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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carcrazy67
I have a fairly simple investment strategy. I invest in companies that make products I like. I don't trade much....I let it ride. It has worked well for a long time. I also dollar cost average.
I tried that recently, and in 4 months it's gotten to $15 over my investment amount, but also has been as low as $20 less. I realize that just because I like something doesn't mean the stock will go up, but it's fun to own part of them, and I do have money in other, more lucrative investments. While my health is not great, and I see 5 different specialists once a year, I don't let that affect my fun.
I'm 70 now. I spent a lot of money when I was younger. I had nice houses, nice cars, travelled a lot, ate at great restaurants, drank great wine, went to lots of concerts and shows etc. In a nutshell, I did pretty much everything I wanted to do when I was younger. I had a good job for 32 years and an OK retirement income from it, but not much in savings other than that. When I retired, I felt like it wasn't going to be enough, so I started working again. I've saved a lot over the past five years and have found there's not that much I want to do or spend money on. Everything is expensive now, travel, eating out, entertainment, etc. I'm perfectly happy with kicking back, and don't feel the need to be on the go all the time or spend a lot on entertainment and eating out. It's kind of a "been there and done that" thing for me now.
Everyone is different, lots of people my age still travel and spend a lot on travel, entertainment and restaurants.
What works for me might not work for you. Think about your future and plan for it. Here's what I suggest. When you retire, have your car and home paid off. Have plenty of money for emergencies. Plan for health care when you reach an age where you need it, of course we never know what age that will be. There are plenty of people in their 80's who are still active, travel, and go out. They have enough money to afford that. Lots of young people can't afford to do that now and don't have a way to save for the future.
We invested in our own real estate. Got all the mortgages paid off some years ago and began living off what would be retirement income about five years before we retired. That way the retirement wold be seamless - made the same amount after we retired that we did when we were working.
IMO, young people should:
*Work some kind of job you enjoy
*Plan to retire debt free
*Eat properly and exercise properly.
*Get married and share your income with the family.
I work out (hard!) 3X a week, build things around the property, fix things, and stay in touch with the people who have become my family. I traveled when I worked, and don't ever want to travel again. Fine dining has no appeal for me. My diet is mostly meat, eggs and cheese, but if we're all going out for pizza, I'm eating the pizza!
I had a cardio bypass three years ago, and have made a complete recovery. No medication needed, but that's because I work out properly (I did not before the operation - I just walked) and keep my weight under control. 5'10"/180. I changed my diet after the operation, and no longer follow USDA guidelines like I used to.
As our group of friends approaches 80 I am the only one who can swiftly rise from the table and walk confidently. The OP is generally right - people fall apart at a certain age. It's preventable, but people don't do what is necessary.
A lot of great tips from everyone....more than I expected so thank you!
Some details about me:
I'm married and have a mortgage on a house and have 2 vehicles with loans on each. I was making $63k annually in my most recent job and have gotten denied in every job application that offered a higher pay. I'm still waiting for that moment where I get offered a job that pays me higher. It's happened once where I was offered a $90k manager job and I denied it because I was loyal to the corporate office job that I had. It was a denial that I now strongly regret. They ended up filling in the position and I don't know if they will ever hire again but they know I am always open if they need another person.
My wife is a teacher and makes a little more than I do.
We both have credit card debt and bills to pay.
My wife has her own investments. I only have one investment: a startup in the Philippines. I was never a "save money" kind of guy. I was traumatized growing up. My dad would always save money and tell me to save money and to invest in mutual and government bonds but when I looked at him, he was always frugal about spending money. Always spent hours finding the best deals and when he did spend a large of money, he didn't look very excited about it. My mom just told me to save money and enjoy life. I told myself I didn't really want to grow old and be so frugal about money or be stressed about spending money. When I finally did start working, I had no real concept of "personal savings". My parents retired in the Philippines and I ended up moving with them because I had no concept of living independently on my own. I started doing freelance jobs because that was the only thing that worked for me. It was actually pretty easy to save money since the cost of living in the Philippines is so low. But again, I didn't know "how" to save money.
