Who has planned for their future?
 

Many years ago, mid 1970s, I took out some pensions schemes and started paying in small amounts to them. As my earnings grew I put more and more in. They were all due to payout on my 60th birthday, it seemed then that that day will never come.

Now it's less than 2 months away and the pension companies are writing to me asking what I want to do with the money. I'm opting for a few lump sums and the rest paid out as monthly pensions.

Never thought this day would come and when your 25 I didn't think about much being 60 and retiring. Then suddenly it's here and you thank you had the sense to invest.

The way this industry is going I wonder who else put money away in the good times.

When you are 25 y.o. you really think that this day would never come. But it will. Thats why I went ahead and started putting money in them pension funds long time ago. I don't want to be poor old fart when 65 hits me.

I had alot invested in RRSPs I had to cash them in... I have home equity and life insurance. and Im trying to find my husband a fun and dangerous career... so he dies first.. and i can cash in.

if all else fails my favorite son promised to get rich if i put him thru at least 5 years university, and he'll support me when im old... I can be his maid.


Sabby:)

Making savings is insane here. Government royaly fucks us every 10 years. And the US Dollar is loosing it's value.

You can be our maid anytime you like Sabby. :winkwink:

I don't think people ever invest enough. Shit happens and it often gets in the way.

Paul, good for you. You saw it through, stuck to it and now get to relax a little. Nice work.

Mine was wiped out by the recession. I get to start over.

I have a good bit in savings and some invested. Should work out nice.

Yeah, like i said, i get to see it every 10 years in my country.

I'll be a Varanasi beggar...

This poll is pretty limited but I still voted...

Too limited, I was unable to vote. :disgust

I have a 401(k), a property investment (which in theory will someday be paid off and issue me monthly rent checks so I'm sure I will do something else with it long before that happens), and am looking into setting up a Roth IRA shortly. I think about future finances quite a bit so I'm pretty on top of it. Could always do more though!

The best way to set up the investment plans is to have your contribution automatically deducted weekly. It keeps the money out of your hands and basically locks it in. You really don't miss $20 or even $100 a week once you get used to it.

Right now seems like a pretty decent time to be getting in on these if you aren't already, with the markets being down, etc.

We have 401K's, but I plan on spending every dime before I die and then leaving all and any debt to the U.S. government in my will :winkwink:

yes sir! Everyone should plan for the future. The "here and now" and "spend it as fast as you make it" life style will never last.

I've socked a good bit of money into retirement savings and continue to do so. Just as important as saving for retirement is to make sure you are properly insured for health, life, and disability.

I got the feeling a lot of "ballers" here will be working at Walmart when they are in their 60's because they didn't plan for their future. But they will have great memories to make them feel good LOL (right).

I started my retirement savings at 26, I'm 34 now and its fun to watch it grow and the power of compounding interest working for you, not against you like in most situations.

You have to treat it as an "expense" and pay it just like you pay your car note, house note, etc. When people treat their retirement savings as something that they can stop paying on a bad month they will never last at it. Set it up on direct debt like you mentioned and forget about it.

I'm looking at ways to make all this happen the right way this time. I've had all of those things in place at one time or another, along with Last Will, Advance Directive (when to pull the plug), etc.... but they have all either lapsed or run out or cashed out or canceled. So I'm back to square one, but slowly working on it all again.

My Mom's been planning for my retirement since before I was out of High School. She still handle's that all for me.

My retirement money is in gold and cash and later on down the line some property. Never trusted pension funds.

I am planning on a bbq this weekend....

I started a few years ago and I'm getting close to 30 now. I think by the time I'm 60, there's going to be a nice amount to cash out.

i own property out right and have lots of cash and investments. i will never need to worry about this sort of thing again. knock on wood. but seriously, you need to be careful with what you have, and do not spend beyond your means.

I'm with you on that :2 cents:

I have looked at the numbers on what my Social Security payouts would be (if it still exists in 40 years) and it's just not enough. I don't want to live like that. Who would? People really need to sit down and look at that stuff. Think about how much money that really is and whether or not they want to scrape by and depend on their children or get out and enjoy their newfound retired life.

Between Social Security, 401(k), and Roth IRA the payout should be pretty decent. Add in additional investments (property, savings, anything really) and you might be looking at a pretty comfortable life.

Another thing that most people don't think about is what their health will be like at retirement age. We are all going to need more money at that point to afford our healthcare and health needs. That needs to be thought about and configured into the situation.

