Retirement Targets

[CascadeClone]

Not to change the topic but I was listening to an investment podcast this morning on the way to work and heard something interesting. They were talking about how well GenX has done over the last few years in general. In the last 4 years, their net worth has basically doubled because of retirement savings and home values. Most either have their home paid off or have a super low interest rate.

I looked back at January 2020 compared to last month and our net worth is up 92%. My investments are pretty conservative.

As a Gen X, I would agree with that. We're in our late 40s and 50s, which is typically your highest earnings years as well as watching your home values go up while you have been paying the mortgage down for 10-20 years. Maybe less so depending on when you started investing pre or post 2008 crash.


Interesting Economist article about how Gen Z is doing very well, much more than the "rent is too damn high" headlines would lead you to believe. Chart below from article.

Gen Z "Unprecedentedly Rich"

 

[1SEIACLONE]

The "wealthy" are the only ones paying taxes in the first place. Seriously, our system is highly progressive already. 50% of taxpayers (nevermind those that don't work) pay 2% of the total. The top 1% pays almost half the total take. I guess reasonable minds can disagree on how progressive is enough, but it seems more than reasonable to me.

In 2021, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 10.4 percent of total AGI and paid 2.3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 26.3 percent of total AGI and paid 45.8 percent of all federal income taxes

I'd also argue that working 3 more years isn't making people "suffer", especially when they still have 40 years to save up enough to self-fund 3 years if they want to retire earlier... I am aiming to retire at 55, and am self-funding to do so, not lobbying Congress to cover me.

I am going to stop posting along these topic lines now, I am venturing near the cave and thats not the point of this thread.

Tired of hearing about the poor state of being wealthy, sorry, but when the wealthest 10% of Americans have 66.9% the wealth in the country, we have a system that is not working. That same 10% own 90% of all the stocks traded on the stock exchange. Any plan that does not expect those at the top to pay more into the system but asked the rest of us to work longer is DOA for a majority of the country.

Wealth distribution U.S. 2024| Statista

In the first quarter of 2024, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners.

www.statista.com

 

[3TrueFans]

Yep, bad head math on my part. 6k per month would require them to average 60k for those 5 years. Which now with the minimum being 62k, that would be a low number.

I'm confused how this works, the IPERS site says you take the average salary times the multiplier, but 60k * .65 is only 39,000, I assume I'm not understanding something.

 

[cyputz]

Just get your ass out the door while you’re healthy. You have a whole lot of life in front of you.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

I'm confused how this works, the IPERS site says you take the average salary times the multiplier, but 60k * .65 is only 39,000, I assume I'm not understanding something.

IPERS is hard to figure out, to get a full retirement you have to work 30 years and be at least age 55 before you can start drawing it out. Your years of experience and your age are added together, you must reach a combined number of 88 to start your retirement. Every year you teach after your 30 increases the percent you get by 1% but you can only add 5% to your total so 65% of the top 5 years of your highest grossing pay.

If you retire on the rule of 62/20, 62 years of age, at least 20 years of working, then they hit you with a penality of around 3/4% for each year you have less than 30. So a person that is 62 and has 27 years in has a combined number of 89, but they would lose around 10/12 percent of their retirement, so they would end up with around 50% of their highest grossing 5 years salary.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

They still pay FICA, property taxes, state taxes, and taxes on gasoline, beer, and cigarettes, right?

Did I say they didn't? Please point out in this thread where we are talking about the taxes u listed.

 

[BCClone]

I'm confused how this works, the IPERS site says you take the average salary times the multiplier, but 60k * .65 is only 39,000, I assume I'm not understanding something.

I’m using the low ones. 60k @60% is 36k divide that by 12 gives you 3k month. So two teachers at 3k is 6k a month. Roughly what the median household earns.

 

[cycloneG]

Did I say they didn't? Please point out in this thread where we are talking about the taxes u listed.

The majority of the last 30 pages talk exclusively about FICA.

 

[3TrueFans]

I’m using the low ones. 60k @60% is 36k divide that by 12 gives you 3k month. So two teachers at 3k is 6k a month. Roughly what the median household earns.

Oh two teachers, ok I understand what you were saying now. I thought you were saying 1 person would be getting 6k/month.

 

[BCClone]

The "wealthy" are the only ones paying taxes in the first place. Seriously, our system is highly progressive already. 50% of taxpayers (nevermind those that don't work) pay 2% of the total. The top 1% pays almost half the total take. I guess reasonable minds can disagree on how progressive is enough, but it seems more than reasonable to me.

