What's your strategy...for retirement?

[SWOHTR]

We're a young, single-income family. One kid with another on the way. I max my TSP each year and we contribute a small amount to my wife's IRA. I have no student loans (thanks Navy), she does. I have permanent life insurance (in addition to SGLI; wife has term and SGLI). We have one car, and one car payment. One mortgage. One of my kids' school is basically paid for already (again, thanks Navy...Post-9/11 GI bill). I did not elect to match the retirement contributions from the Navy, instead planning on a career (over 20 years) which gets me a pension (I'm at 8 years now). Then I'll do something I want to do, wife will do something law related likely starting in the next couple years.

We're in a decent position, not totally upside down on anything and I think our long-term plan is good. Recently had to trade in two vehicles for one because they wouldn't work for our family (the Traverse) and my truck (engine was having issues). Got a Suburban which will handle our family and our frequent moves.

Next year or two we will have to start a 529 plan of some sort.

 

[Fullfan]

I retired 5 years ago at 49. When I started my career which has a great pension and benefits I started another retirement plan. I retired with 75% of my highest paid year for a pension, plus around 400k on my individual plan.

Even though I was married w 3 children we did not suffer because of the additional money I was taking from my paychecks. We live very comfortable now, my wife started a business after the kids were grown. And she is now making more $ than when I was working.

Planning and making the right decisions is what needs to be done..

 

[Thess87]

Priorities. And for me retirement is one of them for me wether that means 2nd 3rd or 4th jobs to fund hobbies. But one thing I look forward to is retiring comfortably.

 

[NDGuy]

Man it's sad to see pensions are now gone. Us young folk are going to struggle to get to retirement before 60. There is zero incentive to stay with most companies nowadays. It's all about saving for us, most have no fallback plan. Most people I know aren't saving anything because housing expenses, daycare, medical premiums, and basically everything is so expensive because people finance it for 5 years.

Will be interesting to see what/if companies and ole Uncle Sam can do down the road to help or encourage loyalty to a company. In the meantime about all I can do is try to live frugally and save what I can.

 

[5MilesBack]

Next year or two we will have to start a 529 plan of some sort.

Our kids are 20, 18, and 12 and we started Coverdell IRA's and 529's on all three of them when they were born.

 

[Salmonchaser]

2 powerball tickets every time I buy a can of snuff.

Legit, right?

Damn straight!

 

[Gutshotem]

Is anyone else in the camp of investing extra money rather than using it to pay extra on a home mortgage? My thought is that I'd rather make 6-7% on my money rather than save 3.5% while also getting a tax write off on the interest paid in. That money invested is also available to me if I need if rather than tied up in the home equity.

 

[Ross]

55 mortgage paid off two years ago
Only payment is the mrs toy
Marry a smart girl, make a budget, monthly, yearly and plan for big expenses, don’t get divorced, don’t get over extended and plan for things that will happen....for the last decade I max out 401k allowed amount and the mrs is darn close to that....would have been more fun to buy the bigggger house but we chose to remodel stay put and is mighty fine now 6 yrs till retirement

 

[5MilesBack]

Is anyone else in the camp of investing extra money rather than using it to pay extra on a home mortgage? My thought is that I'd rather make 6-7% on my money rather than save 3.5% while also getting a tax write off on the interest paid in. That money invested is also available to me if I need if rather than tied up in the home equity.

That depends........as long as you're making a higher % on the money than your mortgage rate is, then it's fine. I do the same. But you also have to figure in any taxes paid on those gains as well.

I prefer using the bank's money to make money.......so to speak.....especially on investment property.

 

[tdhanses]

I used to worry more about retirement then I realized there is no way I can retire for my mental state. I plan to always work, just work less at some point. I still dump the max allowed from my annual bonus, to me that isn’t considered part of my salary and not included in budgeting, it’s for my slow down years.

I plan to bust my ass until my kids are out of college, then I’ll do what I want to make money. Debt is the biggest burden anyone can have, living expenses are pretty easily covered with no debt. So part of my career slow down change is also planning for zero debt by that point. I also invest in items that can contribute to future earnings, heck I’m ok being a 65 year old mowing lawns for a living, so why not start a lawn business slowly.

I’m also looking at cash crops that pay well for small acreages, slowly building it up by reinvesting my crop back into seed for expanding planting area until I get to my full area I plan to cover planted and have enough crop to hold back for seeding and sell the rest. Small investment here and 5 year plan until I make a profit.

Have had a rental property but moved back into it when the ex and I decided to split, it small and cheap so it’ll work. I’ll never own another rental as I’m just done dealing with stupid people.

 

[Gutshotem]

That depends........as long as you're making a higher % on the money than your mortgage rate is, then it's fine. I do the same. But you also have to figure in any taxes paid on those gains as well.

I prefer using the bank's money to make money.......so to speak.....especially on investment property.

Yeah, I guess didn't think about the capital gains taxes because i havent had to touch any of it. If necessary I'd just pull out of something I've had long term to minimize taxes.