Then one day, my life kinda changed and I started to invest my money into something I was passionate about: business. I had zero knowledge on how to run a business, manage people, or make money. All I had was passion. I saw a problem and I wanted to create a solution for it. A lot of people would call me a crazy and delusional entrepreneur. The problem with this business is that it has never made any sales or revenue but the entity has been existent for several years. It has traffic. It has "age" in the eyes of Google. So it is my biggest asset aside from my 401k which I had when I was working in the corporate world. So right now, I am sitting here thinking.....I've spent years having this asset (my startup). I need to figure out how to put it to good use and not waste it.
Meanwhile, I am also thinking if it is worth it to put in small amounts of money into some sort of investment fund.
As an older person, I'm enjoying life a bunch. My needs have always been less focused on 'stuff' or far-away travel.
Always have most enjoyed being in nature, gentle hikes in pretty places, paddling on a quiet river or lake and being outside away from noise and chaos. Puttering in the garden, nurturing a few plants and trees.
And, always, books.
And love. A few good friends.
All those needs are met.
Fun? For me, yes, though a better word might be contentment.
The thread title is a bit vague so let me explain....
When it comes to saving money, the common reason is "so you have will have money when you get older and retire". The argument against this is often "why wait to enjoy my money when I get old? why not enjoy it now?"
I'm a young guy and from a young person's perspective (I can't speak for all young people), but we see people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and see people grumbling about health problems, getting surgeries, not able to walk around a lot. It's not very inspiring. It makes me think "if I was able to save 1 million dollars until I reach 60 years old, how will I enjoy it?"
Now, I have seen elderly people walking around and enjoying life and it inspires me. Maybe they spent most of their life surrounding themselves with people who also enjoyed their lives.
But back to the topic.....do you enjoy life when you are "older"? Do you enjoy all the money you've spent years saving? Is it all worth it? I want to avoid being that 60-year-old guy who is jaded and gets grumpy about the idea of traveling somewhere or splurging on something nice.
You should check out the bell curve of happiness. People in their 70s are often about as happy as people in their 20s. It's people in the middle who are least happy.
I think ageism has become more accepted amongst the younger crowd, and you're operating off of an internet social trope of the angry old guy making a fist at the sky. In reality, most older people I know are nothing like this.
A lot of great tips from everyone....more than I expected so thank you!
Some details about me:
I'm married and have a mortgage on a house and have 2 vehicles with loans on each. I was making $63k annually in my most recent job and have gotten denied in every job application that offered a higher pay. I'm still waiting for that moment where I get offered a job that pays me higher. It's happened once where I was offered a $90k manager job and I denied it because I was loyal to the corporate office job that I had. It was a denial that I now strongly regret. They ended up filling in the position and I don't know if they will ever hire again but they know I am always open if they need another person.
My wife is a teacher and makes a little more than I do.
We both have credit card debt and bills to pay.
My wife has her own investments. I only have one investment: a startup in the Philippines. I was never a "save money" kind of guy. I was traumatized growing up. My dad would always save money and tell me to save money and to invest in mutual and government bonds but when I looked at him, he was always frugal about spending money. Always spent hours finding the best deals and when he did spend a large of money, he didn't look very excited about it. My mom just told me to save money and enjoy life. I told myself I didn't really want to grow old and be so frugal about money or be stressed about spending money. When I finally did start working, I had no real concept of "personal savings". My parents retired in the Philippines and I ended up moving with them because I had no concept of living independently on my own. I started doing freelance jobs because that was the only thing that worked for me. It was actually pretty easy to save money since the cost of living in the Philippines is so low. But again, I didn't know "how" to save money.
Then one day, my life kinda changed and I started to invest my money into something I was passionate about: business. I had zero knowledge on how to run a business, manage people, or make money. All I had was passion. I saw a problem and I wanted to create a solution for it. A lot of people would call me a crazy and delusional entrepreneur. The problem with this business is that it has never made any sales or revenue but the entity has been existent for several years. It has traffic. It has "age" in the eyes of Google. So it is my biggest asset aside from my 401k which I had when I was working in the corporate world. So right now, I am sitting here thinking.....I've spent years having this asset (my startup). I need to figure out how to put it to good use and not waste it.
