Typical "all-in" savings - early 40's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We saved very little before our late 30s. We traveled, changed jobs, studied, and enjoyed life. Then we saved down payment for house etc.

It is only now, in our 40s, that we are saving serious amounts. I have zero regrets. We will be well provided for in our retirement.

People who spend their 20s worrying about saving for retirement are depressing and drab. We never spent much on houses or cars (didn't even have a car until we had our second child), but we spent a lot on experiences. Compulsive saving and thrift can be just as destructive as under-saving. I have friends that have led very narrow lives as a result of their unwillingness to spend money.

Compound interest!

+100 another moron who doesn't understand basic math

Please stop insulting people. It does not make you come across well.

I am an economist so I understand compound interest perfectly. The fact is that these pension calculations tend to vastly overstate the importance of compound interest. Interest rates need to be compared against your own personal discount rate. And the fact is, one dollar was worth a lot more to me in my 20s than it is now. I could have saved $1000 when I was 25 and it would be worth $3000 now, 20 years later. But my salary has gone up 10-fold, and I got a lot more pleasure from spending $1000 when I was 25 than spending $3000 when I am 45!

This. The goal is to be in a position career wise in your 40s where you can sock it away. It’s very easy for me to save money now and doesn’t require forgoing vacations, decent clothing, a safe car, etc. In my 20s it did. Why skip a friend’s wedding in my 20s to save 1k when I can easily save $3k now and barely notice it?

so many complete f$%^7ing morons on here

Ok nice and slow for the mentally challenged

what provides you more cash

1k invested over 40 years or 3k invested over 20 years

try and use your pea brain and I will be back tomorrow with the answer idiots

NP: You're missing their point: absolute value of cash is sometimes less relevant than the psychological benefit of spending it at different times. Economist Lawrence Kotlikoff calls this consumption smoothing I think. 1000 spent in your 20s might provide more psychological benefit--and may benefit your personal, social and cognitive growth depending on how you spend it-- than having invested it or in spending 3000 in your 40s. If you set up your life so that you focus on build up a strong social network and a career with strong earning power in your 40s rather than focusing just on maximizing early capital investments, you might end up with more income overall and life satisfaction in the end. It's the same reason why it makes sense to invest in a college education.

This is some white UMC privilege on display. There are those of us on this forum coming from backgrounds where a strong social network has almost zero influence on career because we come from nothing and belong to race and gender classes that historically experience a lot of workplace discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Early 40s, 2 elementary kids, $1.5 mil in retirement, $900K in brokerage/savings, $60K in 529s (agree with PP these funds don't seem to be posting good returns, we contribute some to get the Virginia state tax break). HHI $320K.

[Anonymous]

At ages 44 and 46, our net worth is $2 million.