How old are you and how much do you have saved for retirement?

[hans007]

2003 toyota corolla LE. ~120k miles on it. Runs good. No need or desire to replace it. Car is not representative of my income level, but rather my view that cars are a poor investment. I'd like a nicer car and I could afford one, but I can't justify buying one when my current car works fine and a new one will rapidly depreciate in value.

I do have a life, if that is what you are getting at.

i think if you really do want a nicer car and it high on your list or priorities then go for it.

i dont know i buy a new $30-40k ish car every ~3-4.5 years. even when they have 50k-60k mileson them, this usually costs $15k- 25k each time given the value of whatever my other car is worth to sell. or well i've done this twice now, but maybe ill grow out of it and get bored of cars and move on to other things to spend money on for fun. i guess i kind of think about it like well i have alloted $6k a year for new cars. that is my budget, if anything given the cars i'm buying that includes the maintenance and not having to worry about repairs or smog checks etc. i mean in the end, everything more than the minimum is not really a good investment.

you can go on vacation and that investment goes to $0 right away. depends how much you value traveling. you can buy a fancy dinners and drinks, and they go right into the toilet literally right? you can have a kid, and well more likely than not that kid will cost you more money than you put in. or cable TV or whatever.

in the end you just need to put away some money for when you can't work anymore, and some for in case of emergencies, and other than that i figure you can spend money on whatever and its all going to go to $0 eventually. or you can save money forever and spend it later, but in the end you are goin gto spend it, just depends on when and what really.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

i think if you really do want a nicer car and it high on your list or priorities then go for it.

i dont know i buy a new $30-40k ish car every ~3-4.5 years. even when they have 50k-60k mileson them, this usually costs $15k- 25k each time given the value of whatever my other car is worth to sell. or well i've done this twice now, but maybe ill grow out of it and get bored of cars and move on to other things to spend money on for fun. i guess i kind of think about it like well i have alloted $6k a year for new cars. that is my budget, if anything given the cars i'm buying that includes the maintenance and not having to worry about repairs or smog checks etc. i mean in the end, everything more than the minimum is not really a good investment.

you can go on vacation and that investment goes to $0 right away. depends how much you value traveling. you can buy a fancy dinners and drinks, and they go right into the toilet literally right? you can have a kid, and well more likely than not that kid will cost you more money than you put in. or cable TV or whatever.

in the end you just need to put away some money for when you can't work anymore, and some for in case of emergencies, and other than that i figure you can spend money on whatever and its all going to go to $0 eventually. or you can save money forever and spend it later, but in the end you are going to spend it, just depends on when and what really.

A very reasonable position.

It is my opinion, that people should strike that balance. Aesop's fable about the ant and the grasshopper, leaves out a few very important considerations. What if the ant had died before winter came? It spent its whole life toiling away and never enjoyed the fruits of its labor. And what Aesop did not see coming, was that the grasshoppers would be handed part of your larder by the government anyways. Which is mostly grasshoppers too.

So, it is best to balance out the work and play, and the amount you put in the larder. Because, while you may have a long term plan, you may not be around to see it through to the end. Should you make it to the end, what you stored away, does need to be enough though. Because if you count on the grasshoppers to help you out, you'll be the one freezing in the snow, not them.

 

[sonambulo]

1.5x

Creeping up on thirty, but not too happy about my current situation. Could easily keep sailing on my current career/investment track but I really hate my job. Considering raiding .5 of those savings to return to school and switch my life up.

 

[vi edit]

Though, theoretically, the government can only afford (Government caring about affording things...hilarious!) so much tax-advantaged space. If you're pulling in enough to count as a high-income earner, you're probably doing rather well without the help. Or someone could always volunteer to take a pay cut in order to get the tax breaks.

I've ranted many times before about high income earners. She's a pharmacist in a hospital. Technically, almost no physicians are included in the payroll. It's a complicated contract situation and they are "employed" by other groups. So once you throw them out all that is left is administration and some higher level management positions that make more than what she does. Toss in piles of low wage help (custodial, food service, hundreds of techs, ect) that put in little to no money into their 401k plans and her employer fails whatever forumula they have to test for to keep 401ks "fair".

So you are basically being punished for other people not saving, and for actually wanting to. She makes decent money (above six figures)...but it's not very much above six figures. Sucks that she can only put in about $12k a year. And we are scraping at the edge of what we can put in for Roths too.

 

[Exterous]

So you are basically being punished for other people not saving, and for actually wanting to. She makes decent money (above six figures)...but it's not very much above six figures. Sucks that she can only put in about $12k a year. And we are scraping at the edge of what we can put in for Roths too.

While I would likewise be frustrated you can look at it in a positive light:
Saving/Investing in non-tax deferred accounts adds a great deal of flexibility when it comes to using your money. No need to wait for the government to tell you when you can access your money without penalty.

