, doesn't say much about what to do today or in the future.

It would be a useful exercise to make projections for 5, 10 and 15 years into the future (for those of us who have that much time remaining :laughing that estimate low, middle and high probable ranges for incomes and expenses. Lots of variables involved, but it should define the parameters that must be worked within. If you realize your projected expenses are near your projected income, it makes it easier to decide you don't really need a new boat, for example.

One of the most effective retirement moves is when people are no longer tied by their job to a high cost of living area or situation, they move to something less expensive. They cash out of the big city housing market and move to a low tax, low housing cost area.

 

[riptides]

My kids school has a required Personal Finance class. One semester. Mandatory for graduation. They can test out of it with parental approval. But I doubt it talks about retirement planning.

I forced my now 20 year old to open a ROTH IRA last year and stick at least a thousand dollars in it every year and she has to increase it to 15% of her earnings when she starts making more money from her summer jobs.

Had I known about IRAs when I was 18 and not 26 I could be retired at 55 instead of waiting until I'm 67!

Bah... between the government and private industry screwing us with limits and revocations on pensions, accounts and what not. I doubt it would have made a difference?

I lost three pension plans in my working career. Just last month I got to recover the money from the last one and role it into another annuity. What a pain.

Sheep we are, bahh, bahh.

 

[dmccarty]

Bah... between the government and private industry screwing us with limits and revocations on pensions, accounts and what not. I doubt it would have made a difference?

I lost three pension plans in my working career. Just last month I got to recover the money from the last one and role it into another annuity. What a pain.

Sheep we are, bahh, bahh.

I had a pension once but the company changed the pension plan. Older employees, older being age as well as with time in the company, stayed with the old plan while my group got a chunk of cash that is generating really pathetic interest. We only get the money when we leave the company. I just consider that bucket of money a low risk retirement investment.

I am lucky in several ways as far as I am concerned. I know some who have stayed in the old plan and retired and they think they are safe because the company is doing well but if the company is goes down the tubes so does their retirement. Our retirement is in 401Ks, which are risky, but at least it is my risk and not in the hands of someone else.

Companies have to get out of the pension business since pensions create long term debt and liability which can kill a company. A few years ago, one of the steel companies was in trouble. I don't think I can remember the exact numbers but I can get close. The company had something like 1.5 billion in cash. But it lost something like 300 million in the previous year and it was likely they were going to loose another few hundred million in the first part of the new year. Each year they had 300-500 million dollars in pension payments they had to make. The pension liability easily could have killed that company. The economy could have killed the company as well but the pension liability limited what the company could do and shortened the time the company could continue to loose money.

When my company changed the pension plan many hated the change and I certainly lost money comparing the new to old plan. I would rather have the new plan since it is my money though I have not control over it at the moment. I don't THINK the company can take the money at this point. I will certainly sleep better knowing that the money is my responsibility when I leave the company.

Later,
Dan

 

[Deere Dude]

Of course, it would be great if the teachers grasped the basic concept of "budgets" as well as saving for yourself....I know, I know...a political argument...apologies. (not to mention a very broad generalization)

Why worry about a budget? All the smart people in the government don't seem to worried about it. Eat and drink today, for tomorrow we die.

Actually, I was fortunate to be laid off only for one week in 40 years of working. The whole time I probably bought more than I should like garden tractors etc, but I always made sure I could afford it while saving at the same time. I always use a credit card and have never paid a dime on interest or charges. Pay it off at the end of the month, every month. Interest is money down the drain.

Restaurants for our family were a luxury for a better part of my life and seldom used. A good restaurant, even as we speak, happens seldom for me and when it does the most my meal would be is $15.00. Of course I work the buffets pretty heavily. People in today's world think nothing of dropping $40-50 for a meal and then wonder why there is nothing left at the end of the week.

I always understood the concept of saving for a rainy day and had the sticktuitiveness to stay with the program and it all worked out for me. Of course anything can happen in life to make all that come to naught. A good heart attack without insurance or a scam by some other party could break the bank somehow. We just have to be prepared as much as possible for any emergency and many times that consists of going without when we really want something.

Until I was about 45 or so, my attitude was that if I really wanted something, I would think about it for a year, and then if I still wanted that bad, I would get it, and that worked out well for me. Now I have enough saved to where, if I want something I just go and get it and don't worry about it so much. But that came from a bunch of consistent saving up front.

 

[keegs]

It's good to keep a budget because it informs. But more important is to think strategically about one's financial future, what is possible and what isn't. Without that process, a detailed history of expenses can be like documenting a disaster. The price of a can of Spam in 1960 while interesting, doesn't say much about what to do today or in the future.

It would be a useful exercise to make projections for 5, 10 and 15 years into the future (for those of us who have that much time remaining :laughing that estimate low, middle and high probable ranges for incomes and expenses. Lots of variables involved, but it should define the parameters that must be worked within. If you realize your projected expenses are near your projected income, it makes it easier to decide you don't really need a new boat, for example.

One of the most effective retirement moves is when people are no longer tied by their job to a high cost of living area or situation, they move to something less expensive. They cash out of the big city housing market and move to a low tax, low housing cost area.

All good points Dave...

The CU offers something called FinanceWorks. Among other things it categorizes all our expenditures and presents them in pie chart. It's a good way to assess/monitor how much we spend on gasoline, groceries, heating oil, the Maine farm...etc.. and has been helpful with the estimates you referred to.

I'd add that maintaining good mental and physical health can significantly improve one's quality of life and bottom line.