Let's talk retirement savings

[deadheadskier]

I've included a poll, but share some of your thoughts. Age you got started, age you hope to retire, strategies etc....

 

[Vortex]

Started at 27 401K . Had ira's before. Self employed.

Company program they contirbute a pecentage, plus year end proft sharing to the fund. I plan on having other sources of income. No comfortable with 40l k alone. So kind of a combo of your poll choices. I like a little in real estate.

 

[dmc]

My answer is a mix of 401k from AT&T and IBM - retirement from AT&T - IRA's - stocks - a house...

I'm not comfortable to retire any time soon..

 

[Dr Skimeister]

Been self-employed for 20+ years, so saving/investment and eventual sale of my practice will be my nest egg.

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

 

[deadheadskier]

I selected 'company plan and not comfortable'

The reason being is I'm 32 and will not start on my company plan until June and though it is generous, I doubt it will be anywhere near enough.

Other than that, my nest egg is more like a nest embryo :lol:

I hope to retire at 65, which I think is realistic considering how late I'm starting. Even at that, I hope to continue working part time when old, hopefully teaching skiing part time.

If there's one thing I would change about my past is I would've been a bit more diligent with saving at a younger age. I read somewhere the other day that if a high school student places $50 a week into a retirement fund during their high school years, then does nothing at all, with an average interest rate, that money will turn into 200K by the time they're 65. Certainly not enough to retire on, but also points out how important compounding is over time and that the earlier you start the better.

I've definitely got a lot of ground to make up.

 

[Warp Daddy]

AS an economist by training i started a life plan for retirement @ 27 yrs of age with the goal of retiring @ 50 and getting a life

I retired @ 51 from University life . I had a consulting business on the side for 20 yrs which i continued for 5 yrs after retiring from Fulltime work . We did custom designed training for large organizations and by design did just 75 days a yr . I ran it thru the University ( cutting overhead ) shared some of our bottom line and endowed scholarships, while working in an extremely pleasant environment .

We.worked only during the academic yr and only on tues wed and thurs thus had every fri and mon off to ski / golf whatever I then pulled the plug @ 56 and became an adolescent again


I was fortunate to have a Defined benefit pension , and over 3 decades of private investments in various Investment vehicles which i do not draw at present .Life is Good .

Advice : Plan early, Invest often , max out 403's /401, then invest MORE and get yourself DEBT FREE by retirement ! Have fun

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I'm 28...and have been working full-time for 3.5 years..before that I just bummed around. As of now, I try to save 10-12k a year..I don't trust the stock market so I put my money in different CDs of varying lengths. I don't know if I'll ever totally retire as I'm part of a family business. Ideally I'd like to eventually spend the entire ski season in Jackson Hole each year and work the other 8 months. I don't see having enough money to totally retire until I inherit the family business and by then I'll probably be like 55 or 60

 

[deadheadskier]

Having some inheritance to fall back on weather a business or money is certainly a nice option to have. I somewhat fall in that boat. My father did pretty well as an investment banker and has mentioned that he has set aside some money for my brother and I. That said, we've never discussed the details nor do I particularly want to. I'd rather take care of things on my own and for he and my mother to spend most of their money partying like rock stars through the rest of their retirement. If there's something left over great, but I hope to be in a position that whatever that is, I won't need it and it can be passed along to the next generation....i.e. any children I might have.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Great attitude Deadheadskier !! you can do it on your own . Real net Wealth CAN be built over the long haul with financial discipline in each sucessive genereation building upon their parent efforts and passing it thru to sucessive geneerations with " coaching' as to HOW to Build it and MANAGE it .

 

[bvibert]

I have a 401K that I started when I was 20 or so, I'm 30 now. The calculators I've used say I'm saving enough to be in good shape when I retire, but I'm not so sure. I don't like having all my eggs in one basket either. I do have some sort of a pension or something too, but I don't think it's very much.

 

[severine]

I plan on marrying for money next time.

 

[bvibert]

I plan on marrying for money next time.

 

[skidbump]

I got laid off 11/06 and have a pension worth 1200 a month at age 65 or 600 at 55 "i am 49" i have a small 401k "under 100k" as does my wife and hope that SS is still an option.I am married and she is really bringing in about 80% of the income and pretty much will be that way until its over "death".I will try and work from April to Nov and put bulk into a retirement fund but i pretty much resigned myself to a long ,horrible, money-less retirement.

