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View Poll Results: What percentage of your gross yearly income do you save for retirement? "Income" = payche
0% - 2% 3 2.46%
3% - 5% 1 0.82%
6% - 8% 1 0.82%
9% - 11% 8 6.56%
12% - 14% 5 4.10%
15% - 17% 7 5.74%
18% - 20% 5 4.10%
21% - 23% 10 8.20%
24% - 26% 7 5.74%
27% - 29% 4 3.28%
30% - 32% 13 10.66%
33% - 35% 8 6.56%
36% - 38% 6 4.92%
39% - 41% 5 4.10%
42% - 44% 11 9.02%
45% - 47% 1 0.82%
48% - 50% 7 5.74%
51% - 53% 3 2.46%
54% - 56% 3 2.46%
57% - 60% 2 1.64%
More than 60% 12 9.84%
Voters: 122. You may not vote on this poll

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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-30-2005, 02:34 PM   #101
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

I love it when you talk dirty...
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-30-2005, 03:14 PM   #102
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurence
Let's not get too deep here, the forum (for some of us) is just another hobby or club. Since I started posting here the time it takes up in my life would normally be spent watching a sitcom or something equally as brainless. I don't lose any sleep over that trade off.
If I didn't have the forum..I don't know what I would do man...probably go back to robbing banks...
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Originally Posted by Laurence
Oh yeah, DanTien, men have nipples because all embryos begin developing as females, by the time the Y chromosome kicks in and begins expressing male hormones, the nipples have already formed.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-30-2005, 03:33 PM   #103
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by wab
I'm sure even JG is human.* *And this looks like it might have been his swan song:

last post?
No way. Edward R. Murrow said that every night, and he always came back the next day.

Anyway, if you are out there John, I forgive you even for saying I make silly posts.

Ha
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-30-2005, 10:39 PM   #104
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SLC Tortfeasor
Sure, there's some value in contributing to our beloved ER Forum, but is there really enough to justify posting at a rate of 4.5 per day (Nords) or over 6 per day (Mr. Galt)?
Absolutely.
1. Gotta write. If it's not here it's on FundAlarm or M* or Raddr's or a couple other local/military boards. So 4.5/day is a low estimate.

2. My brain will not spin down. Every day all day (and most of the night) it's full of "Gee, I wonder why" questions. If I didn't have the interaction afforded by this board then I'd have to divert my full hyperactive output toward my spouse, a situation which I've been assured will drastically shorten my lifespan.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 12:00 PM   #105
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
Absolutely.*
1.* Gotta write.* If it's not here it's on FundAlarm or M* or Raddr's or a couple other local/military boards.* So 4.5/day is a low estimate.

2.* My brain will not spin down.* Every day all day (and most of the night) it's full of "Gee, I wonder why" questions.* If I didn't have the interaction afforded by this board then I'd have to divert my full hyperactive output toward my spouse, a situation which I've been assured will drastically shorten my lifespan.
LOL!* Okay, I understand.* I have have a hard enough time getting my brain to "spin up," so I'm always amazed when I encounter people who have the energy to be deeply mentally engaged in a lot of different things.* It's probably yet another sign that I watched too much Three's Company after school when I was a kid.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 01:16 PM   #106
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Nords, thank you for one of the funniest posts I've seen here on E-R.org. You hit this one out of the park. I can only hope that the rest of the YDs are similiarly warned about taking JG's oft proffered "advice."


Quote:
Originally Posted by ((^+^)) SG
I don't know what got into you, Nords, but thanks.

JG is a lot like *****.* If you are not familiar with the whole story, you wonder why his posts bother some of the other posters.* But when the total story is spelled out, it is not credible.* In fact, it is very misleading.

I imagine that both ***** and JG believe they are being totally honest.* They both think that they are surperior to the rest of the board.* They both belive their advice is valuable when, in fact, it is potentially very dangerous. . .

I am bothered by many of JG's posts -- not because there is any danger that they may lead me astray, but because new readers may not realize that he is full of sh## and might actually follow his advice.* *
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 06:04 PM   #107
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Sorry in advance for the wet-blanket post, but here goes.

