Millennials want to retire by 61, but most have nothing saved

[Js1 85817]

5 hours ago, workswithseed said:

My company matches 8% for 401k and will pay 90% for college if I go back. Should I stay? 

Really though, as a mellinial welder, this almost seems too good to be true. If only I was back in Texas then it would be perfect.

Yeah, don't go back to school.

[SuperSport 1333]

Question...possibly a dumb one, but I haven't been able to Google a definitive answer: for the 401k "you should have X times your salary saved by age whatever" rule of thumb, is that referencing total market value or just the sum of personal/company contributions?

If it's the former, I'm good; if the latter, I have some catching up to do.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

9 minutes ago, SuperSport said:

Question...possibly a dumb one, but I haven't been able to Google a definitive answer: for the 401k "you should have X times your salary saved by age whatever" rule of thumb, is that referencing total market value or just the sum of personal/company contributions?

If it's the former, I'm good; if the latter, I have some catching up to do.

Not sure I understand your question, but your retirement savings should include all contributions--yours and any company match.

[TwiceHorn 31699]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Not sure I understand your question, but your retirement savings should include all contributions--yours and any company match.

I think he means do you get to count growth of contributions and the answer to that is yes.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

I think he means do you get to count growth of contributions and the answer to that is yes.

Yeah. Troof. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

17 hours ago, Llano Estacado said:

Fidelity used to include in their mailer this stupid chart plotting age vs 1x 2x 4xSalary, etc that drove me nuts as a young man. Start work at 23 or 24. Save 10% and you’re already behind having 1x your salary at 30. That doesn’t account for what will likely be the fastest wage/salary increases later in your career.

That being said 10%, maxed employer contribution, should be the minimum LOE. If you’re like most Americans and don’t have at least 1x your salary saved by the time your in your mid 30s you’re living beyond your means. It doesn’t get any easier when you have kids, a house, etc.

Lots of millennials who graduated right when the economy crashed didn't even get to start making decent money until their mid to late 20's, if not later. So the 1x by 30 rule is pretty tough. But 1x by mid 30's shouldn't be a problem for anyone unless it took them much longer than that to get to a decent paying position.

[Js1 85817]

4 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Lots of millennials who graduated right when the economy crashed didn't even get to start making decent money until their mid to late 20's, if not later. So the 1x by 30 rule is pretty tough. But 1x by mid 30's shouldn't be a problem for anyone unless it took them much longer than that to get to a decent paying position.

Yes.  For a lot of people who graduated 2007-2010, it took until they hit 25 or later to actually get a job that paid them enough to put away for retirement.  A lot of those student loan companies didn't give a fuck that you were 8-10 months graduated and only working 30 hours a week at a menial job for minimum wage, it was time to fucking pay up. 

[drt 642]

Ya as someone who graduated grad school in that time frame it made me live super poor and throw as much money as I could at 401k and Roth while I was single and right out of school.  Now mid 30s and 1.5X even with a few promotions, and I still feel like I'm a little behind. 

Contrasting that, I married someone who makes a great salary (now) and I've been able to convince her to save almost as much percentage wise as I do.  She entered the workforce right after school, and it also took her a few years to find a great job.  That being said, her retirement accounts are way ahead of mine.  She wasn't very aggressive about saving until after we married, but those extra few years in the workforce really added up. 

We no longer qualify for a standard Roth so we must be doing something right, but it's still a little intimidating forecasting retirement #'s considering my late start.

[Spankytoes 1747]

1 hour ago, drt said:

Ya as someone who graduated grad school in that time frame it made me live super poor and throw as much money as I could at 401k and Roth while I was single and right out of school.  Now mid 30s and 1.5X even with a few promotions, and I still feel like I'm a little behind. 

Contrasting that, I married someone who makes a great salary (now) and I've been able to convince her to save almost as much percentage wise as I do.  She entered the workforce right after school, and it also took her a few years to find a great job.  That being said, her retirement accounts are way ahead of mine.  She wasn't very aggressive about saving until after we married, but those extra few years in the workforce really added up. 

We no longer qualify for a standard Roth so we must be doing something right, but it's still a little intimidating forecasting retirement #'s considering my late start.

I didn't start getting real serious about retirement until I was 30 and my wife was 32. We both have good paying jobs and seemingly will retire on a very comfortable amount because we went full boar on playing catch up. But, I still have anxiety about where we will end up. The markets are volatile and all it takes is for another 9/11 or recession to bring things to a screeching halt. My grandparents didn't save as well as they could and are living off Social Security. That will most likely not be a safety net for me. I half expect to die the night before I am planning to retire as the ultimate irony.

[Js1 85817]

Wait, everyone else's retirement plan isn't to just have someone suffocate them with a pillow at 75?

Fuck. 

[Okie State 3867]

I didn't start getting real serious about retirement until I was 30 and my wife was 32. We both have good paying jobs and seemingly will retire on a very comfortable amount because we went full boar on playing catch up. But, I still have anxiety about where we will end up. The markets are volatile and all it takes is for another 9/11 or recession to bring things to a screeching halt. My grandparents didn't save as well as they could and are living off Social Security. That will most likely not be a safety net for me. I half expect to die the night before I am planning to retire as the ultimate irony.

I fully expect to die the day after I retire. At least my kids can enjoy the inheritance I guess.

[52-80 19282]

12 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Wait, everyone else's retirement plan isn't to just have someone suffocate them with a pillow at 75?

Fuck. 

im buying a farm, and making my wife pop out a ton of kids to toil on em. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

All I need is about 10 more 2017/1st half of ‘18 in a row and I’d be retired. Talk about making up some ground. 

These threads scare the shit out of me. Everytime I think I’m doing pretty good I realize I’m not. Not bad like most of America, but not good like fish everyday in retirement good. 

[Brew 3049]

On 2/13/2019 at 2:01 PM, Js1 said:

Wait, everyone else's retirement plan isn't to just have someone suffocate them with a pillow at 75?

Fuck. 

That is my wife’s retirement plan although she may take me out earlier than 75.