Meanwhile, I am also thinking if it is worth it to put in small amounts of money into some sort of investment fund.
Thanks for sharing.
What I've observed is:
--People who are in a good financial position have savings accounts. It's not hard to open a bank or credit union account. If you don't have at least $2000 in a savings account, treat it like an emergency, because it is if you don't have that much in cash savings.
--People who are in a good financial situation are typically allergic to debt, other than a reasonable mortgage. They might take out student loans, but they're very careful with the amount. They treat eliminating debt as an urgent or semi-urgent thing, not something that's just "normal" or something they just "wish" they could do without actually taking action to do it. They might not be in a rush to pay off their mortgage early if they have a low interest rate, but ultimately, they often end up paying off the mortgage early, too. For most people, life just feels better when you don't have debt, even if paying off low interest rate debt is not the perfectly optimal choice. So, get rid of the car loans like your hair is on fire and vow to never borrow money for anything that depreciates in value.
--The next step would be to have at least 3 to 6 months worth of living expenses saved in savings accounts bank CDs or a money market fund. 6 months goes by super fast if you lose your job. You'll also want at least that much put away because you'll need another car at some point, and since you're had a mindset shift and are avoiding debt like the plague, you'll be paying cash for your next one.
--As far as investing goes, I'd just put the money into a 401k or IRA. You can just put it in an S&P 500 or Total Stock Market Index fund. If you have a 401k, you can put it in a Target Date fund if your plan offers one. Don't make this complicated. Just keep adding money. This is hard to do, but don't look at your 401k balance for 10 years. It typically takes 10 years of contributing money to your 401k type plan before you'll really be at the next financial level. You won't be rich unless you've been maxing it out and getting great returns, but you'll be a solid level above where you were, but it takes time.
All of this requires talking with your spouse and both of you being "all in" with what you want.
I know a 125K household income doesn't go as far as it used to, but your household income is significantly above average, so there's no reason you can't do the above steps.
Not sure how to advise you on your entrepreneurial side. I'll just say more people think they are cut out to be entrepreneurs than actually are.
I tried that recently, and in 4 months it's gotten to $15 over my investment amount, but also has been as low as $20 less. I realize that just because I like something doesn't mean the stock will go up, but it's fun to own part of them, and I do have money in other, more lucrative investments. While my health is not great, and I see 5 different specialists once a year, I don't let that affect my fun.
In addition to being products I like, they also have to be solid financially. For example, I use Microsoft products....in general I like them. I've owned the stock for several years and it has done very well for me. Also keep in mind, "investing" is a long-term endeavor (trading is short-term). Things can go up and down over relatively short periods of time. Also understand that you can't "time" the market. This is where dollar cost averaging comes into play.
The thread title is a bit vague so let me explain....
When it comes to saving money, the common reason is "so you have will have money when you get older and retire". The argument against this is often "why wait to enjoy my money when I get old? why not enjoy it now?"
I'm a young guy and from a young person's perspective (I can't speak for all young people), but we see people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and see people grumbling about health problems, getting surgeries, not able to walk around a lot. It's not very inspiring. It makes me think "if I was able to save 1 million dollars until I reach 60 years old, how will I enjoy it?"
Now, I have seen elderly people walking around and enjoying life and it inspires me. Maybe they spent most of their life surrounding themselves with people who also enjoyed their lives.
But back to the topic.....do you enjoy life when you are "older"? Do you enjoy all the money you've spent years saving? Is it all worth it? I want to avoid being that 60-year-old guy who is jaded and gets grumpy about the idea of traveling somewhere or splurging on something nice.
do you enjoy choices? Having money gives you choices others without money don't have.
happiness (and fun and contentment) is an inside job.
at any age.
the nice thing about being older, is that along the way we are able to learn that buying a bunch of stuff or spending a lot of money is not a formula that results in happiness. "money does not buy happiness" just like the saying goes. so the sooner a person realizes that, the more years they will have of contentment.
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