When thinking this afternoon about the savings goal of accumulating 25 times your anticipated spending needs, it occurred to me what a daunting task that really is. Consider the would-be retiree who wishes to retire with an income stream of $50k per year. If you assume a normal inflation rate like 3%, every year his savings goal increases by $37,500 ($50,000 * 3% * 25) compounding at the rate of inflation! If not for the benefits of compounding investment returns, it might be down right impossible for people of normal means to achieve a portfolio large enough. (All the more reason to make sure your investments outperform inflation by a nice margin).

To satisfy my curiosity, and prove that ER was indeed possible, I ran some calculations using the following (simplified) assumptions: Would-be Retiree is 30 years old, no savings, $50K annual income, wages grow at the rate of inflation, 3% inflation, 8% investment returns, and no taxes.

The question I wanted to answer was, "what % of WB Retiree's gross income does he need to save to achieve a 4% withdrawal rate assuming he does not reduce spending after retirement?" (e.g. if he makes $50K and saves $20K, he will still spend $30K in retirement).

To retire at 65 he needs to save 21% of his gross income
To retire at 55 he needs to save 34% of his gross income
To retire at 45 he needs to save 52% of his gross income

The moral of the story, save hard and invest well. It ain't impossible, but it ain't easy either.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 07:16 PM   #108
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by . . . Yrs to Go
To retire at 65 he needs to save 21% of his gross income
To retire at 55 he needs to save 34% of his gross income
To retire at 45 he needs to save 52% of his gross income

The moral of the story, save hard and invest well.* It ain't impossible, but it ain't easy either.
You are so right! How many people can live a nice life, and save 52% of gross income? How many would think the game was worth the candle?

If I were young and had the sole goal of retiring as early as possible, I think 3 approaches stand out.

1)Government work. Military, school teacher, city, county, state, it's all gummit. And if you do your shopping, plenty great retirement plans exist.

2)High paid expat work, where the living can be very cheap, the wages very good, and tax breaks.

3)Software startup or young company. A long shot, but when it works it works well. If it doesn’t seem to be working, sometime in your early 30s re-evaluate and you might try a start-up yourself, or if not that enterprising, switch to mode 1 or 2 above.

I think # 1 is maybe the only very secure, very low risk way to get to ER without scrimping and denying oneself along the way.

Ha
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 07:44 PM   #109
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Excellent post Yrs to go and best of all -- I agree 100% So no arguments this time.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 09:25 PM   #110
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by HaHa
You are so right! How many people can live a nice life, and save 52% of gross income? How many would think the game was worth the candle?
Who's defining "nice life"? Does the cost to live a nice life increase proportionally to an individual's income?

Does a nice life for one person making $100k cost 4 times the nice life for a person making $25k?

I guess it may depend on what living a "nice life" means to you. If you define it in terms of personal consumption, then you may be able to put a price tag on it. You could perhaps quantify some relationship between income earned and an "expected" lifestyle commensurate with that level of income. With this understanding of "nice life", it would cost the high income family much more to live a nice life than a low income family, although the ratio of expenses to income may remain the same.

When I think of a "nice life", I think of having basic needs met (food, water, shelter, healthcare), social interaction and entertainment, being fulfilled, having time to spend with family and friends, keeping stress to a minimum, the freedom to do what you want, when you want on your terms. Spending a large percentage of what you earn is not required in order to satisfy most of these needs (assuming you have a middle-class or higher income).

To some, it may not be worthwhile to eliminate wasteful spending. From my point of view, obtaining "the freedom to do what you want, when you want on your terms" means FIRE. If I can eliminate wasteful spending without sacrificing what I feel constitutes a nice life, then I'll do it. If I'm able to FIRE in 20 years instead of 30 by saving at a high rate, why not? Why work 50% more just to indulge in some meaningless frivolous spending? Why waste 10 more years of my life than is necessary?
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 09:46 PM   #111
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Well the wife and I make around 160K a year. *We spend 70K even though we are debt free. *This should drop when one son gets out of college and the other moves out . *28K goes into the 401K and 25-30k goes into the brokerage account . *The rest goes to taxes and health insurance. *

So if my math is correct, we are saving around 35% of gross.

