Learn me some money management - retirement savings

In reply to z31maniac :

I only showed the table to illustrate that it's possible regardless of a situation. I think it's pretty intuitive that if you spend more now, you'll have to work longer and vice versa. It's just a spectrum of delayed gratification, with one end being hedonistic, conspicuous consumption and the other end being tightwads that never enjoy life until they hit their savings number, and are then so programmed against spending that they can't do it and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Everybody is in a different spot on that spectrum.

But many people think of retirement as being linked to reaching a certain age, or having to work for 35+ years at jobs they'd rather not do and that's not the case at all. A motivated person should be able to retire early if they can limit wasteful spending and save with purpose/invest as much as possible. The more you save, the sooner you're free to do whatever you wish. If you understand that, and choose to do whatever you wish in smaller increments over time rather than banking all of that splurging for a later date that's your prerogative. The important thing is having the knowledge to truly understand the choice/ trade off that you're making. Freedom to choose your own path is a wonderful thing.

In reply to z31maniac :

I also think it's interesting how things like parenthood can change a person's perspective about saving vs splurging. I know it did for me. I'm more thoughtful about spending now than I was before parenthood, and more concerned with how efficient I'm being with my money so that in the case of my sudden demise, my kid will have something to show for it.

If you compared two otherwise identical people (same age, same income/debts) one with kids and one without, I'd bet a lot that the person with kids would be more likely to save than splurge. Or perhaps the splurge type would never have kids to begin with...

z31maniac said:

^I don't expect to be able to retire early, nor do I really want to. I don't want to spend the next 20 years not going out to eat, taking trips/vacations, driving fun cars, etc, just to SAVE SAVE SAVE! And I make a decent chunk above the national household average, before you include my girlfriends income. And I live in a very cheap state. 

What if I do all this and then get hit by a truck? Have a stroke? Heart attack? Diagnosed with cancer?

Current goal is to get the rest of the non-house debt paid off in the next 2 years, crank the 401k contribution to between 15-20% (add another 6% match from my employer, plus the occasional chunk of stock and such, and the ability to buy discounted stock twice a year) of my salary and have fun with the rest.

I do enjoy the live for the moment but have already been living for the moment pretty well - we are not suffering.  

• Eat out 1-2x a week, limited by desire to eat healthy.  Tremendous savings to packing a lunch every day for work.
• Been to Mexico and Ireland in the past 12 months, looking to Belize or Amsterdam for our next trip.  Or back to Ireland - its a great country to visit.
• Have a paid off 1995 Viper and 2015 Land Cruiser - not suffering on that front.  Wouldnt mind a classic truck but fortunately garage space limits me to one fun car at a time.  Maybe send the Viper and get a Grand National.

So really just looking to take things to the next level.  Would like to kick the retirement forward a bit.  Have a lot of places to go and a lot of road to drive and dont want to spend the rest of my life behind a desk.  

z31maniac said:

93gsxturbo said:

see an actual fiduciary 

This is your best bet. 

But an actual financial planner, not some kid @ franchise place that earned their Series 7 and is just looking to sell and move your money around for commissions. 

FTFY.

We just started a LIRP. Life Insurance Retirement Plan with the lowest death benefit feasibile. It makes the retirement side more in my favor.

93gsxturbo said:

z31maniac said:

^I don't expect to be able to retire early, nor do I really want to. I don't want to spend the next 20 years not going out to eat, taking trips/vacations, driving fun cars, etc, just to SAVE SAVE SAVE! And I make a decent chunk above the national household average, before you include my girlfriends income. And I live in a very cheap state. 

What if I do all this and then get hit by a truck? Have a stroke? Heart attack? Diagnosed with cancer?

Current goal is to get the rest of the non-house debt paid off in the next 2 years, crank the 401k contribution to between 15-20% (add another 6% match from my employer, plus the occasional chunk of stock and such, and the ability to buy discounted stock twice a year) of my salary and have fun with the rest.

I do enjoy the live for the moment but have already been living for the moment pretty well - we are not suffering.  

• Eat out 1-2x a week, limited by desire to eat healthy.  Tremendous savings to packing a lunch every day for work.
• Been to Mexico and Ireland in the past 12 months, looking to Belize or Amsterdam for our next trip.  Or back to Ireland - its a great country to visit.
• Have a paid off 1995 Viper and 2015 Land Cruiser - not suffering on that front.  Wouldnt mind a classic truck but fortunately garage space limits me to one fun car at a time.  Maybe send the Viper and get a Grand National.

So really just looking to take things to the next level.  Would like to kick the retirement forward a bit.  Have a lot of places to go and a lot of road to drive and dont want to spend the rest of my life behind a desk.  

Oh definitely, I've had some setbacks, but nothing I can do about it. Just go forward. I definitely do things like take my lunch (unless it's a team lunch where ol' Uncle Larry is paying). 

Thanks for mentioning the trips. That reminds me my passport is about to expire.

STM317 said:

Slippery said:

If 2.5% is all you want open a Wealthfront cash account. That’s how much they pay, and you are not tied in any way and can take it out as soon as you want.

Thanks for this! Didn't realize Wealthfront was doing savings accounts now, and they offer a ton of advantages over regular savings accounts and even most online savings accounts. Seems like an ideal spot to park an emergency fund.

Yep, probably one of the best places to park some cash at the moment. No strings attached either. 

All this optimism!  I'm over here vacillating between "work till I die" and "retirement plans should be a supply of shotgun shells and canned food".

In all seriousness between my government pension, TSP account, SS, and various inheritances I should be just fine......until the asteroid hits.