Your Retirement Savings

xpost -- Can't claim to be on Yerac's level but the importance of some kind of consistent frugality is key. Let the indulgences be just that, and sparingly rather than constants. (Obvious points but.)

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the student loan debt problem is related to a higher education bubble, which could be helped in the future by reducing the number of people going into debt to go to college, and reducing the number of people going to college, period. Many of them get little professional or financial benefit from higher education.

I'm super wary of this line of thinking. People with degrees still earn way more over a lifetime than people without, and that's not reversing itself any time soon.

As someone without a degree, there's a security to having that piece of paper that I don't have. If my business fails, I can go make $11/hr at an Amazon warehouse until I die of heat exhaustion.

i have a considerable amount in my 401k thanks to starting to contribute when i was 22, a nice employer match and profit-sharing contribution, and some cool portfolio management stuff we get (~20% return in the last year even with the recent dip). but i'm 30 years from needing that money so it's pretty uh conceptual at this time.

i have none which is dumb of me as I've been financially stable for a couple years and still haven't gotten around to setting something up

college is for networking

I kind of think everyone should be able to start a 401k at birth

I really wonder about US social security and will it be there or not when I retire

or shall I say "when I can no longer work"

I kind of think everyone should be able to start a 401k at birth

Hell yes they should.

are y'all who are putting 10%+ of income into a 401(k)/Roth/etc including employer match in that number?

I feel insanely privileged and jerkish for even asking that, I'm here thinking "am I way behind?!" when half my peers here are measuring savings in sandwiches :/

hahahah employer with a retirement plan??? riiigggght

carey, can i get a loan?

I'm going to lose some shit at some point from leaving this place or them finally restructuring the corporate crap long before I retire but I shit you not, I have some 401(k) matching _and_ a pension plan because I work for a dinosaur

the pension plan's going to disappear any moment

I don't loan money, ever. But I will invest with or just buy someone the essential thing they need. I am always happy to buy drinks.

always essential to buy drinks

I guess if we want to consider a record collection as savings, then I'm doing better.

I had to finally get rid of almost all hardcopy music besides what fit into two boxes two years go. Moving really makes you put what you own and keep in perspective. I had all my stuff in a 8x10 storage unit for a year and when I opened the boxes in another country it was amazing what I had forgotten about and what I was annoyed I hadn't already sold.

are y'all who are putting 10%+ of income into a 401(k)/Roth/etc including employer match in that number?

i put in 9% on my own and our match is 7% i think. i should bump to 10% this year prob.

is your company’s pension plan still open? like if i got hired there today would i get in w/some unvested status? when it goes away (and it will) you’ll still end up with a chunk to put in an IRA or something.

The only time I put money into 401ks is for the employer match. I feel like I can do better with the money outside of the preselected mutual funds the 401k holds. I like flexibility.

I had to finally get rid of almost all hardcopy music besides what fit into two boxes two years go. Moving really makes you put what you own and keep in perspective.

It does -- glad I grew up moving (like Yerac, military dad) as it's gotten me used to the idea, and to welcome both moves if needed and reducing what I have as necessary. Of the many books and CDs I've sold or given away or donated over time, I can't say I miss a single one. (Honestly the only exception would be The Alienist, and I've only thought about that recently given the TV version.)

yerac will you manage my money for me

About 15 years ago I worked for a company that contributed 3% of my salary to a 401K as a profit-sharing arrangement.

In my current job, I heard they matched 3%, and I was like, "cool, just like my old place." Then I realized they meant 3% of my contribution, which is a decidedly different amount.

college is for networking

lmao just one more thing I did wrong

is your company’s pension plan still open? like if i got hired there today would i get in w/some unvested status? when it goes away (and it will) you’ll still end up with a chunk to put in an IRA or something.

nope, nope, no clue

I also did a poor job of networking in college but networked well around town after college... just nothing related to job prospects. I just met some nice people.

I have £13,000 in my pension pot including employer contributions. I have debts that amount to about half that, which I hope to have paid off in about 5 years' time, and nothing in the bank. Apparently the projected value of my pension plan when I retire is £112k and my estimated income will be £11k a year. That might not seem like much now but I'm sure it'll be worth a lot more in 2053!

xp my list bit is more of a statement, they’ll prob cash it out to you eventually.

My mom asked me to manage her money but I would not be able to deal with that stress of managing someone else's money.

The last two years I realized I have everything that I need. Things I see that I want, I look at them and am happy that they exist and I got to enjoy them but I don't need to own them. I suddenly became really buddhist/hippie about owning things. I just want freedom to not have to do shit for someone else because of money. If people struggle with saving, Mr Money Moustache's website is pretty good. My overhead was already low, but after I read his site I probably cut down 15% more. It's neverending calculus of what things and experiences are worth to you and where you would rather put that money.

i am super frugal but really the only way for me to be able to save money would be to move to a cheaper city or have multiple roommates. i think the former is probably the way to go as I'm never having roommates ever again

I just want freedom to not have to do shit for someone else because of money.

