yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Jan 8, 2015 7:28:14 GMT -5
I need to stop reading this thread, I am getting depressed realizing how poor I really am I thought you lived in a mansion? You must mean you're house poor
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 7:32:04 GMT -5
My sister does that. My accounts are higher, but I don't own a house near the water in Seattle free and clear.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 8, 2015 9:22:54 GMT -5
I need to stop reading this thread, I am getting depressed realizing how poor I really am I thought you lived in a mansion? You must mean you're house poor I am house poor, I am money poor, my kid just spent a night in a broken crib, I am just poor!!!!!!
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SVT
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Post by SVT on Jan 8, 2015 9:43:20 GMT -5
I max 401k, Roth and HSA then invest whatever I have left in taxable. Made my first contribution last month during the last dip. I'll probably end up putting in at least $30k/year in taxable.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 9:45:34 GMT -5
I max 401k, Roth and HSA then invest whatever I have left in taxable. Made my first contribution last month during the last dip. I'll probably end up putting in at least $30k/year in taxable. Wow! Awesome job. (Now I feel poor. These numbers just boggle me sometimes).
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SVT
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Post by SVT on Jan 8, 2015 9:56:20 GMT -5
I max 401k, Roth and HSA then invest whatever I have left in taxable. Made my first contribution last month during the last dip. I'll probably end up putting in at least $30k/year in taxable. Wow! Awesome job. (Now I feel poor. These numbers just boggle me sometimes). As mentioned earlier, it's nothing compared to a lot of folks on Bogleheads It's like par for the course for a 20 some year old to have a 6 figure net worth there it seems. As for me, I live in a somewhat high COLA with a decent income and no kids or spouse (but an expensive ass GF lol)
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 8, 2015 10:29:53 GMT -5
Note to self: NEVER go on Bogleheads so I don't fall into a deep depression, which will raise my alcohol budget and will make me even poorer!!!!
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 8, 2015 10:37:25 GMT -5
That's how I feel when I lurk in the bogle heads forum! LOL. Me too!
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 8, 2015 10:40:00 GMT -5
I need to stop reading this thread, I am getting depressed realizing how poor I really am It's all relative. If you look in the thread on how much money people need to feel wealthy, generally the people that are putting away larger amounts also require larger amounts to feel comfortable. Definitely true. It took me a long time for my expenses to raise to my income but it did happen. But part of that comes with stability, comfort, security, etc. I definitely think I could be done today and move to Panama or something and live a quiet, convenient existence. But, I do really like my job and I like traveling and I like spending money. So my "dream" number is a lot higher than my "lowest necessary" number.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jan 8, 2015 10:46:25 GMT -5
It's all relative. If you look in the thread on how much money people need to feel wealthy, generally the people that are putting away larger amounts also require larger amounts to feel comfortable. Definitely true. It took me a long time for my expenses to raise to my income but it did happen. But part of that comes with stability, comfort, security, etc. I definitely think I could be done today and move to Panama or something and live a quiet, convenient existence. But, I do really like my job and I like traveling and I like spending money. So my "dream" number is a lot higher than my "lowest necessary" number. ^x10000. I save a high amount relative to our income because I am easily spoiled, and I don't want to have to cut back. I grew up with very little, and I know I can live that way indefinitely, but now I like living in a nice house and having a car with heated seats. I may choose to cut back later, but I want it to be my choice, not my circumstance. I figure if we can live pretty well on <50% of our current gross pay, and are socking away 30% of gross, we should be OK in retirement. We are probably doing badly by Bogleheads standards, but I think OK by YM standards and great by my peer group's standards.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 8, 2015 10:57:24 GMT -5
In all seriousness, no matter how much I save or have, it will never be "enough" for me. And it's not bc I desire some lavish life style, it's bc I am too afraid that the costs will just keep rising for everything and it will be very hard for elderly to survive.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 8, 2015 11:03:04 GMT -5
In all seriousness, no matter how much I save or have, it will never be "enough" for me. And it's not bc I desire some lavish life style, it's bc I am too afraid that the costs will just keep rising for everything and it will be very hard for elderly to survive. I think that is the beauty of simulators like firecalc. You can imagine, in your mind, many scenarios and situations, but I trust monte carlos that run 100 different simulations... at some point when you have 90, 95, 98% chance of success, you have to call it good. I arbitrarily picked 100k/yr distribution. I really have no idea what I'll need but I'm guessing that it'll be enough. You can always 'scale' back if you put enough slop in it.
