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this why good financial planning generally requires a knowledgeable adviser and is a lot more complex then buy some index funds and have a NICE LIFE .
I have tried this several times and for some of us middle (I guess) income types there are no tax loopholes or help. I have paid full taxes, no write offs or loopholes most of my life. I never meet the deductible. A lot of that is being single, no kids. We singles underwrite a lot for everybody else's married with kids lives* which would be somewhat fine if it were at least recognized but no no, everyone will argue its not true. And as Ohio peasant said - people can be quite vicious about your single status. I've had it happen more than once.
I'm not sure the origin of the 1,000,000 but I know its been out there awhile. Honestly I would feel more comfortable with 3,000,000 retiring at 60 today. I think the Suzy Orman's of the world haven't changed the number because (1) it's not as catchy and (2) people are going to just give up.
I myself won't get to a million. I'm losing the money I have saved in this market and am wondering what to do. This is very bad timing.
I think for a lot of us tail end baby boomers and younger we got caught right in the crack between the assumption that everyone would have a good pension and the rush to 401k/savings/being without a pension. Growing up pensions were it and I didn't consider it would be different for me for a long time. I started hearing about pension funds and 401ks at some point in my.....30s? but they seemed very exotic and complicated.
People in say, their 40s, 30s now know much more about funding their own retirement. 2 and 3 stripe Airman at work have it al figured out.
it isn't about tax structure now . it is about tax structure being put in position for the greatest tax efficiency in retirement . so many things are linked to taxable income in retirement . but the building blocks have to be put in place decades before .
it isn't about tax structure now . it is about tax structure being put in position for the greatest tax efficiency in retirement . so many things are linked to taxable income in retirement . but the building blocks have to be put in place decades before .
So....no advisor can help me now is what your saying. And I suspect that that set up process requires above average funds although honestly I have no idea what you are talking about. Very cryptic.
So....no advisor can help me now is what your saying. And I suspect that that set up process requires above average funds although honestly I have no idea what you are talking about. Very cryptic.
You guys are talking at cross-purposes. You covered the ground a whole bunch of us face. I'm a late-boomer. I got caught in the gap where defined benefit pensions and spending your life with one employer vaporized. My first 15 years working, I only had a couple of years where I worked somewhere that offered a 401(k). 2015 was the first time in my career I have ever received any kind of 401(k) match. I didn't grow up in a household that stressed constant saving and investing through life. It sounds like that's your story.
Mathjack's message is always the same. Start saving and investing young. Put your money in the stock market because history shows that is always the winning move. Mutual funds and index funds typically work out better than picking individual stocks because you get the diversification. Most people don't have the time to become experts so it's better to outsource your financial advice. It's the miracle of compounding all those investments for all those years that produces the wealth.
Mathjack's advice is great for a 20-something. I'm 57. It mostly doesn't apply. I can't go back in the time machine and dump 10% of my income in stock mutual funds and index funds every year. I did the math at age 50, formulated a plan to catch up financially so I can retire comfortably, and have been executing that plan for 7 years. I have 8 more years to go. I'm not going to get that miracle of compounding. What I did do is restructure my life so a very big slice of my income goes towards building wealth every year. I'll never get to where I could have been if I'd been saving and investing regularly since my early 20's but 15 years keeping my eye on the ball should be enough.
there are some things we can still do at our late ages but most of the options came off the table many years ago .
the time to put the building blocks in place is when starting out .
now it is reduced to some insurance manipulations , roth conversions on a limited basis and planning where and how to draw your income .
now we have to plan around aca subsidy's for health insurance if under 65 , medicare surcharges , getting ss taxed , rmd's ,etc .
You guys are talking at cross-purposes. You covered the ground a whole bunch of us face. I'm a late-boomer. I got caught in the gap where defined benefit pensions and spending your life with one employer vaporized. My first 15 years working, I only had a couple of years where I worked somewhere that offered a 401(k). 2015 was the first time in my career I have ever received any kind of 401(k) match. I didn't grow up in a household that stressed constant saving and investing through life. It sounds like that's your story.
Mathjack's message is always the same. Start saving and investing young. Put your money in the stock market because history shows that is always the winning move. Mutual funds and index funds typically work out better than picking individual stocks because you get the diversification. Most people don't have the time to become experts so it's better to outsource your financial advice. It's the miracle of compounding all those investments for all those years that produces the wealth.