 

[rumpleforeskin]

I have a defined benefit pension (aka final salary pension) as opposed to a defined contribution pension (which is what I understand the 401k to be?).

I pay in 7% of my wages before tax and for every year I pay in I will receive 1/70th of my last years income when I retire.

Im 34, started paying in when I was 19 and plan to retire between 55 and 60 which should give me a monthly pension of 40/70ths (57%)

This income will be bolstered by dividend payments from my savings.

At 68, provided I'm still alive, I will also qualify for the state pension which will be an additional £606/month + the second state pension paid in recognition of my national insurance payments made prior to 2012 when the scheme was terminated.

 

[vi edit]

I have a defined benefit pension (aka final salary pension) as opposed to a defined contribution pension (which is what I understand the 401k to be?).

Defined benefits are becoming rapidly extinct. People are living too long, investments are far too volitile, and it's just unrealistic to be able to guarantee that much money to a person for that long.

 

[ultimatebob]

That pension will likely get slashed big time. I wouldn't count on it. I wouldn't count on SS either. I would count on the 401k, but since most people's 401k is almost entirely invested in the stock market, you are really at the whim of that.

Do you really think that counting on the stock market nowadays is any less risky than counting on a government pension or social security? If the economy goes into a severe depression between now and when we retire, we're all likely screwed.

 

[Rage187]

36, 80k plus my wife's pension.

 

[bignateyk]

I also have a IRA, but it has lost about 94% of it's value in the past 2 years (thank you, Congress and President Obama.)

...Wat?

The market has gone up like 30% in the last 2 years. You'd have to be an idiot to lose 94% of your retirement when the market has been going up steadily. Don't blame Obama because you're a shitty investor.

 

[overst33r]

1x 25. My goal is to find a job with a 401k/retirement plan so I can get some free monies.

 

[Ausm]

49, everything paid of with Net assets over 550K. The bottom line would have been much much MUCH higher if not divorced.

 

[TallBill]

49, everything paid of with Net assets over 550K. The bottom line would have been much much MUCH higher if not divorced.

Lol ditto on the divorce part

 

[tfinch2]

28, everything paid off except my new car (took a 12k loan). About 450k in assets (401k, investments, home equity, savings).

 

[boomhower]

Defined benefits are becoming rapidly extinct. People are living too long, investments are far too volitile, and it's just unrealistic to be able to guarantee that much money to a person for that long.

And it has absolutely nothing to with govts from local to federal looting pension funds and leaving IOU's....

 

[Cattlegod]

31, net worth about 270k

 

[monkey333]

Stay at home dad, 42 wife 37 aside from investments and retirement we have 100k in savings.

 

[shortylickens]

33

5 grand in debt, will be closer to 30 when I finally graduate.

I fucked up everything. Wish I had done it all differently since I left home and joined the Navy.

Oh wait, I do have that savings program in the navy. Only put about 10 thousand in it though.

 

[skyking]

Unless you plan on doing a FBB and moving into your Honda Fit, including equity in any calculation is rather pointless. You need a place to live.

 

[Jimzz]

Unless you plan on doing a FBB and moving into your Honda Fit, including equity in any calculation is rather pointless. You need a place to live.

Differance is you don't need as costly/large place when you are older and some plan to move to cheaper places when we "retire".

We, me and wife, live in a 500k house with our son and her mom. When we move to more warmer climates housing is cheaper and we will not need 5 bedrooms.

 

[clamum]

I turned 30 in January and have been saving into a 401(k) since early 2008 (although I spent about 16 months unemployed in between then and now), and as of the end of 2012 had a little over $12k in the 401(k). Not a lot of money but I didn't make much at my last job. According to my last statement, I should have over a million (in today's dollars) by retirement age but who knows.

 

[tcsenter]

Early 40s. About $5K in total assets, minus about $600 in debt (mostly medical). Not gonna change much since I'm on disability. Hard coming to terms with the fact that the sky was the limit for me at one point in my life and now I'm pretty much going to be on government assistance the rest of my life. Oh well, shit happens.

 

[MaxPayne63]

I turned 30 in January and have been saving into a 401(k) since early 2008 (although I spent about 16 months unemployed in between then and now), and as of the end of 2012 had a little over $12k in the 401(k). Not a lot of money but I didn't make much at my last job. According to my last statement, I should have over a million (in today's dollars) by retirement age but who knows.

Assume you die when you're 90. That's sixty years from now.

Over the past 60 years the dollar has lost almost 90% of its value.

I'm the same age as you and I'm pretty sure anyone under 50 today is basically screwed.

 

[dquan97]

33. Should be able to retire at 55 w/ 37yrs service x 2% = 74% of salary.

 

[brianmanahan]

I'm the same age as you and I'm pretty sure anyone under 50 today is basically screwed.

with that attitude, you are probably guaranteeing that you will be