As one of the benefits of my job at the time, I was given a 401k through VRS back in 2010. Fuckers took everyone's hours however and was bumped to part time, after three years of contributing to my 401k. I got full time status back about a year ago, and now I have about $5,000 in savings. Now that I'm 30, im trying to get a job in the private sector with better benefits and invest. My goal is at minimum to get have 1.5 mil saved up by the time I retire (realistically I'm looking at retirement at 68-70). Most people my age have either less or about the same as me saved up, or haven't started at all. Dumb fucks. How old were you when you started saving up? What is the best route to go investment wise?

Retire at 68-70? That's fucked up. Will you live that long? Most people are dead at 74.

Become a FFX firefighter now and retire in 20 and enjoy life.

Dumbass. Wrote:
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> Retire at 68-70? That's fucked up. Will you live
> that long? Most people are dead at 74.
>
> Become a FFX firefighter now and retire in 20 and
> enjoy life.


Honestly, I can't even fathom the idea of retiring. Just stop working completely? My grandfather retired about 12 years ago (he's 74) and he's bored out of his mind. I've heard that lack of work can also shorten your life. Maybe I just haven't been working long enough to appreciate the concept of outright retirement. Point is, I want enough so that if/when I do retire, I will be comfortable.

I was lucky. Im so old my first job had a fully funded pension plan that I didnt have to contribute a dime to. I was vested after 5 years and now it's just waiting for me. I was there 20 years and took early retirement. I then got another job with a 401K, which is hovering around $500K right now, has had it's ups and downs.

The only bite in the ass with both of these retirement plans is I can't start collecting until 62 (a few more years) but I will have 3 sources of income when I get there. I just have to stay alive!

I'm retiring at 55. I work for the state and will get a decent pension plus my 457 and IRA. How the hell could anybody be board? My dad started building airplanes and teaching kids about aviation when he retired. Now they own many rental properties and rent them on ABNB and make serious money.

Dumbass. Wrote:
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> I'm retiring at 55. I work for the state and will
> get a decent pension plus my 457 and IRA. How the
> hell could anybody be board? My dad started
> building airplanes and teaching kids about
> aviation when he retired. Now they own many rental
> properties and rent them on ABNB and make serious
> money.


Some people have a plan for what they'll do with themselves after they retire. They'll take up a hobby, or do volunteer work, travel etc. Others will think the name of the game is to sit on your ass, and do nothing but watch tv and yard work.

hobbies Wrote:
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>
>
>
> Some people have a plan for what they'll do with
> themselves after they retire. They'll take up a
> hobby, or do volunteer work, travel etc. Others
> will think the name of the game is to sit on your
> ass, and do nothing but watch tv and yard work.

Im gonna try part time pimpin to get some beer money and hopefully get laid a lot.

When I retire I'm going to be a FFXCO teacher. High pay, no work and summers off. Never understood why people do this as a career. Must be losers at life.

FFXCO TEACHER Wrote:
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> When I retire I'm going to be a FFXCO teacher.
> High pay, no work and summers off. Never
> understood why people do this as a career. Must be
> losers at life.

If you want to spend your years baby sitting a bunch of entitled rich kid snowflakes whose parents want you to raise them and would spit in your face if they got the chance, help yourself.

I started saving for retirement as soon as I started working full-time. I was 25 then. I'm 46 now. My assets are currented valued at $2.4M. At current ROI rates, I'm planning on retiring at 55.

Join the federal government. Do it before they change the retirement system again, which is probably going to happen.

If you can be a LEO in the federal service, all the better.

Regular DBA for feds is 1.1% of your high 3 x number of years worked, plus social security plus the 401K (tsp), with a government match up to the first %5.

LEO's get 2% of their high 3 (like the old CSRS system), plus social security, plus the TSP. They have to retire at 57 I think.

