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I wonder if people realize how well off the posters here are?
People who report they're in their 20s-40s with 100K up to several hundred thousand net worth!
The median net worth of Americans aged 30-45 is around $45,000 last I checked. The people posting here are in the top quarter of wealth for the country.
While it could be lie one could expect a forum about personal finance would draw more responsible people than average on the topic
I wonder if people realize how well off the posters here are?
People who report they're in their 20s-40s with 100K up to several hundred thousand net worth!
The median net worth of Americans aged 30-45 is around $45,000 last I checked. The people posting here are in the top quarter of wealth for the country.
I believe that. This forum does tend to draw more of the highly educated and highly skilled workforce. Not to sound curt but I doubt many Burger King workers are going to spend their free time following City-Data and posting how much they have saved in their 401k.
When I left a job at age 43 back in 1996 I had approximately 60K in a Fidelity Funded 401K.
I made most of the choices myself after a brief consult with a Fidelity adviser.
A few companies and several rollovers later, here I am at age 62 with around 650K in 401K.
Also some savings and some savings bonds which are outside that 401K tally.
I never feel like I have enough and I'm sure most people are like that.
Always been a saver and a contributor and took advantage of company matches.
Rebalanced the 401K recently to position better for upcoming retirement.
I guess at age 43, I was probably behind the curve after seeing some of the comments on here about younger people having more. But, going forward, it's how you manage your own wealth that's more important than wondering what the other guy has or why he has more. Don't envy....emulate the better money managers if you can.
When I left a job at age 43 back in 1996 I had approximately 60K in a Fidelity Funded 401K.
I made most of the choices myself after a brief consult with a Fidelity adviser.
A few companies and several rollovers later, here I am at age 62 with around 650K in 401K.
Also some savings and some savings bonds which are outside that 401K tally.
I never feel like I have enough and I'm sure most people are like that.
Always been a saver and a contributor and took advantage of company matches.
Rebalanced the 401K recently to position better for upcoming retirement.
I guess at age 43, I was probably behind the curve after seeing some of the comments on here about younger people having more. But, going forward, it's how you manage your own wealth that's more important than wondering what the other guy has or why he has more. Don't envy....emulate the better money managers if you can.
the only really way to gauge how well you did throughout your working years is what was your average salary?
26, No 401K (yet, although my husband just got a new federal job and will be contributing to their version, the TSP), but we have $10,500 in our personal brokerage accounts, $4K in IRA, rest in stocks.
I wonder if people realize how well off the posters here are?
People who report they're in their 20s-40s with 100K up to several hundred thousand net worth!
The median net worth of Americans aged 30-45 is around $45,000 last I checked. The people posting here are in the top quarter of wealth for the country.
I find that odd too.
Most people i know have $0,including some 60 yr olds.
I must add though that most people i know are the working poor,professional working women that are single moms,and not to sound odd,but i am in Nj where the COl is sky high.
Most people i know have $0,including some 60 yr olds.
I must add though that most people i know are the working poor,professional working women that are single moms,and not to sound odd,but i am in Nj where the COl is sky high.
As others have said, a forum on Economics and Personal Finance is going to tend to attract those with a greater interest in subjects like finance, investing and budgeting. An audience with those interests is going to tend to be have saved much more than the general public.
Most Americans have never owned a BMW. However, if you were to go to the BMW and MINI Automotive sub-forum, I'm sure the percentage of posters that have owned a BMW is going to be far greater than it would be in the general public.
As others have said, a forum on Economics and Personal Finance is going to tend to attract those with a greater interest in subjects like finance, investing and budgeting. An audience with those interests is going to tend to be have saved much more than the general public.
Most Americans have never owned a BMW. However, if you were to go to the BMW and MINI Automotive sub-forum, I'm sure the percentage of posters that have owned a BMW is going to be far greater than it would be in the general public.
It also has a higher percentage of people who.... how to put this.... possess the pride and vanity to post about it in a public internet forum. If you have zero in a 401K, you're probably not that proud of it.
I currently have zero. I have savings, but I was so burned by the markets in 2008-9, that I'm quite afraid of them now. It's not worth the anxiety level - it will literally raise my blood pressure to have money tied up in the markets ie: I'd be stressing right now what Greece will do to my money.
So, I put my money in CDs. I'm vested in a pension plan with my work that should (unless there's some collapse), pay out 60% of my average salary in my last 3 years - which if I stay at my job will be approximately my income right now. I also aggressively pay down the principal in my home and plan to rent it out when I get another home. I expect to move homes at least 4-5 times and may invest in rental property so I should also have rental income of a couple thousand a month when I retire.
Last edited by redguard57; 07-03-2015 at 12:51 PM..
Most people i know have $0,including some 60 yr olds.
I must add though that most people i know are the working poor,professional working women that are single moms,and not to sound odd,but i am in Nj where the COl is sky high.
I don't think it's odd at all. That $45K median probably reflects people's equity in their homes.
It was not a typo, the reason I only have 5k cash because I save almost 14k per from rentals, me and my wife income and I am trying to pay off my 170k mortgages in 1 and a half yr.. that is why I don't have that much cash on hand.
Only thing I would say to your situation is that you have to be careful in terms of "how you got here." Hopefully I posters correct, but seems you inherited a large sum of money and paid your mortgage off. There is a difference between having a paid off house because you have a track record of implementing a well thought out financial strategy to reach a goal and having a paid off mortgage because you are the recipient of a windfall. In the case of the latter, you can very easily find yourself right back where you started without even realizing it. Think lottery winners. Your strategy to use credit as your back-up could be a yellow flag. Just be very careful!
As far as emergency funds, I think people put too much stock in them. Very few emergencies arise where you need a significant amount of cash immediately. Personally, I am most concerned about having funds to get me through a minor crisis (i.e. car/house repair, loss of a job, etc.) or the first 30 days or so - until I can get my hands on less liquid resources at my disposal (i.e. investments). For most people, $15k in cash is plenty.
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