In 2021, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 10.4 percent of total AGI and paid 2.3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 26.3 percent of total AGI and paid 45.8 percent of all federal income taxes

I'd also argue that working 3 more years isn't making people "suffer", especially when they still have 40 years to save up enough to self-fund 3 years if they want to retire earlier... I am aiming to retire at 55, and am self-funding to do so, not lobbying Congress to cover me.

I am going to stop posting along these topic lines now, I am venturing near the cave and thats not the point of this thread.

Yeah, I’m with you. I see we have pushed the line with the discussions , been civil so I thank everyone for being pleasant and cordial but will bow out also for now.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

The majority of the last 30 pages talk exclusively about FICA.

Yes, federal. No one has brought up up sales, state, city, or county taxes.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

I’m using the low ones. 60k @60% is 36k divide that by 12 gives you 3k month. So two teachers at 3k is 6k a month. Roughly what the median household earns.

Your numbers are correct, but until this last wage increase by the state, many teachers were not making 60K a year in salary at smaller schools. I taught for 34 years, the most I ever made teaching, coaching year around and doing summer school for a month was right around 59K.

Teachers salaries listed in the paper are very inaccurate, because one district will include the cost of insurance in that number, while another district that is only salary. So its difficult to compare districts, the only way to do it accurately is to compare their salary schedules. Without a doubt teaching in a larger district will increase your pay, and therefore you IPERS when you retire. Its one of the main reasons, many leave small districts after a few years to go to a large district.

 

[dmclone]

You only worked 9 months a year right . Whenever I talk to my MIL, I always mention this when she talks about teaching for 40 years.

 

[Cyched]

They still pay FICA, property taxes, state taxes, and taxes on gasoline, beer, and cigarettes, right?

I spend my welfare checks and scratcher winnings on booze, women and movies.

 

[BCClone]

Your numbers are correct, but until this last wage increase by the state, many teachers were not making 60K a year in salary at smaller schools. I taught for 34 years, the most I ever made teaching, coaching year around and doing summer school for a month was right around 59K.

Teachers salaries listed in the paper are very inaccurate, because one district will include the cost of insurance in that number, while another district that is only salary. So its difficult to compare districts, the only way to do it accurately is to compare their salary schedules. Without a doubt teaching in a larger district will increase your pay, and therefore you IPERS when you retire. Its one of the main reasons, many leave small districts after a few years to go to a large district.

I’ve also realized that there is a cut line from south of DM to north. My wife has been over 59k for around a decade and she doesn’t do anything outside the classroom. She has a BA plus CE credits, no advanced degree. A small class A school on the edge of 8 man football. They are also a lower paying district in the area.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

You only worked 9 months a year right

True but its a stressful 192 days. I really enjoyed the teaching aspect of the job, getting to know the kids, but its changed so much since I started to when I retired that I was more than happy to retire and be done with it.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

I’ve also realized that there is a cut line from south of DM to north. My wife has been over 59k for around a decade and she doesn’t do anything outside the classroom. She has a BA plus CE credits, no advanced degree. A small class A school on the edge of 8 man football. They are also a lower paying district in the area.

Salaries for teachers in the North are a lot higher than in the Southern part of the state. One of the things I have noticed the most since moving to Ames is how much nicer the smaller towns are here compared to Southern Iowa.

My daughter and I went up to Roland yesterday, what a nice small town, lots of well maintained homes, wonderful churches to look at, plus a nice section of newer homes built in the last 10 years or so. You just do not see towns like that south of Pella for the most part.

 

[CascadeClone]

IPERS is hard to figure out, to get a full retirement you have to work 30 years and be at least age 55 before you can start drawing it out. Your years of experience and your age are added together, you must reach a combined number of 88 to start your retirement. Every year you teach after your 30 increases the percent you get by 1% but you can only add 5% to your total so 65% of the top 5 years of your highest grossing pay.

Truest, least arguable statement in this entire thread!

Dad retired in 2005 and had about a dozen different ways to do it. I think there's even more options now.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

I’ve also realized that there is a cut line from south of DM to north. My wife has been over 59k for around a decade and she doesn’t do anything outside the classroom. She has a BA plus CE credits, no advanced degree. A small class A school on the edge of 8 man football. They are also a lower paying district in the area.

We going to means test IPERS too?

 

[cycloneG]

We going to means test IPERS too?

Damn right! I'm sick of all these fat cat teachers working for 40 years and living it up in retirement.