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I'm glad you were able to turn around. I did the same, only I was married to the unstable guy who decided to just go downhill and wracked up the debt and and fines and whatnot, and it took me years after the divorce to pay it all off. I was raising a daughter alone, however, so there wasn't much opportunity to save. She's in college now, so there still isn't a whole lot of spare change, but I make a little more money now and do put away something every month.
I will never be wealthy, but at least if I can get her off on the right foot, my life won't have been a complete waste of air and water.
Never say never. Anyone can be wealthy. you just have to have the intent and drive.
AF does have a front load but look at the returns. It beats the S&P average. I was speaking of AF in general. You can have AF in an IRA though.
The question is how many 18-22 olds even know what 401K is? Do they want to take interest it it? Do they really want to save that money? I have the Class A shares for my Roth.
Edward Jones offers AF.
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Originally Posted by mysticaltyger
Unless you have access to them in your 401K, American Funds charges a fat sales load which kills your returns. So realistically, very few 18 year olds are going to have access to that fund family. How many 18-22 year olds have access to 401Ks? And how many people with 401ks have American Funds in their 401ks? I have a friend who's a psychiatrist with American Funds in his 401k....but 'ya know what? He gets the "R2" share class...which is a rip off...the expense ratios for the R2 share class are about .80% higher than the "A" shares. This is typical of the rip off expense ratios that a lot of people who work for small firms are offered.
Sure, their top performer... Growth Fund of America has gotten great returns since it's inception in 1973....but now that fund is so huge, it's very unlikely to repeat its past performance, even if you can get into it without paying the load. And I also have my doubts about future stock market performance.
I don't think we're going to get returns like we did in the 1980s and 1990s....and even if we do, it's much better to keep your expectations realistic...and I think 10% would be pushing the upper limits of optimistic.
Getting more than 12% is very tough. Listen to mathjak...he knows what he's talking about. Yes, it's theoretically possible...but it's not realistic to expect it.
He has been investing since 1987 so everyone started at different stages.
Thank G_d I'm gay, so no worries about having kids. But regardless of sexual orientation, our culture does a horrible disservice to us by promoting the romance culture. Being in love is never enough reason to marry someone, only a starting point. Sometimes I think we'd be better off with arranged marriage (as long as it included same sex gay marriage in the mix ).
They spend it on useless shopping items in the mall. Women like to spend.
Yeah...my friend's dumbass husband just spent $2000 on a ANOTHER scope for his rifle...when they are up to their eyeballs in debt...and WOMEN are stupid?
Yeah...my friend's dumbass husband just spent $2000 on a ANOTHER scope for his rifle...when they are up to their eyeballs in debt...and WOMEN are stupid?
oooh a scope. heck i can understand that.. i thought he wasted the money at first.
They spend it on useless shopping items in the mall. Women like to spend.
Sorry, but even if that was meant as a joke, that just lost you any respect I may have had for you. In my family, it is the women who are BY FAR the more financially responsible parties. No comparison.
We also hate shopping, and only go into a store if we need something. I don't even let people give me Christmas or birthday presents because I don't want useless junk in my house.
I would bet that if you surveyed a random sample (somewhere where real people live, rather than people in movie star cities) of men and women, on how much they spend on non-essentials every month, the men spend just as much as the women. I think men just tend to spend more on big ticket items (toys) than women do, on average. Even there though, I would guess that many, if not most, modern couples spend on big ticket items as a couple, rather than one person being surprised to come home and find a new TV or a jet ski. And I think the old stereotype about men coming home to find their wife just got home from a $6000 shopping spree is very very rare these days. If I go shopping for clothes, my husband goes too, and we both spend about the same amount of money.
Yeah...my friend's dumbass husband just spent $2000 on a ANOTHER scope for his rifle...when they are up to their eyeballs in debt...and WOMEN are stupid?
I am not saying women are stupid but they like to spend. Traditionally, men into Finance.
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