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most companies (to include mccdonalds) offer 401k's and/or profit sharing
most companies will match up to a certain percentage (usually 5% or 10%)
let's say you make 40k
you contribute 10% to you 401k weekly....thats only 76 a week..the price of going out to Red Lobster
a recession hits (the stock market falls from 14k to 6k)...you INCREASE your contibution by BUYing more at 6k...which will have an increased value once the stockmarket goes back to 13k
its not rocket science...its not luck..its common sense
Sure, IF you think you have the time to await the market's return.
Considering how national economies are interlocked these days, if there is a major crisis that reverberates around the world it may not be so easy for a market rebound.
Just fyi, I remember reading that the government had a warehouse full of those vaccines and could not even give them away, so history may not repeat itself. Smart move, though.
Yeah..they had to be destroyed. That was a quick in and out. I had read that Baxter was going to get the contract and bought on a whim. Then I followed the news closely..remember the fear that the pandemic was in Mexico and headed to the US ? When it didn't pan out I sold.
Since the demise of company pensions, it's really up to individuals to save. Many still aren't doing that and the last wave of those entering retirement with pensions is happening now. Soon you will start seeing retirees that don't have pensions, little in a 401K and will be soley dependent on SS.
It is vastly easier to live on SS if you own an unmortgaged home than if half of your SS is being blown on rent.
Just one more of many many reasons government has a moral imperative to allow the private sector to build and sell low-end homes low-wage workers can actually buy.
It is vastly easier to live on SS if you own an unmortgaged home than if half of your SS is being blown on rent.
Just one more of many many reasons government has a moral imperative to allow the private sector to build and sell low-end homes low-wage workers can actually buy.
Actually the trend is now towards renting rather than owning. Between rising property taxes, insurance and general maintenance, home ownership with no mortgage may cost more than rent.
The bottom line is this: Excuse makers will always make excuses for why they weren't successful, why they didn't save, why they couldn't do this, why they couldn't do that.
People who believe in personal responsibility find a way to make it happen. Which is why these people will always be the "ruling class" over the unsuccessful types who make excuses and whine endlessly about how there's a "ruling class" that's just so evil because they have more.
Some people make excuses, and some just get hit with the vagaries of reality.
Not everyone can lay down a track for his life and actually stick to it. Life has a way of throwing you curveballs. I know people who are really in sorry shape. Some did next to nothing to try to ensure a trouble free future. While I feel sorry for them, my heart is not exactly bleeding. Some, though, got hit with calamities that most of us cannot prepare for. Not everyone has the brains to make a great salary TO invest with. Some people just have limited capabilities. Remember, an average IQ is called that for a reason.
that's one of the biggest mistakes people can make
I work two jobs, both have 401ks..I contribute 20% on one and 25% on the other..... (up to the max allowable by the IRS of 15k)
Exactly what I did - and, unlike the advice given here, I DID move my money around in the funds offered me. Often. When time for retirement came around, I did much better than my co workers who just parked their money, regularly, among several accounts and just left them there, contributing on a regular basis and hardly looking at them.
The buy and hold strategy may work well for large, stable, companies, but perhaps not so much for mutual funds.
Last edited by goldengrain; 08-02-2012 at 05:28 PM..
No, 401k's failed because they are attempting to do something they weren't originally designed to do.
They were created by the government as a way for corporations to shield the incomes of high earning corporate executives from taxation. The 401k basically works best for high earning individuals who have excess income.
The median income for all American workers is $26,324. 66% of all American workers earn less than $39,900.
These are not the incomes that can take advantage of the 401k.
I won't even get into the high fees of some 401k plans or that many 401k plans only offer company stock. Or the 401k plans that are poorly managed or the 401k plans that don't offer many choices.
Right. As soon as you can, if you leave the company, you should transfer that 401k into an IRA, giving you more flexibility in your investments.
Exactly what I did - and, unlike the advice given here, I DID move my money around in the funds offered me. Often. When time for retirement came around, I did much better than my co workers who just parked their money, regularly, among several accounts and just left them there, contributing on a regular basis and hardly looking at them.
Even the newsletters sent out with your 401K statements advise you to sit down and rebalance at least once per year.
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