Ive run some budgets and with no kids at home we can be comfortable with $42,000 a year. *We could pay our bare bone living expenses on around $24,000 but that wouldn't be much fun. *

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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 10-31-2005, 09:50 PM   #112
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by HaHa
You are so right! How many people can live a nice life, and save 52% of gross income? How many would think the game was worth the candle?

If I were young and had the sole goal of retiring as early as possible, I think 3 approaches stand out.

1)Government work. Military, school teacher, city, county, state, it's all gummit. And if you do your shopping, plenty great retirement plans exist.

2)High paid expat work, where the living can be very cheap, the wages very good, and tax breaks.

3)Software startup or young company. A long shot, but when it works it works well. If it doesn’t seem to be working, sometime in your early 30s re-evaluate and you might try a start-up yourself, or if not that enterprising, switch to mode 1 or 2 above.

I think # 1 is maybe the only very secure, very low risk way to get to ER without scrimping and denying oneself along the way.

Ha
Plenty written about #1 so I will throw in my pitch for #2 as there are a few expatriate workers hanging around here. The first benefit and one which I think is imperative if one is to enjoy an expat experience is to actually WANT to live in another country. The desire to experience a different culture (with all it's ups and downs) must be strong in order not to fall into the depressing trap of comparing everything (often negatively) with back home.

The tax benefits are not always as profitable as they seem - US citizens for example being taxed worldwide, although the tax free thresh holds are somewhat more generous. None US citizens benefit from not being taxed on the income not earned in their home country. For low taxation try the Arabian Gulf, mostly income tax free, or parts of Asia, where personal tax rates are generally pretty low. Regardless of the actual tax rate in the host country, many employers will pay a proportion of a salary "offshore" so as to circumvent local taxation for at least some of the salary.

As for the "High Paid" element of expat work, well that all depends on ones profession and the needs of the host country in order to obtain working status in the first place. Teachers, engineer types, people with specialties/niche operators will stand a good chance of a visa and higher pay. Waitresses, cab drivers, secretaries, steel fixers (whilst no disrespect to those professions) don't possess skills not alreadly available in most countries and at a lower cost. So even if they are fortunate enough to land a visa sponsor, the pay is likely to be not better or even lower than that at home.

In my own case, after nearly 10 years in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a rule of thumb would be that I have averaged about double the salary level I would have achieved at home, with a total taxation rate (for the whole period) of about 6 % - lowest level paid was 0% in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, highest level was about 35% in Europe.

What dies all that mean in straighforward cash? Compared to staying home, I have had an after tax income of roughly 3 times that which I would have had. Result is that 10 years of overseas work has poduced about 30 years of say at home income.

Having said all the above, consider the experiences of a number of of people I have worked with over the years. Either they hated their location and missed home and were only their for the money, thus were totally miserable most of the time. Or some saw their markedly increased income and decided to live large; I have seen several of them finally return home with little more than a few thousand put away, wondering were it all went.

Just one mans view from his little spot on the kerb side of the road less travelled.

Cheers,

Honkie.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 03:45 AM   #113
 
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Interesting thoughts from Wesley (papa of the Methodist Church)

HH

11. Do you ask what it is to "lay up treasures on earth?" It will be needful to examine this thoroughly. And let us, First, observe what is not forbidden in this command, that we may then clearly discern what is.

We are not forbidden in this command, First, to "provide things honest in the sight of all men," to provide wherewith we may render unto all their due, -- whatsoever they can justly demand of us. So far from it that we are taught of God to "owe no man anything." We ought therefore to use all diligence in our calling, in order to owe no man anything: this being no other than a plain law of common justice which our Lord came "not to destroy but to fulfil."

Neither, Secondly, does he here forbid the providing for ourselves such things as are needful for the body; a sufficiency of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on. Yea, it is our duty, so far as God puts it into our power, to provide these things also; to the end we may "eat our own bread," and be burdensome to no man.

