Are you financially planning for retirement?

Are you saving or investing for retirement?

  • Yes, and have been for a while.

    Votes: 19 51.4%
  • Yes, just started.

    Votes: 6 16.2%
  • No, but I'm about to start.

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • No, I'd rather put my money towards other uses.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No. I'm pretty young, so I'll worry about it later.

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • No, but I wish I could.

    Votes: 5 13.5%
  • Nachos!

    Votes: 3 8.1%

  • Total voters
    37
Joined
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#22
Yes. I can only afford to put a small amount away each month, But IMO its better then nothing. I put it in to a RRSP. We will see for the future about upping it. But for now, it feels better to know I have atleast started to do so.
Majority of my large savings is towards a house, in hopefully the not so distant future.
 

Laurelin

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#23
They started offering a ROTH at my work. I need to read up on it and see if it's something I want to do in addition to the other 401k.
 

~Jessie~

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#24
I want to look into getting a ROTH as well- I wish my work offered that as an option on top of the 401k.

For those who haven't started saving- it is SO important to do so. Even if you can only put in $25-50 a month, it WILL add up. Like Cali said, its worth more to put in a small amount now since it has time to grow.
 

CaliTerp07

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#25
They started offering a ROTH at my work. I need to read up on it and see if it's something I want to do in addition to the other 401k.
It's not really a "do I do both" thing. You can contribute up to the federal limit (I think 50% of your salary or $15,500, whichever comes first) into a 401k of any kind. You can put that money in either a regular (tax-deferred) 401k, or a ROTH (post tax) 401k. It depends how much money you're expecting to be pulling in when you retire. My money is hedged on being in a higher tax bracket at retirement, so I'd rather pay the taxes now when I'm in a relatively low bracket. Hence, our money goes into ROTHs.
 

Laurelin

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#26
I'm pretty sure it's on top of the 401k instead of an alternative. I'll have to look more into it. It just was offered this year.
 

Laurelin

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#27
It's not really a "do I do both" thing. You can contribute up to the federal limit (I think 50% of your salary or $15,500, whichever comes first) into a 401k of any kind. You can put that money in either a regular (tax-deferred) 401k, or a ROTH (post tax) 401k. It depends how much money you're expecting to be pulling in when you retire. My money is hedged on being in a higher tax bracket at retirement, so I'd rather pay the taxes now when I'm in a relatively low bracket. Hence, our money goes into ROTHs.
Oh ok. I haven't really looked into it yet. I just know that the company started offering a Roth as well as the 401k I already have. I guess it's more of an alternative then.
 

Doberluv

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#28
I have planned since I was in my early 20's. I always was conscious of saving even a little bit from every pay check, even when I was just a baby sitter at age 12, then a life-guard/swim instructor-coach in my late teens and early 20's. It's something my father emphasized in us kids. Of course, back then the economy was different.

I did more than save because just saving and putting it in a savings account doesn't keep up with inflation at all and you loose money when it just sits. So, I very early on invested in mutual funds and individual stocks and bonds, which did well in various decades. In any ten year period throughout the history of the stock market, stocks out-perform any investment. But I also bought some real estate. We bought our own home, then sold it when it appreciated a lot, built another home, sold that at a profit, bought another home and so on. And had a rental property so it would produce income and tax advantages. We should have done more of that. Having our own businesses also had tax advantages that you don't get with an employer.

It's never too soon to plan for retirement, especially in these hard times. People should put aside something...no matter how small out of every paycheck. Pay yourself first. And it shouldn't sit dormant, losing value. There are a lot of good values in stocks and bonds right now. It is risky but it's more than risky to not do anything or let it just sit. A financial planner can be a big help.

Disclaimer: Of course, this is just my opinion and I am not advising anyone, as I am certainly no financial expert. I wish I had done things a little differently.
 

BostonBanker

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#30
Yes. Right now, I have 11% of my salary going into a 401k, and our company just re-introduced 410k matching. I'm not sure I will always be able to put that much away; as it is, some months I am squeaking by. But for right now, I can, and I know I will be glad I did eventually. I also have a smaller IRA that my father put some money into that his father had passed on for the grandkids. I don't put anything into that regularly at this point.
 

Bailey08

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#31
It's not really a "do I do both" thing. You can contribute up to the federal limit (I think 50% of your salary or $15,500, whichever comes first) into a 401k of any kind. You can put that money in either a regular (tax-deferred) 401k, or a ROTH (post tax) 401k. It depends how much money you're expecting to be pulling in when you retire. My money is hedged on being in a higher tax bracket at retirement, so I'd rather pay the taxes now when I'm in a relatively low bracket. Hence, our money goes into ROTHs.
To clarify a bit, you can do both a 401k and a Roth (traditional or IRA). They have different limits.

I'm maxing out my allotments but all the retirement calculators tell me I need to be doing more (personal investing). Boo. Retirement is freaking expensive!
 

CaliTerp07

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#33
To clarify a bit, you can do both a 401k and a Roth (traditional or IRA). They have different limits.

I'm maxing out my allotments but all the retirement calculators tell me I need to be doing more (personal investing). Boo. Retirement is freaking expensive!
You can have a 401k and/or and IRA (both can be either traditional or ROTH). Can you max out a ROTH 401k and a traditional (tax deferred) 401k? I thought the limit was $15 or $16k into 401k and another $5k into IRAs.

Then there are 403b's...which is what my work now has, and I need to look into.
 

Jules

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#34
Yep. We're maxing out. Which sucks sometimes, if you think about how much more money we could have.. But it's also good and an important thing to do. I also have a German account, kinda like a private CD that grows aggressively over time. My parents started it when I was little and I took over the payments with my first real job.
 
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#35
It's not necessarily for "retirement", but I do have two different savings accounts. One is for long term things (retirement, house, etc) that I absolutely never take money out of. The other is for short term things and emergencies (down payment on my car, vet emergencies, etc) I don't, however, have a 401k or anything, but I'll look into it once I have an official full-time job (right now, I work pretty much full time hours, but I'm not full-time status).

I'm really good at savings and budgeting, and I feel that I'm doing the absolute best I can with what I make.
 

ravennr

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#36
I prepare nachos.


I'm 22, and I know that's a poor excuse, but I'm also unemployed and working on immigration to another country. I finally got my boyfriend to open a savings account in his bank, that was a start. When I am able to work, I intend to start putting away as much as I possibly can.
 

Taqroy

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#39
I've had a 401K through work since I started (3 years ago). I put in 12% and the company puts in 4%. I really don't pay as much attention to it as I should but I'm super intimidated by all things investing. >.< Matt has nothing going right now and it worries me.
 

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