I dont have any investment property and not sure I ever will. Not in my state anyway, I've heard way to many horror stories from coworkers.

I just wonder what the logic is behind paying off a mortgage early when money is so cheap these days.

 

[All American Boy]

Retirement tactics:
- Save with intent to max out 410k & Roth IRA;
- Live within my means;
- Eliminate all debt.

Retire and spend more time in the woods with kids/grandkids.

 

[eamyrick]

I just wonder what the logic is behind paying off a mortgage early when money is so cheap these days.

Paying off the house early is just a leg on my overall plan. My stock investments are aggressive. My pension payout is great but there is always a risk with that as city’s go belly up or legislation changes. A paid off house offers peace of mind and fills my low risk gap.

My wife’s grandmother has a mortgage in her 80s. She was heavily invested (by a advisor) when worldcom took a dive. She road it down from over a million to 28k. Her entire retirement plan was the market.

 

[livingandlearning]

Paying off the house early is just a leg on my overall plan. My stock investments are aggressive. My pension payout is great but there is always a risk with that as city’s go belly up or legislation changes. A paid off house offers peace of mind and fills my low risk gap.

My wife’s grandmother has a mortgage in her 80s. She was heavily invested (by a advisor) when worldcom took a dive. She road it down from over a million to 28k. Her entire retirement plan was the market.

If what you said is correct then her retirement plan was not the market. It was world com. Had her money been invested in the market, as in the entire market (s&p 500 or some other total stock market index fund) she would have grown her nest egg.

 

[livingandlearning]

Is anyone else in the camp of investing extra money rather than using it to pay extra on a home mortgage? My thought is that I'd rather make 6-7% on my money rather than save 3.5% while also getting a tax write off on the interest paid in. That money invested is also available to me if I need if rather than tied up in the home equity.

I am in this camp when it comes to my mortgage. The rule of thumb I use is: if interest rates are <5% I invest as opposed to interest rates that are >5% in which case I pay down debt.

 

[Shraggs]

I'm curious how everyone thinks about this. How does everyone balance the cost of tags, gear, gas, and family obligations while still being responsible and planning for the future?

Definitely pay my self/family first. Bills and living, then always set aside something every month. Dave Ramsey fan.

Yes I’ve bought plenty on credit. But tried to let bonuses be main source of hunting and fishing spend. Also developed a side gig to gear up for back country hunting and expand leases in Midwest

 

[eamyrick]

If what you said is correct then her retirement plan was not the market. It was world com. Had her money been invested in the market, as in the entire market (s&p 500 or some other total stock market index fund) she would have grown her nest egg.

Right. She trusted an advisor to invest her money who was heavily into worldcom. Same weird stuff happens with pension funds all over the country. I’ve started going to our retirement board meeting to make sure we don’t get caught up in the same schemes.

 

[seawolfxix]

We have always taken advantage of our employers’ 401k matches. I’ve also had a ROTH IRA since college, but I wasn’t crippled with student debt at the time.

We also tend to put most of our savings into investments rather than the mortgage, but I do put some of my annual bonus toward the mortgage every year. I just hate having the debt.

When will we retire? Depends on whether we have kids or not...

 

[stevie]

Retiring this year when company plant closes after 35 years. Have pension and 401K too look forward using for the future. Planning on moving once I retire, maybe NV or UT, somewhere closer to the great outdoors.

 

[william schmaltz]

Is anyone else in the camp of investing extra money rather than using it to pay extra on a home mortgage? My thought is that I'd rather make 6-7% on my money rather than save 3.5% while also getting a tax write off on the interest paid in. That money invested is also available to me if I need if rather than tied up in the home equity.

I just wonder what the logic is behind paying off a mortgage early when money is so cheap these days.

The most important factor in everything financial is risk. Paying off the house and having a decent size amount of cash on hand is insurance. Insurance costs you money. I’m heavy in the market (about 18% total annual income) but anything extra goes towards house. Because I know I will likely see 2-3 market collapses and down economies that I will have to ride out before I retire. No one knows how bad, but it will happen. Maybe a job loss for me or my wife or both. If my house is paid for, it may not be worth anything, but I’ve at least kept the wolves away. So I’ve set myself up to ride the market out instead of be forced to withdraw on struggling stocks to live and “lose money.” With all our stuff paid for, we can easily survive off $1,500-$2,000 a month.

The stock market didn’t lose anyone’s money when it crashed in 2008. People did it to themselves when they exited the market to make their house payment. Everyone that was financially stable (debt free) in 2008 and was set up to not only ride out the market but also to invest made some big time gains.

That’s just how I look at it. We could just keep steadily rising for 30 years and I may be wrong. If I am and I retire with (for pure example) a net worth of 9mil instead of 10mil because I lost 3% of potential gains for a few years while I took care of my house; I’ll be happy with my decision. If the market does what it historically always does every 10-15 years, I’ll be even more happy I protected my assets by eliminating the wolves! They prey on the weak.