If you really want to cash in, go to work for a FIRREA agency. They get anywhere from 1.1% to 1.8% DBA of their high 3 or 5 (depends on the agency), matching TSP of 8 - 10% and social security. And their salaries are 25% higher than regular fed jobs. A GS15 equivalent at most FIRREA agencies max out around $250K in the DC area.

slow and steady Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Join the federal government. Do it before they
> change the retirement system again, which is
> probably going to happen.
>
> If you can be a LEO in the federal service, all
> the better.
>
> Regular DBA for feds is 1.1% of your high 3 x
> number of years worked, plus social security plus
> the 401K (tsp), with a government match up to the
> first %5.
>
> LEO's get 2% of their high 3 (like the old CSRS
> system), plus social security, plus the TSP. They
> have to retire at 57 I think.
>
> If you really want to cash in, go to work for a
> FIRREA agency. They get anywhere from 1.1% to
> 1.8% DBA of their high 3 or 5 (depends on the
> agency), matching TSP of 8 - 10% and social
> security. And their salaries are 25% higher than
> regular fed jobs. A GS15 equivalent at most
> FIRREA agencies max out around $250K in the DC
> area.

Yeah, Gov't retirement is sweet! Thought LEOs could retire at 50.

The 1.1% is only if you retire at 62 or older. If you retire before 62 then it's only 1%(this is for regular workers, not sure if different for LEOs).

The old retirement system(CSRS) was the best! Didn't have to pay into S.S. and your pension was bigger. I'm FERS and have to pay S.S. and they way S.S. is going to be in the future is a mess! Would rather have a bigger pension than pay into S.S. The newer employees in the Government are under FERS-A or FERS-REA and they pay more in their retirement but get less or the same as regular FERS. Feel sorry for them.

If you put effort into it, it really isn't all that hard to save up enough for retirement to have a nice little nest egg to sit back on when you retire. Just don't be like Sharon Moreno, and go blowing large chunks of your savings filing frivolous law suits, sending your loser son to school with no prospects of return on investment.

Me and the wife are both govies. Once we retire, we'll be pulling in over $150K a year in FERS, plus have over $1.7 million in TSP. SS will be around $50K for the both of us. We'll also have our subsidized federal health benefits, which will save us about $10K a year in HC insurance costs. I get to carryover 360 hours due to overseas service, so my last payout check is going to be over $60K before taxes.

It's a good gig. Not going to get rich working for the government but you can do well if you're in the right career and stay the course.

Looks like the days of a good defined benefit pension is coming to an end for us federal employees. Trump and Congress want to put in a defined contribution only plan or jack up our contributions from almost nothing to 6 or 7%. Get in now if you're thinking about it.

Federal retiree beginning n 2025 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Me and the wife are both govies. Once we retire,
> we'll be pulling in over $150K a year in FERS,
> plus have over $1.7 million in TSP. SS will be
> around $50K for the both of us. We'll also have
> our subsidized federal health benefits, which will
> save us about $10K a year in HC insurance costs.
> I get to carryover 360 hours due to overseas
> service, so my last payout check is going to be
> over $60K before taxes.
>
> It's a good gig. Not going to get rich working
> for the government but you can do well if you're
> in the right career and stay the course.
>
> Looks like the days of a good defined benefit
> pension is coming to an end for us federal
> employees. Trump and Congress want to put in a
> defined contribution only plan or jack up our
> contributions from almost nothing to 6 or 7%. Get
> in now if you're thinking about it.


Trump is no different in this instance than all the other republican presidents who talk about minimizing the benefits of the government worker bee. My money is on it not happening. This administration is too incompetent to get the simple and mundane completed.

$7.25 / hr is not enough to save anything. It's only enough to drive one into debt simply to keep their head above water.

Federal retiree beginning n 2025 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Me and the wife are both govies. Once we retire,
> we'll be pulling in over $150K a year in FERS,
> plus have over $1.7 million in TSP. SS will be
> around $50K for the both of us. We'll also have
> our subsidized federal health benefits, which will
> save us about $10K a year in HC insurance costs.
> I get to carryover 360 hours due to overseas
> service, so my last payout check is going to be
> over $60K before taxes.
>
> It's a good gig. Not going to get rich working
> for the government but you can do well if you're
> in the right career and stay the course.
>
> Looks like the days of a good defined benefit
> pension is coming to an end for us federal
> employees. Trump and Congress want to put in a
> defined contribution only plan or jack up our
> contributions from almost nothing to 6 or 7%. Get
> in now if you're thinking about it.