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SVT
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Post by SVT on Jan 8, 2015 11:05:51 GMT -5
Definitely true. It took me a long time for my expenses to raise to my income but it did happen. But part of that comes with stability, comfort, security, etc. I definitely think I could be done today and move to Panama or something and live a quiet, convenient existence. But, I do really like my job and I like traveling and I like spending money. So my "dream" number is a lot higher than my "lowest necessary" number. We are probably doing badly by Bogleheads standards, but I think OK by YM standards and great by my peer group's standards. You're doing great by anyone's standards. With Bogleheads, it's that a lot of people there make a lot of money. They don't necessarily save any more of a percentage of income in general as those here, there's just so many successful business owners and high income professionals there, so in dollars, it's probably more in general than those here. Have any of you seen the net worth polls there? It's insane. It's also shocking the amount of those who got to a 6 figure income and/or net worth in their 20's. There's a couple specific threads for those in their 20's too.
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midwestlily
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Post by midwestlily on Jan 8, 2015 11:11:55 GMT -5
This is my order: - Teacher Retirement (no choice because it is mandatory)
- Roth IRA
- 457b (but nowhere near the max and actually the first thing lowered)
- Personal savings (currently $650 covering my savings, the dog's savings, and CClub)
- Grandkids' 529 ($100 monthly spread among 6 grandkids isn't much)
Susana, your dog is saving for retirement
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 8, 2015 11:13:34 GMT -5
We are probably doing badly by Bogleheads standards, but I think OK by YM standards and great by my peer group's standards. You're doing great by anyone's standards. With Bogleheads, it's that a lot of people there make a lot of money. They don't necessarily save any more of a percentage of income in general as those here, there's just so many successful business owners and high income professionals there, so in dollars, it's probably more in general than those here. Have any of you seen the net worth polls there? It's insane. It's also shocking the amount of those who got to a 6 figure income and/or net worth in their 20's. There's a couple specific threads for those in their 20's too. Yep. BHs are heavily weighted towards physicians, successful business owners, etc. It's definitely the 0.1% crowd.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 11:48:20 GMT -5
This is my order: - Teacher Retirement (no choice because it is mandatory)
- Roth IRA
- 457b (but nowhere near the max and actually the first thing lowered)
- Personal savings (currently $650 covering my savings, the dog's savings, and CClub)
- Grandkids' 529 ($100 monthly spread among 6 grandkids isn't much)
Susana, your dog is saving for retirement She's a good YMer. Actually, the dog's savings are a form of self-insurance. I don't really want to have to decide her fate based on $$$ one day although, of course, it could still come to that. But putting aside $50 a month in an account for her will help.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 11:55:15 GMT -5
Folks shouldn't be discouraged looking at the net worths but encouraged they are seeking out more information and they are taking action. That puts them way ahead of most of the population with the head in sand approach (which was me prior to 2006 I'd say for looking for more info and 2009 before I acted).
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jan 8, 2015 12:17:39 GMT -5
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jan 8, 2015 12:25:59 GMT -5
I need to stop reading this thread, I am getting depressed realizing how poor I really am But you're a 'good kind of poor' I'm sure. Cause that's what I keep telling myself when I see other people's numbers here too. I'm a 'good kind of poor' in that I'm 'poor' but I have 'savings' and rental properties, and retirement accounts - it doesn't matter so much how MUCH is in the savings, that the rental properties are about as expensive as luxury high end vehicles, or that my retirement accounts are relatively small. Just the fact that I HAVE them is what matters. I guess that means I pay more attention to having a positive net worth rather than the actual value of the stuff I have.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Jan 8, 2015 12:31:37 GMT -5
401K - my goal is 20K between my contributions and my employers Roth IRA - max Taxable - Goal is 10K a year Savings/Liquid EF - Slowly building with what's left
I'd say I'm a bad YM'er in this regard because I can afford to max my 401K but I opt not to while I contribute more to taxable and savings/liquid. The main reason I'm trying to build those up is because I want to get into a house in the next 5-7 years. Right now I'm trying to decide how much I ultimately want to put into taxable because if I really do upgrade to a house it's a relatively short term window and I can't have too much in the market subject to possible losses.
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sapphire12
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Post by sapphire12 on Jan 9, 2015 1:00:42 GMT -5
My goal this year is to max the TSP at 18K; max Roth at 5500; put 5500 in taxable. I need my stars to align to make this happen.
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myrrh
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Post by myrrh on Jan 9, 2015 13:38:46 GMT -5
I guess my priority is pension (forced savings) Roth IRA fully funded 457 contributions Adding that up is 32% of my gross, which feels like enough.
I am not sure about DH, I think he puts around 15% in a 401k, don't think he does the Roth. I'm ok with this since he's cash flowing a Master's degree right now.
