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So I need to visit with a financial planner/advisor? Right now my tax rate if 20%. I will be eligable for SS in a few years. I guess I do need some advise I don't even know if SS is taxable. I know one of the banks I use has a program they say I can roll all the funds over tax free into a 401K, but I am not sure if
the rate of return would be higher or lower. I think I am just too afraid to touch the money right now because I don't want to go backward again.
Every thing you suggests smacks of fees and more fees and a lower return on investment for you. Do some research on jack Bogle founder of Vanguard funds and he has a few books to get you started when you are ready.
He can check out any time he wants and have had a great life. There's nothing great about being 70 and having money, that's actually pretty sad for most situations IMO.
I'd completely regret have made decisions to save money and not do things when I was in my 30's to 50's because I had to save for a mythical retirement.
Dang I am 66 are you telling me a lot will change in four years?
QUOTE=Yakscsd;36027908]He can check out any time he wants and have had a great life. There's nothing great about being 70 and having money, that's actually pretty sad for most situations IMO.
I'd completely regret have made decisions to save money and not do things when I was in my 30's to 50's because I had to save for a mythical retirement.
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Everything in life is a balance. While i didn't do everything in life i wanted i balanced it out with the future.
Now that i am semiretired at 61 with some bucks saved i am sooooo glad i planned it this way. We will actually be living a better lifestyle now that we are not raising a family.
Being relatively healthy and in good shape we have some fabulous trips coming up..
We also saved enough to have relatively stress free retirement and not have to sweat every unexpected expense.
Life can be pretty miserable in retirement when you have no money and no choices in life[/quote]
I'd completely regret have made decisions to save money and not do things when I was in my 30's to 50's because I had to save for a mythical retirement.
I think there's a fine balance of living for only tomorrow and not living for today. And the reverse also is true which is what a bunch of people are practicing today....save nothing/very little for their later years.
You could also take your view in other directions....why should someone in their 20's bother working at all because they may die early? They should spend it not working. Why bother having kids that a couple really wants when some kids turn out horrible....darn mythical parenthood! Why get married because so many end in divorce? Sounds like a fatalistic way of looking at life, no?
I think you'll find many people in their 60's and 70's who took care of themselves throughout their lives health wise are active and truly can enjoy a retirement with the money they saved. Their retirement isn't "mythical". I live in the Phoenix AZ metro area and we see the snowbirds arrive in droves in the winter. Many are in great shape and getting out there hiking, traveling, golfing, etc. We know a couple in their early 70's in the picture of health and very active, travel a great deal, and have told me they are very happy they saved money steadily throughout their working lives so they can enjoy their freedom now and for the rest of their lives without worrying about money to have the little extra things in life.
I think it illustrates life is what one makes of it....in both earlier years and later years.
many are just not employable or emploable much above minimum wage.. most companies today require background checks , drug testing and credit score checks.
many can barely be understood when they speak , have little reading comprehension and have 3rd grade math skills.
many can't get better jobs or employment at all based on so many other factors other than job skills.
many employers but lots of weight ,right or wrong on these filters and it cuts many out from eith a job or a better job.
here in nyc we have been seeing in the black communities only 1 out 10 not dropping out of school. the unemployment rate for blacks of working age is 50%.
it isn't the fact there are no jobs or better jobs available. many cut themselves right out of the running by making themselves unattractive as applicants to employers .
The previous statements in your post strongly suggest that no one deliberately makes themselves unattractive to employers.
They are undereducated most likely because they were not mentored in school and/or came from unsupportive and/or poor families. They probably dropped out of school because of poor grades and/or not seeing the path forward to college or other training. Seeing no prospects can cut ambition. One main reason, lack of money (more apropro in comparison to white middle and upper class, lack of parental money), or lack of guidance (i.e., someone to take an interest in them).
So, playing it forward...a few don't speak or present themselves well because of this sad lack of education. Some have had little social training or cultural/intellectual experience, few skills notably on computer, and a lack of decent wardrobe and/or car. Many go on to low-wage jobs taking what they can get and often doing it well, and within their ability zone; many go into a downward spiral using drugs and devious means to survive.
