Retirement Planning - Lessons Learned

[riptides]

50 year investment strategy.

Lol.

Reality is more like trying to put food on the table and think 5 years out.

I bought into my first house buying down to 12 percent.

Now on my third place at 3.25.

 

[riptides]

Getting people back to the office was a tactic employed for downsizing.

It worked too. All to well.

Regarding working from home. I did it for 30 some years. I was on straight commission. My guys also worked from their homes, straight commish!

I Read a while back some gal took over a big tech co, not HP but similar. She came in and immediately put a stop to most work from home. Her argument was that people don't work as hard or accomplish as much. Straight commission puts an end to that! Not sure how to implement that.

I just saw on the morning news.....a billboard somewhere. In 20 years we will have a generation that was home schooled by day drinkers.

 

[goeduck]

In all the years my parents have been renting houses, they have had one renter that was bad. He happened to be an airman at the local air base here. His commander found out what he did and that guy spent the next 3 weeks cleaning the place with a toothbrush, literally. The commander came after a week to inspect. He had to start over again top to bottom just to prove a point.

I was only 15 or 16 at the time, but I will never forget that poor guy with his toothbrush and bucket of soap.

Wyoming is what America was 50 years ago. We still have decent people here.

I had one renter that I had to have evicted by the sheriff. It was many years ago when you could do it easily. The guy left the place a mess with engine parts all through the house and junk everywhere. I live an hour away and it is hard to keep an eye on the place so I ended up hiring a real estate management company who takes 15 percent. I then raised the rent by 25% to compensate and keep the riffraff from applying since they often search out the lowest rental rates. Going on 20 years now and the place has only been empty for a few months ever. The real estate management company is very hard nosed and by the book. It worked out really well.

 

[goeduck]

I could not find a SS calculator that I liked for age comparisons so I made my own for "Dick" ad "Jane". Most people will be in their late 70's before cumulative earnings even out when comparing SS at 62, 65, 67, and 70.

View attachment 684806

I agree with Jstssng, that is an excellent way of viewing it. Good job!

 

[MossRoad]

Bought first property at this time with a 13.5% mortgage...folks thought I had lost my mind but I penciled it out... as rates dropped so did mortgage with no cost refi and as rates dropped value increased.

We bought our first house in 1985 and paid 3 points to get the rate down to 12.5% for a 30 year mortgage. We made double payments and paid it off in 5 years. Even with that aggressive tactic, we ended up paying back 50% more than the amount we borrowed. Had we paid it off in 30 years, it would have been 4.5 times the amount we borrowed.

 

[Captain Dirty]

My (not so facetious) advice:

Save, save, save. Not that foregoing current consumption will ensure you have a large nest egg when you retire, but that you will have inured yourself to a frugal lifestyle.

 

[goeduck]

I have been quite fortunate with my investments over the years. I went and talked to two investment advisors a few years back and both told me I could very easily retire then. Both of them were independent advisors and both wanted to do my investing when I do retire but I about choked on what amount of money their % fee works out to. I will not always be savvy enough to stay on top of things and I know that. My wife does not understand investing at all so at some point down the road I need to make the right choices.

 

[Hay Dude]

50 year investment strategy.

Lol.

Reality is more like trying to put food on the table and think 5 years out.

I bought into my first house buying down to 12 percent.

Now on my third place at 3.25.

Ok well, I did have a 50 year strategy when I started.
Doesnt mean I wasnt trying to put food on the table, manage farmland and raise kids at same time.
Im capable of short term, long term retirement planning while working and raising my kids....

Dont most people start investing in retirement at about 25 and start retiring about 75 :confused3:

 

[riptides]

The now is most in their 30s are just trying to find stable employment. The now also means those without jobs just raided their 401ks just to get by.

I think you are trying to apply your strategy and tactics to a world that does not conform to those anymore.

IMHO, those over 60 have rosier outlook
on how they approached investing and are taking that approach to a market that is vastly different.

Ok well, I did have a 50 year strategy when I started.
Doesnt mean I wasnt trying to put food on the table, manage farmland and raise kids at same time.
Im capable of short term, long term retirement planning while working and raising my kids....

Dont most people start investing in retirement at about 25 and start retiring about 75 :confused3:

 

[Hay Dude]

The now is most in their 30s are just trying to find stable employment. The now also means those without jobs just raided their 401ks just to get by.

I think you are trying to apply your strategy and tactics to a world that does not conform to those anymore.

IMHO, those over 60 have rosier outlook
on how they approached investing and are taking that approach to a market that is vastly different.

I guess we agree to disagree.

I dont think it’s out of the ordinary for a 20-something to begin contributing to a retirement account and be looking at retiring 50 years later in their 70’s.
In fact, I bet that is the scenario that has played out since the 60’s.