Planning for Full time Finances

NYCgrrl wrote:
I would sit down with a qualified financial planner and be guided accordingly. In my experience only they can help you put out the "fire".

In my 30's, I found myself a personally happy but woefully broke divorced mother of 2. Gave up my share of jointly owned real estate just to get him out of that part of my life. Then got sucker punched by the IRS. Served me right since I paid little attention to the advice of my elders. 20 odd years later, I'm financially secure in a manner I couldn't imagine back then. Although it was a hardship I procured the services of a qualified financial planner and stuck to the plan outlined for me and updated it every year or two. I'm now in my 50's, able to lend money to the ex(IF I'm so inclined; revenge is a dish best served cold) and able to retire at a rate of 87.4% of my highest annual income. Working with my planner now to up the percentage.

Oh and in my opinion the David Ramseys of the world are only needed for minute portions of your life(lack of self control, much?) and certainly will not get you to older age unless you plan to join the paid lecture route with him/them. Credit is a tool; use it to your benefit.

good job! credit is a tool bit credit does not have to mean long-term, debilitating debt. dave and I part company on the issue of credit cards. we use them for everything but we do not carry a balance. and there are lots of people for whom self-control is an issue. just walk anywhere within arms reach of me if you're carrying chocolate and see what happens. :)

Live below your means. Live frugally. Save (we started at 40/41 when we had just paid off our house...goal was 39/40, missed by a year). Invest wisely...vanguard is one of the lowest fees.

When you buy a car run it until it is pretty beat but take care of it and do all the maintenance as needed. Hubby is diy guy so that has saved us tons of money. I help him where possible with painting, staining, sanding, etc.

Get a government job or one with some sort of retirement.

Save, save, save. yeah, people are going to think your weird.
We get all the time: "Oh, I couldn't live like that!" We just had priorities. Took our kids to Europe twice for a month at a go. Had a vacation every year including two Disney ones (frugally as we could make it).

I would sit down with a qualified financial planner and be guided accordingly. In my experience only they can help you put out the "fire".

In my 30's, I found myself a personally happy but woefully broke divorced mother of 2. Gave up my share of jointly owned real estate just to get him out of that part of my life. Then got sucker punched by the IRS. Served me right since I paid little attention to the advice of my elders. 20 odd years later, I'm financially secure in a manner I couldn't imagine back then. Although it was a hardship I procured the services of a qualified financial planner and stuck to the plan outlined for me and updated it every year or two. I'm now in my 50's, able to lend money to the ex(IF I'm so inclined; revenge is a dish best served cold) and able to retire at a rate of 87.4% of my highest annual income. Working with my planner now to up the percentage.

Oh and in my opinion the David Ramseys of the world are only needed for minute portions of your life(lack of self control, much?) and certainly will not get you to older age unless you plan to join the paid lecture route with him/them. Credit is a tool; use it to your benefit.

conventional wisdom tells us that retirement finances are like a 3-legged stool. pensions, social security and savings/investments.

my belief is that there are several things one can do to provide for their retirement. in no particular order...

- no debt. shed as much debt as possible before retiring and cash-flow as much as possible afterwards. we both walked into retirement not owing a penny to anyone.

- maximize 401k, 457b, IRA (defereed comp plans), etc. and continue to fund your IRA after retirement. you're never too old to save and invest.

- live beneath your means both before and after retirement. goes hand-in-hand with no debt.

- save and invest 10%-15% of monthly income in a good mix of no-load index, growth and bond mutual funds over and above your deferred comp accounts.

- set realistic savings goals and develop a savings plan to reach that goal. much easier to do if you're living beneath your means.

- make and follow a monthly budget.

I am in a terrible position. I have nothing for retirement any longer. I am 48 and due to divorce/child support and some major medical bills I got wiped out. It keeps me up at night knowing that I have nothing. My wife, who is 11 years my junior, has a very nice 401K so far and that makes me feel better that she will at least be able to have a comfortable retirement. I will, no doubt, drop at work as it is obvious I won't be able to retire. Just hope my health holds out.

At 30, when DH and I got married, we decided we wanted to retire at 45. So we started living way below our means. We bought a small house about 1/2 the price of what the banks were offering us. We bough new cars, but paid them off quickly and kept them for a while. We pushed the max amounts into our 401s. Halfway through our plan, I switched to a job that offered a 457 - he already had one. My new job paid less, but put a lot more money into my retirement (the previous job put virtually nothing). Our vacations were paid for with stock profits, which is where we invested our 'left over' money. I stocked up at 1/2 price sales at the grocery store and end of season sales at clothing stores.

About 1/2 through our plan, I developed 'pre-existing conditions.' Turns out, I would not be able to get health insurance once I left the security of a job with health benefits. The ACA was passed and so, though we had to wait an additional two years, we were able to retire.

On December 20th, 2013, we were both officially retired at the age of 47. Our new (and much cheaper than COBRA) insurance started January 1. We are currently living on our 457s and a small pension. We draw less from the 457s than they make each month. The 457s were designed to get us through to 65, when SS and the 401s will kick in. At our current rate, figuring in inflation, our 457s and 401s will last us until we are 104, not including SS.

So, it took us 17 years to save up the money we felt we needed for retirement. The small pension helps, but it only replaces about 40% of our current income (which is about 50% of our pre-retirement income). If one is 40 now, one could easily start today and have enough money to retire comfortably at 62. It just takes a little work and planning.

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TOOBOLD wrote:

path1 wrote:

richarfg wrote:
I am not sure anyone can ever be completely assured that they have saved enough.

Agree, I've never heard anybody say they saved to much money.

If my dad were alive he'd tell you he saved too much money. He died before he even touched one cent of his retirement money. My mother, his wife of 46 years, is using dad's retirement. It looks like his money will live on for at least two generations. Since we're all hoarders with money there is a good chance it will live longer.

The longest living relative has been only 80 years old. Everyone else has passed away before 75. I'm planning on having a decent nest egg, but plan on living along the way as I am likely to die of cancer as both sides of the family are riddled with it, unless dad wasn't kidding when he told me I was the milkman's kid.

That is what we used to be talk about before retiring. Everybody we worked with drove fancy cars, went on big vacations. Wife and I hit the forest campgrounds with a tent then got trailer and so on.

Our kids are saying they are going thru money like water last couple years. And now wondering best way to get back on track. That is why I posted. I have no idea what is the way to go nowdays.

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Many years ago at work, we had a guy fall over dead 4 days before his retirement day. Got out of his car in the parking lot and fell over. That was it.

path1 wrote:

richarfg wrote:
I am not sure anyone can ever be completely assured that they have saved enough.

Agree, I've never heard anybody say they saved to much money.

If my dad were alive he'd tell you he saved too much money. He died before he even touched one cent of his retirement money. My mother, his wife of 46 years, is using dad's retirement. It looks like his money will live on for at least two generations. Since we're all hoarders with money there is a good chance it will live longer.

The longest living relative has been only 80 years old. Everyone else has passed away before 75. I'm planning on having a decent nest egg, but plan on living along the way as I am likely to die of cancer as both sides of the family are riddled with it, unless dad wasn't kidding when he told me I was the milkman's kid.