what to do with not-a-lot of savings (federal, forecast, best)
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A good place to start for those gun shy can be any ot those portfolios i posted that are low on the ulcer index as it’s called , I will find the link to those threads
OK. I do understand that right now the market is dropping. That's how it goes, right? Up and down. I'm not going to be putting any money in there that I need to pay the gas bill next week.
Years ago I tried to make myself get into the mindset of, "It's dropping, so it's a good time to buy," instead of "It's dropping, holy crap, GOTTA GET OUT NOW! " -- because of course the "gotta get out now" mentality turns that PAPER LOSS into a REAL loss. (I made that mistake when I was working a corporate job in the 1980s and got a small stock account -- this was probably RIGHT when the market tanked [1987?] and I panicked and got out, losing much of what I'd contributed. I was in my 20s and just not able to put myself into the "think long-term, long-term, long-term" mindset -- but if I HAD been able to do that, I would have made a lot of money (well, relatively speaking) on that account.
Alas, it's harder for me now because I have a 403(b) that I am no longer allowed to contribute to (since I am "officially" retired from the job that got me that account, even though I'm actually still teaching at that college), and it is 99% stocks. It's by far my largest account (not a million but it WAS getting closer). I haven't checked it in the past few weeks as I should not need to touch it for AT LEAST 3 more years, but I am bummed that it is my largest account and I CANNOT add money to it now (i.e., to buy stocks that are currently down). I can just watch my balance fall (well, if I WANTED to watch it, which I do not!).
I DO have other accounts that I can add to now, and as I wrote previously, I really appreciated finding out about I bonds (from Teacher Terry) so now I have money in there that had just been sitting in a bank savings account, but given the market's current volatility, it's easier to just sit and do nothing -- although not a great practice.
I was not suggesting it as a stand alone. It would be just ONE (small) part of my ROTH. If I was just starting my ROTH, I would most certainly split the contributions between 2 or 3 different funds.
Here is an article that MQ might want to read, just some suggestions on fund choices.
Years ago I tried to make myself get into the mindset of, "It's dropping, so it's a good time to buy," instead of "It's dropping, holy crap, GOTTA GET OUT NOW! " -- because of course the "gotta get out now" mentality turns that PAPER LOSS into a REAL loss. (I made that mistake when I was working a corporate job in the 1980s and got a small stock account -- this was probably RIGHT when the market tanked [1987?] and I panicked and got out, losing much of what I'd contributed. I was in my 20s and just not able to put myself into the "think long-term, long-term, long-term" mindset -- but if I HAD been able to do that, I would have made a lot of money (well, relatively speaking) on that account.
Alas, it's harder for me now because I have a 403(b) that I am no longer allowed to contribute to (since I am "officially" retired from the job that got me that account, even though I'm actually still teaching at that college), and it is 99% stocks. It's by far my largest account (not a million but it WAS getting closer). I haven't checked it in the past few weeks as I should not need to touch it for AT LEAST 3 more years, but I am bummed that it is my largest account and I CANNOT add money to it now (i.e., to buy stocks that are currently down). I can just watch my balance fall (well, if I WANTED to watch it, which I do not!).
I DO have other accounts that I can add to now, and as I wrote previously, I really appreciated finding out about I bonds (from Teacher Terry) so now I have money in there that had just been sitting in a bank savings account, but given the market's current volatility, it's easier to just sit and do nothing -- although not a great practice.
Does the school classify you/pay you as an Independent Contractor? You may still qualify to transfer/roll over the 403b funds into your other retirement account as long as they're both set up on the same tax treatment, i.e. pre-tax contributions. I'm not a tax expert, so this is provided as a "please do some more research on this" idea.
We should keep this thread going for the retirees who are neither jillionaires nor living on very tight budgets. I am like the OP. Retired, with a sufficient income, but interested in saving and investing some it of it.
Just did not have this opportunity earlier in life.
I fully agree, mighty queen!
We will be selling an inherited house, and I asked for simple advice about what to do with those proceeds, plus other proceeds we will gain (a total of about $225-250k)
We don't have a lot, didn't have a lot of opportunities, and we really don't know all the ins and outs of investing to gain the maximum.
We have an efund, should be increased, a couple iras, and a small 401k (me)
We, at 58(me) &62, do own a house, only a little over $30k to pay off, which will be in about 3-4 years (a total of 10 years to pay off our original 30yr mortgage).
We had also mired ourselves in debt, got it paid off, bought a house, renovated, got with the savings program, and finally feel good about our need to take physical retirement (I draw SSDI and spouse has applied).
We might be ok, we might be comfortable...for now...but what about in 10yrs? Or 20?(if either one or both live another 20).
How do we balance today's finances with future finances?
The "haves" on here get nasty to someone needing advice sometimes, and just because they, as Queen said, have jillions, or even quadrillion s of dollars, don't apparently really want to help someone "less than them" and only want to slam those who have "less than".
Thanks MQ!
It's refreshing to see someone standing up for those who have less than $6billion in retirement and investment s!
You can put 10k each in a IBond with the government. It’s fixed rate for 6 months depending on inflation. So for instance I am getting 7% interest. It’s totally safe.
Do you mean Larry Fink's IShares bond etf's from Blackrock? Please give me the ticker symbol of a couple of them so I can get a totally safe 7%. I've never heard of a even marginally safe 7% since 1980.
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