Typical American Career path - esp after 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No matter how much you save it won’t in most cases ever replace your income.

I was laid off a 360k job with a 24k 401k match with great health benefits at 58 with two kids in college.

I did not have a big mortgage, my cars were paid off and already had college funds. It still was a huge hit. Not only did I lose 30k a month income, I lost my medical plan and given I was putting 30k into 401k with a 24k match I lost a ton of future 401k money.

I eventually landed a new role but if that was end of road retirement would have been a bust. Now that I am working I am prepaying last of mortgage, maxing out 401k, buying CDs while rates high and investing in stock mutual funds.

I am also doing a lot of overdue work on house to get everything in tip top shape so if laid off again I don’t have home improvements popping up.

But the dream of 5 million saved, home no mortgage, little beach condo no mortgage, kids colleges paid for, two new cars in driveway when you retire at 65 is just a dream if laid off at 57 and you never work again

How many years did you have the $360k with 401k match? I’m almost exactly the same comp as that (permanent counsel at a law firm) and am 48 with $4m saved. Should have $10m at 58 assuming no layoffs but if I get laid off plan is to find gov job and avoid touching retirement and just let the principal grow.

I did not start saving much till I was 45. I was a C student a no name school. I got the big job at 44. I was only making $55,000 when I was 35.

But that big job in 10 years I put away one million in 401k and 1.5 million in my brokerage account and paid off my house.

I got a second big job at 55. Bought a big trade up house 900k down.

But since that ended at 58 was harder to get a job. Although I have a $240k job now. Which is fine as I still max 401k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

380k. 10% down payment into 30 year mortgage at 4% before it all skyrocketed a couple years back. No kids yet. I will have to get my foot off the savings gas somewhat (mostly less into brokerage, more into 529) when I have them in 2 years or so. I agree that this is not doable unless you have a lot of earning power and hindsight

[Anonymous]

I live in the Midwest. I think the OP asked about areas outside of fed country.

My neighbor was laid off in December. He’s in his 40s and is a mid-level manager. Pretty much one of the worst positions you can be in. His wife was SAHM and her job skills are stale. She’s trying to get back in the workforce and he’s only had a handful of interviews in the past eight months.

Another neighbor lost her job and signed up to be a permanent substitute teacher for the school district. I think she was over the ups and downs of it all.

Another neighbor is currently jobless and thinks he’s going to get another job super fast. He might be right as he has a good degree in a niche industry. We’ll see.

All are in mid-40s.

I’m 49 and switched jobs in early 2024. I’m in my late 40s. I have niche industry knowledge but I still took a pay cut (but decent by local standards) in exchange for what is considered stable employment. DH is a fed.

It’s tough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No matter how much you save it won’t in most cases ever replace your income.

I was laid off a 360k job with a 24k 401k match with great health benefits at 58 with two kids in college.

I did not have a big mortgage, my cars were paid off and already had college funds. It still was a huge hit. Not only did I lose 30k a month income, I lost my medical plan and given I was putting 30k into 401k with a 24k match I lost a ton of future 401k money.

I eventually landed a new role but if that was end of road retirement would have been a bust. Now that I am working I am prepaying last of mortgage, maxing out 401k, buying CDs while rates high and investing in stock mutual funds.

I am also doing a lot of overdue work on house to get everything in tip top shape so if laid off again I don’t have home improvements popping up.

But the dream of 5 million saved, home no mortgage, little beach condo no mortgage, kids colleges paid for, two new cars in driveway when you retire at 65 is just a dream if laid off at 57 and you never work again

How many years did you have the $360k with 401k match? I’m almost exactly the same comp as that (permanent counsel at a law firm) and am 48 with $4m saved. Should have $10m at 58 assuming no layoffs but if I get laid off plan is to find gov job and avoid touching retirement and just let the principal grow.

I did not start saving much till I was 45. I was a C student a no name school. I got the big job at 44. I was only making $55,000 when I was 35.

But that big job in 10 years I put away one million in 401k and 1.5 million in my brokerage account and paid off my house.

I got a second big job at 55. Bought a big trade up house 900k down.

But since that ended at 58 was harder to get a job. Although I have a $240k job now. Which is fine as I still max 401k.

What industry are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

380k. 10% down payment into 30 year mortgage at 4% before it all skyrocketed a couple years back. No kids yet. I will have to get my foot off the savings gas somewhat (mostly less into brokerage, more into 529) when I have them in 2 years or so. I agree that this is not doable unless you have a lot of earning power and hindsight

Yeah making $380k in your 30s is definitely a life hack. What do you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

380k. 10% down payment into 30 year mortgage at 4% before it all skyrocketed a couple years back. No kids yet. I will have to get my foot off the savings gas somewhat (mostly less into brokerage, more into 529) when I have them in 2 years or so. I agree that this is not doable unless you have a lot of earning power and hindsight

I’m honestly surprised you are so critical of others who didn’t save enough when you obviously have had a gilded path? We all don’t focus on just making money in our career, and that is probably a young idealist mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

[Anonymous]

DH laid off in 2016 at age 56. Has never gotten another job offer.

He does a lot of freelance work so we stay afloat.

I work a union job so we have good health insurance.

This is also what happened to my dad on the 1970s. Laid off in his 50s. Ended up working as a security guard.

[Anonymous]

What is IC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is IC?

Individual contributors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest. I think the OP asked about areas outside of fed country.

My neighbor was laid off in December. He’s in his 40s and is a mid-level manager. Pretty much one of the worst positions you can be in. His wife was SAHM and her job skills are stale. She’s trying to get back in the workforce and he’s only had a handful of interviews in the past eight months.

Another neighbor lost her job and signed up to be a permanent substitute teacher for the school district. I think she was over the ups and downs of it all.

Another neighbor is currently jobless and thinks he’s going to get another job super fast. He might be right as he has a good degree in a niche industry. We’ll see.

All are in mid-40s.

I’m 49 and switched jobs in early 2024. I’m in my late 40s. I have niche industry knowledge but I still took a pay cut (but decent by local standards) in exchange for what is considered stable employment. DH is a fed.

It’s tough

Yeah, because most of my experience has been in the DC area with federal and contracting type jobs and my neighbors are all lawyers. These seem to be insulated from ageism.

But I’ve had several friends laid off another parts of the country, some finance, some tech,some in manufacturing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

No house + no kids is the best way to achieve early retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.