Retirement Targets
- Thread starter yowza
- Start date
"Save as much as you can" and "save for big purchases and/or healthcare/nursing home care" kind of stuff.
I'm not a financial advisor so there might be better options. but I use Robinhood. They let you buy partial shares so I invest a little bit each week (can literally set a time to auto buy each week) in Apple, Microsoft and a couple ETFs. I can sell and get the money out in a few days if needed. No fees or anything like that to worry about. It is all money I hope I don't have to touch for a long time so not too worried about ups and downs (also invested in ETFs to reduce risk).
Are you eligible for a Health Spending Account? I am not because my work insurance doesn't meet the guidelines, but many experts recommend using an HSA as an investment vehicle instead of saving for health care expenses. If you have a high deductible insurance, it may be another option for you. Watch some youtube videos on the subject.
CD rates and High Yield Money Market rates are ok right now too if you are looking for options outside the market.
I've had an HSA since I was originally given the option. Up until last year I was lucky enough to only need to use it a couple of times. Since August I've taken about 6k out of it for medical. I still have about 60k in it.
Hyper accumulation is getting into more advanced saving & investing vehicles (like after-tax brokerage accts, real estate, etc) as well as savvy tax planning.
Pre-paid future expenses are like kids' college, weddings, vehicles, etc.
The structure of the FOO really speaks to me for prioritizing in which optimized sequence each level of financial independence should be achieved.
MoneyGuy.com
I wish I had the option of a HSA. It is my understanding that if you retire before age 65 and you aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, you can use money in your HSA to pay your medical coverage premiums.
They have some strange rules around HSAs. I do know that you can use it to reimburse yourself for you Medicare part B payments. But you can't use it for your part B supplemental insurance.
Everyone has very different ideas of how to invest as it’s a very personal thing based on a number of factors including risk plus the psychological element as well.
Wanted to explain what myself and many of my friends do (including those in finance) as we are a similar age and while investing younger is always better your mid 30’s aren’t horrible to start as you have the power of time. Because of this I personally wouldn’t have 20K in an emergency fund. I would have a much smaller amount, around 2 months expenses, in an emergency fund and the rest I would be investing in the market.
A lot of factors play a role into this and having a commission job might require more but did into what would happen if you were let go. What kind of severance do you get? Do you get paid for remaining vacation days? How long would insurance be covered? That kind of thing. Having 2 months available allows you time to move other assets when you need and asses your situation without kneecapping your gains.
Again, everyone has a different risk and also the field you are in (how easy can you find another job) play a big factor as well.
As far as the basic investing goes, if you don’t know what to do just go for an S&P 500 index fund ETF, I use vanguard personally but feel free to look around. It’s just the simplest way to make money that constantly beats out most managed funds. Easy to get on any platform and is an invest and forget it strategy. You can set aside some other funds for other areas but that’s probably where most of your money should be going.
The Moneyguy show is awesome. It's like Dave Ramsey, but for people who aren't idiots.
Not that Ramsey followers are idiots, but if you're out of debt or understand basic budgeting, the Money Guy Show is probably more your speed.
A policyholder should have a plan to pay back the loan from the policy's cash value.
People who blindly follow Ramsey are idiots, some of the advice is solid but a lot of it is absolute trash
Plus he's a weird cat. Remedial help is good for some, but....yep....trash
Sure you can. If the prevailing car loan rate is 8 or 9% and you can borrow from yourself at 5%, then borrow from yourself at 5%.
Retired at 60 with 1.8M I have a great pension, HSA, an income annuity and SS. won’t have to touch my IRAs for many years. I always wanted to RV travel and lucky to do it now while I am healthy.
This is the correct answer +1 gold star.
Adding: For a fairly long time horizon - S&P 500 is generally the correct investment choice too.
Link for some expanded narrative about each one:
Prioritizing investments - Bogleheads
Pensions especially insurance coverage are wonderful
My wife retired then went back to work as contracted labor for US Gov after working in private sector for a defense contractor
