What percent of your income do you put away for retirement?

[MCC]

15% 401K; matched by employer

10% Roth IRA; matched by employer

25% pays bills & living expenses

50% remaining is blown on vacations, Panthers tix, guns, cars, home theatre, etc, etc, etc.

I put 25% away, probably more than most. But I blow a crapload on toys, too. 26, single, & no kids. With my employer matching, I'm basically putting 50% of my annual salary into retirement. I will retire before I'm 50. I hate working.

That's crazy (and awesome) your employer will match that much.

[PandaPancake]

GEO METRO!

 

Close for crash survivability. Mazda Miata.

[PhillyB]

none. i'm dumping every dime i get into investments that should turn over a nice profit in a few years and set me up to be able to put a lot more away for retirement than had i just started shaving off portions of my income now.

[MadHatter]

none. i'm dumping every dime i get into investments that should turn over a nice profit in a few years and set me up to be able to put a lot more away for retirement than had i just started shaving off portions of my income now.

If those investments are stocks or bonds, you would be much better off to max out your tax deductible 401k than get a taxable return now....and defer taxes until retirement when your effective tax rate would likely be lower.

Invest properly in your 401k and you will generate just as strong of a return as your other taxable investments.

However, if you are into investments outside of a stock portfolio right now, then it could either be a better strategy or not....depends on what you are investing in, expected return, and risk profile.

[PhillyB]

If those investments are stocks or bonds, you would be much better off to max out your tax deductible 401k than get a taxable return now....and defer taxes until retirement when your effective tax rate would likely be lower.

Invest properly in your 401k and you will generate just as strong of a return as your other taxable investments.

However, if you are into investments outside of a stock portfolio right now, then it could either be a better strategy or not....depends on what you are investing in, expected return, and risk profile.

 

it's all property investment, which is turning back high yields on rental income, all of which are being set according to a timeline defined by my wife and i finishing grad school, graduating with no debt, and jumping into careers.

[h0llywood]

For now since I am paying 80% of our household expenses, my wife is putting away 4% with I believe a 2% match by her company. Not enough but better than nothing for now.

[Happy Panther]

My situation is different but around 20% this year and all after tax. In previous years I have done anything from 2% to 15% all pretax.

 

 

[*FreeFua*]

I was able to put aside 50% of my income last year. Like PhillyB, all of it will be going towards buying properties and that will be my retirement plan. I'm 26 and hope to retire in my 30's and live off/manage my properties but we'll see. My situation/job is a lot different than most.

[Chimera]

15% to my retirement account

eligible for pension

also have a roth IRA that i contribute pretty irregularly... maybe a couple thousand a year

529 for each of my kids

youth savings account for each of my kids

 

 

hopefully those last two mean i will get to actually enjoy my retirement

[pstall]

I was able to put aside 50% of my income last year. Like PhillyB, all of it will be going towards buying properties and that will be my retirement plan. I'm 26 and hope to retire in my 30's and live off/manage my properties but we'll see. My situation/job is a lot different than most.

I hear on real estate but how arw you maximizing your taxes or reducing taxable income?

[pstall]

15% 401K; matched by employer

10% Roth IRA; matched by employer

25% pays bills & living expenses

50% remaining is blown on vacations, Panthers tix, guns, cars, home theatre, etc, etc, etc.

I put 25% away, probably more than most. But I blow a crapload on toys, too. 26, single, & no kids. With my employer matching, I'm basically putting 50% of my annual salary into retirement. I will retire before I'm 50. I hate working.

Your company MATCHES 25%? How are you working around contribution and income limits?

[*FreeFua*]

I hear on real estate but how arw you maximizing your taxes or reducing taxable income?

It's different for me because of my job, my income is all tax free.

I have a level 5 foster home for male youth. I guess because a portion of my income goes to these kids/running my home the government doesn't ask for anything more. My company pays me in cash once a month and that's pretty much it.

As far as the government is concerned my income on paper is zero. Which makes getting approved for mortgages a bit tricky.

[PhillyB]

It's different for me because of my job, my income is all tax free.

I have a level 5 foster home for male youth. I guess because a portion of my income goes to these kids/running my home the government doesn't ask for anything more. My company pays me in cash once a month and that's pretty much it.

As far as the government is concerned my income on paper is zero. Which makes getting approved for mortgages a bit tricky.

I was able to put aside 50% of my income last year. Like PhillyB, all of it will be going towards buying properties and that will be my retirement plan. I'm 26 and hope to retire in my 30's and live off/manage my properties but we'll see. My situation/job is a lot different than most.

 

 

very cool on both counts. i'm 29, but i bought my first house when i was 26. my wife and i both worked ~60 hours a week and paid it off, we had a kid and she cut to 40 hours and i jumped to 80 hours and bought two additional houses using the original one as a line of credit. now we rent them both out and use the money to pay the monthly mortgages and help make up for grad school costs. honestly it's not a very feasible plan, the way we're doing it, if you're planning on making that your main source of income, but the fact that we're setting ourselves up for a payoff in a few years has made it worth structuring it the way we have.

 

i would never do it as a primary business. i've enjoyed the challenge of fixing places up, but that's the catch - to make money properly, you generally have to be able to buy foreclosed crappers and fix them up yourself, whether you're flipping or renting, to maximize your profit. it renting is an absolute headache, even with people you know. something's always breaking, someone always needs to be updated… stuff you don't think about that stacks on your back when you're already dealing with other things. you also have to be careful about getting in over your head. tenants bugging out can leave you in a bind if you're not already easily able to make your mortgages each month without the rental income. i've learned a few hard lessons about renting to sketchy people to give them a chance… they'll burn you if you're not careful.

 

what are you doing with the foster home and how did you get into it? that's what my wife and i are getting into eventually, and what all the property investments are serving as a base to build towards.

[pstall]

Good stuff. Got a buddy that has done foster home/medical housing and rentals. I think he has too many because all he does is fix stuff and he never takes time off.

The other thing I would say is make sure you have ample life insurance and a trust etc. Simple stuff like that if not done right can undo all your hard work.

I actually wouldn't mind chipping in on a flip here abd there and just nab some extra income.