Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My company does not match and I feel a ROTH IRA makes more sense.
Someone mentioned school and calculus...I think its interesting that in high school, there is 0 emphasis or training on personal income, especially retirement, savings, and emergency funds. This is coming from what is considered one of the top high school educations in the country.
I don't want to read all those posts so perhaps this has been addresssed....
Don't just look at 401k investments alone as a measure of retirement planning. Although it's good to have a retirement plan, some people have other factors that might impact their overall financial health/wealth.
I watch Suze Orman's show and cringe when people much younger than me phone in and share their retirement/savings/cash balances. Some seem so young to have accumulated so much but many also have a crapload of debt.
I think, when trying to figure out what's the norm or where you're at with regards to others your age in terms of retirement, it's important to not only look at the money you've tucked away in investments and retirement accounts - but to also consider how much debt a person has.
Like others have posted, so many young people today seem to "get it" as far as contributing to a 401(K) or ROTH account... especially if they work for a company who matches contributions... but most still don't seem to "get it" when it comes to credit card debt, buying more house than they can truly afford, auto loans/purchasing vehicles, etc.
And school loans have become a huge problem as well. If you graduate college with a debt of $50K or more in school loans and you find a job making less than that as your annual salary - you've not done a smart thing for yourself. Unless you've pursued something in the medical field. Otherwise, you're going to have debt for a very long time.
Law school, for example, is one of the worst choices for young people who require school loans to pay for school. There are articles all over the internet as to why and several lawyers I've spoken with have also explained it to me. It's ridiculus that students still fall for that trap.
To answer the OP, though... my husband and I have over 200K in our 401(k) and over 100K in our ROTH and we are in our mid-thirties. We're also debt-free and we are unsure as to whether we want to buy a home or not - we've never bought a home, and with home values dropping like they are we're still trying to decide if it's worth it to put ourselves into debt with a mortgage or not. In our area, and due to us relocating fairly often, it's always made more sense for us to rent.
No major health problems draining the finances, both spouses generally agree on money policy, that type of thing. And, parents that paid for college-so started off with no debt.
well, the people here seem to have loads of cash saved up...any then they say Americans are not savers and people can't come up with $2000 in cash which people are these journalists interviewing?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
which people are these journalists interviewing?
