Well, your money's going to double in the market about every ten years. If you invest it in the market, you're going to do fine over time. The economy looks bad right now, but maybe when you retire it'll be in the middle of another boom, you can put all that stock market money into bonds, and be set for life.
Don't use your 401(k)s "stable fund" option; that earns you absolutely nothing. The only money it makes is the money you put in. The big 401(k) houses have "lifetime" funds. If you're going to retire at 62, for example, and you're 30 now, maybe pick a 2040 fund. They automatically start out aggressive and then re-distribute into stable options like bonds as you reach your retirement age.
If you're saving now, you're doing better than most people. But remember, the #1 rule of saving for retirement is: Don't touch that money. Don't use it for loans or for withdrawals. Even if you're going to use it for something allowed for under law, like a house down payment, don't do it. You have to let it work for you if you want to have a nest egg to retire on.
(I should disclose that everything I ever learned, I learned from a rather sexy guy named Rob Black (http://www.robblack.com/), who until recently had a thrice-weekly TV show at 10am to talk to people about nest eggs, retirement, and various stock questions. He still does a podcast I believe.)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 08:01 pm (UTC)Don't use your 401(k)s "stable fund" option; that earns you absolutely nothing. The only money it makes is the money you put in. The big 401(k) houses have "lifetime" funds. If you're going to retire at 62, for example, and you're 30 now, maybe pick a 2040 fund. They automatically start out aggressive and then re-distribute into stable options like bonds as you reach your retirement age.
If you're saving now, you're doing better than most people. But remember, the #1 rule of saving for retirement is: Don't touch that money. Don't use it for loans or for withdrawals. Even if you're going to use it for something allowed for under law, like a house down payment, don't do it. You have to let it work for you if you want to have a nest egg to retire on.
(I should disclose that everything I ever learned, I learned from a rather sexy guy named Rob Black (http://www.robblack.com/), who until recently had a thrice-weekly TV show at 10am to talk to people about nest eggs, retirement, and various stock questions. He still does a podcast I believe.)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 09:37 pm (UTC)I learned everything from my parents. My family is really open about money so they showed us what they were doing with what they had as we grew up.