Retired people of F80.BimmerPost - How did you save for retirement?

[F80Noob]

Defined benefit plan here as well (2.15% per year of service), plus a 457 to augment the difference between active and my retired pay. Not retired yet, 10 years to go...

[Bullwinkle628]

Originally Posted by jmg

I think there is a special demographic here of retirees who can still afford an F8X despite leaving the workforce. To me, that is admirable, as I see too many retirees rely on a fixed income that doesn't maintain the lifestyle that they previously had.

As a youngish person looking ahead towards my future and hopefully fruitful retirement, I'd like to know what is the main contributor to your nest egg? 401k? Real Estate? Passive Income streams (if so, what kind?) Stock market? Investments? Good old simple living? A lifetime of saving X amount of dollars a year (if so, how much or what %, whatever you feel comfortable disclosing). Something I haven't thought of or forgot?

Thanks so much for any insight. Spread your wisdom!

Time and compound interest are your friends, max out your 401k if you can, or at least put in the amount that gets you the employer match. save another 5-10% for emergency fund/ a few months pay fund so if stuff happens, you have some cash. Buy a house or rent a modest house in a neighborhood you like, live within your means, and try to keep debt to a minimum. I'm not retired yet, but have a military pension, VA disability, and some passive income from real estate rental. I'll have my M3 in retirement, and when I get another I will get a 2-4 year, one owner with maintenance records.

[colossians323]

Originally Posted by jmg

I think there is a special demographic here of retirees who can still afford an F8X despite leaving the workforce. To me, that is admirable, as I see too many retirees rely on a fixed income that doesn't maintain the lifestyle that they previously had.

As a youngish person looking ahead towards my future and hopefully fruitful retirement, I'd like to know what is the main contributor to your nest egg? 401k? Real Estate? Passive Income streams (if so, what kind?) Stock market? Investments? Good old simple living? A lifetime of saving X amount of dollars a year (if so, how much or what %, whatever you feel comfortable disclosing). Something I haven't thought of or forgot?

Thanks so much for any insight. Spread your wisdom!

Yes

[colossians323]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

Spent 21 years in the Air Force and retired with a pension. Worked for the state of Texas for 20 years and retired with a pension. Wife worked 30 years for federal government and retired with a pension. Wife and I contributed to IRA accounts for 30 years. Wife and I got old and collect Social Security. With 3 pensions and 2 social security checks we are doing about as well as when we were working. House is paid for, cars are paid for and we have no debt, so we have enough income to be very comfortable, plus the IRAs in the bank.

Thank you for your service.
On the other hand, it is upsetting to see the government (other than military), over to those what the private sector can't afford.

The tax payer is suffering to make sure you are not

[colossians323]

Originally Posted by Gibson6594

There is a lot of automatic assumption that debt is always a bad thing and that loans should always be avoided. That is not a fact. For example, I have a loan on my M3, I could quite easily pay it off today if I wanted to. I choose not to and I believe it is the economically wise choice.

Money always has a greater than or lesser than value. Sometimes taking on debt allows you to increase the value of other monies. You just have to figure how to apply your funds to put them in the position of the most applicable value.

If you are not paying cash for cars, you are doing it wrong (unless you have 2% or less interest.

[therealkenc]

Originally Posted by colossians323

If you are not paying cash for cars, you are doing it wrong (unless you have 2% or less interest.

Or if you can generate higher returns on invested capital than whatever your loan rate is…

That's the power of leverage. Not for you to buy things that you can't afford, but so that your money can (ideally) be put into higher yielding investments.

If you're paying cash on big purchases just because you can, but not taking into account your opportunity cost of capital, I'm afraid you're doing it wrong.