Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Pointer19

Investing another 1/24th of the annual IRA limit today...

I know DCA is boring, but I'm not in a position to have all the fun of picking individual stocks like some of you. At least I'm putting SOMETHING away, right?

I started the thread, and I'm 100% in target date index funds these days. Picking stocks is interesting, but I don't have time to really dig into it, nor am I really convinced I'd ever be able to beat the indexes anyway.

Everyone has their own way of doing it.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Pointer19

Investing another 1/24th of the annual IRA limit today...

I know DCA is boring, but I'm not in a position to have all the fun of picking individual stocks like some of you. At least I'm putting SOMETHING away, right?

There is no right or wrong answer, unless you ignore planning for your retirement until it's too late. Do what you can, when you can, and as often as you can.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I started the thread, and I'm 100% in target date index funds these days. Picking stocks is interesting, but I don't have time to really dig into it, nor am I really convinced I'd ever be able to beat the indexes anyway.

Everyone has their own way of doing it.

All index portfolio for me too, for a long time now. It's what I'm comfortable with.

Was tempted a couple of years ago to buy into Shopify at $60 though, it's $500+ this week.

[Rain Man]

Occasionally I'll hear some truth that boggles my mind in its non-obvious brilliance, and I heard something about retirement savings the other day that I have to share.

One of the obstacles to retirement savings is the amount that's needed. If you don't have a high income, or if you start saving later, it can be easy to see the task as insurmountable.

But what I heard was something I'd never thought of before.

If you're behind on your savings, consider this as a motivator. It's really tempting to take early social security, or even full-age social security (at age 67 for most of us). But there's a huge benefit to waiting until you're 70 to take social security. If you take it at 70 instead of 62, the amount will be roughly 75 percent more for the rest of your life.

So if you're behind on retirement savings or you can't save much, target being able to support yourself until age 70 without social security. Then when you take it you'll get a lot more money to support yourself later, with no extra cost. It represents a huge ROI on the savings you can build, and leverages your money to a massive extent.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Occasionally I'll hear some truth that boggles my mind in its non-obvious brilliance, and I heard something about retirement savings the other day that I have to share.

One of the obstacles to retirement savings is the amount that's needed. If you don't have a high income, or if you start saving later, it can be easy to see the task as insurmountable.

But what I heard was something I'd never thought of before.

If you're behind on your savings, consider this as a motivator. It's really tempting to take early social security, or even full-age social security (at age 67 for most of us). But there's a huge benefit to waiting until you're 70 to take social security. If you take it at 70 instead of 62, the amount will be roughly 75 percent more for the rest of your life.

So if you're behind on retirement savings or you can't save much, target being able to support yourself until age 70 without social security. Then when you take it you'll get a lot more money to support yourself later, with no extra cost. It represents a huge ROI on the savings you can build, and leverages your money to a massive extent.

Yeah, That's all good and well unless you die at 71.

Yeah, taking SS and working as late as possible is typically the best approach.

However, getting on Medicare ASAP, even if you have to pay out of pocket, typically also pays.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Occasionally I'll hear some truth that boggles my mind in its non-obvious brilliance, and I heard something about retirement savings the other day that I have to share.

One of the obstacles to retirement savings is the amount that's needed. If you don't have a high income, or if you start saving later, it can be easy to see the task as insurmountable.

But what I heard was something I'd never thought of before.

If you're behind on your savings, consider this as a motivator. It's really tempting to take early social security, or even full-age social security (at age 67 for most of us). But there's a huge benefit to waiting until you're 70 to take social security. If you take it at 70 instead of 62, the amount will be roughly 75 percent more for the rest of your life.

So if you're behind on retirement savings or you can't save much, target being able to support yourself until age 70 without social security. Then when you take it you'll get a lot more money to support yourself later, with no extra cost. It represents a huge ROI on the savings you can build, and leverages your money to a massive extent.

That's a really good way to look at it. I don't know much about SS, how does it affect the amount you get if you stop working at 62 and live off savings from 62 to 70 versus working until 70?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by EPodolak

All index portfolio for me too, for a long time now. It's what I'm comfortable with.

Was tempted a couple of years ago to buy into Shopify at $60 though, it's $500+ this week.

While those kinds of stories suck, the problem is that no one (except Clay) likes to talk about all of the pitfalls they avoided. I've been a follower of TSLA for years now, and it would have been pretty sweet to grab some of their stock back when it was around $150. But at the same time, I thought MoviePass was a great idea back in the day, and now they're bankrupt.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Occasionally I'll hear some truth that boggles my mind in its non-obvious brilliance, and I heard something about retirement savings the other day that I have to share.