Positive notes
1. I Ski 100 plus days a yr .
2. Golf 3 to 4 days a week .
3. No stress
4. Now when i get aggrivated or stressed at work i can just leave.
5. Learned that we can live comfortable on 1/2 our salary.
6. Corporate america can kiss my ass.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I'm not a fan of retirement accounts where you can't withdraw the money until you're 60 years old without a penalty...what if you die when you're 58???

Back when I was a paperboy I saved 80% of my earnings but I had no expenses and unfortunately alot of that money went to partying and travel in college..

I kind of think life without work would be boring..even though I spend half my time at work surfing the net...I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I get a good sale and bring in additional revenue to the company. My Dad always wanted to retire at age 50 and could have but now he's 59 and still works most days..Sure if you were retired you could ski or play golf everyday but what would you do with the rest of your time??? I'd probably get drunk alot more and smoke fat doobies..lol..

 

[Warp Daddy]

The answer is You VOLUNTEER and GIVE BACK tO YOUR COMMUNITY >

I am on the Board of Directors of our regional medical center and sit on 4 board committees and my wife is a volunteer in teh Hospital Gift shop

We volunteer at our church and are POLITICALLY active with a citizen's group interested in ENHANCING the Quality of Life in our community . I also advise a number of folks interested in accessing higher education -- sp you GIVE BACK that brings additional satisfaction

 

[Marc]

I'm not a fan of retirement accounts where you can't withdraw the money until you're 60 years old without a penalty...what if you die when you're 58???

Back when I was a paperboy I saved 80% of my earnings but I had no expenses and unfortunately alot of that money went to partying and travel in college..

I kind of think life without work would be boring..even though I spend half my time at work surfing the net...I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I get a good sale and bring in additional revenue to the company. My Dad always wanted to retire at age 50 and could have but now he's 59 and still works most days..Sure if you were retired you could ski or play golf everyday but what would you do with the rest of your time??? I'd probably get drunk alot more and smoke fat doobies..lol..

Open a Roth IRA. It's a post tax contribution, but you can withdraw your principal any time without penalty. The catch is you must leave all earnings in until 60 without penalty, but all earnings are tax free after that as well.




I've been contributing to my 401(k) through my current employer for 2 years (started age 23). I also have a healthy pension plan with FM, 1.4% times your average career salary for every year of employment for the first 25 years, then 1% for every year after 25.

I've been saving and investing in some targeted index funds and no load mutual funds for 2 years and just opened a Roth this past year.

I'm comfortable with my current retirement situation, but since I have a 401(k) and a pension, and personal savings, I don't fall under any one of the poll options.

I follow Ben Graham's advice and keep my monetary assets about 50% liquid/bonds and 50% securities, and up to 25/75 in either direction depending on the health of the economy.

 

[Marc]

*waiting for ctenidae or sro to post and tell me how dumb I am and give sound advice*

 

[Grassi21]

Open a Roth IRA. It's a post tax contribution, but you can withdraw your principal any time without penalty. The catch is you must leave all earnings in until 60 without penalty, but all earnings are tax free after that as well.




I've been contributing to my 401(k) through my current employer for 2 years (started age 23). I also have a healthy pension plan with FM, 1.4% times your average career salary for every year of employment for the first 25 years, then 1% for every year after 25.

I've been saving and investing in some targeted index funds and no load mutual funds for 2 years and just opened a Roth this past year.

I'm comfortable with my current retirement situation, but since I have a 401(k) and a pension, and personal savings, I don't fall under any one of the poll options.

I follow Ben Graham's advice and keep my monetary assets about 50% liquid/bonds and 50% securities, and up to 25/75 in either direction depending on the health of the economy.

Don't forget the money you save on lift tickets due to your touring schedule.

 

[jack97]

Been maxing out on 401k whenever I can. I have no mortgage nor debt.

I don't have a good feeling about my retirement b/c the government can increase taxes or allow inflation to go up which makes a fix income lifestyle rather tuff..... sorry, call me a conspiracy theorist.