hguyw
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2008
- Messages
- 106
Actually from reading this board for the last few weeks, I can tell most of you were paying attention long before 50
So yes, I am 50 (actually closer to 51) and very glad to have found this board. You all seem like such a jovial bunch and very helpful, not to mention knowledgeable.
So here's my situation. I have, through no fault of my own, nearly $400,000 in a 403b at work (a junior college). While my job is not terrible, and the pay/hours are good, it's incredibly frustrating most of the time (why do they hire you and then get in your way of doing your job? Sigh.). Morale is terrible there and has been for years. There are some recent signs of positive change, but still, I'm working on getting my ducks in a row so I can leave at 57, or if things really deteriorate, at 55. (In case it's important, this is my 27th year on the job and I have seniority over everyone in my department.) Then again, if things are going swimmingly, I may stay longer. I think it's safe to say I'm planning for the worst but hoping for the best.
Now, I'm sure those of you sitting on a million bucks don't think $400,000 is nearly enough, but I make around $58,000 a year, my personal expenses only run around $1700 - $1900 a month, I have no debt (although that was not always the case) other than what's left on my mortgage ($16,200) and that will be paid off in August of 2014. I'm single and live in NY so a good chunk of what I make goes to taxes. When I leave work I plan to continue my small side business ($8,000 - $10,000) and since I've filed good old Schedule C for many years now, I will continue to do so. I'm currently putting 7% of my gross into my 403b, and my employer's contribution will go from 3% to 4% on April 1 of this year, 5% next April and up to 6% by April of 2010. My plan is to increase my contribution to 15% of my gross in Sept. of this year (my entire pay increase+ will go to retirement). I'm also saving as much as I can in an online savings account for...whatever, including a new car at some point. (My current car is 7 years old and has 60,000 miles on it, but I drove the last one into the ground - 130,000 miles.) I may also start paying down the mortgage balance.
In short, the Joneses left me in their dust a long time ago.
I do plan to stay in New York (central upstate, not the city) as I like it here and have no desire to spend any part of my year in a place that's hot and has big bugs or scorpions.
I've always been intimidated by the whole idea of investing - I generally regard Wall St. as a suburb of the Vegas Strip - but I know that it's probably better to face my fear, given that my 403b is invested, like it or not. So I've been reading and trying to become an informed retiree wanna-be. I now "get" the fundamentals of investing, the magic of compound interest, bonds are safe but grow slow, stocks are volatile but potentially grow fast, diversity is good, etc.
My personal finance library starts with Personal Finance for Dummies, but my favorites so far are Your Money or Your Life and Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt. I have signed up for a one-night class on asset allocation on March 26,and have an appointment with a TiAA-CREF advisor on March 27.
My goal at this point is to be very, very, very smart with my money over the next 5 - 7 years. I have a lot of beginner questions, but I'll only ask one here and save the rest for a new thread elsewhere on the forums. Here goes: Everybody (and I mean everybody) says I should also have a Roth. Roth, Roth, Roth. I understand the difference between a Roth (after-tax contributions) and the traditional with before-tax contributions, but I still don't get why I need a Roth. It seems to me that, even living in NY, my retirement taxes will be so low (at least according to Clyatt) that I'm better off saving tax $$ upfront by continuing my contributions to my 403b or by opening a traditional IRA or something. What am I missing here?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas!
-hgw
So yes, I am 50 (actually closer to 51) and very glad to have found this board. You all seem like such a jovial bunch and very helpful, not to mention knowledgeable.
So here's my situation. I have, through no fault of my own, nearly $400,000 in a 403b at work (a junior college). While my job is not terrible, and the pay/hours are good, it's incredibly frustrating most of the time (why do they hire you and then get in your way of doing your job? Sigh.). Morale is terrible there and has been for years. There are some recent signs of positive change, but still, I'm working on getting my ducks in a row so I can leave at 57, or if things really deteriorate, at 55. (In case it's important, this is my 27th year on the job and I have seniority over everyone in my department.) Then again, if things are going swimmingly, I may stay longer. I think it's safe to say I'm planning for the worst but hoping for the best.
Now, I'm sure those of you sitting on a million bucks don't think $400,000 is nearly enough, but I make around $58,000 a year, my personal expenses only run around $1700 - $1900 a month, I have no debt (although that was not always the case) other than what's left on my mortgage ($16,200) and that will be paid off in August of 2014. I'm single and live in NY so a good chunk of what I make goes to taxes. When I leave work I plan to continue my small side business ($8,000 - $10,000) and since I've filed good old Schedule C for many years now, I will continue to do so. I'm currently putting 7% of my gross into my 403b, and my employer's contribution will go from 3% to 4% on April 1 of this year, 5% next April and up to 6% by April of 2010. My plan is to increase my contribution to 15% of my gross in Sept. of this year (my entire pay increase+ will go to retirement). I'm also saving as much as I can in an online savings account for...whatever, including a new car at some point. (My current car is 7 years old and has 60,000 miles on it, but I drove the last one into the ground - 130,000 miles.) I may also start paying down the mortgage balance.
In short, the Joneses left me in their dust a long time ago.
I do plan to stay in New York (central upstate, not the city) as I like it here and have no desire to spend any part of my year in a place that's hot and has big bugs or scorpions.
I've always been intimidated by the whole idea of investing - I generally regard Wall St. as a suburb of the Vegas Strip - but I know that it's probably better to face my fear, given that my 403b is invested, like it or not. So I've been reading and trying to become an informed retiree wanna-be. I now "get" the fundamentals of investing, the magic of compound interest, bonds are safe but grow slow, stocks are volatile but potentially grow fast, diversity is good, etc.
My personal finance library starts with Personal Finance for Dummies, but my favorites so far are Your Money or Your Life and Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt. I have signed up for a one-night class on asset allocation on March 26,and have an appointment with a TiAA-CREF advisor on March 27.
My goal at this point is to be very, very, very smart with my money over the next 5 - 7 years. I have a lot of beginner questions, but I'll only ask one here and save the rest for a new thread elsewhere on the forums. Here goes: Everybody (and I mean everybody) says I should also have a Roth. Roth, Roth, Roth. I understand the difference between a Roth (after-tax contributions) and the traditional with before-tax contributions, but I still don't get why I need a Roth. It seems to me that, even living in NY, my retirement taxes will be so low (at least according to Clyatt) that I'm better off saving tax $$ upfront by continuing my contributions to my 403b or by opening a traditional IRA or something. What am I missing here?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas!
-hgw
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