Retirement Savings - How much is enough? 2.1M according to Blackrock CEO

[cobracide]

Is anyone here good with annuities??
I have john Hancock and have 2 things allocates but I know yall poebaky know which funds are the best investments ⁹

Personally I think you can do better than an annuity. See above S&P500 no load.. I mean you can get 4% out of a money market . But anyways here are some good performers:

Product Type	Top Performer (Rate)	Company	AM Best Rating
7-Year MYGA	6.30%	Gulf Guaranty Life	B++
10-Year MYGA	5.85%	Revol One DirectGrowth	B++
7-Year MYGA	5.85%	Revol One DirectGrowth	B++
10-Year MYGA	5.55%	Oceanview Harbourview 10	A
7-Year MYGA	5.50%	Axonic Waypoint 7	A-

 

[1 Alibi 2]

Not being a jerk, serious question...then what was the point of your nest egg? Inheritance for someone else, funding for nursing home care?

When I took the forced buyout in 2008, I had to do something with the money from the Co. stock plan......................= nest egg.
The house got paid off in 2009, & as odd as it sounds, my income has grown & exceeded what I was making when I worked..
.

 

[Weather Man]

My retirement picture is looking bleak. I’m 42 with a 8 year old and 5 year old with less than $50k in a 401k.

If I want to have $2.1 million by 65 I would need a company 6% match up to $4500 a year and contribute max to 401k for 23 years. That’s if I get an annual 8% return.

2025 max is $24,500. If I max the wife would need to max and that is nearly $50k of our combined income.

That is crazy to think of all the things I won’t be able to do or build memories with the kids because my wife and I need over 100k a year in retirement pay from a 401k.

I do need to save tho, just need to find a good balance of living well now and comfortable in the future.

Don't think of the end number because that will seem impossible to hit. You just try and do something every month. Don't try and hit the home run stocks. At 42 you want strong capital gains winners, but you also want stocks that have capital gains and dividends. The dividends are nice because it gives you a sense of progress on months when you can't hit it hard. They also give you wiggle room if you need a little extra and a sense of satisfaction when you reinvest and that pays more dividends to you. Good luck!

 

[*Jay*]

Don't think of the end number because that will seem impossible to hit. You just try and do something every month. Don't try and hit the home run stocks. At 42 you want strong capital gains winners, but you also want stocks that have capital gains and dividends. The dividends are nice because it gives you a sense of progress on months when you can't hit it hard. They also give you wiggle room if you need a little extra and a sense of satisfaction when you reinvest and that pays more dividends to you. Good luck!

Im looking to pick up something long term with a dividend, care to share some recommendations?

 

[Weather Man]

Im looking to pick up something long term with a dividend, care to share some recommendations?

There are quite a few choices depending on age and how much capital gain/dividend/risk skew you want.

Here is what I have currently, and I actively manage my nest egg. I use rule of 42 in the main. I use Seeking Alpha a lot and have probably 20 folders based on what criteria I want to group them by.

 

[72MachOne99GT]

The last three posts specifically confuse me. I’m too lazy/stubborn to learn all this stuff. Choosing stocks, moving money around, researching everything…. That’s too intensive for my style.

I put money in my 401k and check the balance twice a year.

Maybe as I get closer to retirement at 60, I’ll pay more attention.

 

[*Jay*]

The last three posts specifically confuse me. I’m too lazy/stubborn to learn all this stuff. Choosing stocks, moving money around, researching everything…. That’s too intensive for my style.

I put money in my 401k and check the balance twice a year.

Maybe as I get closer to retirement at 60, I’ll pay more attention.

Personally I would rather begin learning it now and adjust accordingly with ~20 years to go.

 

[Weather Man]

The last three posts specifically confuse me. I’m too lazy/stubborn to learn all this stuff. Choosing stocks, moving money around, researching everything…. That’s too intensive for my style.

I put money in my 401k and check the balance twice a year.

Maybe as I get closer to retirement at 60, I’ll pay more attention.

Paying attention to something after 60 that will pay for your life after retirement is too late.