One of the obstacles to retirement savings is the amount that's needed. If you don't have a high income, or if you start saving later, it can be easy to see the task as insurmountable.

But what I heard was something I'd never thought of before.

If you're behind on your savings, consider this as a motivator. It's really tempting to take early social security, or even full-age social security (at age 67 for most of us). But there's a huge benefit to waiting until you're 70 to take social security. If you take it at 70 instead of 62, the amount will be roughly 75 percent more for the rest of your life.

So if you're behind on retirement savings or you can't save much, target being able to support yourself until age 70 without social security. Then when you take it you'll get a lot more money to support yourself later, with no extra cost. It represents a huge ROI on the savings you can build, and leverages your money to a massive extent.

My Dad scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. He told me to NEVER count on SS being around when I get ready to retire. So I didn't. It'll be like getting a bonus check in the mail every month......if it's still around when I retire

[rydogg58]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

That's a really good way to look at it. I don't know much about SS, how does it affect the amount you get if you stop working at 62 and live off savings from 62 to 70 versus working until 70?

It varies based on your earnings history. Generally, you shouldn't think about drawing SS if you are still working or planning on working past 62 as there's an earnings limit. Last year it was a little over 17k. It's been a few years since I've worked there, but trust me...I can't tell you HOW many people ****ed it alllll up. Overpayments are a total bitch to pay back if you are living on a fixed income. If you are working, it WILL get found out, and if you are over the limit, you WILL be paying that money back.

I'm taking it as early as I can. Simply because I"m not sure how long past 70 I'm going to live. Another reason is when you factor in how long it will take you to make up the lost money from age 62-70, it's just not worth it to me to break even at 77.

You can go to the Social Security website and review your earnings history and you can even get an estimate as to how much you can draw at what age. It's really good information to have, especially if you are within a few years of retirement.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

That's a really good way to look at it. I don't know much about SS, how does it affect the amount you get if you stop working at 62 and live off savings from 62 to 70 versus working until 70?

There's a "full retirement age" that determines your base benefit. For most of us it's age 67 now, though it's a little lower if you're older than 60. You can take your social security as young as age 62, but if you do you get notably less money. Apparently it's 70 percent of the base benefit if you take it at 62. And for every year you take it after age 67, the amount is increased by 8 percent above the base benefit.

For people without savings, it's really tempting to take it as early as possible, but if you're in good health and have a long life expectancy, there's a huge benefit to waiting longer.

Here are a couple of random articles about it:

https://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsec...retirement-age

https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/...security-at-62

These changes are independent of the amount you put in. So if you can live off savings until age 70, your social security payments will be 75 percent larger from that point on than if you took it at 62.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by rydogg58

It varies based on your earnings history. Generally, you shouldn't think about drawing SS if you are still working or planning on working past 62 as there's an earnings limit. Last year it was a little over 17k. It's been a few years since I've worked there, but trust me...I can't tell you HOW many people ****ed it alllll up. Overpayments are a total bitch to pay back if you are living on a fixed income. If you are working, it WILL get found out, and if you are over the limit, you WILL be paying that money back.

I'm taking it as early as I can. Simply because I"m not sure how long past 70 I'm going to live. Another reason is when you factor in how long it will take you to make up the lost money from age 62-70, it's just not worth it to me to break even at 77.

You can go to the Social Security website and review your earnings history and you can even get an estimate as to how much you can draw at what age. It's really good information to have, especially if you are within a few years of retirement.

You worked at the Social Security Administration? Let me ask you a question I haven't figured out yet.

There's a maximum social security payment that a person can get. But does that maximum go up if you take a delayed payout? In other words, if I'm eligible for the maximum amount at age 67, is the amount still going to be higher if I wait until 70? Or is the cap always the cap?

[rydogg58]

Good post by Rain Man. He must have been a Claims Rep in another life.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Yeah, That's all good and well unless you die at 71.

Yeah, taking SS and working as late as possible is typically the best approach.

However, getting on Medicare ASAP, even if you have to pay out of pocket, typically also pays.

Yeah, the goal is to not die at 71, because then you've left money on the table. I've built that into my plan.

[eDave]

Burst.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by rydogg58

I'm taking it as early as I can. Simply because I"m not sure how long past 70 I'm going to live. Another reason is when you factor in how long it will take you to make up the lost money from age 62-70, it's just not worth it to me to break even at 77.

Yeah, I guess you want to take into account your own genetics. If you don't think your odds are good of living a long life, then take it early. But I think there's a risk in that that may not offset the reward for most people.

My family tends to be long-lived, and barring some bad luck I've saved enough to live well until age 70. So for me, taking a delayed social security minimizes my chances of being evicted penniless from a flophouse at age 97.