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I agree with the poster that said people want big tvs, big cars, big houses and so forth. There was an old saying if you can't afford it don't buy it. As for myself I have conserved my entire life, a $150 27 inch TV from Sears 15 years ago is fine for me. You have people that are unemployed buying 50 inch flat screen TVs and complaining they have no money,duh. As for credit cards never paid one cent of interest. What amazes me is people buy a 60cent cup of coffee at the 7 11 and use a credit card. Give me a break. If thats the way you live than you will work to 80 YOA. You have no one to blame but yourself. As for cars if I didn't have the money to pay for it I had a 200 dollar car. People don't forget you have to pay them credit card bills. I could go on and on. When you go shopping buy the items that are on sale. Don't buy steak at 10 a pound when next week its 3 a pound. Most adults that I know that lived within their means will have an enjoyable retirement(financially wise). JM
or State, city etc are only sizable if you're a lifer in the jobs. If you work 30 years for the State of California you can be quite comfortable but not many people live their lives that way anymore. I'm leaving after ten years and after the Social Security offset I'll get about $600 a month.
Not everyone who uses a credit card for most purchases are in debt and in trouble. I use mine for almost everything and have for decades. I pay the bill in full each month and get a little cash back. It is a convenience and safety for me. I'll never be out more than $50 if it gets stolen and I don't have to worry about having enough cash on hand.
I'm one of the savers. I can and will retire as soon as I'm eligible. My house is paid off and except for the monthly CC bill, I have no debts now. I am currently living on less than my take-home retirement income will be and saving the rest.
The inability of so many to plan or live within one's means is a big societal problem. But then as soon as the economy gets soft, the whole political process is jumping to deepening the national debt to give a few hundred dollars away and telling everybody to spend, spend, spend.
Then next year, they'll start the death knell for the retirement period and lambast the lack of savings.
Not everyone who uses a credit card for most purchases are in debt and in trouble. I use mine for almost everything and have for decades. I pay the bill in full each month and get a little cash back. It is a convenience and safety for me. I'll never be out more than $50 if it gets stolen and I don't have to worry about having enough cash on hand..
I see we think alike! I've always used credit cards as much as possible because the monthly statement forces me to be aware of how much gets spent on "little dribs and drabs", as well as how much I spend on groceries.
I've maintained my records in Quicken for about 15 years now. It's very easy to copy credit card statements right into Quicken. This keeps us on track--keeping a careful budget has saved us a lot of money over the years.
Also, I like the fact that credit card purchases are protected in case something goes wrong.
The secret is to live simply. If you have a problem with discipline, only carry 1-2 credit cards and request that they have low ceilings.
OK folks, I've read these posts for about a year or so. Either it's the crowd that this forum attracts or somewhere along the path people didn't learn how to save for the future. So, what is it?
Did many of you never learn about planning for your future?
Was there just not enough income to save for the future?
Was it not important to save for the future?
Why is it that so many people facing retirement are so ill-prepared after 30-40years of working?
My husband and I are not where we want to be financially. I started an IRA when I was in my 20's but 13 years ago, I had to take some to save a business, actually, help my employees. I did save the business and then sold it but it was at an immense price. We do watch our spending, contribute a regular amount each week/month but are not close to where we want to be.
We have always had to support elderly parents financially and now we have children of high school/college age.
We figure we will need at least $750K - not there yet - unless someone wants to buy our CPA business for that amount?? (Ha,ha...but seriously...)
Americans use to save and didn't usually live among there means. That is very common now days.Saving is a lost thing now days even tho we are better educated. Just look at the mortgage mess;not many of our parents and grand parents would have gone that route.
I liked this world before we needed so darn much insurance. We have always lived within our means, but sometimes life will throw you a curve ball and you drain your retirement account. We have never taken a dime of social services and managed to rebuild our portfolio thank you very much. We will get off this planet with more money than we need unless we get a government that will take what we have and redistribute it. It is still a beautiful journey.
My husband and I are not where we want to be financially. I started an IRA when I was in my 20's but 13 years ago, I had to take some to save a business, actually, help my employees. I did save the business and then sold it but it was at an immense price. We do watch our spending, contribute a regular amount each week/month but are not close to where we want to be.
We have always had to support elderly parents financially and now we have children of high school/college age.
We figure we will need at least $750K - not there yet - unless someone wants to buy our CPA business for that amount?? (Ha,ha...but seriously...)
You brought up an important point--that sometimes people do all the right things, but life throws them a curveball. This is why I don't really like threads like this--it's too easy to say simplistic things that don't always apply.
I see we think alike! I've always used credit cards as much as possible because the monthly statement forces me to be aware of how much gets spent on "little dribs and drabs", as well as how much I spend on groceries.
I've maintained my records in Quicken for about 15 years now. It's very easy to copy credit card statements right into Quicken. This keeps us on track--keeping a careful budget has saved us a lot of money over the years.
Also, I like the fact that credit card purchases are protected in case something goes wrong.
The secret is to live simply. If you have a problem with discipline, only carry 1-2 credit cards and request that they have low ceilings.
Normie, I agree that using credit cards to maintain records and for convenience is fine for some people that can control themselves. The problem lies at the irresponsible people that spend like drunken sailors on the cards because they think the fairy godmother will pay the bill next month. They then sit at the table saying I don't know how I got into this mess. You see people at the mall at Christmas time with carts loaded with thousands of dollars worth of IPods/IPhones and every other gizmo made. Then comes February and some people say how am I going to pay this bill. If they didn't have the card they wouldn't be in that situation. Its a shame when I check my mailbox everyday I have 2 or 3 applications from credit card companies with pre printed checks in them. So if I had no money I would say OK and fill the check out and spend it and than be in the hole. I think I'm going off post so I'm sorry
I will bet the majority of people that "cashed in their equity" on their house did pay off credit cards with part of their proceeds.
One other poster stated "cashing in your equity on your house" wasn't a bad deal if you used that as a source of money for an investment .
My opinion is, if that "investment" hadn't generated enough profit so you are still facing a huge mortgage payment when retiring, it must have been a lousy investment.
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Those supposedly huge government pensions
Why are most in bad shape?
