201–210 of 221 posts
It's nice to know someone can express a dissenting opinion, and still be reasoned with, and not downvoted into oblivion. Oh. Wait. That's par for the course on HN. God forbid you think anything different from the hive mind. If you do, you're not welcome here.
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It's worth doing the "what if" on a Roth 401(k). The money goes in after tax, so you lose the deduction, but the money grows tax free, and you can pull it out tax free. Usually you come out ahead paying tax on less money now, and no tax on the grown investment later. You can also open an IRA on your own and stuff that to the limit every year. Again there is a Roth version, which you can dip into for certain things be…
That was a good summary. In addition, I suggest adding google for "roth income limit" or you could do worse than this URL: https://www.rothira.com/roth-ira-limits and/or https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/2017-ira-deduction-limi... I can't contribute to my old Roth but I have a trad IRA I can legally contribute to. One interesting point to make is to some extent its all a waste of time; the annual contribution limi…
> due to ageism in my field I need a way to get an income for decades before I am 65…
Yeah, my thinking is the same, so for the past year I've been working on a framework I could use to swing trade futures via an online brokerage.
So far in my backtests from the end of 2004 to mid 2017 (about 12.7 years) I'm getting and avg return of %5.5, avg volatility of %6.8, and worst draw down of %9.7 percent.
Still trying to improve things, but I hope to hook it up an brokerage api, and monitor it on autopilot in the next year or so, but compared to the stats of the S&P 500 and the risk to get those returns during the same timeframe, I'm thinking about doing this sooner rather than later with where I'm at now.
As an individual, I don't think I can just compete with the insider dealing and foreign CB buy-and-hold of the s&p 500 with a passive strategy… so for me, I think the odds are evened out in the futures market.
On an unrelated note, the article mentioned in passing that some of these people are in debt paying for their children's college. Why does anyone feel like it's their responsibility to get in debt to put their children through college? Let their children go to a more affordable college, or let them take out debt on their own.
Every financial planner tells you to take care of your own retirement before you worry about your children's college.
I've made a lot of mistakes and made some intentionally choices that in my mid 40s, I don't see a comfortable retirement in my future even at 65. I'm not complaining about it, I like what I do, it's not physically demanding, and as a developer, my job is my hobby. I can't see myself not at least working part time in technology in some form.
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I'm not sure 401ks are so great. Many charge ridiculous management fees for funds that track mundane things like the S&P 500, but if you want that employer match, no way around it. Mostly a case of perfectly intelligent people throwing wads of money into the market on autopilot because that's all the 401k lets you do. Lambs to the slaughter! edit: Example: Back when I was on 401k, was into a S&P500 fund that had an e…
Yeah the only time it makes sense to have a 401k is if your company matches your contributions.
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I'm not sure 401ks are so great. Many charge ridiculous management fees for funds that track mundane things like the S&P 500, but if you want that employer match, no way around it. Mostly a case of perfectly intelligent people throwing wads of money into the market on autopilot because that's all the 401k lets you do. Lambs to the slaughter! edit: Example: Back when I was on 401k, was into a S&P500 fund that had an e…
> Mostly a case of perfectly intelligent people throwing wads of money into the market on autopilot because that's all the 401k lets you do. Lambs to the slaughter! That's called "buy and hold" investing (putting additional dollars you have into the market, as your paychecks come in). Historically, it's been a great way to grow wealth. You invest in index funds, and you get basically the market return less some fees.…
With something tangible, like a building, or a piece of equipment, you can still get some kind of revenue stream from the use of it while you wait for the market to recover.
If Wal-Mart guy could have put some of his retirement into lawn equipment or a hot-dog cart, I'm almost certain he could make more in an afternoon with that than what Wal-Mart is paying him for a week's work.
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Recessions like 2008 are part of the normal ebb and flow of the markets, and we're likely heading into another one (though hopefully not quite so bad). 5-6 years earlier wouldn't have made a noticeable difference unless they were planning on retiring between 2008-2012ish, the markets have recovered after all. Personally, if I see the stock market dip like that again I'm going to double down on my 401(k) contributions…
You should double down on your 401(k) contributions today to better your odds for a comfortable retirement. I wouldn't let expected market returns impact the amount you feel is appropriate to save/invest today.
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I hear a lot about the nickel and dime stuff on how to save, but most people get eaten up by interest on home and education loans and medical costs. The other issue is interest rates being so low it amounts to a war on savings that neither party seems to willing to do anything about.
> The other issue is interest rates being so low it amounts to a war on savings I used to think this; then I discovered index funds, and stopped keeping money in a savings account.
These "company managed" pension schemes have always fascinated me and would seem ripe for corruption / raiding by the company if they're short a few $$$. Seems like in Australia we're in a pretty good position with "superannuation" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superannuation_in_Australia being compulsory since 1992 and is typically managed by completely unrelated parties to your employer. The payments are generally…
That's why independently run 401(k)'s are the best. I'm a trustee of the one for our company, and there's no way I could raid it.
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> The other issue is interest rates being so low it amounts to a war on savings I used to think this; then I discovered index funds, and stopped keeping money in a savings account.
How did you feel in the 2008 crash? No snark, just wondering how that was versus a savings account.
IMO a major issue is the expectance of someone else to take care of "me". I know that I'm retired for ~30 out of 80 years of my life and thus have to save ~3/8ths of my income, else starve. (Yes, some modifiers for tax brackets, compounding blah blah...) In the past people's children were the "investment" that paid the dividends into old age. Now we no longer have children to bear the burden. Yet we spend the normall…
So for the 10th percentile of earners dinner is an excess? Does this income allocation apply in the other direction? If I start selling $10,000.00 chicken sandwiches should the top earners by income buy from me because that's their place?