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we all have that wonder . remember amounts involved don't matter . the failure rate stays the same regardless of amount as long as the draw percentage is the same .
there is no difference between the success of 4% of 3 million being drawn vs 4% of 300k being drawn .
in fact depending on the ratio of discretionary spending to non discretionary spending the person drawing 4% of 300k may be in a better position to cut back then the person with 3 million if everything is a need and not a want for the person with the 3 million .
I'll be 44 in a couple of mos (yikes!) & I've been living in my apt for 6 yrs now. Unmarried, no kids. The rent keeps increasing every yr no matter how much I try to negotiate & there's no rent control. My complex is owned by a corporation, not a private landlord.
I'd absolutely LOVE to own a home soon, but I have too many things stacked against me. Although I've always had good credit, I...
- have a lot of credit card debt
- have a huge student loan debt that I haven't even started paying down & I don't know I'll begin to even pay that off
- my current job is unpredictable, meaning could end at any time
- I live in a high cost of living city, but don't plan to move anywhere & wouldn't want to move anywhere else
So I don't know...things are pretty dismal & I don't know how to get out of this other than starting to really save, but it's almost impossible to. My whole pay pretty much goes to rent & bills.
Re: my jobs, I have 2 part-time ones that are unstable meaning they could end at any time. They don't give benefits, etc. either. I'm considered an independent contractor w/ one. I work anywhere from 6 to up to 14 hrs a day, but it's not all 5 days a week.
If anyone has any solutions, I could really use them NOW! Thanks!
I have a solution. Start living within your means. You are living above them.
I am completely satisfied with mine and I support a family of 6. The key was I studied 4 nights a week in college instead of having fun every night. And I got involved in various student groups. I'm sticking with that for putting me on a higher track of success.
I am completely satisfied with mine and I support a family of 6. The key was I studied 4 nights a week in college instead of having fun every night. And I got involved in various student groups. I'm sticking with that for putting me on a higher track of success.
That's always good...
Although I think everyone has different levels of "satisfied with your financial situation." I'm still not satisfied because I know the type of house that I want to be living in, and if I can't make that happen, then I'm not satisfied. I don't know if that many people, short of billionaires, are ever truly satisfied with their financial situation. Maybe my standards are just very high :P
Although I think everyone has different levels of "satisfied with your financial situation." I'm still not satisfied because I know the type of house that I want to be living in, and if I can't make that happen, then I'm not satisfied. I don't know if that many people, short of billionaires, are ever truly satisfied with their financial situation. Maybe my standards are just very high :P
I'm satisfied with my financial situation and definitely not a billionaire. I'm 65, widowed, no debt other than my house (mortgage balance $80K, so manageable). Between SS and a couple of small pensions, I can keep withdrawals from my investments at a safe level; my net worth has gone up 2.5%/year since I retired in mid-2014. I do a couple of trips out of the country every year, donated 15% of my AGI to charity in 2017 and am funding 529s for the grandkids.
It hasn't been a perfectly smooth path. My first marriage was to a financially irresponsible man who was unemployed the last 5 years of the marriage. I couldn't stand to look at issues of Money magazine with the cover stories featuring smirking couples who had a paid-for house and had already funded their 2.5 kids' future college education. Later, as a single mother in a HCOL area (Bergen County, NJ) there wasn't a lot left over after I paid the bills although I always managed to save some.
The good breaks: a lot of equity in the home my Ex and I had; I took my share and bought a smaller house and made a lot when I sold that, too, and invested almost of all of it when I changed jobs and moved to a LCOL area. My second husband was financially responsible and we were in agreement on priorities.
What worked: getting respected professional credentials. The actuarial exams were so hard the economist Milton Friedman gave up on them (but he did OK ). ALWAYS living on less than I made except for the years when my Ex was unemployed and his spending was out of control. Never paying credit card interest. Buying respectable but modest cars, used, and keeping them till they're no longer dependable. Started investing very earl and made my mistakes early, too, when I had time to recover. DH and I didn't go nuts buying the biggest house we could afford when we moved to the LCOL area. We made improvements but they were always with cash, when I got a bonus.
As long as I don't buy a yacht, a plane or an expensive third husband (DH died 2 years ago), I'll be fine.
Early on in our married life, we read two books that affected our adult lives with respect to money:
Living Poor With Style
and
Your Money or Your Life.
We took the books' lessons to heart and never looked back. If we can't afford something, we don't buy it -- and when we do purchase something, we often buy it used.
We have all the basics of life covered, no debt, and some savings. And we have our health which is something that $ cannot buy.
"A rich person is not one who has the most but the one who needs the least."
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). ALWAYS living on less than I made except for the years when my Ex was unemployed and his spending was out of control. Never paying credit card interest. Buying respectable but modest cars, used, and keeping them till they're no longer dependable. Started investing very earl and made my mistakes early, too, when I had time to recover. DH and I didn't go nuts buying the biggest house we could afford when we moved to the LCOL area. We made improvements but they were always with cash, when I got a bonus.
