Not much discussion on health insurance costs here but if you retire before 65 and have to go out in the market total annual out of pocket potential (NJ) will be in the neighborhood of $30k for an early 60’s couple. That’s about $20,000 in premiums, $7,000 deductible and maybe $3k in copays if you have medical issues.
OT: Poll: Current State of Your Finances
- Thread starter jmc11201
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That's the most concerning issue. Re. teachers and health insurance, no idea if it'll see be around or good in 15 years. Might work til 65 to avoid this drama
my philosophy in life has always been there are only 3 things you should incur debt for (maybe 4 depending) and all within reason and based on your income.
1. house
2. car
3. school
4. business (if you are entrepreneurial)
all qualified with within your means and income to lever up. So that doesn't mean trying to buy a 1M house on a 65k salary or something foolish, same with a car. For school should be looking at potential ROI of what you are going for, if its for some run of the mill private liberal arts philosophy/communications major that you are going to rack up 250k in debt to go work as a manager at the Gap, probably think twice.
I said "The Worst Its Ever Been" but only based on short term.
My accounts and kids college accounts have lost 16% and long term gains went from 12% to 8%. All is well here.
Probably should have answered "Healthy But Been Better". Only have one house for 26 years but was paid off 16 years ago.
Totally agree. I didn’t do Obama care but people that do and can keep their income low can get it very cheaply. However, there are constraints and limits of doctor selection, etc. Also, there is an eligibility “cliff” so if you’re a dollar over the limit (I think it’s currently around $97,000) you don’t qualify.
Change that 52 to 62, or 57 for that matter, and the 8 ball disappears and you will be truly ahead.
one of the main reasons I stayed with my current employer, even though i could have left and made more money in the short term. We still have a pension and the retiree health benefits are pretty good.
I have been on vacation outside the US and again to Puerto Rico this year. Both places loaded with tourists, American and otherwise.
Europe at least to me the issue is if you are stuck quarantining the time difference makes work more difficult. This isn't an issue in our hemisphere.
Yes...lunch and that will probably never change IMO. WFH/Hybrid is here to stay.
If you make 15-30% or even more raise during this period you're far outpacing inflation.
What I am talking about is if you go to a restaurant on a weeknight or especially a weekend, it's going to be packed, NYC included. Places that never needed reservations now do and that's not because of distancing rules, but purely the amount of people out.
If you are 50 in NJ and the home you own was purchased outside of 05-08 you're in great shape.
Ever seen the South Park episode where Stan thinks everything is crap and just envisions the world as crap with Fleetwood Mac playing?
That's much of society right now despite people having more in their bank account, record raises and near record low unemployment who are mostly sitting on real estate with insane appreciation.
None of us are fans of getting older. But it beats the alternative in a landslide. 😆
good chance many 50 y/o's did buy a home during those years when they were in their 30's
Agree with this.
However, I've always erred on the side of buying less house than I could, which is the one thing I'd wished I'd stretched for at times. Assuming your earnings trajectory is positive, buying more house (assuming you can afford the taxes and upkeep) isn't the worst thing in the world. Back i '99 I bought a studio apartment in Brooklyn Heights for $59k...I should have stretched for a one bedroom at $85k. Same thing with most of my other housing purchases. If you are buying reasonably well, stretching probably pays off down the road. Although I'm not sure this is the housing market I'd stretch for.
I'm the 3rd "Luckiest man on the face of the earth" behind Lou Gehrig and Ringo Starr.
I bought a new bank foreclosed house in Frisco, CO in 88 when (I didn't know it at the time) there was an oil depression in Houston and Denver. I paid almost half the original price and I was able to get a no-doc 90% loan.. Also, at that time, I was sleeping in my car when I traveled for work (self employed). Rental income paid the mtg. I sold it in 2014 for 5x what I paid and used a 1031 to buy, I mean exchange, 3 houses closer to home which are now worth about 1M total. I got lucky again when I bought a warehouse at auction for 1/4 the sale price and rented most of the space the last 6 years. I have 2 more rentals, all paid, I like my job and I'm dating a fox! Life is good.
