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Old 07-08-2011, 10:55 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,760,346 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
47%. Don't forget the unnecessary fees you pay to American funds.
Those are investment fees and the types of return I get beats the funds that are no-load so AF's are awesome.
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Old 07-08-2011, 11:21 PM
 
1,245 posts, read 2,207,760 times
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Ideally, at least 10%. I agree that there lies much paranoia and panic on these boards and people would have you buy nothing but gold and spam to prepare for the apocalypse, but in the end the choice is yours. Use good judgment.
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Old 07-08-2011, 11:44 PM
 
Location: Indiana
93 posts, read 211,837 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by killer2021 View Post
10% MINIMUM. The more, the better. But only save if you are debt free, otherwise use all available excess money to pay down debt.
This is right! I can not stress this strong enough!
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Old 07-09-2011, 12:48 AM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,760,346 times
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You can still save and invest while paying down a debt. Your ROI could be more then the debt accumulating.
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Old 07-09-2011, 07:20 AM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,175,851 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas User View Post
Those are investment fees and the types of return I get beats the funds that are no-load so AF's are awesome.
We've established, and you've conceded, that there are no-load funds available that get similar returns as the ones you are paying sales fees for.

Therefore your above post makes absolutely no sense.
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Old 07-09-2011, 05:48 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,760,346 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
We've established, and you've conceded, that there are no-load funds available that get similar returns as the ones you are paying sales fees for.

Therefore your above post makes absolutely no sense.
Lets take a 50+ year history on this. AF come come ahead with the load.
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Old 07-09-2011, 09:29 PM
 
Location: Boilermaker Territory
26,400 posts, read 46,389,722 times
Reputation: 19524
My savings and investment rate was around 75% last year. However, I am actively applying for new positions as mine will end soon. Not good!
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Old 07-09-2011, 09:49 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
5,142 posts, read 13,094,481 times
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At least 10% is a good place to aim for. If you can do more, that's awesome!
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Old 07-11-2011, 06:19 PM
 
30,876 posts, read 36,854,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sactowner View Post
I'm a college student and at the moment I'm bringing home about $1,500/month. I work PT during the school year anf full time during summers. I save about 40% of what I make. Is this enough? How much do ppl usually save?
1. Don't worry about what other people are saving. Most people are living payday to payday or are going further in debt. I'm not making that up. Jeah Chatzky did a study in her book, The Difference and found 69% of Americans fell into one of those two categories. That is a stressful way to live, IMO. In most instances, it isn't necessary.

2. To answer your question "is this enough?" I'll have to answer that with another question. Enough for what?

How much you should save should depend on your goals. I would make a list of all the things you want that require money. Then write down the price. Don't forget about retirement. In general, for retirement, you'll want to save 25X your living expenses (at least). So if you are living on 10K per year, you'll need to have at least 250K saved in savings and investments.

You may decide you want to save a lot and retire early. This path can be difficult for those who don't like going against the grain. Most people don't do this and will think you're weird. Unless you have an income that's well above average, you probably won't be able to have the same social life as most other people.

There is a good blog on extreme early retirement:

www.earlyretirementextreme.com

Even if you don't buy into every aspect of his philosophy, there is some good stuff on there you can use (practical as well as philosophical).

I am a saver by personality...But I do think saving 40% of a pretty low income is not going to make you happy in the long run. If you increase your income significantly, then it's easier to save that percentage and still have some fun. But don't live your life just to save money. It's ok to do that for a limited period of time (no more than a few years). But beyond that, you probably won't be happy. I, do, however, think 10% is kinda skimpy. I'd say the minimum should be 10% for retirement and another 10% for short and medium term savings (EG for your next car, for an emergency fund, etc). Some of your budget (maybe 10%) should be for some kind of fun (such as a hobby, dating/social life, etc.).
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Old 07-11-2011, 06:29 PM
 
30,876 posts, read 36,854,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas User View Post
Lets take a 50+ year history on this. AF come come ahead with the load.
$10,000 invested in:

Mairs & Power Growth 12/31/1958 would be worth: $2,635,829 as of 6/30/2011 (no load).

For the American Funds that have been around that long?

Investment Co. of America A $2,392,487 (not including the load).

Washington Mutual A $2,389,220 (not including the load).

http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/ch...&culture=en-US
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