this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Old self is greedy and wants young self to reduce the fun of their prime years by locking away money so they can sit on a big ol' retirement fund in their older years. Of course, that's assuming that past performance guarantees future results and that the conditions of the 401k will remain the same. What's to say politicians don't start applying extra taxes on 401k withdrawals? What's to say they won't increase the retirement age?
A lot of people can't spare 10-15% of their income and I'm not so sure the advice is not just a ploy by 401k fund managers to squeeze out extra fees. Maybe it's just a silly little comic and I'm taking it too seriously.
Young Johnny should ask old Johnny why they don't simply buy a sports almanac
Because Marty will just steal it. Duh.
Well. I assume this guy is actually from the future. So in theory wouldn't he know that in the future 401k's have not been taxed into irrelevance? I feel like if he's coming from the future with this advice it's because he feels it's still good advice in his future.
And then one day you wake up and you are that "old" person. Then you realize you're screwed: the health problems that aren't a big deal if they're treated are debilitating because you can't afford treatment. Those issues you assumed are going to kill you don't, and instead you linger for decades with a garbage quality of life.
The worst part is you aren't even that old: mentally you're still pretty much the same person you were in your 30s, just trapped in a body that's slowly falling apart and needs constant maintenance.
Yes, you need to strike a balance -- but not doing what you can to financially plan for old age is fucking stupid.
Shit ya'll are making me rethink leaving the state.
and then those health problems turn out to be so expensive that the cost far exceeds what you can afford through your 401k anyway. I'm not saying no planning should be done, I'm saying that your planning should lean more favorably toward the present than the far future. For many, 10-15% of income is so much of a sacrifice that I'm willing to bet the payoff wouldn't be worth it in most cases.
Agree a lot can't spare it. Getting to 15% is pretty tough. You can do the math though and see that even 10% will likely make it tough to maintain your current lifestyle with inflation accounted for in the absence of active cash flow. Don't forget when you have more leisure time you are more likely to find things to spend on and also reserves for health issues / other surprises is important too. Sorry to sound like a dad / investment advisor, but I don't think it's a ploy so much as the terrifying reality that most of us are under prepared for.
People need to start living well below their means, not right at them. Anyone whos lifestyle becomes tough to maintain from putting away just 10% of their income and lives from paycheck to paycheck needs to re-evaluate their living conditions. Either learn to live with less/spend less or go somewhere cheaper. Its not that hard if you never go into debt, don't pay rent, and live minimally. Which I do admit most people are either unwilling or unable to do those things given their life circumstances and responsibilities. God help the ones that signed up for 30 years of mortgage payments at 15% interest that will take half a lifetime to pay off if theyre lucky.
"just live for free"
Unironically, yes. When you have some land and a semi-livable vehicle to sleep in and everything else is paid for you only need money for the barest of essentials in life. nonperishable food, heating fuel, plenty of water, some gas for the car, clothes, household supplies, and a good efund in case something ever happens. You have to give up a lot of modern convinence to live that way but being free to not have to work 24/7/365 just to survive is great. Sorry that the idea of such an option upsets you or sounds unrealistic.
"Just own land and a vehicle outright" I am very happy for your privilege, but this is absolutely unrealistic.
You can find a parcel of land in a rural area fairly easily for only a couple thousand dollars, maybe 10-15 k if you want some real acreage. A cheap ass used van from the early 2000s is 3000-7000 depending on how good a deal you get. Most people can get a loan for an extremely cheap van, move into it for a few months and pay themselves the 800-1500 in rent (if not more now), and have it paid off fully after a few months of work, then start saving towards a bigger nicer van or that parcel of land. Not everyone is so fortunate to do so as they have a family and kids or other responsibilities that make this path a non-option but its not privilege its proper planning and a ton of lifestyle compromises. I worked hard and saved up for everything Ive ever had and saw an unusual lifestyle option that works for me, I guess that makes me privileged?
Yep that's what that word means.
This is dependent on where you live. I live in a rural area and the cheapest plot of rural land is $325,000 and that’s 0.75 acres.
325k for a plot of rural land with no buildings? I can maybe see that in "rural" southern California or Washington State, but nowhere else in the US makes any sense to me unless we just have very different definitions of rural.
Good thing the world is bigger than the US.
People really seem to hate seeing others succeed. Congratulations on your financial stability, sounds like you're in a good spot. I'm working on getting my finances in order and repairing from when I lived above my means.
Thank you, I hope that things go well for you and that you find success in whatever you need most out of life.
I always get downvoted to hell whenever I express my experiences and views on this. Many people are just in an absolutely miserable unfair financial situation with no easy way out. Many were goaded into terrible amounts of debt when they were young and dumb. Taking 50k in debt for a useless college degree you weren't really interested in right out of highschool and either paying exorbitant rent or mortgage for years on end just scraping by. It will make anyone bitter and resentful of those who managed to avoid such crushing financial debts and responsibilities.
Its easy to convince ourselves that its not our fault for the choices we make when life doesn't go well. Play the blame game and point fingers at unfortunate personal life circumstances, or a corrupt society, or an unfair economic system designed to make a few very rich and everyone else dirt poor, or whatever else. When the core of someones message is "You are ultimately responsible for your finances and the lifestyle choices you make, with proper planning, open mindedness, and willingness to compromise on some of the conveniences of modern living, you can still avoid crushing financial pressure in todays world" well its easy to see why a lot of people are mad and write it off as the words of the ignorantly privileged.
Invest in an index fund and the fees are almost non-existant. Invest in several index funds (Large / mid / small cap & emerging markets) so that you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.
I'll be honest.
I don't bother with a 401k because I don't believe I'll be able to benefit from it.
As in, I will either be dead long before I can touch it without penalty, or society will be so unrecognizable that it won't make a difference either because of extreme inflation or societal collapse/restructure due to exterior factors such as climate change.
If this ends up biting me in the ass, rest assured I'll go back and tell all the commentors who say you'll be sorry and give them their brief dopamine hit from being right. Until then, I guess we'll see.
You can withdraw from 401ks early if you use e.g. a Roth Ladder. If nothing else, withdrawing with a penalty is still a viable option if you've been investing properly and have an excess of money.
As for betting against the earth, if you're that blackpilled you can make flexible investments by putting money into a Roth IRA, whose principal (not growth) can be withdrawn at any time without penalty. You can't put the money back into the Roth IRA later, however. If your company offers a 401k match you should always always always invest the minimum amount to get the full match, idc how depressed you are.