Should be doable.
I'm 23 and I've paid about 20k into my student loans in the past year. Once I pay it off next year, hopefully I will take that money and put it into investments. 150k should be viable by the time I'm 30.
What's a good retirement account balance to shoot for by time you are 30? ~150k?
With a single income that seems a bit high for age 30, but it's good to be optimistic I guess.
Here is how I have my retirement allocated, someone speak up if it's too skewed towards any one thing :hmm:
All through TIAA
50% Large cap fund(s) TRLGX/VINIX
25% Mid/Small cap fund VIEIX
25% Retirement target date fund VFFVX
As high as you can afford?
If you are at 150K by 30 you are doing really well.
I'm not at home to x-ray these but I bet your VFFVX is overlapping quite a bit into your other funds.
With a single income that seems a bit high for age 30, but it's good to be optimistic I guess.
Here is how I have my retirement allocated, someone speak up if it's too skewed towards any one thing :hmm:
All through TIAA
50% Large cap fund(s) TRLGX/VINIX
25% Mid/Small cap fund VIEIX
25% Retirement target date fund VFFVX
Surprised we had to get to the second page before somebody brought this up.
I love bonds. I am a bond research analyst. I'd be better off financially if more people bought bonds. But how the hell does anybody justify bonds?
Look at "high yield" bonds. Maybe 4-6% yield at this point. Risk spreads are way too rich. Even on the corp side things are too rich.
But nobody who posts they own bonds replies why, exactly, they own them.
Bonds are my life but I don't have a single penny in them right now. Nor will I for at least another 15 years.
But nobody who posts they own bonds replies why, exactly, they own them. I don't think there are that many people here that are 50+.
Because people tell us to own them (to be diversified). I have at most 5% of bond funds and I doubt it's that much, to be honest considering my other funds have run off and left them, pushing them down even further.
Besides, bonds, for some reason, just confuse the shit out of me (as do options - such as calls, puts, etc).
Do you feel confident that stocks will continue to grow in value? Where else should one keep money to counteract the volatility of the market?
Surprised we had to get to the second page before somebody brought this up.
Haven't invested anything into the market yet... I invested in a business a few years back and it is starting to pay off more and more. I took my cash over that period and eliminated all debt... will likely end up "paying" for it in the long run, but having a worry free mind throughout my life is worth whatever I end up losing from not investing earlier.
Going to start up some investments this month... we'll see how it goes.
I love bonds. I am a bond research analyst. I'd be better off financially if more people bought bonds. But how the hell does anybody justify bonds?
Look at "high yield" bonds. Maybe 4-6% yield at this point. Risk spreads are way too rich. Even on the corp side things are too rich.
But nobody who posts they own bonds replies why they own them. I don't think there are that many people here that are 50+.
Bonds are my life but I don't have a single penny in them right now. Nor will I for at least another 15 years.
I took a hybrid approach to what you did. I made sure to invest enough to get the match (and a little more) but put most of my extra money into paying off debt (interest rates were much higher then - running 7% on mortgages). I was roasted at the time (by many on this forum) but don't regret it for a second. Having my home (all debt actually) paid off at the age of 37 (over 9 years now) has been wonderful. Top it off with the luck that the market tanked during that period allowing me to put more of my previous mortgage money into funds allowing it to grow pretty quickly.
No complaints at this point on that decision.
Also, what are the thoughts on having X times salary at ages throughout life? I just read an article that said that you should have 1X salary in retirement at 35, 3X salary at 45, 5X salary at 55 and 8 times salary at 67 if you want to retire with 85% of your salary for 25 years of retirement. That seems somewhat sensible to me.
http://www.boston.com/businessupdat...-retirement/0XyV8OuLWyT8ZF4RCeq6xN/story.html
I didn't always have a match available to me and my career basically started with the downturn (~2007/2008). Goal was to be debt free by 30 and I reached that goal.
I have a simple view on how much to save throughout the coming years that doesn't focus as much on X times salary, X money at age Y, etc. I consider that if I can live on 33% or less of my income (after tax) over the next 30 years, then I will have 67% (or more) of my income available to me for the next 30 after retiring, at minimum, without any investment payoffs.
Likely I will still be working after 30 years... but I can't guarantee how long I will live or how good my QOL will be in the future, so I focus on what I can control NOW, and right now I'm really happy.
I have a simple view on how much to save throughout the coming years that doesn't focus as much on X times salary, X money at age Y, etc. I consider that if I can live on 33% or less of my income (after tax) over the next 30 years, then I will have 67% (or more) of my income available to me for the next 30 after retiring, at minimum, without any investment payoffs.
by that math, 67% * 30 years = 20.1x salary assuming salary stays the same.
personally, i'm still aiming for the stated 4% safe withdrawal rate / 25 x 100% salary at retirement. no ssn. no pension. very likely an annuity of some sort will be purchased to get some guaranteed income.
looking back 2007/2008 was a great investing period for us. we got married, in 2006 and entered the DINK, live on one income, save the entirety of the other, banking a hefty sum for retirement.
100% this.
(even if it's substandard based on ATOT standards).
Don't recall how much I had at 30. I watched it drop by that much or more in 2008 though (64%). Talk about a tough time. Just keep in mind youngsters, WHEN it drops, it typically does go back up (always has but history is no guarantee). The NASDAQ just now hit where it was in 1999 (and I think it's too high now). The key is to keep on keeping on. It takes time to build wealth.