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Do you save?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Dick Whitman, Sep 25, 2012.

  1. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    I'm an excellent saver, though I am not as good with investing.

    I likely have enough to live for two years socked away, but the caveat is living how I live, not how most people live.

    Never had an outstanding credit card, paid off the only car loan I've had in one year (it was a five-year loan) and paid for college as I went.

    Worst investment I made was buying a house -- lost $30k when I sold it, but I did sell it (Detroit).

    Have managed to save money even during Peace Corps service and now that I am officially living at the poverty level (AmeriCorps), I spend far, far less than I make. (I have a weird deal where housing and food are paid, so even though I make less than $200 a week, I don't spend $25. But I don't have running water.)

    Essentially, I have to force myself to do nice things for myself -- the old Scot/German "save, save, save" mentality.
     
  2. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Well-Known Member

    After alternating which bills got paid and which didn't each month during my first two newspaper jobs, I had about a five-year window in which I managed to save a decent chunk of cash (about a year's salary). In hindsight, I'm glad I lived like a hermit and managed to put that money aside as finding a new gig after being laid off is proving difficult.

    Those savings are about all I have, other than a life insurance policy and a very modest mutual fund. Only one of my five stops offered a 401(k) or retirement plan, and that was in the early, lean years (not that retirement is really in the cards). I'm 31, debt-free and have no plans to start a family, so muddling through the immediate future shouldn't be a problem, but anything beyond that is hazy at best.
     
  3. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I love that way of thinking . . . but please rethink the mortgage. You do not want to be paying rent in your 60s and beyond. Get a mortgage . . . and pay that sucker off as fast as you can.

    I missed my goal of paying off my house when I was 50 . . . but only by a few months. Sold it, bought a bigger one in a cheaper part of the country for $70,000 less, pocketed the difference, and will never have another rent or mortgage payment as long as I live. But to cross that bridge, you have to go the mortgage route first.
     
  4. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    FYI, in most areas there's been a better time to buy a home than right now, considering the market has just bottomed out and interest rates our at historic lows. Perfect home-buying storm.
     
  5. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    I don't save much, personally, because I have too much credit-card debt -- most of which was incurred during a period of more than two years of unemployment or minimal employment -- but I'm good with my money, always have been, and I make my budget go really far, considering what I make now.

    That, however, is only because I've got somone renting out the condo that I own, and because I live with my mom, for very low rent. Thus, my mortgage has been getting paid off by somone else for nearly four years, and I hope to have it paid off within the next five years. I also drive a car that's nearly 12 years old, and I hope to get at least a couple of more years out of it. We'll see, on both counts. I'm also in a debt-consolidation program and I have a job now that, as low-paying as it is, has an excellent 401k (with a rare 100 percent company match), so I'm in the process of trying to take full advantage of that to put away some money again after having had to raid much of the 401k fund from my last newspaper job.

    I would suggest that there's no lack of materialism in younger people. They have wants, and things that they either waste money entirely on, or else spend more than they need to for; those things are just different than with older folks.

    I'd also suggest that the rise in the use of 401k funds is simply part of life today. For most, in most work places, the 401k is the only retirement plan offered. Pensions are becoming very rare.

    I'd also suggest that the younger generation is saving because they often are doing just what I am -- living with other family members for no rent, or next to none, and doing it for longer, like, well into their 20s, or even moving back home after being out, as I did, when times have gotten tough, and they end up staying, sometimes for several years.

    Thanks to their own, and many others' problems, and media saturation regarding the issue, they also know, or are more aware of and conscious of possible credit-card problems. It is all the rage now for people to have not multiple credit cards but to pay them off and then eliminate all but one -- usually AmEx or Visa. People are just paying more with cash and using their debit cards instead.

    This all definitely lends itself to saving, and that's good. But I'd guess the changing trends have been more out of necessity, and learning to become good savers, because they have to, than it is because they just want to do it.
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    100 percent match? That is sweet.
     
  7. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Yeah, anything above zero is good these days, and 100 percent is a reason to move.
     
  8. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    Yeah, up to the usual max of six percent. After that, if you want to put more in (as I did for about a year, up until recently), it isn't matched, but still, you can really build it up fast, if you've got a little extra you can give each paycheck. And, even if you don't, that match is very unusual. I'm fortunate, and I feel lucky and thankful for it every day lately.

    The perspective really does change, and I'm pretty content right now.
     
  9. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    I don't have a 401K. I still am paying off college loans and live in an expensive area. I also come from families whose men all die before they hit 70, mostly 60. I have money in my bank account, but it's only enough to handle major repairs to my car or handle other emergencies (i.e. getting laid off). I don't spend frivolously, but I enjoy life. I don't expect to retire, ever. Nor do I think I would handle retirement well.

    I am happy to hear the arguments as to why I should start saving.
     
  10. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    You can do both. Save money and still enjoy life.
     
  11. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    What a horrific false choice. If you don't think you can enjoy life while saving, I guess then don't.

    What I found was that when I actually looked at what I was spending, I was spending a ton of money out of habit and not because of enjoyment.
     
  12. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Damn, you really could be the Cubs' GM.
     
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