Nor yet are we forbidden, Thirdly, to provide for our children, and for those of our own household. This also it is our duty to do, even upon principles of heathen morality. Every man ought to provide the plain necessaries of life both for his own wife and children, and to put them into a capacity of providing these for themselves when he is gone hence and is no more seen. I say, of providing these, the plain necessaries of life; not delicacies, not superfluities; -- and that by their diligent labour; for it is no man's duty to furnish them any more than himself with the means either Of luxury or idleness. But if any man provides not thus far for his own children (as well as for the widows of his own house, of whom primarily St. Paul is speaking in those well-known words to Timothy), he hath practically "denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel," or Heathen.

Lastly. We are not forbidden, in these words, to lay up, from time to time what is needful for the carrying on our worldly business in such a measure and degree as is sufficient to answer the foregoing purposes; -- in such a measure as, First, to owe no man anything; Secondly, to procure for ourselves the necessaries of life; and, Thirdly, to furnish those of our own house with them while we live, and with the means of procuring them when we are gone to God.

12. We may now clearly discern (unless we are unwilling to discern it) what that is which is forbidden here. It is the designedly procuring more of this world's goods than will answer the foregoing purposes; the labouring after a larger measure of worldly substance, a larger increase of gold and silver, -- the laying up any more than these ends require, -- is what is here expressly and absolutely forbidden. If the words have any meaning at all, it must be this; for they are capable of no other. Consequently, whoever he is that, owing no man anything, and having food and raiment for himself and his household, together with a sufficiency to carry on his worldly business so far as answers these reasonable purposes; whosoever, I say, being already in these circumstances, seeks a still larger portion on earth; he lives in an open habitual denial of the Lord that bought him. He hath practically denied the faith, and is worse than" an African or American "infidel."

Edited by Jean Fogerson with corrections by Ryan Danker and George Lyons for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.

Copyright © 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Text may be freely used for personal or scholarly purposes or mirrored on other web sites, provided this notice is left intact. Any use of this material for commercial purposes of any kind is strictly forbidden without the express permission of the Wesley Center at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID 83686. Contact the webmaster for permission.


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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 10:16 AM   #114
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Does that mean that ketchup is a sin?
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 10:17 AM   #115
 
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

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Does that mean that ketchup is a sin?
Huh?
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 10:33 AM   #116
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

I'd prefer not to lay-up any ketchup, but its a delicacy that my wife and child demand of me. For myself, I try to forgo the temptation of that superfluity.

Its not just buying ketchup today, you know. I have to lay-up treasures to buy ketchup in my retirement too! I'm so weak.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 10:35 AM   #117
 
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by slepyhed
I'd prefer not to lay-up any ketchup, but its a delicacy that my wife and child demand of me. For myself, I try to forgo the temptation of that superfluity.

Its not just buying ketchup today, you know. I have to lay-up treasures to buy ketchup in my retirement too! I'm so weak.
I think that Wesley himself needs to reply to this. Unfortunately, he can't come to the computer right now . . .

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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 11:16 AM   #118
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by slepyhed
I'd prefer not to lay-up any ketchup, but its a delicacy that my wife and child demand of me. For myself, I try to forgo the temptation of that superfluity.

Its not just buying ketchup today, you know. I have to lay-up treasures to buy ketchup in my retirement too! I'm so weak.

Yea, tho I walk in the valley of the shadow of Tomato, I fear no ketchup - for Mickey D is with me, his burger and his fry at his side.
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 11:30 AM   #119
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfHaroldHill
Neither, Secondly, does he here forbid the providing for ourselves such things as are needful for the body; a sufficiency of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on.
Well, there's raiment, and then there is Salvatore Ferragamo.*

Ha
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?
Old 11-01-2005, 11:51 AM   #120
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Re: What percentage of your gross income do you save?

I sinned. And I had to confess because Greg and I are currently writing down all our purchases so we can figure out how much money we spend.

I bought a pair of $400 shoes off the discount rack for $80. More than mere raiment.

There was no need, only desire.

The problem with puritanical writings about LBYM is the requirment to suffer as well. Not only can't you spend much money on food, you can't make it taste good. It has to be "plain." The puritans would have had something if they made LBYM fun.
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