 

[Weather Man]

Im looking to pick up something long term with a dividend, care to share some recommendations?

This is a great example of a capital gains and dividend paying company.

 

[GCG]

The last three posts specifically confuse me.

This. All day. I watch my daily numbers for the business.

I can't imagine watching numbers and going " so in.. 20 years... "

 

[Fat Boss]

At one point a study showed that the total return for dividend stocks was less than growth stocks. To me, a company that pays a good dividend isn't going to grow nearly as much. If I want a dividend, I sell some shares.

 

[andymarkv]

The last three posts specifically confuse me. I’m too lazy/stubborn to learn all this stuff. Choosing stocks, moving money around, researching everything…. That’s too intensive for my style.

I put money in my 401k and check the balance twice a year.

Maybe as I get closer to retirement at 60, I’ll pay more attention.

So in that case, smash as much as you can into an index fund and call it a day.

 

[IA Shelby]

I pay a wealth advisor who is the top ranked advisor by Forbes in my state. He tells me what to invest in. I don’t have the time or expertise to figure this out. He does.

 

[72MachOne99GT]

So in that case, smash as much as you can into an index fund and call it a day.

Are index funds pretax?

 

[andymarkv]

Are index funds pretax?

In my 401K you can do either, pre or after tax. Both have benefits. Obviously pretax gets more money in the market and lowers your gross annual income, but some amount of aftertax savings will give you a pot of already taxed money. If you have large expenditures planned after retirement you won't have to pull a large amount of pretax money and get nailed at a higher rate.

 

[GCG]

As a business owner. I do not have a 401k..

Is it as " simple " as... " Hey put it in stocks! "

 

[supercharged91m]

Personally I think you can do better than an annuity. See above S&P500 no load.. I mean you can get 4% out of a money market . But anyways here are some good performers:

Product Type	Top Performer (Rate)	Company	AM Best Rating
7-Year MYGA	6.30%	Gulf Guaranty Life	B++
10-Year MYGA	5.85%	Revol One DirectGrowth	B++
7-Year MYGA	5.85%	Revol One DirectGrowth	B++
10-Year MYGA	5.55%	Oceanview Harbourview 10	A
7-Year MYGA	5.50%	Axonic Waypoint 7	A-

Gonna check that out. The annuity is through my local which they have certain things you can pick

 

[Weather Man]

At one point a study showed that the total return for dividend stocks was less than growth stocks. To me, a company that pays a good dividend isn't going to grow nearly as much. If I want a dividend, I sell some shares.

When you're young (current tax policy), I agree. But when you are older, you are eating your seed corn. People forget, the market can go sideways for a loooooong time. All it would take is a D administration bumping the capital gains tax to 40% or more.

 

[1slo5ohh]

All this shit is over my head. Every time I go down the rabbit hole of do this do that I just get overwhelmed. I watch/read stuff on x strategy and think "that makes a lot of sense" then watch something else on y strategy and I'm like "yea that actually makes sense" then there's Johnny asshole with z strategy and I think "yea screw those first 2 idiots" lol. I know I need to save money and I know I want to be "retired" before my 60th birthday. I'm not going to be one of those guys at work that's got 45 years in and wears it like a badge of honor cuz it ain't..

I'll be 40 this year and I'm just stocking as much money away as possible. Works 401K, a brokerage account putting money into each week, some crypto, and a couple annuities I inherited from my dad that I have 10 years to do something with. I'm sure I'm not maximizing my money, but I'm not setting it on fire each payday so I guess it's a win.

 

[cobracide]

Start slow, pick a couple stocks in a field you work in and/or familiar with that you think will do good and build off that and learn. You will make mistakes. You will also find success with some stocks. The key is that you will learn and get better at it. You don’t need to know everything. Just go with your gut on things you know. Again start slow. I’ve been investing for 30 years and still make mistakes. But that’s ok because I know how to minimize them and not to gamble too much on the “swing for the fence” stocks that I don’t know too much about. Losing my butt off on SMR but made out big with MU for example. The key is I bet small people n SMR but dumped a lot more into MU comparatively. So in the end, I come out ahead.