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living in the U.S. has proven to be almost always about one thing! Retirement!
everyone is "living to retire!"....it's an ultimate goal and you better be ready for it!!! how silly! People don't understand that there needs to be a balance! live well now, prepare so you can live well later also! that's what i believe it should be!
i wanted to know if people here are overly concerned about retirement.....or have they found that balance. I'd also be interested in hearing about how much you've stashed away and at what age....
i'm 28, working for 6 years, 42k in 401k, 20k stocks, 75k equity in houses, and that's about it. most calculators put me at the bottom to midle of the chart as far as saving for retirement. I don't want to kill myself now with saving just so that i can have money in retirement (and then die at 75! lol)
its like fighting a war. you need to support all fronts and not pull from one to prop up another. you need money for now, money for later, money for those expenses not even on the radar.... it isnt easy and requires strict discipline but thats what it takes to pull this off...
of course having one of those rare jobs with a pension makes things easier but good luck finding one of those..
its like fighting a war. you need to support all fronts and not pull from one to prop up another. you need money for now, money for later, money for those expenses not even on the radar.... it isnt easy and requires strict discipline but thats what it takes to pull this off...
of course having one of those rare jobs with a pension makes things easier but good luck finding one of those..
Precisely! Makes all the difference in the world. Thankfully, I found one many years ago, as did my wife. Of course, a little fiscal discipline goes a long way as well.
I am not sure what charts you are looking at but I seriously doubt you are anywhere near the "bottom of the middle" when it comes to savings. The vast majority of young and middle aged people seem to have more debt than assets. It seems that you are doing well and starting early towards retirement savings
......beyond that you are way too young to be reading a forum about retirement. Get out there and live.
One of the best ways to prepare for retirement is to minimize spending now. Every dollar not spent is one more to be available when you retire. Your retirement nest egg is what you have day 1 and are projected to have/get after that.
We are both retired (63 & 66) and so far have not had to touch any of our investments (such as they are). We are probably doing as well now as when we were working - but we know that inflation will catch up with us one of these days. We do pretty much what we want to do. Everything we have is paid for - house, 2 cars, etc. We pay the credit card in full and never carry a balance.
We will probably have a nice inheritance (sp) when my in-laws are no longer here and that will go to our kids eventually. But, we are not sitting around and not enjoying ourselves. We have a little running around money for our fun stuff.
Our house is 23 years old and both of our vehicles are fairly new - 2004 & 2006, so they will last a long time. House is not as nice as a lot of our friends, but we like it and they all love to come. Eventually, we will have to downsize and buy something else and we should be able to pay cash for it.
One of the best ways to prepare for retirement is to minimize spending now. Every dollar not spent is one more to be available when you retire. Your retirement nest egg is what you have day 1 and are projected to have/get after that.
this is the exact mentality that i'm talking about!
i think there are things that are best experienced NOW as opposed to when you retire and are old! don't you think?
i think that if there is a balance, between enjoying life now and saving for tomorrow, then you wouldn't have to worry so much about the last 20 years of life as opposed to living the first 60!
In the retirement forum, there is a lot of posting about saving for and managing money for retirement. It has a lot to do with the forum topic. I don't see folks here doing nothing but saving money for retirement. There are lots of posts about how to live in retirement and what makes for a rewarding life.
At any stage of life, you can choose to live within your means or you can choose to spend more than you can afford. For me, being prudent with my money has meant I had security throughout my life and I get to retire too, all the while enjoying many things that give me a rewarding life. I do not find enjoyment in pretending I have lots more money than I really do or in running up huge debts I would have trouble paying. But that's just me.
Whatever you do time is your friend the younger you start the easier it is to grow some nice chunks of dough..
everytime i used to find it a struggle to keep funding my retirement plan thru the decades i would remind my self if i was finding it difficult now with a paycheck making ends meet how was i going to do it when the checks stop.... i would always mange to come up with the money some how to sock it away. id always pay me first, just like a bill
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