Hell yeah, Govie here also. Love it where the Gov't pays for part of our HC when we retire. Paying the whole amount would SUCK!

As far as your leave goes, I'm sure you know this already, don't dip below 360 because then whatever you have left over at the end of the leave year will be your new carry over until you get all the way down to 240. That check is going to be SWEET but your tax bill is going to be like getting a colonoscopy without the gel and you being awake!

I'm retiring about the same time you will.

Obviously, the Federal government can be away to go, if you can stick it out for the required years. Still, it's not difficult to save $1.5 million over the next 40 years in the private sector.

Let's play around with a few numbers. Let's say you set up an IRA. In your case, make it a Roth IRA. You'd be contributing after-tax dollars, but then when you retire you'd be able to withdraw the money tax-free. Right now, you're able to contribute a maximum of $5,000 a year to a Roth. Let's say you do that, with monthly contributions of $416.67. And let's say you invest your IRA in a stock index fund--a mutual fund that mimics the gains or losses of the stock market. The stock market averages about 7% a year. (Some calculations put it higher.) When you do the calculations--$5,000 a year for 40 years at 7%--you have $1,035,640.

There's your $1 million.

It's true that inflation will eat some of that away. So you should be aiming higher. Still . . .

Now let's have some fun. Suppose you work for a company (or companies, most likely) that will match the first 3% of your contributions to their 401k. And let's assume your average annual income over the next 40 years is $150,000. Sounds like a lot, but over 40 years? (My salary 40 years ago was $10,000. It's now $100,000.)

You're already contributing the maximum you can. But now your employer chips in 3% of your salary. You start off with a $50,000 salary, and that goes up 4% a year. you contribute 10% of your annual salary. Your employer matches 3% of that. Again, assume 7% annual growth. After 40 years, you'll have contributed $494,128. Your employer(s) will have contributed $148,240. At the end of those 40 years, your 401k will be worth $2,361,834.

Even scaling the numbers back--assuming you only contribute 6% of your annual salary and you only get 3% salary increases, your 401k will be worth $1,441,964. To plug in your own numbers, see http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/retirement/401-k-retirement-calculator.aspx or any other retirement calculators online.

You'd asked when I started saving for retirement. I started early, but didn't contribute much. And I still kick myself for leaving my first job at about the 4.5 year mark; at 5 years I'd have been vested (employer contributions). I have no idea how much that was, but let's say that was only $5,000. That would be worth $81,557 (at 7%) today. Not a fortune, but still . . .

And if you want to get really creative, open a self-directed IRA or 401k. You can make investments like real estate in them. Combine that with some real estate techniques that don't take much money (wholesaling, for instance) and you can build up large amounts either tax-free or tax deferred. I know several people who have set up Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts (which work the same way) for their children. Once or twice a year will do a wholesale deal that costs $100 and make $20,000 or more. They're doing the same thing in their own IRAs, but every month or so. If you did that outside your IRA, you'd pay ordinary income tax on it--$5,000-$7,000--on $20,000 of income. Do it inside your IRA, and you don't pay taxes until you withdraw the money (in a traditional IRA) or never (in a Roth IRA).

And a final tip: There are legal ways to enjoy the benefits of those accounts before the age of 59-1/2. (Federal regulations impose penalties on withdrawals before that age for IRAs and 401ks.) A Coverdell account, for instance, can be used for expenses such as visiting colleges to check them out. I know some parents who've traveled with their kids to Europe to check out schools over there. A good accountant should know those techniques.

So, as I said at the beginning, it's not difficult to accomplish or exceed your financial goals in 40 or fewer years.

Dumbass. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Retire at 68-70? That's fucked up. Will you live
> that long? Most people are dead at 74.
>
> Become a FFX firefighter now and retire in 20 and
> enjoy life.


Most people are dead at 74? Really? I know a lot of people who over 70 and still working. Men and women both. Work probably keeps them living longer.