This is the thing I've been thinking about the most lately. I've never gone to the doctor unless I needed stitches or something, but that's not going to hold out forever. At some point even the healthiest of us will need doctors. I've finally got dental insurance again now, (after I paid cash to have all my teeth replaced of course). No health insurance at the moment.. I had to cancel my corporate group plan when I left Hawaii because it wouldn't carry over to the mainland for some reason... but I'm planning instead now to get plugged into the VA system and start using the free benefits and free health care there that I'm entitled to. Never used the VA before, but no reason I can think of why I shouldn't.

How the fuck are you supposed to save these days when the government is wiping out the middle class?

you invest in real estate, they over write loans and plummet the market.

you invest in savings, print more money and inflate the shit out of you until your savings arent worth half of what they used to.

i also do not trust any of my money in ANY government program.

remember soon there is going to be a HUGE amount of baby boomers that most of them lost almost all their retirement in stocks plummeting and in the housing crash. who is going to pay for these peoples health care and social security? where is that money going to come from? the younger generation is.

i guarantee you the government is going to pass somekind of sweeping major tax (even though there already is) on all 401k/rrsp plans in their perspective countries.

i am investing my money in my business. in the now. unless you get yourself out of the middle class and into the social elite nothing you earn is ever safe anymore. tucking it away imo is not good thinking. you are better off to take risks. this recession has just started and we will be paying for it for the next 100 years.

if you have another 10-15 years to live than you probably care less. but these are different times we live in.

the government can and will find a way to grease your funds if you do not have the money and power to stop them.

i do not trust government to pave my street properly the last thing i am doing is investing it in any of their programs. that is including the shady banking industry.

the only plan i have for the future is a constant ass fucking by people we "elected" to protect us. and i dont plan on being apart of that plan for to much longer. no matter what i have to do.

everyone gets raped every 10-15 years these days like clockwork may as well take the risk when you can.

Got to admit I took some persuading to start so young, now I have this money coming, the State pensions and the business is still doing well. Not that I'm involved in it any more. :)

Did you add inflation into the mix? It's a common mistake that people make.

Considering the numbers would be kind of tough to live on today, it's a pretty fair assumption that they will be even more tough to live on in 40 years with inflation and cost-of-living increases. :-)

That's why I've been setting everything else up. I'm still somewhat young, I don't need fancy stuff that I can barely afford.

I have invested some in real estate (have a few properties), plus I play the stock market cautiously and have a nice savings account. I'm not ready to retire yet, but I've definitely been planning for the future.

Man plans, god laughs.

Same here. I got fucked pretty bad. Far from busted, I put alot of $$ into property, etc. also, but retirement accounts went down in flames.

Fuck it ,I piss it away like a drunken sailor.I plan on dying young

how much do you have there? did they made nice % with your cash?

I started this process about 5 minutes after I began earning money online. Of course I had a retirement fund from my previous employment, but once I left that career behind me and began working from home I quickly transferred that money to a new locked in fund. In the past 12 years I've put money into several RRSP's, a few mutuals and other funds, and I own rental property as well (for nearly 20 years now).

I think the trick to ensuring one's future is to be diverse, which I am. If I happen to "die young" (at 47 I don't know if that's still possible) I have everything willed to people I care about.

Nah. With my luck, i'd put money into some pension fund, only to die when i hit 58 or something. The way things are, i need the money i make just now, for NOW.

I'll worry about what happens later, if and when it comes.

That's just my attitude just now. It might change through time. It might be like that till i die...

I can definitely could have done more to plan for retirement. Still working on it.

Metaman I hear what you're saying. The problem is if you end up at 60 with nothing put away you're going to be screwed. You might end up working until you die.

Putting it all into your business is risky, if the economy tuns to shit it's the first thing that could get hit. Putting it into property is fine if you have that kind of money. Pension savings are for the rest of us.

Ive been putting a few hundred away monthly in a bank plan since I was 22, Ill keep it going until Im 52 then Ill take the lump.

company 401k, investment account, 529 college savings plans etc...
Been knocked off track the last year with amount I put in each month however hope to get back to making the 401k contributions by end of this year.

good strategy.

fully agreed that is very possible.

but i do however plan on investing when i bridge gap from middle to upper class. i currently have 0 debt. i mean i do not even owe $10 on a credit card. i am currently renting and do not want to invest into real estate in yet. i have all my money tied up in my own business ventures.

i do not see it risky because i am making my money work for myself. i do not like canada savings plans. the amount of tax is just ridiculous. maybe once i am out of a socialist country i will change my mind.

for me i have no wife no kids and do not plan on any surprises. i currently am young enough where i can afford to take risks. instead of putting the extra $10k in a savings plan i would rather put it towards my business and make the money work.