I bought a new bank foreclosed house in Frisco, CO in 88 when (I didn't know it at the time) there was an oil depression in Houston and Denver. I paid almost half the original price and I was able to get a no-doc 90% loan.. Also, at that time, I was sleeping in my car when I traveled for work (self employed). Rental income paid the mtg. I sold it in 2014 for 5x what I paid and used a 1031 to buy, I mean exchange, 3 houses closer to home which are now worth about 1M total. I got lucky again when I bought a warehouse at auction for 1/4 the sale price and rented most of the space the last 6 years. I have 2 more rentals, all paid, I like my job and I'm dating a fox! Life is good.
If you own a home outright in Jersey at any age, you’re in good shape. There’s not a lot of areas in this country with higher standards of living. You can easily downsize and move to another place and have hundreds of thousands of dollars to use.
It’s not an error to buy less house than you can. Over the very long run housing goes up equal to the rise in incomes. It’s no better an investment, long run, than most other assets and not as good as the overall stock market and some others. The studies are out there. Yes there are boom and bust periods but a home is an average investment, not a superior one, over the long run. And best of all, buying less than you can afford makes sleeping at night a lot easier.
I never looked at my home as an investment. I looked at it as needing a place to live.
Some good points...and real estate is way less liquid than stocks and bonds.
Maybe I should say...at times I should have been a bit more willing to stretch into a home that suited my needs well as opposed to saving a few bucks.
I looked at my last house as a reward for all the hard work my wife and I did and we built our fantasy dream home that neither of us ever thought we would have as kids growing up.
My next purchase is not going to be as grand but it will be a place that I can live the rest of my life feeling like I did it all.
And even though we most likely would be downsizing, it would still most likely be 4 BR and 3000+ sq feet on water.
Ah ha! Room for the grandchildren when everybody comes to visit. I figured there would be a limit to downsizing, imposed by the wife if necessary.
Same here. With all the work I've done to my farm I still don't see it as an investment. I really like where I live. The whole plan has been once we retire, there's always something to do on a farm, you'll never be bored.
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If the polling is correct- 64% of NJ residents love or like living in NJ, but 59% want to leave.
The state’s property tax burden remains the top reason
New Jersey ranks as a good place to live, but many want to leave, a poll finds. Here's why
While the overall state rating has improved, more New Jerseyans than ever say they would like to move out of the state at some point.
www.app.com
If it wasn't for Trenton, our state would be paradise.If the polling is correct- 64% of NJ residents love or like living in NJ, but 59% want to leave.
The state’s property tax burden remains the top reason
New Jersey ranks as a good place to live, but many want to leave, a poll finds. Here's why
While the overall state rating has improved, more New Jerseyans than ever say they would like to move out of the state at some point.www.app.com
I have way more debt than ever before because I took out a couple loans for major expenses at interest rates lower than the earnings I've been averaging in my brokerage account. I know it was a bit of a gamble but I think it'll work out fine. I also have more credit card debt than ever before and might do another loan to get a better interest rate as I pay that off. Sounds bad but I have about a 10% raise coming in 6 months and will be making about 70% more when I reach top step at my job, so worst case scenario I should have no problem paying it all off in a few years as long as I don't add to it.
I'm renting but am getting a 3-bedroom house with a nice backyard and driveway for less than what an apartment costs around here, so I have no interest in buying. I've been working a second job so I can put about 20% of my income towards planning to retire around 55-57. No kids.
I'm renting but am getting a 3-bedroom house with a nice backyard and driveway for less than what an apartment costs around here, so I have no interest in buying. I've been working a second job so I can put about 20% of my income towards planning to retire around 55-57. No kids.
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Admittedly it can get difficult at times staying the course. We have a neighbor, great guy, him and his wife have 2 hs aged kids, and from talking with him over the years they make approximately what we make.
Main difference is they take 2 large vaca's per year (10 days each to many different places as his kids have been to over 30 different countries, mainly on cruises), and both drive cars less than 3 years old (leases I believe). They also go out to eat 2/3 x per week.
We've never had the "what are you doing for retirement discussion" but as simply from running numbers on our end, and him telling us what he spends on vaca's, cars, eating out, etc. I don't know if they're saving much, if any, for retirement (they're in their early 50's, so they'll get SS before us, and his wife his a teacher with her requisite 25 years in, with no plans to retire in the next few years).
