You are on a great path . If you started at 18 fantastic and you are ahead of many 40 yr old investors. Max Max Max it out if you can . If you get a match make sure to maximize that part. I started at 32 when it was first offered . I owned some stocks as did my wife. Roth ( IRA) has it’s benefits but main thing all young people should be informed about investing in school especially junior senior high school . I like buying gold , silver etc. Never have gotten into bitcoin or similar. Was going to buy more real estate but… who thinks within the next 10 years that will pan out in the good old USA. Listened just before to lead trader NYSE ( Peter Tuchman ) . Was positive somewhat on ‘24 but as I posted the other day… it only takes 1 or 2 bad events to make things come crashing down. Was the sell off yesterday related to taking profits ? why the late afternoon drop off? A lot of people with cash sitting on the side waiting.
OT: When to take Social Security
- Thread starter RULoyal
- Start date
Rule of thumb: when your kids have come and gone … maybe drop the life insurance to enough in order to cover funeral, and bills left…. reasoning it’s not necessary … there will be more than enough to keep wife secure and comfortable in 80’s 90’s… if you invest correctly.
I could have retired at 45. 48 now. I need to keep the life insurance for inheritance tax purposes would be my guess.
Roth when you're young and theoretically in a lower tax bracket and the tax free buildup provides the greatest benefit (50 years?). Consider shifting to traditional when in a higher tax bracket and closer (but still a long way off) to retirement. That's assuming both are available.
Hey good for you … but 45 is still too young to give up being productive. Most of those who I know and retired before 55 wound up back in some type of job. Those guys who were from my era late 60’s to early 70’s Police / Firemen Essex/ Union counties had some great benefits which came about in those late 70’s and early 80’s. NJ teachers during those times negotiated some good deals . Mist of those cops/ firefighters did other jobs to supplement and keep themselves occupied. Your tax dollars helps pay for those pensions. Perhaps one of the best was Public Service Bus company which became NJ Transit Authority. For most folks 55 -60 would be a good age to retire if able to.
Starting in 24 you can move 7k a year out of a kids 529 to a Roth as long as they’ve earned that much.
I have a small whole life policy of $200,000.
I don’t think we need it or should have ever bought it.
At least the dividends cover the cost now.
Term life to cover kid's tuition. Once they graduate lose it.
That’s a very simplistic view. How about their other costs? I was taught I needed enough life insurance to pay off all debt, keep whole family in the lifestyle they are accustomed to, and Pay for college and grad school. My wife has enough to pay for someone to basically raise them while I continue to work and provide. Made sense to me.
I dropped insurance (term) once the kids graduated college and got settled. We were fortunate enough to accumulate a large enough portfolio where insurance won’t be needed. We also paid off the mortgage decades ago. However, if circumstances have kept one from saving enough, then I can see where retaining a term life policy could make sense.
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If you had enough to retire at 45 I assume it was not all accumulated between ages 40 and 45.
I had the majority of my insurance as term out until my daughter graduated college.
At one point from age 40-65 I held 500 k in Life Insurance .After I retired I kept only 50k. Funny how when I turned 70 my FA tried to get me to purchase more and saying you already have dividends paying for you policy .It would escalated to over 1000k per month in my 80’s . Wife of course was half that … if she wanted another policy. Once those kids are gone they don’t need my insurance money. They get a nice piece of change plus the home. Education paid off…have helped put down payments on homes, weddings , furniture , and trips. If that isn’t enough …. SORRY.
Financial advisers make a ton of money on whole life and next to nothing or nothing on term life. That’s why they push whole and universal.
We always had term . Never had whole life, except a very small policy for my kid that I got from knights of Columbus.
Only bought that because I used to drink with the agent at the k of c bar pretty often.
It’s similar to annuities. Advisors will sell you variable annuities because they make a good buck, but rarely will sell you a Simple Immediate Annuity because they don’t. These are among many reasons I always advocate learning as much as possible about personal finance.
Not necessarily
I carried term life till it got very expensive then dropped it
If you have saved enough in life you don’t need the insurance anymore
No but when I took it all out in late 20’s I had a mortgage, business debt, wife had loans, etc etc
Did you buy term or whole life or both?
I think term insurance for extended contract of 20 to 25 years is best.
My parents did something very similar. Get as much reoccurring income as early as possible and avoid tapping into investments. Worked out well for them.
Just term life insurance, which ends after the little one is out of college. Whole life insurance is a scam, just like annuities.
I have always said the 2nd I can collect I will collect. I'm not really sure it makes sense to me to hold off and make more by delaying. Your next breath is not guaranteed or given I'd rather get the money right away. If you delay 5 or 10 yrs you are essentially just getting the money you could have been collecting the previous 5-10yrs but with less time to enjoy it
Most of my fellow retirees left at 65-66 several at 64… then the group who left at 70 need to make it to 78 -79 in order to make it up. Father Time does not wait though some are able to stay pain free into those early 80’s and some into late 80’s .
We are still active but my legs and back feel it first in wake-up and then later in evening. If you sit down too long… you’re screwed . As they say KEEP MOVING.
We are still active but my legs and back feel it first in wake-up and then later in evening. If you sit down too long… you’re screwed . As they say KEEP MOVING.
I will collect, when it makes sense- are you earning over or under the limit- many of us are getting close to getting the benefits but want to continue to work for the extra income/savings
Unless there is a real need for the funds, anyone who starts payments while earning over the limit is making a big mistake.
Just highlights the stupidity of the government. No such payments via taxes should ever be taxed again. SS, unemployment, other benefits, etc.
I believe it gets adjusted every year. Being over 66 it's no longer my concern.
That's why I retired at 57, 4 years ago. Been enjoying retirement immensely so far, as I have a ton of hobbies on my own. I play several rounds of disc golf weekly including tourneys, I play soccer once a week (and have started getting back into ball golf), I play poker about once a month at PARX and we do in-person and on-line poker with our group of 8 once a month), plus there's RU football and hoops, DJ-ing occasionally and, of course my weather/science hobbies (and social media posting). And my wife and I enjoy frequent day trips, eating out, watching TV/going to movies, seeing bands, and we're starting to travel more now.
Turn 62 this year and haven't decided whether to start taking SS yet. Probably not, as we have a comfortable income from 401K/pension funds (similar to my income before I retired, not including bonuses) and don't need it yet, but the flip side is, why not take the money while you can still use it, since there's no guarantees on longevity, even if parents lived long lives (mom went at 85, dad is still pretty healthy at 90). Doing a bunch of house renovations the past few months is also keeping us busy. Hoping to do a one month vacation in Europe in the late spring...
It's still tax money. Taxing it again is double taxation and without the government generating any meaningful return or appreciation.
kids? to retire at 57 is a noteworthy accomplishment. Even more so if you did it while raising/supporting/paying for children.
