16 years old, need advice on retirement investments.

[SteveR]

Two things:

Do I feel old?

Well to me it is not the age it is the mileage. I have lived a lot, seen a lot, experienced a lot and have the aches, pains and scars to prove it. Life is about living and not just existing. I made myself a promise a long time ago. I told myself that I did not what to be sitting in my wheel chair at age 85 and think to myself "If I had only done......" I have done much and yet have only started. The more physical persuits are behind me but the intellectual and spiritual ones are ahead of me.

I guess my answer is no, I don't feel old.....I feel experienced.


As to your other discussion about wanting to retire early; I say good for you! When I was your age I was looking ahead at what I wanted to do in life and formulated several possible pathways. While I can't say I did what I thought I would back then...I have done more in many ways and certainly experienced life more fully than I could ever have imagined when I was 16.

I applaud your foresight and your desire to be FI; which I believe is the real crux of your desires. Retirement is too confining a term. Being FI will open a lot of doors and retirement is only one of them. If you reframe your ideas to be FI instead of retired I believe you will understand what you will need to do to get there better and may enjoy the ride more too.

To repeat what others have said...don't forget to smell the roses along the way. Remember Silas Marner.

 

[Sheryl]

I feel older every year. (well duh).

But no matter how much you swear you won't turn out like your parents, you still might.

At 20 I expected to go everywhere and do everything.
At 30 I started to do so, and realized there wasn't enough time.
At 40 I realized there were some a few places and things I didn't really want to do anymore.
At 45 I'm getting scared that I am turning into a homebody.

I still plan to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, do a lot of scuba diving, run a marathon, try out paragliding.... etc. I'm just starting to fear that the enthusiasm will run out before I do it all...

(need to remind myself to see my own signature line)

 

[TromboneAl]

What an interesting thread.

If., you've got it made. I think you'll be successful whatever you do. You write well for a 16-year-old, and you seem quite mature.

I'm sure tempted to recommend that you go to college to take advantage of your talent, but I think your plan could work out pretty well. Could you go to college part time at a local college??

The danger is that at some point you'll feel that you've wasted your talents.

Here's a good plan. Turn your dad into a prodigious saver, and get him to retire and give you the business.

But how is it that you get along with your folks at age 16?

 

[wabmester]

At 45 I'm getting scared that I am turning into a homebody.

Embrace your inner homebody!

As we age, we get smarter, and we get less of a rush from adrenaline. I still enjoy life as much as ever, just a bit differently than when I was 16 and my hormones were raging.

 

[TromboneAl]

do any of you guys feel physically or mentally "tired" or "old" at your age?

Yes, pretty often.  At age 52 I've given up the hard core mogul skiing and short-board windsurfing that I had been fanatical about.  I still surf, but I'm limited by my body.  No more water skiing.  I sold my ice skates and rollerblades because of the high cost of health care.

I still have fun, but you are correct that there are advantages to retiring at 40 instead of 52.

But I have to say that one of the reasons I couldn't retire at 40 is that I went skiiing a lot and spent money on windsurf equipment.

 

[If.]

Hey,

  Thanks for all the replies, yea when I talk to my "plan" with different people they say oh well what if "Mrs. Right" comes by? But the thing is, "Mrs. Right" would have to be right in the sense of not being the usual money-hogging girl this day in age, and not mind me living at home. I had only one girlfriend, for 10 months last year and that ended up pretty bad when in the beginning we thought we would last forever, so next time I'm really going to think and wait a while before I decide I want to dedicate myself to one girl in the future. TromboneAl, thanks for the compliments, yea I can go to part-time to one of the county colleges around here, but if I do it's only going to be something I want to learn, like photography, astronomy, and kind of off-subjects like that. Thanks again for the replies.

 

[retire@40]

...yea I can go to part-time to one of the county colleges around here, but if I do it's only going to be something I want to learn, like photography, astronomy, and kind of off-subjects like that. Thanks again for the replies.

A few courses in business administration, accounting, marketing, and finance wouldn't hurt either, especially if you want to run your own business. 

A business owner wears many hats and usually tries to structure his business to make as much money as he can while minimizing his efforts in doing so.  Business courses can help you achieve these goals and can give synergy to the experience you pick up working with your father.

The key is to do what your father did, only better and smarter.  If you're really good, you may even be able to take the business to the next level.

 

[lazyday]

I've been a bit of a miser all my life, and there's not a single penny I regret saving.
I do wish I lived it up more in childhood through early 20s, but that really had nothing to do with spending. Was my lack of social skills. I have slowly improved them, but should have started much sooner, and not have been such an annoying kid. (If, not saying you were/are, just giving my perspective.)

For me, the freedom of not working is very nice, and I must admit makes me a little happier, but is NOT the key to happiness. It is good, but not nearly as good as might be expected.
IMO, starting a path to FI and/or RE from an early age (or any age) is worthwhile, but secondary to discovering what brings you happiness, and working towards those things.

I was miserable at 16. My "happiness" then compared to now is like night and day. But perhaps only 5% of that comes from RE.

If I could do it all over again, my path might not even take me to RE, but I imagine I'd be even happier than I am today.


Oh, on the greedy women thing--my experience has been that most women aren't that shallow. The few who were ran away screaming after (or before) the first date.

 

[Sheryl]

But the thing is, "Mrs. Right" would have to be right in the sense of not being the usual money-hogging girl this day in age, and not mind me living at home.

Hey, now!   Some of us females are just as frugal as the guys!  If - you're smart to know that to have a successful relationship you'll want to meet someone with similar goals and values as yours.   Look at it this way (what happened to me) if you meet a mate who's working toward the same goals, and has her own income and savings you'll get to FIRE almost twice as fast.

But I'm still betting you will end up moving out     

 

[Nords]

But I'm still betting you will end up moving out     

Unless you move over and the two of you live with your mother-in-law... how bad could that be?!?

 

[SteveR]

Unless you move over and the two of you live with your mother-in-law... how bad could that be?!?

 

[Sheryl]

Unless you move over and the two of you live with your mother-in-law... how bad could that be?!?

That could be really really bad.

 

[CybrMike]

congrats on your current line of thinking. Probably the best thing to do is start reading as many books as you can on investing and entrepreneurship and real estate.

My High School teacher always preached the BE-DO-HAVE mantra. The "Be" means working on your knowledge, which is a life-long pursuit. The "Do" means getting out there and putting what you have learned to use, and the "have" is obviously getting what you want out of life, be it material or otherwise. The point was to keep it in order, be-do-have.

Anyways, I'm the 24 year old with 5 million, and I'm here to tell you there are many ways in life to achieve your goals, and you shouldn't limit yourself to having to be a spendthrift or live in your parents basement to accomplish those goals. At 16, I was trying to get laid, at 18 I was learning about entrepreneurship and investing, and now at 24 I've been fortunate to be very successful. The theme is DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF.

I also agree that CDs makes getting rich or retiring early very difficult, at least put some money in Vanguard Total Stock Market or something similar.

 

[Nords]

The theme is DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF.

At age 45 I'm still behaving like a 16-year-old. But I'm much better at it this time...

 

[vic]

At age 45 I'm still behaving like a 16-year-old. But I'm much better at it this time...

Like in chasing chicks etc?

 

[vic]

I already have a job with my father(siding and windows contractor) making 15$ an hour. When I graduate and work full time with him, I will recieve atleast a dollar raise every six months. ats virtually no risk other than CD's? Thanks a bunch.

If,

What really strikes me as completely bogus is the pay that you are getting or better: counting on. At age 35, you will be getting more than $50/hour. Sure, there is inflation but it does not seem very realistic. This is only feasible if Daddy screws the rest of his workers out of decent pay. My framer/siding contractor pays his #1 guy around $ 50K/year incl bonus. This guys is absolutely top notch. They work 6 days/week, about 10 hour days. Works out to be $17-19/hour incl bonus. Rest of folks are in the $ 25-35K range.

Btw, you should know by now that construction is feast or famine. Feast season is still going on. Put that in your calculations. If Daddy is a sole proprietor (which it seems since there is even no retirement planning), Daddy can be wiped out by a workplace accident very easily if he does not carry some serious liability insurance. Framing/cornice/roofing is very prone to workplace accidents. For that reason, many skip insurance and cross their fingers. Hope you have at least insurance yourself in case you fall of the roof. Those little incidents tend to mess up dreams a lot.

Vicky

 

[If.]

Well first of all, I don't know how a siding contractor can work 10 hours a day 6 days a week. My dad works about 30 or so hours a week, more in spring/summer/fall, little less in winter, and makes about 100,000. He has no other workers, except me occasionally. To show that I make him some money too, say for example he works 4, eight hour days a week and makes $520 a day on average. He makes $65 an hour. I can save him about 2 hours a day when I work with him, and if I did it for no pay, he would make a little over $86 an hour. Currently he pays me $15 an hour, so he makes $71 an hour when I help. He also works the same amount of hours he would alone, when I help, so he makes $6 more an hour, or $48 more a day. In a year or two of working full time with him, I will just about help him get it done twice as quick. So $520 in 4 hours, is $130 an hour. So he can pay me up to $65 an hour until he starts losing money, that won't happen considering it wouldn't happen atleast 20 years from when I graduate, and if you count inflation he would still make more money even after that, since he would then be making more then $520 a day. Does it make sense now?

   Do you mean feast or famine as like during the spring summer and fall working conditions are good and winter conditions aren't? Yes I have that in my calculations. And yes my dad has liability insurance, but he hasn't had a serious accident(not the occasional accidental hammer to thumb stuff). His job isn't really that dangerous, at most on a job he spends a few minutes on a roof, to hook the scaffold poles to the roof, and even then he doesn't really walk on the roof. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to my dad as "daddy" like I'm some little immature kid, thanks.

 

[Scrapr]

Feast or Famine
See 1980-1985

 

[deserat]

To the group,

Wow - if I had the advice you all were giving to If. at 16, I'd be retired by now for sure.

To If.,

1) Do not be in any hurry to find a girl - find out who you are first before you find someone else. It will make a huge difference in the success of any relationship. Know your values and goals and be true to them. You will then attract someone similar and you can journey through life together. For example: it is important to you to retire early and in order to do that you must manage your lifestyle costs----find a girl who has those same values.

2) The earlier you start to save the better - if you start now, you will be able to quit working sooner. I hope I attribute this appropriately, but Einstein and Benjamin Franklin praised compound interest. Read about Benjamin - he endowed Philidelphia with some money when he died in the early 1800's and they are still able to use the interest from the principal and then some today....I think he gave them $100 or $200 and it is now worth many millions.

3) Read "Your Money or Your Life", "The Millionaire Next Door", ESRBobs new book "Work Less, Live More", "The Lazy Investment Guide." These books are easy to read and should help you on your journey on how to invest and manage your money now and in the future. These books also work on understanding the philosophical side of money. Two other books "How to retire at 35" - Terhorst - and "The Early-Retirement Guide" by Billy and Akaisha (Billy on the site here) - they will show you another way to retire.

Good luck - I envy you but hope you stay disciplined and succeed.

Bridget

 

[Howard]

Life is for living, I cannot understand why one so young should be so fixated on gathering Material Wealth, to do what with.?

Oldest Son left for China at 21, 7 years later he has climbed the hills in Nepal, travelled up to Tibet, visited for months at a time, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mynamar, backpacking all the way.

He lives with a Chinese Girl, speaks fluent Mandarin, graduated top of his class, but when he sits in his rocking chair, his memories will keep him warmer than stacks of paper.

I feel sorry for Warren Buffet, what a dull life he has lived.


Our generation rejected materialism, some where the train lost its tracks??

 

[wildcat]

Howard -

Wealth accumulation, from my perspective, has never been about acquiring a certain level of status or materialism. Wealth accumulation has always been about the freedom it will provide me. Lastly, I don't think it is impossible to enjoy life and save money. Not too difficult.

 

[maddythebeagle]

Life is for living, I cannot understand why one so young should be so fixated on gathering Material Wealth, to do what with.?

Huh? No matter how ridiculous this entire thread was , I dont think the OP was looking to buy sports cars and buy bling.

 

[vic]

I think follow up thread has to be started.

As a follow up of '16 years old, need advice on retirement investments' the new thread could be '16 years old, need advice on how to get a life'

Dude, you are *16* years old. All you can think of his how to get as much money as possible and then move straight from mommy and daddy's house to a latin american country. You scare me. Hope you don't miss out on your *LIFE* in between.

Once I shared a house with a guy that had done nothing but work since he was able to walk. He was the son of chinese immigrants and always worked the convenience store instead of doing the other stuff that the other kids were doing. So at age 32, this virgin moved out of mommy and daddy's house into the country to get his first job after grad school. He was almost FI at that time, I don't think he actually needed a job. He showed up at closing for his first house with a suitcase of cash (that caused panic with all other parties), no morgage required. He was banned from grocery shopping after he had fed us roomates too many expired bargain products that had caused massive skin rash on us. I am not a big spender but I had never see someone that cheap and out of it. He was completely frustrated with the other sex - had no idea what to do with it or even how to start a conversation or anything like that. He was a nice guy but so out of touch in a lot of ways. He had missed out on very important parts of his life and it was so obvious to the extent that it scared me.

Vicky

 

[Nords]

I feel sorry for Warren Buffet, what a dull life he has lived.

I've read his bios (particularly Lowenstein's), I don't think Buffett has any regrets. He's certainly able to meet more interesting people than I ever will.

I'm sure he was motivated by the money for his first million or so, but I doubt he keeps getting up in the morning for it. He's hardwired to do one thing very very well, although it tends to be to the exclusion of much of what many of the rest of us would regard as "living". But I don't think that most of us could fill a stadium when we feel like talking.

He's raised his kids and avoided any "Daddy Dearest" tell-all books, so I think he's successful even without his filthy lucre!

 

[retire@40]

Life is for living, I cannot understand why one so young should be so fixated on gathering Material Wealth, to do what with.?

Oldest Son left for China at 21, 7 years later he has climbed the hills in Nepal, travelled up to Tibet, visited for months at a time, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mynamar, backpacking all the way.

He lives with a Chinese Girl, speaks fluent Mandarin, graduated top of his class, but when he sits in his rocking chair, his memories will keep him warmer than stacks of paper.

I feel sorry for Warren Buffet, what a dull life he has lived.

Our generation rejected materialism, some where the train lost its tracks??

Interesting.  One person living a very humble life in the Orient with very little money.  Another person living a very humble life in the USA being the second richest person in the world.

It sounds like they are both doing what they want to do when they want to do it and how they want to do it.

I don't see much of a difference between the two.