Point is I'll ask my wife if we're missing the boat on things. Granted, we're both Italian and on the conservative side, as our fathers were construction workers and we both grew up modestly, but I often think we must either be entirely too frugal (if that's even such a thing), need to free up money elsewhere (maybe a little less retirement savings), or what not.
Again, everybody's situation is different, but i can't help but wonder if we could or should be doing anything differently
Main difference is they take 2 large vaca's per year (10 days each to many different places as his kids have been to over 30 different countries, mainly on cruises), and both drive cars less than 3 years old (leases I believe). They also go out to eat 2/3 x per week.
We've never had the "what are you doing for retirement discussion" but as simply from running numbers on our end, and him telling us what he spends on vaca's, cars, eating out, etc. I don't know if they're saving much, if any, for retirement (they're in their early 50's, so they'll get SS before us, and his wife his a teacher with her requisite 25 years in, with no plans to retire in the next few years).
Point is I'll ask my wife if we're missing the boat on things. Granted, we're both Italian and on the conservative side, as our fathers were construction workers and we both grew up modestly, but I often think we must either be entirely too frugal (if that's even such a thing), need to free up money elsewhere (maybe a little less retirement savings), or what not.
Again, everybody's situation is different, but i can't help but wonder if we could or should be doing anything differently
There is such a thing as too frugal. My parents started with nothing, scrimped and saved their entire adult lives. They put my sister and I thru college, we went on one big vacation a year as kids...Disney, Europe, grand canyon, etc. But because they invested well, and lived an otherwise pauper lifestyle, they have a pile of money that they don't know how to spend. My sister and I are successful in our own rights, so we don't need their money when they pass. But still... they won't splurge even once on that piece of Angus ribeye at the grocery store. Only the cheapest cut of sirloin for them.
Basically... when you work so hard and make sacrifices for so long to reach a certain goal, you can kind of forget why you did it in the first place.
My wife and I never lived frugally, but we always made sure to put funds aside for our children's education (529s) and our own investments. Started small of course and just kept putting more money away as we earned promotions and higher salaries. We always took vacations (shore, camping, Outer Banks) and even chartered sailing cruises in the Caribbean but always spent within our means.
We've only bought 2 new vehicles in over 30 years and choose to buy used vehicles instead. We get 250k to 300k out of them.
Real estate investments have worked our well for use. We relocated around the US for our jobs and bought/sold 4 homes in the process, making money with each transaction. We were able to buy our current/retirement home with cash and had plenty left over.
Having no debt as we near retirement is pure freedom.
These threads are always so depressing for average working schlubs like myself.
They sound like my parent except we never went on a vacation when we were kids. They did paid for their 5 kids college education and provided down payments on their homes. I can understand their situation because when you’re younger, you don’t know if you will have a consistent steady income in the future. They also grew up during the depression. Now, my mom tells us to spend our money but when the younger kids spend according to their income, she think they are being extravagant but when their income is $250-400k, you can save and spend a lot. I wonder how the next generation will do getting everything they want when they are growing up.
We’re not all in the same boat of being able to retire at 55. You’re hearing a lot of the happy stories. It’s like when people die, they were all Saint’s or how everyone’s life is perfect on Facebook. Like my wife’s Facebook page you would think the Farm is a paradise that takes no effort. Come over any Saturday or Sunday and see us working our asses off.
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That’s why I don’t post on social media. Why would I want to get depressed? Everyone is posting their perfect life. You wonder why kids are getting depressed when they think about their own lives and it’s not the perfect picture on Instagram.
Stop! Are you happy? That’s the main question. I don’t live in a 2.5 million dollar house or drive a Maserati or vacation in the Maldives 3x a year, but I love my life.
Most days.. lol
A common thread to the out at 50-55 is one of the spouses having early retirement medical coverage. Without that 50-55 can turn into 60-65. You need a Medigap policy with Medicare, but the cost is dramatically lower than paying the full freight,
Here's a snapshot - my wife and I are scraping by, not getting ahead, but we managed to buy a house a few years back in one of the towns that has managed to NOT appreciate in value at all. We had to take in a family member who didn't save for their retirement and lost their home. And these are the good times...stagflation right around the corner. Can't wait. At least we can buy happyleaf without worrying about getting thrown in the can for it.
Though from what I can tell, in most places it seems like the current prices are higher than those highs. At least in suburban NJ.
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