I've been crunching numbers lately trying to figure out what I need for retirement. Best to start young when you have time working in your advantage. Let that interest build!

Do you have any retirement plans in order? If so, what percentage do you put in and does your company match any?

I was working under a temp. agency the past 18 months and now that I am hired in direct, I have finally set up my 401k. I had a 401k at my previous employer, but I rolled it into my Roth IRA when I quit working there.

For the past year, I have been contributing to a Roth IRA. This is an account that is taxed now, so when I withdraw from it, it won't be taxed. I have it set to take out $150/mo from my checking account. That's $1,800/yr. If I wait until I'm 65 to withdraw, I would have about $75,000 in the account. The money is being invested into an allocation account though so hopefully it will earn interest from now until then. An allocation acct. is basically the same thing as a target fund; while I'm young it does riskier investments and the older you get the more conservative investments it does for you... that way I don't have to do anything, the plan takes care of itself. I would like to make my contribution higher eventually when I make more and have a second income to help (aka wife and/or renting out houses).

For my 401k, my company matches 60% of the first 5% you put in... this basically means they match 3%. So for right now I am only putting in 5% in and again this is into a Target Fund (targeted for me retiring at 65) so it will take care of itself. I will probably bump that percentage up if I split bills with someone and when I get a raise again. I did not put this into a Roth 401k, so it is pre-taxed now, and I will pay taxes later on it when I withdraw. I figured I kind of need the money more right now than I will 40 years from now. I won't be paying taxes on the money I withdraw from my Roth IRA, so it kind of balances out.

Just have to hope I can collect SS by the time I'm 65 and that I have a pension from whatever company I'm with. Then it's time for all vacations and toys!

 

I contribute 5% to a ROTH 401(k) plan and my wife contributes 5% to a 403(b ) plan (regular, not Roth). I use NYLIM and she uses Fidelity.

My company matches 50% up to 5%. Matches are quarterly and vesting occurs in 25% increments over 5 years (100% @ 5yr). Additionally, the matching increases over time. 50% 1-4 years, 75% 5-9, and 100% 10+ years of service.

My wife's company matches 1:1 up to 5% BUT requires a mandatory 3%. She's also immediately vested in the company's match.

 

I'll be receiving my PERS retirement (assuming it's not bankrupt/nonexistent by then) when I'm old enough. They take the average of the last 3 years I'll work and give me 2.67% per year worked (2.67% x 30 years = 80.1%). I've got 3 years in so far. smile.gif

 

I drop $250 from every paycheck and the company does a 50% match. Have been doing this since I started. smile.gif

 

I was doing 7% at my last job with them matching 3%, so 10% total.

I pulled out $10k for a downpayment on my house penalty free which was nice, right before the market tanked.

Market tanked and my value was at 20% of it's value after my withdrawal for the house at the time I got laid off even though I was still contributing 10% of my income for about 18 months, so actual value lost was far more than 80%. As of the statement I got today I am at about 90% of what I put in, so I would have been better off to have put it all in a coffee can than to have had it invested. At least it's come up to something close to what I put in at least. If I leave it alone it'll come back up in value, so I will leave it alone as long as I can.

I figure I'll want to have about $2.5 million to retire by 60, $2 million if I retire at 65, and $1 million if I can wait to retire until 75. I'm assuming that SS won't be there for me, but if it is that will lower the amounts needed significantly.

At this rate I'll have to work until I die, assuming that I find a job to work at.

 

New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) provides an easy way to calculate returns on their website. It's very user friendly.

My Personal Rate of Returns for the last 1-year period is 46.786%.

From the day I started 3 years ago ( 09/28/2006 ) through yesterday's date, I have a 20.148% rate of return. w00t! It recovered very nicely, I was negative (-32%) at one point.

 

I'm currently not saving, but then I have a negative cash flow.

I don't expect to get a dime from SS. It took me 7 years of working before I'd put in enough that they said I never had to put another dime in and could still draw the normal rate. That's when I knew how stupid the system is. 40+ years of contributing after I'd paid for myself in 7 years. Yeah, obviously WAY too many people getting it that shouldn't be. Anyways....

My last company matched 100% up to 4%. So I was putting in my 4% and instantly doubling my money even if the 401k didn't appreciate. I will not tolerate single digit returns as that is not an investment, it's hedging inflation. For 2009, my rate sucked for the 1Q, but still finished the year at about 32%. 2008 it lost just about 50% so I reallocated my funds, and now it's about where it was at the beginning of '08. I don't mind, because where it was is still >2 times what I put in.

I've been waiting for 3 years now, looking for a chance to buy a new place and pull it all out as a downpayment, but I'm still in my old house.

Other than that, I don't "save" like most people, my money handling is too fluid for that. I did make some money in ammo sales and other commodities this year though. banana.gif

 

Do you guys think since SS will run out by the time we hit retirement age, will we still have to contribute to SS in our paychecks when it does run dry? laugh.gif tongue.gif

 

I don't think it'll "run out" just that they'll reduce benefits, probably to the point that it doesn't matter.