So what do you do for a living?

[brianmanahan]

That's after taxes I hope.

nah the 25$k is before taxes. but it'll only be a part of my income, the other investments should bring in more than that.

 

[nerp]

*not to be confused with "guaranteed, actually will happen, the value we tell you now absolutely will exist 20 years from now! we totally swear it because we absolutely can achieve 20% year-on-year growth for 30 straight years!

....to be taken with a grain of salt. I think the converse is true about a pension removing the desire to constantly move which, I agree, should be a good thing. I think of it more as a dishonest trap, because the type of growth promised in pension plans is just absurd in the reality of today's world.

EDIT: Oh, cushy gov't pension. Yeah, you'll be fine.

But like you said--relying on one plan is absurd. I do have a teeny tiny pension from a previous job (7 years vested, lol: that supposedly nets me ~$600/month when I turn 70, or $80k ), but that doesn't even exist in my planning.

Points are taken. But my pension is in a massive state pool and my state tackled pension reform already. While it's not perfect, the return assumptions aren't 20 percent. Far from it. They're much more realistic and as long as we don't have a 10-year recession or depression, as long as the ARC is met, it's solvent and will actually be fully funded in a few years.

Other pension plans and other states/cities and towns are looking at epic disasters in the making. They haven't even begun to calculate OPEB into the equation. Been there done that.

 

[Mayne]

hvac

 

[uclaLabrat]

Scientist at a pharma company.

 

[Chaotic42]

This sounds like a self fulfilling prophecy. It does not have to be this way. You can make a change!

Sent from my overpriced smartphone

I'm a mess and without work my existence has no meaning.

 

[Ackmed]

Conversely, it's a means to eliminate the desire to constantly seek a better offer, allowing you to invest yourself with an organization more fully. It's also the norm for many city, state and municipal jobs. Plus, it's nice having a promised income after retirement without being subject to market forces and hedge fund managers.

A smart person doesn't rely on one thing, though. In addition to my pension, I have a bit of money piled up in two different 401ks, long term savings, dividend based equites and more. My plan is to convert my 401ks into something I can contribute to in addition to my pension so I have both fixed and guaranteed income plus investments I controlled. My goal is to allow me to fully enjoy my retirement with my wife while still enjoying the same quality of life and having freedom to sock away money for my kids instead of every dollar being focused on my own personal retirement.

And it's no secret that the pension contributions from the government I work for are far more generous than anything offered in the private sector. A 401k match feels like an insult compared to this.

I agree with you. I am lucky enough to have a government job with a pension, that also has a matched (only up to 6%) 401K. I pay nothing for the pension, it's just extra. I see it as nothing but a plus.

 

[brianmanahan]

I agree with you. I am lucky enough to have a government job with a pension, that also has a matched (only up to 6%) 401K. I pay nothing for the pension, it's just extra. I see it as nothing but a plus.

yeah that is a good setup, gives you best of both worlds. my last couple of jobs have been private companies but they do the same thing, 401k match + "free" pension.

 

[Cappuccino]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

 

[brianmanahan]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

of course, it is a well-known fact that 100$k is ATOT minimum wage

 

[Cappuccino]

of course, it is a well-known fact that 100$k is ATOT minimum wage

lol i cry everytyme

 

[brianmanahan]

lol i cry everytyme

me too, i have always been below ATOT minimum wage

no M3s or gun collections or 7 for all mankind jeans for me

 

[sdifox]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

Stop betting on Argentina and you too can be an ATOT Millionaire (TM) :awe:

 

[Cappuccino]

me too, i have always been below ATOT minimum wage

no M3s or gun collections or 7 for all mankind jeans for me

feelsbadmen

Stop betting on Argentina and you too can be an ATOT Millionaire (TM) :awe:

oh its you again lol

 

[purbeast0]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

One of my goals when I graduated college was to be over 100k by the time I was 30. I landed over the 6 figure mark when I was 29 and 11 months. I pretty much lucked into it though.

My big salary jump happened when my current company lost the contract and the new company came on board and realized they needed some of us or else they were screwed. So I took advantage of that and ended up with a $29k raise by simply switching companies, all while doing the same exact thing working on the same exact project. I gave my old company a chance but they literally had no project to put me on and wouldn't have work for me, so I didn't have much of a choice.

 

[shortylickens]

I cry a lot.

 

[dead_smiley]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

Yep. Older means less time to prepare for retirement if you are stupid like me.

