Are you "lucky"if you have a secure retirement?

ovrszd · Feb 12, 2015

KiotiKowboy said:
- that comment is outrageous,

Easy now. I'm trying to stay on the positives and not the negatives. Let's not get personal.

DFB · Feb 12, 2015

I remember my Grandmother saying "You marry a nice Italian girl"

I said she's half Italian Gram...

The other half is crazy

JDgreen227 · Feb 12, 2015

Can we get this thread back on track, please?

I am going to point out a HUGE mistake I made with my 401K and 457K investments....at one time I was earning 13.8% annual return on them and THEY WERE STABLE VALUE FUNDS, low risk and a high return but I was only investing about $250 a month. It was more important to me to have a new car, a motorcycle, and fancy clothing than it was to invest money...so much for being young and stupid (ages 26-35) and by the time I got my priorities straight the return had gone way down.

As a former boss liked to say, "Hindsight is always 20/20".....the upside is, being a very conservative investor, I never lost a penny.

newbury · Feb 12, 2015

mikehaugen said:
I'm getting married next month

I'm 30 and we've been together for 10 years and have 2 kids together, I guess it's about time. We're just doing a courthouse thing and she's fine with that, so I guess it goes along with the being frugal theme here.

Ok, so now all of the Christians can lecture me...

10 YEARS and 2 children! And now your getting married! Congratulations!

I've got 2 children by SWMBO, the youngest being 26, and we've only had 7 anniversaries. We got married in the courthouse on our lunch hour on Feb 29th, 1984.

Capricious · Feb 12, 2015

JDgreen227 said:
Can we get this thread back on track, please?

I am going to point out a HUGE mistake I made with my 401K and 457K investments....at one time I was earning 13.8% annual return on them and THEY WERE STABLE VALUE FUNDS, low risk and a high return but I was only investing about $250 a month. It was more important to me to have a new car, a motorcycle, and fancy clothing than it was to invest money...so much for being young and stupid (ages 26-35) and by the time I got my priorities straight the return had gone way down.

As a former boss liked to say, "Hindsight is always 20/20".....the upside is, being a very conservative investor, I never lost a penny.

Some research has shown that it is less important what you invest your savings in, than it is to just be sure to save:

"..We find that investment choice is not a major determinant of the dispersion in asset accumulation. It matters about as much as chance events that limit the available resources of households with the same lifetime earnings. We conclude that the bulk of the dispersion must be attributed to differences in the amount that households choose to save..."

Choice, Chance, and Wealth Dispersion at Retirement

flusher · Feb 12, 2015

Luck---read Branch Rickey's take on luck. IMHO that pretty much answers the question posed by the OP.

https://motivationalspeaker1.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/luck-is-the-residue-of-design/

dave1949 · Feb 12, 2015

JDgreen227 said:
Can we get this thread back on track, please?

I am going to point out a HUGE mistake I made with my 401K and 457K investments....at one time I was earning 13.8% annual return on them and THEY WERE STABLE VALUE FUNDS, low risk and a high return but I was only investing about $250 a month. It was more important to me to have a new car, a motorcycle, and fancy clothing than it was to invest money...so much for being young and stupid (ages 26-35) and by the time I got my priorities straight the return had gone way down.

As a former boss liked to say, "Hindsight is always 20/20".....the upside is, being a very conservative investor, I never lost a penny.

Let's not forget life is for living, not preparing to die. :laughing: You had some fun, you have a funded retirement. All is well.

Moderation in all things.

riptides · Feb 12, 2015

JDgreen227 said:
Can we get this thread back on track, please?

I am going to point out a HUGE mistake I made with my 401K and 457K investments....at one time I was earning 13.8% annual return on them and THEY WERE STABLE VALUE FUNDS, low risk and a high return but I was only investing about $250 a month. It was more important to me to have a new car, a motorcycle, and fancy clothing than it was to invest money...so much for being young and stupid (ages 26-35) and by the time I got my priorities straight the return had gone way down.

As a former boss liked to say, "Hindsight is always 20/20".....the upside is, being a very conservative investor, I never lost a penny.

Eh? On the positive side, and I don't know you from squat, here goes:

The new car probably lasted a lot longer than a few used ones, maintenance wise and cost of ownership might have played into the purchase.
The motorcycle, a pure pleasure, recreational use. Enjoying life is a task few seem to achieve.
The clothes, a sharp dressed man can rule the world. Attitude, my man, attitude.

Somewhere along the line of investing and saving, for whatever, there should be - enjoyment from the fruits of labor.

A delicate balance when one looks - backwards.

ultrarunner · Feb 12, 2015

Never sold a car for less than I paid for it... so right there it was a good start to saving.

Owned a lot of vehicles of all makes and years... only one new one in the bunch and it will cost me if and when it is sold...

Not having to deal with any rust issues... cars can really last a long time...

I look at my car collection as retirement savings if I'm lucky... some have are getting to be quite valuable...

DFB · Feb 12, 2015

Capricious said:
Some research has shown that it is less important what you invest your savings in, than it is to just be sure to save:

"..We find that investment choice is not a major determinant of the dispersion in asset accumulation. It matters about as much as chance events that limit the available resources of households with the same lifetime earnings. We conclude that the bulk of the dispersion must be attributed to differences in the amount that households choose to save..."

Choice, Chance, and Wealth Dispersion at Retirement

I completely agree. You have to save something generally speaking a compounded investment will always be in in your favor. I used to love to invest. I mean I can still say today wow if only I bought Oracle at $10 after it topped out at $80 or grabbed GE before its 2 for and 3 for splits that made Welch richer than most people even dream about.

It comes down to security What it is YOU feel is secure. I remember way back I was in my twenty's with a new bride and had 6K in the bank...let me tell you I felt on top of the world with that little bit back then. Today I'm happy knowing that along with waking up everyday and feeling healthy and generally good about beating some of the odds on the aging process (maybe 10-15 percent of my high school class isn't around any more). I'm mortgage free, have some secured investments, no auto loan and covering all the bases each and every month even if I didn't develop everything I had set out to do..at least not yet so far.

I had to tap virtually my entire 401k about 10 years ago to feed the wolves at the door during my divorce guess what...with some determination (and a strong back) I'm at least back to where I left off. And my 401k investment returned 30% last year so that helps. And simply put I know I'm doing better than someone else because I always did all the investing :laughing:

An old guy in the factory once told me many many years ago retirement is wasted on the old...enjoy and live your life when you can!