Will you be able to retire?
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,940
Likes: 2
From: Eastern WA
Oddly enough, I laid out a plan for this back when I was about 20 YO. Plans/goals need to be established early and revised over time, but if you stick to your objective as well as employing the principle of "pay yourself first" when paying your bills, it will help a lot.
I don't worry about it much these days, but for those folks who put it off they will most likely be in for a huge surprise down the road. This stems from the very simple fact that the bucks you invest early on have the longest amount of time to grow. Therefore, it is easily shown that once you are around 40, if you have been putting it off, you will probably find yourself in a bind, unless you have substantial amounts to invest on an annual basis. Most middle class will not make the grade at this point. Enjoy working till you're 68+.
There is just one little concern left however. What happens when all the baby boomers begin to retire and shift bucks from the stock market to safe havens?
I don't worry about it much these days, but for those folks who put it off they will most likely be in for a huge surprise down the road. This stems from the very simple fact that the bucks you invest early on have the longest amount of time to grow. Therefore, it is easily shown that once you are around 40, if you have been putting it off, you will probably find yourself in a bind, unless you have substantial amounts to invest on an annual basis. Most middle class will not make the grade at this point. Enjoy working till you're 68+.
There is just one little concern left however. What happens when all the baby boomers begin to retire and shift bucks from the stock market to safe havens?
Last edited by CowboyBilly9Mile; Jan 31, 2004 at 03:58 AM.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,940
Likes: 2
From: Eastern WA
A general rule of thumb is the percentage of your bucks invested in stocks should be 100 minus your age. Adjust as needed based on your tolerance for risk as well as when you plan to retire. If you've got 30 years left then generally you are correct, you should (must) invest in the market rather than the lousy bank to avoid being eaten by inflation. You have years and years to recover the inevitible setbacks and storms.
On edit:
Rental houses are a great way to invest, make $$$, and to have an investment that keeps pace with inflation. The flip side is that you need to be able to deal with being a landloard. On the other hand, the principle of leveraging makes it quite a lure and sorta easy to get into.
On edit:
Rental houses are a great way to invest, make $$$, and to have an investment that keeps pace with inflation. The flip side is that you need to be able to deal with being a landloard. On the other hand, the principle of leveraging makes it quite a lure and sorta easy to get into.
Last edited by CowboyBilly9Mile; Jan 31, 2004 at 04:30 AM.
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: indiana
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 360
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From: Grapeview, WA
I could retire from the military in about 14 years at age 37, get 50% of my pay as pension, and get another job to retire from. Too bad I'm not going to stay in that long... LOL everyone tells me I'm nuts for getting out at 10 years, but I want to start a family and not do it while I'm in the service. I started investing in a Roth IRA last year...my dad said it was a good way to go.
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Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,659
Likes: 2
From: S/C Texas
Lottery the only hope.......Thats reality for 100's of thousands of people. Stress induced heart attacks and illness are natures way of thinning out illinvested hard workers so welfare riders can keep on living the system. Oops, another wrong opinion. Somone call the amendment police. I might have offended someone.
Best investment is life insurance on your elders. Its seems impolite, but its gonna pay off. I havent done it yet, but a freind or two have. Ones parents congradulated him on his shrewd thinking.
Best investment is life insurance on your elders. Its seems impolite, but its gonna pay off. I havent done it yet, but a freind or two have. Ones parents congradulated him on his shrewd thinking.
Senior User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 382
Likes: 0
From: WI
I sure hope I will be able to. I will have a pencion from the union (I hope anyway) and my 401k I am not counting on ssi at all, that will be gone long before I retire.
Right now most of my extra income (about 60k a year I make 80k from all my jobs rental houses and the farm but can live pretty darn well on 20) goes into paying off my farm, and paying off or buying rental houses (I have three right now). In a few years I will start to deversify my investments by getting into some stocks ect.
I refuse to put all my eggs in one basket because it seems that at least one of your baskets (especialy if its your only one) is going to get chrushed. I started planning for my retirement before I graduated from HS and while I have revised my plans once or twice and will do so as needed till I retire I think I am going to make it.
Right now most of my extra income (about 60k a year I make 80k from all my jobs rental houses and the farm but can live pretty darn well on 20) goes into paying off my farm, and paying off or buying rental houses (I have three right now). In a few years I will start to deversify my investments by getting into some stocks ect.
I refuse to put all my eggs in one basket because it seems that at least one of your baskets (especialy if its your only one) is going to get chrushed. I started planning for my retirement before I graduated from HS and while I have revised my plans once or twice and will do so as needed till I retire I think I am going to make it.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 312
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From: Eugene Oregon
I remember my then fifty eight year old father being furious with me for not accepting a very good paying job with a company I had worked with on another job, that of building a golf course. The new job would have meant working in the cold all winter, and I was nineteen and single, so I intended to 'retire' for the winter and live in my van in southern Cal. and/or northern Mexico where it is warm. Now I am pushing fifty, have never had a steady job, occasionally self employed, and retrire (from money chasing activities) for large chunks of time until need or opportunity dictate. My Dad, by the way, took early retirement when I was twenty (grew to like my example), for a smaller pension, and more time to enjoy life and travel. I helped him with investments (advice), and he died with leftovers and was pretty content most of the time, good timing. Good luck to us all
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,746
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From: Tampa Bay, FL USA
Retire from work, you retire from life. If you can't WAIT to retire, then you're in the wrong field of work.
So, why would I WANT to retire? I work with a guy who's 77, puts in a full day, loves what he does and the people he works with. He's younger at heart than some of the "kids" we work with. His only vacation is 2 weeks every March, when he and his wife go DOWNHILL SKIING in Quebec. I'll take his life and outlook any day.
So, why would I WANT to retire? I work with a guy who's 77, puts in a full day, loves what he does and the people he works with. He's younger at heart than some of the "kids" we work with. His only vacation is 2 weeks every March, when he and his wife go DOWNHILL SKIING in Quebec. I'll take his life and outlook any day.