After my divorce in my mid 30's I was saddled with $27k in credit card debt. Like a dumb ass I cashed out a $40k 401k to get $26k after taxes and penalties to pay off this debt. This was a $600,000 mistake, which is what that $40k would have grown to by the time I would have been 70.

Sent from my overpriced smartphone

 

[brianmanahan]

After my divorce in my mid 30's I was saddled with $27k in credit card debt. Like a dumb ass I cashed out a $40k 401k to get $26k after taxes and penalties to pay off this debt. This was a $600,000 mistake, which is what that $40k would have grown to by the time I would have been 70.

to be fair, -27$k compounding at a credit card rate like %15 would have grown to -3.6$M by the age of 70

 

[zinfamous]

to be fair, -27$k compounding at a credit card rate like %15 would have grown to -3.6$M by the age of 70

Yup. getting rid of any and all credit card debt is the top priority of any debt/savings/retirement plan. If you're going to calculate out the estimated value of that total 401k to judge yourself on the loss of paying off that debt, you also need to consider the actual value of that same cc debt over that same time period.

smiley shouldn't beat himself up over that. Now, there's probably a better-metered way to have handled that: I think you can take a one-time, 0% no penalty "loan" form your 401k to pay off certain expenses (1st time home, medical debt...maybe cc debt? I dunno, probably doesn't apply), but at the very least, can't you just pull out some of that 401k value and not all of it?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I would never carry credit card debt as long term, for long term debt there are better ways such as a credit line which will have much lower interest. What are credit cards anyway like 19%?

Idealy I treat credit in general as an emergency fund, I only use it if something comes up that I NEED to. Mortgage being the exception, since I need a place to stay and nobody has 200k in cash just lying around. Well most normal people don't anyway. I also pay more than I have to on my mortgage so I can try to pay it off faster. Once it's paid off I can save way more money for emergency fund, retirement etc. I still have SOME savings but not that much.

Once in a while I might splurge and put something on credit though, usually I've been saving up for it, and almost fully saved up but just get it ahead of time. I did that with central A/C this summer. I still owe a bit over a grand on it. Should be able to pay that off before Christmas.

 

[Chaotic42]

I don't quite make $100k, but I'm fairly close. As a single guy with no kids (the girlfriend is super low maintenance), I can say that once I got up over the 70/80k mark, it's a lot more about liking my job than chasing more money.

 

[Cappuccino]

One of my goals when I graduated college was to be over 100k by the time I was 30. I landed over the 6 figure mark when I was 29 and 11 months. I pretty much lucked into it though.

My big salary jump happened when my current company lost the contract and the new company came on board and realized they needed some of us or else they were screwed. So I took advantage of that and ended up with a $29k raise by simply switching companies, all while doing the same exact thing working on the same exact project. I gave my old company a chance but they literally had no project to put me on and wouldn't have work for me, so I didn't have much of a choice.

Wow ! what did you study? What car do you have? Are you the manager? I cry eveytyme

 

[purbeast0]

Wow ! what did you study? What car do you have? Are you the manager? I cry eveytyme

Computer Science. And no I'm not a manager or a tech lead, my title is Senior Software Architect but my duties are pretty much just what a senior dev does. I have 12 years experience in the industry at this point, I turn 35 right after November.

I don't think I ever want to be a manager. I would be a tech lead but only if I get to be hands on, I'd hate to be in meetings and not doing development. I'm also the CTO of a startup but right now the company is worth $0 lol.

Oh, and I have an Infiniti 2008 G37S lol.

 

[Chaotic42]

Computer Science. And no I'm not a manager or a tech lead, my title is Senior Software Architect but my duties are pretty much just what a senior dev does. I have 12 years experience in the industry at this point, I turn 35 right after November.

I don't think I ever want to be a manager. I would be a tech lead but only if I get to be hands on, I'd hate to be in meetings and not doing development. I'm also the CTO of a startup but right now the company is worth $0 lol.

Oh, and I have an Infiniti 2008 G37S lol.

Do you live in the DC area? I'm thinking about making the move out there. I've visited, and it was nice as a tourist, but I worry about the day to day grind. The Metro was... interesting.

 

[sdifox]

I don't quite make $100k, but I'm fairly close. As a single guy with no kids (the girlfriend is super low maintenance), I can say that once I got up over the 70/80k mark, it's a lot more about liking my job than chasing more money.

Dont get married dont have kids.

Really should have listened to my old boss.

 

[Kaido]

geez you guys make 100k and the most important thing is how old are you? surely you guys not in your 20s making 50k give me some monies feed the poor

PM me your address & I will send you some holiday cookies on the next batch run