When I first started working in the late 1980s/early 1990s, we would keep our meager savings at the MegaCorp Employee Credit Union. I would walk down to the lobby of our 40-story tower almost weekly to make a deposit, transfer some money, or buy a CD. Buying & cashing Certificates of Deposit is something it seemed like we did all of the time back then. … Continue reading The Savings Rate Game
It’s as if the financial press WANTS people to be poorly prepared for a happy retirement. This chart from CNBC – dubiously thought of as a business channel – suggests the amount of savings people should have at different ages before retirement. A friend sent it to me a while ago and I think it’s simply terrible. First, the chart starts with the frequent financial … Continue reading Inadequate Advice for Saving
When I was working, it seemed that the climb toward our FIRE escape from MegaCorp was slow and steady. Each year our nest egg grew bigger. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Even in a very bad year like 2008, we managed to eek out some growth. It felt like the cards we were being dealt were always resulted in a pretty good hand. That has not … Continue reading Retirement Savings Volatility
No words of wisdom from the FIRE Station this morning – just some interesting numbers to put your journey to FIRE into some perspective: AGING 50% of Americans are retired at age 63 18 years is the average length of retirement 13% of the US population is over age 65 today 6.1K Americans turn 65 each day 10.K Americans retire every day 55% of Americans … Continue reading Numbers To Put Your FIRE Journey In Perspective
More than 15 years ago, some colleagues and I were talking about how effective we were in building our savings. We were all making a good living, but some were more successful in building their net worth than others. One colleague – a single guy with a snappy car – mentioned that he started out being a good saver, but had recently been spending too much … Continue reading Stop Saving, Start Spending In Retirement?
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