Do you seriously think you can afford to retire? (investment, returns, get)
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(1) A childless, single, burger flipper pays less than 5% in income tax to the IRS. (I ran the numbers for California which has a minumum wage of $8 an hour.) No they are not paying their fare share in taxes. A childless birger flipper gets back more in services than they are giving back. They are taking from the the remainder of us that pay into the system. A childless, single, burger flipper should be paying 10% of their income to get close to paying back what they get.
(2) If you had wanted to buy a home in your area and could not do it on a burger flippers income why would you continue to flip burgers? If you had wanted to retire in the future and were not able to save any money why would you continue to flip burgers?
(3) The Government does not controll the private sector. The market does. The market tells the private sector that Burgers are only worth so much and that the market will not pay over that amount. The private sector says that to stay in business and hopefully make a profit that they can only pay someone so much to flip the burgers. Hopefully if a Burger flipper likes the Burger flipping industry they will either realize this or decide that to stay in the industry they need to work their way up till they can make the money needed to pay for there future goals. If burger flippers can not attain their goals then they need to move on to something that allows them to do this.
(4) Goverment does not keep people from buying guest homes or beach homes. People keep themselves from buying them by not prepairing for a future purchase.
Let me leave you with an important quote that I leaned a long time ago:
Luck is when preperation meets opportunity. You create your own luck by prepairing for the future opportunities. Maybe todays opportunities are beyond your grasp. No one can help with that. At the same time no one but yourself can keep you from future opportunities.
(1) I'm not sure what 'services' I am getting for my tax dollars, I don't have a car and don't drive and don't use stuff like state and national parks. I do know that by my standards, most government worker are drastically overcompensated. (I once worked as a janitor alongside union government janitors...I was paid slightly above minimum wage with no benefits while the union janitors got 3x my wage plus an equivalent 2x my wage in benefits - plus I was assigned the harder work (floor care, cleaning restrooms) while they did light work (emptying trash cans from offices and napping/reading a lot).)
(2) I continued to flip burgers because it beat the pants off the alternative of NOT flipping burgers and thereby becoming homeless and hungry.
(3) I never suggested otherwise. The lowlifes with whom I worked at my first burger flipping job led me to decide very early that I never ever wanted to manage other burger flippers.
(4) Government certainly does keep people from buying guest houses - check your local zoning code. In my case I calculated what I could afford, but was unable to buy the guest house because government decided that I could not buy the guest house without also buying a larger house and twice as much land - zoning said the lot could not be legally split into two smaller lots with one house on each lot, and I couldn't afford to buy both houses and all the land.
In a country where the average household income is $60,000, 99% will not have $1M plus, but 100% will eventually retire.
Save 10% over your working career in a tax-deferred account. With a little luck and a little company match you will retire and live the same lifestyle you did your entire life. It's basic TVM, not rocket science.
How do people not understand that $1 mil in 30-40 years will have less buying power? $1 in 1971 has the buying power of 18 cents today. It has lost 82% of it's buying power. $1 mill in 40 years will be the equivalent of $180k today.
In 1970 a new house cost $23,400.00 and by 1979 was $58,500.00 Examples of homes and Property for sale in the Seventies
In 1970 the average income per year was $9,350.00 and by 1979 was $17,550.00
In 1970 a gallon of gas was 36 cents and by 1979 was 86 cents
In 1970 the average cost of new car was $3,900.00 and by 1979 was $5,770.00 Examples of Models andCar Prices
Last edited by move4ward; 11-18-2012 at 04:12 PM..
That aaumes that 1 millio isn't goigto grow at all. That is alos why the rateson savngs and other safe investments is so endange3ring retoremnt the long those savings for epopel no
so those with low paying jobs should get subsidized homeownership while those just above the limit in income get nothing?
i think not!
I think you totally missed the point. Zoning restrictions often prevent diversity in housing sizes, density, etc. Things that would increase housing diversity (allowing smaller houses) and increasing the housing supply would lower prices. I think that was freemkt's point. At the same time, I do agree that reality is what it is (whether we like it or not) and freemkt is living in the land of "I wish I could mold the world to my will" rather than dealing with the reality of his/her situation.
Last edited by mysticaltyger; 11-19-2012 at 02:31 PM..
assuming no interruptions in work and 3% raises and 6% avg annual returns, my 401k should be worth $2.7M the year I turn 60, and my wife's should be worth just about $3M that same year - and she's 6 months older. I figure as long as we stay on this track (which in all reality, should improve rather than get worse), then I think we'll be able to retire right around 60 if we choose to.
other assumptions are that I will be mortgage free at that point, and my kids will be 18 when i'm right around 50 - so it will depend on how we address college tuition at that time period when we are 48-53 yrs old. I'm going to start college savings account once our student loans are paid off though, which will probably be about 5-10 years from now. So, i believe to be on track, and will reassess in 5 years when I'm 35 to see if i need to make any major changes yet.
as mathjak said though - i'm just letting time work for me and not stressing over the analysis constantly.
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