Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings
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Back to the initial post...I used to go through the finances of people that got by on jobs that today are paying $16/hr. If those guys work a second job or marry somebody that makes about the same amount of money, you can get by. Not great, but get by. Problem is, those guys are always just a fairly minor event from being in bad financial trouble. There's just no cushion there.
Awfully hard to save much of anything when you're just getting by...
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Those of us who are doing ok forget how lucky we are. I've seen people in jobs like mine make terrible decisions due to other stuff that was going on in their lives, and Mrs. Phibes has one friend who was recently one paycheck away from being homeless, and had really been through a pretty desperate time through no real fault of their own.
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Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
@Jolly said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
I'm not going to disagree, but I suspect the one life-event that trumps all of those is being born into a stable, financially secure and loving family environment.
I was only joking
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Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
@Jolly Good points.
One thing that I remember I learned early on is to live as if you were only making 80% of what you actually do. Have a salary of USD$1000/month. Pretend it is only $800 and save the rest.
Soon, your money will start making money for you. Once that starts happening, you dont have to get outrageous returns to be okay.
5% return of $100000 = $5000
10% return of $100 = $10 -
@Jolly Good points.
One thing that I remember I learned early on is to live as if you were only making 80% of what you actually do. Have a salary of USD$1000/month. Pretend it is only $800 and save the rest.
Soon, your money will start making money for you. Once that starts happening, you dont have to get outrageous returns to be okay.
5% return of $100000 = $5000
10% return of $100 = $10@taiwan_girl said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
@Jolly Good points.
One thing that I remember I learned early on is to live as if you were only making 80% of what you actually do. Have a salary of USD$1000/month. Pretend it is only $800 and save the rest.
Soon, your money will start making money for you. Once that starts happening, you dont have to get outrageous returns to be okay.
5% return of $100000 = $5000
10% return of $100 = $10I only really got serious about putting money away once I turned 40. I kind of wish I'd done it sooner, but 40 wasn't too late. I despair when I see how some people of that age act.
I was only joking
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@Jolly said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
I'm not going to disagree, but I suspect the one life-event that trumps all of those is being born into a stable, financially secure and loving family environment.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
@Jolly said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
Finances really get bogged down to mostly a few life events. Don't want to be poor? Some things you can do (and not do)...
- Graduate from high school.
- Learn a trade or obtain an AD or bachelor's degree in a major that will allow you to make more money than your average untrained peers.
- Don't have children out of wedlock.
- Live below your means, if at all possible. Develop a habit of saving.
- Consider any job or vocational choice with an evaluation of both salary and benefits.
- Marry well and stay married. (Maybe the toughest one on the list).
- Most debt is bad. Borrow no more than what you must and borrow only for things
which will increase your net worth. - At some point, after you have several months salary saved, start to invest and make investing a habit. Know what your money is invested in and structure your investnents based on where you are in life.
- Lastly, try to keep sentiment separated from financial business. Sometimes, you need to sell the old family home. Sometimes, you need to tell the kids you cannot financially help them. Sometimes, you have to downsize. Lots of lifetime decisions fall under this one.
I'm not going to disagree, but I suspect the one life-event that trumps all of those is being born into a stable, financially secure and loving family environment.
Great list @Jolly and very fair point, @Doctor-Phibes . Plus look at you, now you're a doctor!
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@taiwan_girl said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
@Jolly Good points.
One thing that I remember I learned early on is to live as if you were only making 80% of what you actually do. Have a salary of USD$1000/month. Pretend it is only $800 and save the rest.
Soon, your money will start making money for you. Once that starts happening, you dont have to get outrageous returns to be okay.
5% return of $100000 = $5000
10% return of $100 = $10I only really got serious about putting money away once I turned 40. I kind of wish I'd done it sooner, but 40 wasn't too late. I despair when I see how some people of that age act.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
@taiwan_girl said in Quite Sad - Seniors with no Savings:
@Jolly Good points.
One thing that I remember I learned early on is to live as if you were only making 80% of what you actually do. Have a salary of USD$1000/month. Pretend it is only $800 and save the rest.
Soon, your money will start making money for you. Once that starts happening, you dont have to get outrageous returns to be okay.
5% return of $100000 = $5000
10% return of $100 = $10I only really got serious about putting money away once I turned 40. I kind of wish I'd done it sooner, but 40 wasn't too late. I despair when I see how some people of that age act.
I have two brothers who haven't saved a dime, let alone invest. And another brother who is like me, who has saved and invested what we can. Will be interesting to see how things play out in 30-40 years (I'm in my early 40s now, which is crazy since I met you when I was 25 in Boston that one time).
Anyway, I have recently started a modest investment account (UTMA) for each of my 3 kids. When they turn 21, the account becomes theirs. Sure that is a risk if they are a junky at 21, but otherwise the WHOLE point is to show them what small/regular investments can do with compound interest over 20+ or so years. Hopefully they either use the accounts to help with a down payment on a house or, better yet, continue to save/invest in it and when they turn 60 or so, it'll be worth a lot.
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The super low interest rates from the late 1990s to 2022 really doesn't help to encourage saving. The compound interest graph assuming a 0.02% interest rate really isn't all the interesting. Many banks are still holding interest rates for regular savings accounts at yet level today, and offer inflation-beating interest rates only for CDs. :man-shrugging:
