What got you excited about retirement saving?
- Thread starter Finance Dave
- Start date
My best friends friends parents retired at 50. They worked in IT. I remember them saying IT was a very viable path to an early retirement for most people if you saved properly. ..I had a hard time saving at first and this year we slowed our savings a little but j too should be able to retire at 50.
When there was something I wanted as a kid, my parents told me to save for it. I was the wait a bit and you get 2 marshmallows type, so saving came easily. My dad told me about the Rule of 72, and soon I was playing with the numbers to see the value of compounding.
ArmchairMillionaire23
Recycles dryer sheets
I read The Millionaire Next Door and The Armchair Millionaire just after I turned 30. I was single, I had a decent j*b where I got to travel all over the country, I got paid every 2 weeks and many times when payday came around, I realized I hadn't spent any of my own money since the last paycheck. I decided that I needed to learn how to invest. I found both of those books in an airport (DTW?) bookstore and my world was forever changed.
tomc5179
Recycles dryer sheets
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When I was in my late 20's I started tracking my daily expenses in a notebook to get an idea of what I was spending. That alone was a game changer for me. A couple years later I decided to build a simple spreadsheet taking into account savings and compound interest. That lit my fire to study investing and the rest is history.
It's really a crime that financial management / savings is not a required course in public schools.
It's really a crime that financial management / savings is not a required course in public schools.
marko
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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+1000. It's more than a crime. We could even start with how to balance a check book.
We had it in my high school complete with a broker type guy who'd come in a few times a year and explain the basics and we would also "invest" with fake money and track our results. This was a private school so things were a little different.
Cassius King
Recycles dryer sheets
Grew up poor, but am a natural saver.
Fast forward to my "first" career job. Got a little cushy with the illusion that I was there for life and had it made. In comes a new manager that made the job a living hell. Right then and there decided I would never let one person or company be in charge of the welfare of my family and my life. It drove me to save every penny and put together a plan so that I would never put my family in that situation again. Fast forward to now, Coast FI, and looking forward to ER. Financial freedom does wonders for your perception of situations and your outlook on life.
Fast forward to my "first" career job. Got a little cushy with the illusion that I was there for life and had it made. In comes a new manager that made the job a living hell. Right then and there decided I would never let one person or company be in charge of the welfare of my family and my life. It drove me to save every penny and put together a plan so that I would never put my family in that situation again. Fast forward to now, Coast FI, and looking forward to ER. Financial freedom does wonders for your perception of situations and your outlook on life.
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I struggled through University, financially and grade-wise. I was a "townie" so didn't really establish membership in a "study group" until Senior year. I had to w*rk at rather menial j*bs to make my way (I drove a delivery truck, mowed lawns, w*rked in people's gardens and did unskilled "handy-man" type stuff for old ladies.) So w*rk and study was my routine for 4 years. I managed some dating of DGF who is now DW. Other than that, it was pretty much drudgery for 4 years.
I didn't really know much about financial stuff. I just knew how to save. Originally, I had saved for college. I never needed a loan. I paid for books, tuition, food, etc., but I did live at home and commuted.
When I got to my new Megacorp j*b, I saved for retirement.
The "light-bulb-coming-on" experience was my orientation at Megacorp. I was sent to Megacorp and I learned about a savings plan (not nearly as good as 401(k) because that didn't yet exist.) Projections of how saving just this little amount could add up to this huge amount by retirement at 65 really impressed me.
I started my savings plan ASAP and then switched to the 401(k) the minute it was available. I "Rothed" as soon as those were available (and had opened tIRAs before that.) I was a bad investor, but a good saver. The rest is history, as I FIRED at 58 and have way more than I think I'll need (AKA I have enough.)
I saw so many people who would spend every dime and then try to get loans for stuff or use CCs. I simply couldn't understand not being able to wait for gratification as waiting/saving simply made sense to me. YMMV.
I didn't really know much about financial stuff. I just knew how to save. Originally, I had saved for college. I never needed a loan. I paid for books, tuition, food, etc., but I did live at home and commuted.
When I got to my new Megacorp j*b, I saved for retirement.
The "light-bulb-coming-on" experience was my orientation at Megacorp. I was sent to Megacorp and I learned about a savings plan (not nearly as good as 401(k) because that didn't yet exist.) Projections of how saving just this little amount could add up to this huge amount by retirement at 65 really impressed me.
I started my savings plan ASAP and then switched to the 401(k) the minute it was available. I "Rothed" as soon as those were available (and had opened tIRAs before that.) I was a bad investor, but a good saver. The rest is history, as I FIRED at 58 and have way more than I think I'll need (AKA I have enough.)
I saw so many people who would spend every dime and then try to get loans for stuff or use CCs. I simply couldn't understand not being able to wait for gratification as waiting/saving simply made sense to me. YMMV.