For me it's slightly different, in that public sector means I'm not making someone *else* money. Therefore I don't mind the work on that level -- and on a more concrete one, the work I'm doing can and has benefitted others. That itself is enough.

As others have said moving overseas 3 times really focusses the mind on what’s important. I don’t think we are especially frugal but we don’t have a big house full of stuff, own a car, but we do travel a lot and spend a lot on food. We’ve both got good jobs and don’t have kids. Which is another way of saying hat I’m lucky enough to be able to max out my super contributions and max out my tax free company share purchase scheme plus do some saving and investing on the side. This goes some way to making up for not really starting any of this till I came to Australia,

I still freak out a bit that I should be doing more, whilst the retirement savings are building I don’t think I’ve got enough liquid savings in case of emergencies

I’m trying to imagine this thread on ILX in 2006

I think I’m basically in favour of any kind of savings scheme where money is garnished from my pay cheque before I even see it. I’m not the most disciplined of person about this. I like the Australian system in that it has very little optionality on employees or employers. I know some people have been able to operate their set-managed funds like their own private carribean tax shelters and people not in not for profit funds get somewhat rorted.

It’s interesting how contributions are characterised. Called compulsory employer contributions but always included in gross pay, always there so it doesn’t really matter.

When will you retire?

Saving for retirement thread, jesus christ is this shit really as complicated as it sounds (talking as a U.S.er)

Few others

Even if it weren't complicated. most of us would still be fucked. It's not that the options are confusing, merely that the amount of money it will take to retire is simply not an amount I will have.

I think I’m basically in favour of any kind of savings scheme where money is garnished from my pay cheque before I even see it. I’m not the most disciplined of person about this.

This times infinity. I'm terrible with money and welcome these schemes. Don't have to deal with any of it, plus my employer coughs up nearly half in extras.

I really do not realize enough how fortunate I am with this. But that's also because it's so vexing: all that money being parked somewhere way out of reach. I can't even imagine turning 50, let alone turning 67 and needing money. The idea of having a pension is completely otherworldly to me. And I'm closer to it than to when I started working, more or less.

I think I'll join ums on his righteous path and blow it all and screw over the capitalist death machine. It would be the most satisfying way to go down and turn to dust.

Just don't f/w Irish state current funds ye cunts

i'm pretty damn frugal apart from a) not having a roommate and b) dropping my laundry off

sometimes to the point of stupidity -- enough with trying to take public transport to laguardia, just get a fucking cab

Funny to see others itt who grew up in a military family and learned to keep things sleek and thrifty. I, on the other hand, have opted to nest like a m-f-er now that I am grown and blessedly no longer darting about the country every six months. I take great comfort in my abundance of stuff and hope I will continue to do so when I'm old and participating in medical experiments to make ends meet.

I mean I wouldn't call my setup sleek and thrifty per se, but sleeker for sure -- and I've always tried over the last twenty years to get rid of things during each move.

I don't think I am thrifty in my belongings but am cheap in getting them. Like I shop around and time it. If I am going to have a couch it's going to be a 10 ft chesterfield that I always wanted, a bed..a foam california king, a dining table...a custom made 8 footer on iron legs. But i am happy to give up daily trips to starbucks for it. I would also work in a record store again for cash under the table because that is a job that I loved. (mookie, I still take public transport to the airport where I can. I was in London last week and yesterday we walked a mile to London Bridge to catch the cheaper train to Gatwick).

sometimes to the point of stupidity -- enough with trying to take public transport to laguardia, just get a fucking cab

― mookieproof, Friday, February 9, 2018 6:09 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

relatable

the thing that makes no sense to me is I do this on vacation, like I might even go shopping because hey, vacation! buy some new shoes since I'm walking all over a different city. then I end up walking around a bunch carrying a bag, and transfer buses twice to get back to where I'm staying

public transport to laguardia kind of blows btw

I've done it once myself. Took a while.

I'm still not sure if that was a free bus or if I was supposed to pay at some point

it's super easy from Astoria to get to Laguardia. I literally just travel around all the time now, somewhat retired, and I rarely buy anything that's a non-food product or postcard. I literally could die without buying another pair of shoes or bag or piece of clothing and be fine and super well dressed. I am sometimes astonished by all the beautiful clothes I have that I rarely wear.

I would probably drop off my laundry more except it always comes back too fragrant and I am half asian so it goes against my ethos.

I am privileged in many regards so the main money-saving practices I feel like I can praise myself for are not driving, not drinking, not smoking, and not reproducing, all of which I recommend.

i have pension, in which i am vested, and i only started 401k a couple years ago (too late for someone as "smart" as i am imo). it's going very slowly. with the pension i am closer to the top of this poll but it's not enough. i wish i didn't have so much student loans. i plan to get a job making a lot more money in about 5 years and never have children. maybe that will help. but i want farm animals and those are expensive. lol.

not driving, not drinking, not smoking, and not reproducing

I just know I'm going to go off the rails and end up doing all of these at the same time some day

the main money-saving practices I feel like I can praise myself for are not driving, not drinking, not smoking, and not reproducing

Same here (we do own a car, but we only use it about once a week). Also not owning a house.