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43 years old, wife is 40, 3 kids.
Total in 401k = $284,000
Savings and Money Market account = $32,000
I would like to become more investment savvy, my sole retirement plan has been to max out the 401k and "just forget about it." Anyone have any recommended resources (how/when to buy bonds, gold, different investment vehicles for retirement, etc)?
Look up low cost market indexing. "The Boglehead Guide to Investing" is an excellent resource describing this style.
Well i have always used a newsletter . I like following their lead and not spending time 2nd guessing myself.
There are so many ways to put a portfolo and allocations together. You need to really spend time learning about the different investment choices ,your goals and risk factor.
Once you have that under your belt you can then evaluate some of the ideas and sources out there.
I would like to become more investment savvy, my sole retirement plan has been to
max out the 401k and "just forget about it."
Add an IRA and maybe a 529, both of which you need, and at least double your liquidy
savings before considering much more until after the kids are in/done schooling.
As for savvy... start by learning the vocabulary.
The " __ for dummies" are worth their $12 bucks or so and will do that fine.
and one more thing , the # of 401k's could be what they say it is (50m)
but lot of ppl lose or change jobs and just roll over to roth or ira
so savings are more than "only $78,000" what the article said
plus retirement is not only 401k, ira, roth
there are many things ppl keep their $$ in
like 401k portfolio , dont you want your retirement portfolio to be diversified ? not just stocks , bonds, cash
Never had a 401K, financial portfolio, assets or savings, but does this count? Worked 30 yrs and retired at age 49 and I do currently receive a government pension with my SSA, VA and military reserve pay combined that's worth over in the one or two millions of dollars for the next 25 years from today and I'm already at age 64 and been retired for 15 yrs now overseas! We own our home, no fancy cars and we live pretty well by today's American standard of living! We're not rich and we aren't poor by any means, just right though! We only spend 40% of my pension towards our monthly living expenses! That's all that counts eh, enjoying the retirement lifestyle!
60k is a totaly meaningless number for many reasons.
It lumps those who just opened accounts with those who have been maxing out for decades.
It does not account for age. It lumps those that barely contribute or don't with those who do.
Many who switched jobs and lost jobs took their money out and rolled it over to their iras.
Now they started new jobs and started new 401k's from scratch.
I pulled 6 figures out when i left. Started a new one and now it has 5 figures not 6.
If you do things correct only the income part of your retirement money should be in 401 k. The rest should be in your roth or taxable account taking advantage of low capital gains rates.
Want a more focused idea of what folks have who are actually close to retiring?
Fidelity says their average account for those over 55 who contribute from 1/2 max to max over the lost decade have mid 200k today.
That's because most people don't stay in the same job out of college for the next 40 years until retirement.
I started a new job last year. All the money from my previous job was rolled into the IRA. At my new job, my 401k balance started at $0 again. Some people haven't been investing long. A 16 yr old McDonald's employee is going to have less than $60k. They haven't even made $60k in their lifetime at that point.
I'm 23 and I have around $10,500 in my 401K last I checked two days ago.
Going to write a check to pay the student loans this year, and treat myself to more retirement savings. It's easy to save when I have it taken out automatically, so I'm gradually bumping it up every year from here on out.
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