Mathjack's advice is great for a 20-something. I'm 57. It mostly doesn't apply. I can't go back in the time machine and dump 10% of my income in stock mutual funds and index funds every year. I did the math at age 50, formulated a plan to catch up financially so I can retire comfortably, and have been executing that plan for 7 years. I have 8 more years to go. I'm not going to get that miracle of compounding. What I did do is restructure my life so a very big slice of my income goes towards building wealth every year. I'll never get to where I could have been if I'd been saving and investing regularly since my early 20's but 15 years keeping my eye on the ball should be enough.
GeoffD you have made my point. We in the bb generation got caught in that twilight of time where the rules with regard to saving and being able to retire comfortably on a middle class income changed drastically. Today I hope that in school (preferably high school) and to a deeper extent college that a bit of the education is in giving those students the knowledge that they are in charge of their own retirement. Yes most of them will have eyes that are blood shot and will say that it is too far away for me to consider. To them they will understand it later but they do need to know. To those in the 20's and 30's today that are reading this. Do what you can. Save for tomorrow and live today. I am saying it this way because we do not know the last date on earth we will be. What we do know is that there is a good possibility that we will live to retire. Save as you can. If it amounts to a cool million or two great. If it comes to a 1/4 of a million that is fine too. You just have to live within your means once you get there. Life is too precious not to live it each and every day. Slaving away to save for a rainy day makes us too grumpy. Live a little too.
most of what we can do at this stage is really going to depend on the level of assets we have .
so as an example down the road i may want to take a portion of my forever taxable ira money which if my wife inherits it is blessed with not only rmd's but she has no clue how much she can even get to keep after taxes to live on . it is like having a mortgage only you don't know what you owe . .
so i may choose to buy a leveraged single premium life policy with some of the ira money and rather then leave my wife 500k or a million in taxable ira's i can buy an equal policy for a lot less .
instead of getting the ira's she gets 100% tax fre money . what i left in the ira's goes to the kids . they pay the taxes due over their lifetime .
so with a good adviser there are ways of manipulating things for better results . but you need someone skilled in the 2nd half of the game .
most of what we can do at this stage is really going to depend on the level of assets we have .
so as an example down the road i may want to take a portion of my forever taxable ira money which if my wife inherits it is blessed with not only rmd's but she has no clue how much she can even get to keep after taxes to live on . it is like having a mortgage only you don't know what you owe . .
so i may choose to buy a leveraged single premium life policy with some of the ira money and rather then leave my wife 500k or a million in taxable ira's i can buy an equal policy for a lot less .
instead of getting the ira's she gets 100% tax fre money . what i left in the ira's goes to the kids . they pay the taxes due over their lifetime .
so with a good adviser there are ways of manipulating things for better results . but you need someone skilled in the 2nd half of the game .
I'm single. I don't have to protect anyone but myself. If I plan it perfectly, I die in my own bed at age 90 having spent every penny with my Social Security check my sole income source. The more likely outcome is that my house and what is left of my other assets becomes my long term care policy. If that changes and I re-marry, I'll have to re-plan it.
I'm in the late boomer generation. When I was in college is when there was a debate about changing SS age and they did. I've worked for 3 companies that offered pension but the catch was I had to be at least 25, I wasn't. I think these numbers are designed to be catchy, I'm sure I will manage my situation differently, but still retire early. It's called financial engineering. I did for my sister, even as a CPA she was unable to see through how to adjust her finance.
I have the same problem with my spouse regarding investment. He never cares for investing, his parents came from the Depression generation, they only invested in cash/treasury bills. So he is a scared cat when it comes to investing. I have to structure his investment to be quite simple, so indexing is fine. He doesn't need much, just enough to keep up with inflation. I don't have an advisor either. Try to read as much as I can online, boggle forum is a great one.
Last edited by NewbieHere; 01-31-2016 at 10:04 AM..
I'm single. I don't have to protect anyone but myself. If I plan it perfectly, I die in my own bed at age 90 having spent every penny with my Social Security check my sole income source. The more likely outcome is that my house and what is left of my other assets becomes my long term care policy. If that changes and I re-marry, I'll have to re-plan it.
bounce that check to the undertaker and you are my hero .
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