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We are in our 60's and have moved around quite often. Started in a one bedroom furnished, to unfurnished, then a two bedroom, then a small house-can you believe $20,500? I remember saying "Do you think we can afford $187 monthly payment?" Well here we are many moves and houses later. We will have this home paid off in two years. Yea!
I see so many young people who have huge homes that are barely furnished, sporting jewerly I could affford but choose not to. The same with the cars. They
eat out most nights, stop at fast food chains to feed the children.
Are they saving? Are they planning for retirement? What is their mindset on this matter?
You had a BIG mortgage relative to your income 30+ years ago too, I'd wager.
I congratulate you on being thisclose to having your home paid off, and I suspect that at your stage in life that really does afford a lot of peace of mind.
I do not know that I would call it a "status symbol", but more a "measure of meritorious achievement". It takes some planning and forethought, things that some people seem to have a serious lack of.
I have friends that are jewelers, and others are builders, as well as car dealers and restaurant owners. I do not think any of them actively encourage people to behave irresponsibly, and I suspect that the majority of their best clients are pretty good at exercising restraint -- just as mortgage lenders get stiffed and foreclosure other business owners HATE 'customers' that buy things on time and then do not live up to their commitments. Personal income has risen tremendously over the past 30+ years, and as long as Americans are allowed to innovated and operate without too heavy of burden of taxes / crushing government intrusion it is likely that there will be even more things to spend money on, and hopefully a growing number of people with the desire to do so...
Are they saving? Are they planning for retirement? What is their mindset on this matter?
I always wonder about the retirement part. I have so many friends that can barely scrap by week to week let alone save for retirement. Makes me wonder what is going to happen in 30 years from now when people are older and will HAVE to work till death. It is already starting now with people being unable to retire at a reasonable age. Retirement is going to be for a very select few as time goes on...
I don't think it's a status symbol in my age group (30) yet--I don't know anyone paid off, but I hope to be in 30 yrs.
Probably a lot depends upon what happens economically in the next few years. I know my parents, who are 60s, bought their house 30 yrs ago for less than 10% of its current worth and less than 1/3 of their annual income before they retired, and as such paying it off was pretty reasonable.
I hope that the same forces are at work for me, but obviously it's kind of unthinkable at the moment (my house being worth 10x this, 10x my income, ah, inflation).
As for saving for retirement, I've always put the 15% into the 401K, from my first job on, and I think most of my friends are fairly similar, but recent times I think have led people to have less faith in the slow and steady saving and instead to try to calculate market (stock and housing) windfall to gain wealth. I'm not much of a gambler but I've known people who have done both very well and very poorly. FWIW I have no jewelry and my car has 175K miles on it . . .
Last edited by novahousehunter; 08-07-2009 at 08:57 AM..
Reason: typo
I always wonder about the retirement part. I have so many friends that can barely scrap by week to week let alone save for retirement. Makes me wonder what is going to happen in 30 years from now when people are older and will HAVE to work till death. It is already starting now with people being unable to retire at a reasonable age. Retirement is going to be for a very select few as time goes on...
I am seeing so many older people, women especially, working now. I am fortunate (we did a lot of sacrificing in our early years) that I don't have to........I don't think I would have the stamina to do an 8 hour shift.
Congratulations on living what appears to be a fiscally responsible life. Most people are where they are financially due to decisions they made in the past; both for the better or the worse. I respect those folks that take the "work now play later" approach. Of course, enjoying themselves and having some fun in the process because after all nothing is guaranteed in life.
I too wonder what many people who are in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s are going to do when they near retirment age. I know many people who do earn a good income but live way over their heads and most likely may never be able to own a home free and clear. Some live as though "hey, I will enjoy myself today and not worry about tomorrow". When tomorrow comes and they are crying poor due to not saving money or prioritizing savings, they really have no one to blame but themselves. While other folks do enjoy themselves, but prudently plan for the future and save for unexpected income loss or emergencies.
For those that do plan responsibly, CONGRATS! You have earned the opportunity to enjoy your golden years with minimal stress by planning accordingly.
I worry and save (only slightly) but live ok. Can't really save with a child that is into everything. Drill, Softball, Soccer, Dance - Braces. Maybe when she moves out and finishes college I can then breath and think about me. I wish I could do more, but with the way things went up in prices when the market went down the dumps didn't help my household.
If you go back through some of the threads on this forum about paying off your mortgage, there were a lot of posters who could do all kinds of fancy calculations and figure out that it was a poor financial choice to pay of a mortgage ... and they gave a lot of flack to those of us who have done so.
There was a lot of sacrifice and choices made to do that ... it wasn't because so many of us who have done it had that much disposable income. We simply chose to forgo any except purchases of necessity and put our money into that primary goal of being debt free as quickly as possible. That the economy has turned in the direction it has was not forseeable, but our "peace of mind" being debt free ... just in case ... has proven to be the better choice, at least for me.
I wouldn't call it a badge of honor. It's more a point of taking responsibility for our purchases and living within our means.
Agree with the 2 previous posters. I myself having kids involved in sports and activities and heading off to college now, many times one has to put savings in the back burner and focus on the task at hand, which is raising, proving for, and giving your kids opportunities now.
Assumming I stay put and do not move (which I hope to move out of state in the next few years) I will have my home paid off within the next 10-15 years. In fact one of my goals is to not have a mortgage on my primary residence by the time I am 55. I feel this will not only give me more peace of mind, but the need to maintain or sustain a job with a decent salary will not be as important when my expenses and bills will be minimal.
My mortgage will be paid off at least 10 years before I retire and it feels great.
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