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I think people who are concerned about managing their money well naturally seek out information to help them achieve their goals. Whether or not that includes MND is up to the individual. I’m not sure what you mean by stating that MND should be required reading, but I’m glad that its advice has apparently worked for you.
Actually, the level of frugality suggested in the book is a little too extreme for me. I don't follow the suggestions exactly.
However, I do find the advice to ring true generally and it has been helpful in a more measured way.
I think the study would be eye-opening to a lot of people.
Actually, the level of frugality suggested in the book is a little too extreme for me. I don't follow the suggestions exactly.
However, I do find the advice to ring true generally and it has been helpful in a more measured way.
I read it as a young college graduate, and it was the book that first made me step back and question the way I approach money, but, as I wrote earlier, I quickly moved on from there. MND was published several years later, after I had a firm grasp of how I wanted to approach personal finance, so while I skimmed the book, I was already beyond the information it contained. We can probably chalk up our different views about the significance of MND to a generational thing.
One of the ladies at church worked as maid... she worked for the same family for 25 years as a live in.
During the 25 years she saved every penny earned and invested... her necessities were covered as part of her employment... food. shelter and car.
25 years of savings was enough to pay cash for a modest home which was her dream...
I have friends that are resident managers... or the husband is... they have a nice apartment and compensaton and the wife works... they too saved a lot because housing was covered.
There are ways if you are truly motivated... one of Dad's friends was in the Merchant Marines... he said a lot of the crew would gamble away all of their earnings or spend it in port... he had a family and always volunteered for extra duty whenever the ship was in port... never gambled... banked all of his earnings.
Disipline goes a long way towards acheiving a goal...
To be fair, you will pay taxes on any kind of investment or income source. No way to avoid it.
Anybody who trades the stock market knows that you end up owing money during tax time. And then, there are 401k’s.
Benjamin Franklin wasn’t kidding.
Not really, but I appreciate the sentiment.
Roth IRAs and Roth 401Ks are funded with after tax dollars. The big thing is their revenue stream is free of taxation, and also free of taxation for your heirs (who have to take no-taxable RMDs based on their lifespan). So let’s look at that, if you are under 50 you can put away up to $19,000 in your Roth 401K and $6,000 in your Roth IRA, or $25,000 per person, $50,000 per couple and you never suppose to have to pay taxes on an interest, dividends, or capital gains.
If you are over 50 you can put away $25,000 a year in your Roth 401K and $7,000 in your Roth IRA meaning $32,000 a year can be set aside that it will not incur income tax for you or your heirs. A married couple can salt away $64,000 a year.
So, yes, you can very clearly avoid income tax on your investments and develop a substantial multi-generational tax free income stream.
Other advantages, liquidity, portability, ability to alter investments without incurring taxes. My only wish that these wonderful tax investment options has been available my entire adult life.
By the way you can buy real estate in you Roth IRA. And if you want leverage you can get that in a number of ways, on both the upside and downside (see Rydex/Guggenheim as examples).
And to be clear I have zero issues with real estate investments. I have issues with Kiyosaki’s personal integrity which has nothing to do with real estate.
Cheers…
Last edited by GhostOfAndrewJackson; 03-09-2019 at 06:21 PM..
Does your SS statement actually credit you for those contributions? My understanding was(it may have all changed) credits earned before age 15 do not count, i.e you and your employer pay in (or you if alone) and you get nothing out of it. I was wondering if that is true. I do not see any reference to earning when I was 13 and 14 though I had w2 income.
Even at 14, if you had a declared income, your employer should have been making FICA payments on your behalf.
My SS statement shows contributions starting when I was 16. My income before that was under the table.
Even at 14, if you had a declared income, your employer should have been making FICA payments on your behalf.
My SS statement shows contributions starting when I was 16. My income before that was under the table.
I agree. I paid SS as did my employer but none of my income from that time period shows up. I inquired at least 20 years ago and was told they did not count income earned before a certain age. I believe it is like your employer's contributions once you exceed the SS threshold (say with a second job), you can get the amount you paid above the SS cap back on your income tax form but your employer cannot, nor are you credited with the earnings.
When it just came up I wondered if the experience was similar. I ma 50 something so my youth if a long ways back (before the Internet was thing)
Last edited by GhostOfAndrewJackson; 03-09-2019 at 07:11 PM..
I had funded my 401K and IRA's to the max for decades. Now retired I am more than "comfortable" and deciding how and what charities to fund with my RMD's. I gift my 4 children a $5,000 Roth contribution each year and they have taken my advise and contribute 12-15% of their income into their 401K with matches ranging from 4-6%.
My late father would say there is nothing worse than being an old poor person. When you are young you can get another job or work a side job. When you are old those options go away. You can never save enough, live below your means. Tough now to be in a "spending mode" after years of saving and saving. Friends and neighbors are shocked with some of our charitable contributions but that was always part of the "plan".
Hell yes, people from all over the world should read it.
Funny, I have a copy in my office. Read it once and never got rid of the book.
I think everyone should read it, heck I'd get more out of that than "Death of a Salesman" or whatever other bad book we had to read in high school.
If I ever gave away large sums of money I would make the recipient read the book first, followed by some discussion and if they seemed to grasp it then I would hand over the check!
With todays "instagram famous" and "fabulously fake wealthy" personas I think the book is even more valid today than 20+ years ago. Crazy part for me, the million dollar net worth came years ago but I never felt like I was rich and could take off for Beverly Hills or Monaco (never been to either place).
My late father would say there is nothing worse than being an old poor person. When you are young you can get another job or work a side job. When you are old those options go away. You can never save enough, live below your means. Tough now to be in a "spending mode" after years of saving and saving. Friends and neighbors are shocked with some of our charitable contributions but that was always part of the "plan".
This. Fear of being old and poor has driven me my entire adult life. I still enjoyed some along the way- travel was a big priority- but spent far less than average on clothing and cars. Don't wear makeup, have never had a manicure or pedicure. Last week I had the final work done on my dental implant, but I'm here typing this is Charleston, SC airport where I've just had a fantastic time with family at a wedding, and next week at this time I'll be swimming off the coast of Mexico. I learned from my late husband, who was 15 years older, how much of a difference money makes in providing a truly comfortable old age.
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