Where are those companies and how many employ the young people you mention ? 95% of the young kids i know in my town will never have that kind of opportunity.....this is a GM and Chrysler town with other major company's like Haynes International and Borg Warner.....they ain't getting in those places...been no hiring the last year or so....they are barely hanging on.... The time is now for them kids....and my kids..... Peace WildBill
Bill, my experience is in convenience store chains. They don’t match much but it at least gets them started and on the right track. I did get many of them to start contributing to their futures.
I have a financial advisor. I'm no guru but I did this one on my own. If you don't have a financial advisor, it pays to have one. He's found some interesting retirement funds and strategies that are appealing to me. On my gains, I had some funds from my severance bonus. I simply threw that money into an ETF. Specifically, ITOT through Ally. It is an S&P total US stock market fund. If the market is up, it is up and the market, year over year averaged, always makes money. I gave up picking individual stocks quite a while ago. I'm currently unemployed, sort of looking for work but only for that unicorn job. At 57, I called it an early retirement and I'm going try to stay that way. Only 273 more days until my 401k is unencumbered with penalties. Also, my income will be $0.00 so I can start making some conversions to ROTH IRAs on October 10th of 2021.
I have had a great run in the market and still max my 401k with over 50 catch up. However instead of plowing additional money into a brokerage account with the market so high, I have have been diverting that money and buying rental property. I had a few, however in the last two years I have doubled my portfolio, although the market is red hot, there are still deals to be had. It is not for the faint of heart, but I buy mostly condos that need minimal cosmetic repair in desirable areas in well managed complexes, my target net ROI is 9%. The strategy is to cover all living expenses with real estate cash flow, when I retire, draw 3% from investments for the "extras". Someday if SS still exists, that is just icing on the cake.
That works. I've got a buddy doing rental houses. He has 7 now. I've worked it out that SS isn't going to be needed so I'm going to draw at 70 for max payments. My financial advisor says I can do whatever I want and still leave a good legacy for our daughter. My wife recently got here doctorate but in education, not medicine. She is a year older than me but still wants to work and use her degree. She's providing me insurance, which saves us a bunch of cash. Most of her pay goes to 401k, HSA and insurance. Her take home is sometimes less than $100. Our taxes for 2020 are huge. 2021 should be low enough to qualify for free/heavily subsidized insurance when she decides to retire.
I would not wait until 70 to take SS since one you don't know when you are going to pass and the other is even though you will make more it will take longer to pass the amount you would have had if you took the lower amount earlier.
If you do not absolutely need it and believe that your health and longevity prospects are good, defer SS retirement benefits until age 70. At 70 taking it is mandatory. If you do you will receive an additional 8% per year for 5 years. I did and draw 40 -50k per year accordingly.
I’m going to take SS early. That way if there are changes made I should be grandfathered in. Also if I wait until 70 when RMD’s are also required it will put us in a higher tax bracket. Also considered the fact that my dad passed away at 63 without ever collecting a Social Security check. I retired at 60 and will be eligible for SS in August.
As I said I do not need it nor will I depend on it. The difference is somewhere around 82 years to pass the break-even point. My dad is 82, his oldest living sister is 92, all his siblings made it to early 90s and his parents were in their mid-90s when they passed. Assuming no "Watch this" moments, I'd get 10 years of bonus money. If you were to invest your early retirement SS money, it shifts the balance out a bit farther. Will it even be around when I'm old enough to retire? Think of the next four years and where we will be as a country financially. I'm continually reevaluating my options. My financial advisor found me a gas pipeline investment that gives a first-year 85% tax credit. That will greatly help me offset my severance, retention bonus and unemployment tax liability. Even though I only worked 3 months of 2020, I maxed out my 401k at the 50+ rate and my HSA at the 55+ rate. I've worked long enough and earned high enough that I can draw the max benefit. 8% a year is a better investment than any savings account, right? I've got my emergency money, a year's worth of funds, in an Ally account that pays 0.5%. I can't find anything better for a liquid, no-penalties account right now so that's where it is parked. Funny aside, when I first found out I was going to be unemployed and first met with my Financial Advisor, he was impressed with what I had accomplished on my own and how I'd used discipline to enable us to retire any time we wanted. He asked me if I might be interested in something if he made a position. At this point, I am not bored with retirement and the projects I'm doing so I'm going to ride this until I tire of it. It feels good to be able to NOT work at 57 when they let me go.
If you think you life may come up short, I concur. By short, I mean less than average which is 78-80, depending on sex and race. My father passed at age 43 from cancer of throat due to smoking cigars. His parents, who never smoked or consumed alcohol, both lived beyond a hundred years. So the short life of your dad in and of itself should not be the sole factor. I would recommend that you run the calculations for all ages just so you know. Just as a rule of thumb, if you take at 62 versus 65, you will lose about 30%. If you take at 62 versus 70, figure a loss of 70% for life depending on your DOB.
Note that the total amount of SS you receive is about the same. Smaller payments over more time or bigger payments over shorter time. Also, if you have dependents under a certain age they can also receive SS based on your earnings... Something to think about
Do you still have the 0.5 percent I read the reviews and a few said it dropped after 6 months 0.1 percent.
I have an Ally account for years as well. IT FLUCTUATES WITH THE PREVAILING INTEREST RATES. I started years ago with over 1%, and at one point, it was 2.1%. It has steadily been dropping, but it currently is at .5%. https://www.ally.com/bank/online-savings-account/
Right on their home page, they are showing 0.50% currently and that's what my account shows as well. It did start at over 1.2% but it has fallen with everything else. I got $500 and I think 1.5% interest for opening a CapitalOne account. It has fallen to 0.4% so I've all but closed it. My bank pays 0.01% so I have next to nothing in savings and what it takes for a month or two in checking. https://www.ally.com/
Online savings account interest rates are horrible these days. Most, including Ally, are near 0.5%. https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/rates/ Even cd rates are only giving 0.55%. I had a cd which matured in April 2020 that was 3.0%. Renewed elsewhere at 1.6% for a Dec 2020 maturity. I just put that into a bond fund for the next year or so. A little more risk, but I might get 2-3% if the market stays well. There aren't many great choices for your short term cash reserve (aka emergency fund). Some credit unions offer interest bearing accounts, or you can try to chase bonuses, such as 'open a new account and get $200' deals: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/best-bank-bonuses-promotions I've been converting to the Boglehead strategy over the past 5 years. It's very simple and easy to maintain. Mostly just broad market S&P index ETF's for equity and index bond funds in a 60/40% ratio for me. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started
Hmm, it appears I'm a bit of a boglehead and didn't really know it. Kind of like I adhered to the Dave Ramsey philosophy before I ever knew there was a Dave Ramsey. Having grown up during the malaise of the Carter years, I have always wanted an emergency fund and have always paid things off as quick as possible. Lots of friends were investing heavily and making minimum mortgage payments. I was investing minimally and doubling my mortgage payments. Now, I live in a paid-off house and am retired at 58. I'm not quite a FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early) person but I still got out early. My cell phone bill is the single largest expense we have and that's because our adult daughter 2 hours away and my 82 year-old father are on our plan.
Once we got well into our retirement and no longer looked for appreciation/growth in our stock holdings we moved over (about 70%) to long term financials and bond ETF funds that pay good, reliable dividends and are very liquid. Keeping cash in those super low interest rate savings/money market accounts just doesn't make any sense. High grade corporate & government bonds and other long term securities, while not insured and offering some risk, are good safe long term investments. Depending on just how much risk one is comfortable with, yields of 3 to 5% are common and pay monthly dividends. They can be bought and sold freely so are very liquid.