I am ever so slowly moving my excessive emergency fund to a taxable account. I am still conflicted about whether I should move the excess e-fund money to my 457 instead, but I like the idea that I can pull the money out if needed. I know it makes tax time a lot more complicated though.
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Jan 9, 2015 15:31:46 GMT -5
We've always put the maximum in our 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. Four years ago, when a Roth 401(k) became available to my husband, he put his contributions in there.
Because our savings pre-dated 401(k)s, and because we're fairly frugal and savings minded, we've always put money away in taxable accounts. About 5 years ago, I realized that our RMDs were going to be fairly large. At that time, our retirement accounts were 74% of our total portfolio. I was fortunate enough to be able to move my highly appreciated ex-company stock to a taxable account using NUA rules. At present we have 37% taxable, 63% retirement. With DH's nearing retirement, that gives us more flexibility in our taxes.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Jan 9, 2015 21:06:00 GMT -5
When we were saving for retirement, it all depended on our tax situation at the time. If we needed to lower our AGI, we contributed more to the 401k to lower our income. That is not to say that we didn't also contribute to the taxable accounts because we always did.
Now that our income is much lower (pension), we're doing Roth conversions. Paying the taxes on the conversion is no problem and comes out of our taxable accounts.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Jan 12, 2015 15:13:20 GMT -5
When we were saving for retirement, it all depended on our tax situation at the time. If we needed to lower our AGI, we contributed more to the 401k to lower our income. That is not to say that we didn't also contribute to the taxable accounts because we always did. Now that our income is much lower (pension), we're doing Roth conversions. Paying the taxes on the conversion is no problem and comes out of our taxable accounts. That's what we are doing also. Since hubby retired our income has dropped to ~40% . I'm still trying to figure it all out. For the most part, we put all of his savings into the 401k (no match, darn it!) and IRAs. Mine has gone into my taxable account. Whenever I picked up odd jobs here and there, I put it in after-tax savings. Those years we were depositing into the 401k we were in the 25 - 28% tax bracket. Now we are lookin at 15% and 0% for dividends and capital gains. I'm sure we are ahead on the taxes. I'm thinking now I can roll some over to the Roths and come out ahead once again. It's a challenge figuring out the best way to manage it. I think it was easier to just save the 20% lol.Me too, LOL!! I went back and developed an Excel spreadsheet that shows what bracket we were in for each year we contributed to DH's 401k and what bracket we would have been in if we had not contributed. Most years we would have paid 25% federal and 9.3% state on the money we contributed. One year, in the 80s, it was as high as 38% federal!! I also estimated what tax bracket we will most likely be in if we do nothing and have taxable income that includes DH's pension, SS (his and mine), and RMDs. Everything points to converting to the top of the 25% bracket every year between now and the time we take SS.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 13, 2015 0:03:46 GMT -5
That's what we are doing also. Since hubby retired our income has dropped to ~40% . I'm still trying to figure it all out. For the most part, we put all of his savings into the 401k (no match, darn it!) and IRAs. Mine has gone into my taxable account. Whenever I picked up odd jobs here and there, I put it in after-tax savings. Those years we were depositing into the 401k we were in the 25 - 28% tax bracket. Now we are lookin at 15% and 0% for dividends and capital gains. I'm sure we are ahead on the taxes. I'm thinking now I can roll some over to the Roths and come out ahead once again. It's a challenge figuring out the best way to manage it. I think it was easier to just save the 20% lol.Me too, LOL!! I went back and developed an Excel spreadsheet that shows what bracket we were in for each year we contributed to DH's 401k and what bracket we would have been in if we had not contributed. Most years we would have paid 25% federal and 9.3% state on the money we contributed. One year, in the 80s, it was as high as 38% federal!! I also estimated what tax bracket we will most likely be in if we do nothing and have taxable income that includes DH's pension, SS (his and mine), and RMDs. Everything points to converting to the top of the 25% bracket every year between now and the time we take SS. This would be an interesting exercise to do. I was thinking about doing a Roth conversion for my 457 but it might make a lot more sense for DH to model for his rollover IRA since we expect that to be longer term money. While we will both have very small pensions we only planned on our oil royalty money lasting about 10 years. But between the current drop in oil and the new technologies that stream of income may last a lot longer than we anticipated. It's a good problem to have but requires some different modeling!
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quince
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Post by quince on Jan 13, 2015 17:34:26 GMT -5
We're maxing retirement and keeping cash at about 70K (because the spouse is more comfortable with high cash reserves.), and the rest into taxable. I might slide some of that cash into taxable because I think it is (quite) excessive. The maxing retirement is not hard because right now our only options are IRAs. Husband works at a start-up, so while he has a modest pile of options and stock, he doesn't have an employer sponsored retirement account.
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