Getting into (and staying in over time) low-wage jobs with little opportunity to "save" is an END result to all this. Paycheck to paycheck is the norm for a huge demographic. Yeah, a number of economically poor people splurge on toys but let's finally get tired of that line and see the low-income cycle, often generation to generation, for what it is and by its causes. And it may not all be based on race, either, though much probably is.
Sure there are some of us who came out of totally unsupportive backgrounds, economically poor parents with poor parenting skills, lived in sub-par neighborhoods, who did find their way, paying for their own education...but still ending up in less lucrative positions in the workforce. Social networking for opportunity (and lack) are often at play. There was a window of opportunity for secure gov't jobs but that predictably passed. There was opp for professional positions like teachers and doctors and lawyers that required a level of schooling that met with roadblocks for many. Pensions are not the retirement gift for lower income workers.
The picture is complex. No one can draw a line in the sand between those who retired with the requisite level of security and those who didn't. It's all too easy to make assumptions. These assumptions are seldom accurate, nor are the easier ones constructive in an honest attempt to analyze the societal reasons for the different financial states of retirees.
Because SO MANY people in this forum seem to think minimum wage workers can adequately save for retirement, and I would like them to quantify that expectation.
I don't think that they think that at all. They just don't understand why YOU don't try to find better paying employment. I know, I know, you've gone over it a hundred times but it still just sounds like a lot of excuses. Listen, I can feel some sympathy for you because I've worked low paying jobs all my life. It took me many years to get a 100% 'pay raise'...from $1 to $2 an hour!...in food service. I did really well in spite of that but not well enough to put away much. Enough to raise four kids, keep us all fed and a roof over our heads, at least. So, yeah, I hear you and know where you are coming from. BUT there's nobody who says that I, or you, can't better our circumstances and I have. You can too regardless of what you say or think. It's what you DO that counts.
No matter how little I made I did manage to save some, here and there, till I had at least $2,000 in savings. It figured it gave me some breathing room. So what if it took me two years to save it up? And prayed like crazy in the meantime that nothing "BIG" happened!
One of the biggest lessons of my life was learning to either "make do" and/or "make more". It worked for me and can work for you too. I do sometimes fear that you are so mired in your present mindset though that it may not. Try it anyway.
Thank you both soo much for the advise. I think I will start reading & looking. Sometimes if you don't know exactly what you are looking for you; will pay more for nothing @ all. Besides I just realized how absolutely helpless I sound. Everybody said save for retirement, nobody told me what to do when I got there. Especially in the mess I am in.
My mom had to wait until 65 to retire but her pension & SS worked out OK. Of course the last 4 years of her life she lived with me and I paid all the living expenses, she actually was able to put enough away so my siblings had something to argue over.
I wish I had a crystal ball because inflation is what scares me the most. The money I originally put away didn't grow @ 12% but over the years the spending power of that money is down by that amount. I hope something in the books you suggested can speak to that--or the Advisor/Planner/CPA can help.
I understand what you are saying, 35 years ago I dropped out of college, I was a newlywed & my husband ask me to (I was never going to have to work anyway). 3 years and 2 children later I was on my own with few/if any job skills. I started @ minimum wage, asked my brother to babysit, went to school. I challenged alot of the core requirement classes (you take a test if you get I think 85% on the test you get the credits. I went to school as much as I could, early morning, evening, night, you name it.
After school I got my first decent job, still not enough to save though. I didn't get child suppot I didn't even know where my ex was. BUT I was willing to move. I moved & moved & moved I was an outstanding employee & so if someone in another area would pay me more either $ or benefit for my kids. I finally ended up in WA. The minimum wage here is higher then the Federal minimum, also even @ the
fast food restuarants people don't stay @ minimum wage.
SO are you willing to do whatever it takes to make it, even move? Work hard enough to not be good @ your job ; but outstanding? Ask your family for help? My brother only had to babysit for me 2 1/12 yrs then the girls were in school, he still talks about how much fun we had w/nothing.
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Why get married because so many end in divorce? Sounds like a fatalistic way of looking at life, no?
