Everything seems to be in the crapper. With election politics heating up (and not necessarily in a good way), an economic bailout that I am pretty sure no one has a real clue about, and the American dream becoming less achievable for many, things seem to be “not so great”. Or is it? I think that perhaps we’re really at a turning point — a sort of reality check where those that have not been realistic about what they cannot afford need to come to terms with the consequences. While this is happening at a personal level, I am...
Retirement
The irony of our wonderful government
It’s not very often that I burst out laughing when we get the mail. I’m usually annoyed at the amount of junk mail, or ticked off at the unexpected bill (ie. is it time to pay the garbage bill again?). But today, on the day where all us common folk are wondering just how bad we’re going to get screwed, I get my annual Social Security statement in the mail. What a nice touch Uncle Sam! Waste some trees to send me paperwork on a system that is going to probably be nonexistent by the time I retire. Furthermore,...
Thoughts on Dave Ramsey
I recently finished Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, and it is a quick and easy read. I would recommend getting it from your local library – I would not buy it just because there are enough blogs and information on his methods on the web (and you can use the cost of the book as your first snowflake!). I think that Get Rich Slowly has a nice synopsis of the book here if you want to get the basic idea before investing your time reading the whole book. Is Total Money Makeover going to change our lives? I’m not...
Decreasing 401k contributions to offset health plan increase
After finishing the taxes, we decided to decrease my husband’s 401k contributions from 20% to 10% with the intention of putting this money into our Roth IRAs. The next day, we get a letter in the mail with regards to our health care plan. They have changed the salary tiers and the contribution limits. My husband now falls into a higher tier (if he made $1 less, he would still be in his lower tier). The contribution limits have also increased. When all is said and done, he is now making less than he did before his raise after...
Setting goals for April
I feel like February and March kind of flew by. I know that I have been sick, but I also feel like I have been busy. The problem is that I am not sure exactly what I was busy with. There’s all the daily things that have to do with life in general, but this is the first time in awhile where the fruits of my labor are not really tangible. This is why I’ve decided that it is time to set some general goals for April. It’s going to be more like a long list, but I...
What are you doing about the stock market?
Not that I have any control over it, but I am curious to learn what other people are doing about their retirement accounts, if anything. Are you reacting now, or did you react earlier? How far off is retirement for you, and how did that play a role? Back in September, my husband and I discussed our retirement investments. For our IRA accounts (held with Vanguard), we decided to pull out of the stock market to some degree, and invest in more of a mix of stocks and bonds. I had a gut feeling that the housing market decline...
Retirement savings part ii – the IRAs
After reviewing our pension and 401k yesterday, it is time to take a quick look at our IRAs. Both my husband and I hold Roth IRAs with Vanguard, and have been really satisfied with the low fees, investment options, and the ease of using the website. We have not maxed out our contributions for this year, and we probably will not be able to unless I find another job where I can work from home in the immediate future. My Roth IRA – $19,677 My husband’s Roth IRA – $2,875 This brings our total retirement savings to $78,006 (401k...
Retirement savings part i – the 401k and pension
After reviewing our student loans, I thought it would be a good idea to switch to something on the savings side. Today, let’s take a look at my husband’s 401k and pension. (I have only had a single 401k in my life, and I transferred it to an IRA, and then to a Roth IRA, after leaving the job.) I am going to use January’s figures since our monthly contribution does not happen for a couple more days. 401k – $46,025 Pension – $9,429 Total $55,454 We started contributing to the 401k plan in April of 2003, and we...
Suze Orman talks about retirement
I think Suze Orman is a little crazy. I just started watching her on a regular basis a couple of weeks ago, and I am surprised at her large fan base despite how arrogant and annoying she can be at times. There is almost a point during each episode where I am ready to turn off the tv, usually due to how annoyed I am, but also because I disagree with her opinion sometimes (there are times that I think she fails to get enough information about a person’s situation before dispensing her advice). So why do I...
