Posted on 02/25/2024 10:47:42 PM PST by RomanSoldier19
I could be mistaken are funds going into a Roth IRA after tax where a normal 401k is pre-tax dollars, both allow investments to be tax free, the Roth allows withdrawals that are tax free in the future, where as a normal 401k you get taxed on withdrawal.
I was a contract IT worker for nearly 20 years, at each staffing company I worked for they offered some type of matching funds for anything I contributed to my 401K, I always contributed the max and got the company’s max matching number.
The point of my original post was to say, no matter what retirement investment strategy you use, assuming you don’t have a generous pension, it’s going to be taxed and generally you can’t avoid social security.
Plus, I’ve never understood gold or precious metals as an alternative to fiat money, IMO, precious metals are only good if fiat currency exists.
It's just the right combination of sugar and caffeine. And somebody else makes it. All you have to do is pay for it and suck it down.
Consider too, the lock-downs have gone a very long way to de stigmatize the criminal indolence of that growing crowd of surly, demanding losers that Liberals have been cultivating for decades in this country.
There is by now NO shame in spending your whole life standing around with your hand out!!
In my first job out of college, I worked in field service engineering in power plants. Us service engineers lived on the road 100% of the time. We got a company car, hotel (or apartment) and daily food allowance ($20 back in the early 70s).
I banked over 3/4 of my paycheck without much trouble but still enjoyed life. One colleague bought a Formula Ford race car, the finest leather jackets, and lived the high life. Another colleague was the biggest tightwad I’ve ever known and bought cases of Saltine crackers and peanut butter on saleso he could pocket most of the daily food allowance.
Human nature is immutable.
I got an espresso machine off Amazon for about $120. To my surprise it’s now in its fourth year of daily service. I do strong Americano only. I buy green beans from Costa Rico, Guatemala and Columbia, do a roast about every 10 days and enjoy the freshest cup every morning. I made my own roaster out of a heat gun and flour sifter. Yes it’s a process so I consider it a hobby. The cost of beans has gone up so I now estimate my cost for beans at about $100 per year.
I can see why some of the young are opting out of an American dream being destroyed by the Left.
The government is going to force people into frugality whether they like it or not.
My wife and I used to go to movies. We can’t justify $23 per person now, even if there were good movies. We have never owned cable. Ever. When we want to watch movies, we check them out from the library.
We used to go out to eat a nice meal several times a week. We do a ‘nice meal’ once every few months now. Can’t afford it.
We used to rent a small cottage for a weeks vacation. Can’t do that anymore. Prices are outrageous.
And so on.
My wife and I spent our lives living within our means. We purchased a small ranch on a quarter acre in a development forty years ago instead of a large multi-story home.
We did not purchase new furniture as a rule, but took hand-me-downs from relatives looking to get rid of it.
We didn’t buy expensive cars, and when we finally had enough to afford it, used cash to purchase them.
My wife is an inveterate coupon shopper, and she saves a lot of money.
I make a month or two of soup, freeze them in containers, and brown bag that to work for lunch every day.
I am late to coffee. I avoided it my whole life
It can be done. You can get out from under debt. It is simply a matter of exercising self control.
For how long that will be true...I don’t know.
And our life-savings? My wife and I have worked diligently and hard, but I see Weimar Republic inflation coming. I feel that we will be destitute, like all the rest, when we might have to burn our dollars for warmth because there will be no coal, oil, gas, or nuclear.
A large part of my job is presenting at trade shows. We often bring a display trailer in our booth. One day my boss calls me to ask about my expense report. “Why did you buy a coffee pot?”
I put it in the trailer and had all day coffee for the entire staff essentially for free. I got home last night after a three day show. Plain black coffee was $6 a cup.
Probably expecting Biden II to “forgive” credit card debt. Maybe car loans as well.
I agree. We’re at the point in life where we don’t need to scrimp as much. It’s now a lifestyle. If I have to buy clothes, it’s usually clearance rack stuff and never at full retail.
As far as the phone, my employer pays for my cell phone but I still switched to Pure Talk. It’s 1/3 what AT&T was, similar quality service and saves my employer money.
We’re gonna save tons of money for the next three months. I’ll be on the road about 80% of the time so my wife won’t really bother with meals. She’s happy to mix up a healthy smoothie and drink that for dinner.
They know us responsible people will wind up bailing them out, as long as they keep voting Democrat.
The other part about ‘saving $4800’ that people forget...it’s more than that because the $4800 is after taxes. Out of your salary, it really represents more like $6000+.
While it is still only $4800 out of pocket, I like to look at it from a non-taxed point of view - it helps me put better value on things. If you make $100,000/yr - and $6000+ is represented by coffee...it just makes the waste more acute. Spend it more wisely.
Everyone laughs at me drinking instant coffee. While I do think there’s some bad ones, they’re not all equal, some aren’t bad at all. For the, subjectively, better taste I’m not willing to spend 10x-100x more. It costs about 5c a cup vs 50c with a Keurig, vs $5 at SBUX??? It’s a no brainer.
That said, these kids are living in the world we provided them. Things are worse than 30 years ago. Housing to income ratios are bad. I get why some would have an ‘f*** it’ attitude.
I await with glee the opportunity presented by a lib when they proclaim in my presence about their ‘release’ from their student debt.
Note: This is not an admission of guilt.
OK Boomer
I agree that you should also invest money on your own but you should participate in your employer's retirement plan at least up to the amount required to get your maximum match.
Also if you are in a higher tax-bracket, the 401K is serious reduction in taxes. Say you are in the 30% bracket and you put away $20,000, that’s a savings of $6,000 in taxes, and compounded over time, that’s a pretty nice chunk of money.
I find it ridiculous how expensive things have gotten. I’m 50K away from paying off my 360K home. I’m thinking about the savings from the mortgage. Then homeowners went up a thousand. Auto insurance went up 1200 a year. Property taxes went up 300. And more. Soon I’ll be basically even, if lucky with the savings from paying off the house. It’s gotten ugly.
A roth IRA is after tax money. you initially invest less per dollar earned but.... it is not regulated how you take it out. look at tax brackets. if I take out 20 of an 401K im taxed 12% (?) if I take out 80k Im taxed 20% on everything above 20k. if I take out 100k from a roth its not taxed at all. but remember My roth dollars were less then my 401k because they were post earnings tax dollars vs pretax earnings dollars
Great point.
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