NationStates Jolt Archive

OK, peoples. What are you all doing to save for your future? Stocks? Bonds? Mutual Funds? 401K's?

I'm curious because I tried telling my 20 year old brother-in-law how important it is to start early, but all he keeps saying is "dude, I'm only 20, I don't care right now"

I keep trying to tell him it's either care now, or pay later.

Me, I've gotten my cousins boyfriend (CPA) to set up some mutual funds for me, set some goals, and when I reach them, to diversify a small percentage into high risk, high gain investments(maybe real estate)

The only thing I won't do is budget what I have left after bills and investments. If I wanna spend 30 dollars on a bag of weed, I don't want to open up Microsoft Money and add it in. (by the way, Microsoft Money kicks ass for keeping bills in order! I give it 2 thumbs up!)

So are you prepared? What are you doing?

well my parents have been investing in private pension funds for years... the companies for which are on the verge of bankruptcy along with the rest of the private pensions industry - which is in a total of 60 billion pounds of debt IIRC... so they're in danger of simply losing years' worth of savings, all while the executives of said companies drive around in porsches :rolleyes:

so doesn't really allure me, as a 20 year old, to save for my future. so right now: i'm doing nothing.

but besides, by the time i get to retire, the retirement age will be closer to 90 than 60, so blah... ambivolent towards retirement really.

nothing but I do have a will

Nothing. I'm getting in debt though.

And like PM, i'm skeptical that there will be much of a "retirement" for our generation.

And like PM, i'm skeptical that there will be much of a "retirement" for our generation.
hmm yeah the problem is the aging of the populations of the west. the thing our generation can do to help is fuck like crazy! :p :D

that, and somehow stop the chavs from breeding like rabbits *nods*

hmm yeah the problem is the aging of the populations of the west. the thing our generation can do to help is fuck like crazy! :p :D

that, and somehow stop the chavs from breeding like rabbits *nods*

Surely the simple solution is to mate with the chavettes?

...I feel a GBS quote coming on.

Surely the simple solution is to mate with the chavettes?

and further pollute the gene-pool? i think not! :mad: ;)

edit: ok technically its diluting the gene pool, but its the principle of the thing...

Balance - spend what you want but don't go into debt or live on the edge.
Looking for a house to buy at right price of course.

Immigrating! Go Scandinavia!

Actually, I'm not even sure how it works. But since I'm a penny pinching American, I'll probably be fine. I don't spend anything, and invest quite a bit and have done quite well so far. I'm not to worried.

Well, I'm getting an education (one of the more lucrative ones I hope), I've got a bit of stock (but hardly enough for anything big), and I'm planning on living a globe trotting life.

I'm afraid I won't be taking anything off the government for my own retirement. Either I'll make it, and then I'll have enough for myself, or I won't, in which case getting old sounds like a bad idea anyways.

Nothing. I'm getting in debt though.

And like PM, i'm skeptical that there will be much of a "retirement" for our generation.
THAT'S THE POINT! Do it for yourself, or you'll be fucked when your 60 and can't work because your sick, or you need 300 dollars a month in prescriptions.

You gotta do for yourself. If ythe government cuts you a check too, cool. If not, it's up to you to do it yourself!

well my parents have been investing in private pension funds for years... the companies for which are on the verge of bankruptcy along with the rest of the private pensions industry - which is in a total of 60 billion pounds of debt IIRC... so they're in danger of simply losing years' worth of savings, all while the executives of said companies drive around in porsches :rolleyes:

so doesn't really allure me, as a 20 year old, to save for my future. so right now: i'm doing nothing.

but besides, by the time i get to retire, the retirement age will be closer to 90 than 60, so blah... ambivolent towards retirement really.
You sound like my Brother-in-Law! :headbang:

You gotta save! Even if it's 5 dollars a week!



By the way, the retirement age is just what the government says you have to work till until they pay you retirement. Doesn't mean you can't work hard, save your money, and retire at 50!

THAT'S THE POINT! Do it for yourself, or you'll be fucked when your 60 and can't work because your sick, or you need 300 dollars a month in prescriptions.

You gotta do for yourself. If ythe government cuts you a check too, cool. If not, it's up to you to do it yourself!

I can't, though. I have no spare money at all. I suppose if I totally stopped spending, but then i'd lose all motivation to keep my job in the first place. (I am only 19.). My education is bringing me more into debt than what I earn in a year, and my job prospects once I finish university are rather bleak.

We do have a compulsory superannuation scheme where a percentage of my pay is automatically deducted and put in a retirement fund, though.

(though BTW, if I ever get that sick, i'm jumping off the nearest bridge. Not much point in prolonging the inevitable.)

hmm yeah the problem is the aging of the populations of the west. the thing our generation can do to help is fuck like crazy! :p :D

that, and somehow stop the chavs from breeding like rabbits *nods*

I'm up for that.

There is a time value of money. The longer you put off saving for retirement, the more money you have to put away. Anyone in the US who is 20 should be very concerned about putting money away as Social Security is in trouble.

You sound like my Brother-in-Law! :headbang:

You gotta save! Even if it's 5 dollars a week!
hmm yeah i suppose i should start saving something. i've just had a chat about it as a matter of fact (not pensions but saving in general) so i'll take it under advisement, thanks :)
BUT not in a private pensions company cos i don't want to pay for somebody else's rolls royce, 5 figure salary and golden handshake thank you :rolleyes:
regular savings it is

By the way, the retirement age is just what the government says you have to work till until they pay you retirement. Doesn't mean you can't work hard, save your money, and retire at 50!
pah fat chance of that happening (you don't know my/family's finances :()
i, like my parents, will be working till i die.

can't work because your sick, or you need 300 dollars a month in prescriptions.

... NHS buddy *nods*

I must say I'm a bit reckless with money, even though the amount of debt I'm in should have taught me not to be. I'm currently not working as I'm pursuing a postgraduate degree, but as soon as I do I'll start putting something into savings, even if it's only a tenner a month or something. I'll also opt to put a reaonably high amount towards a private pension, as the way things are going here in the UK, it's entirely possible the state pension will be extremely tiny, if still in existence at all.

Of course, given the current trends here, it's also entirely possible people of my age (I'm 22) won't be able to retire until they're nearly 70 (maybe even well above it), so may not have an awful lot of time to enjoy the money they saved anyway!

I'm in my early 30s, and have just started saving. Wish I had done it way sooner. In hindsight, I would happily exchange most of my immediate gratification spending in my 20s for having saved at a time when I had plenty of disposable income.

Once you start having kids, saving becomes next to impossible... right at the exact same time that you realize how important it is. Oh, the irony.

My advice: have 10% of your paycheck taken out automatically and placed in a mutual fund of your choice. That way you never see the money in your checking account, so there's nothing to miss.

And make sure that neither you nor your significant other ever touch that money for anything (house, car, boat, trips, wedding, ANYTHING) other than retirement or an absolute emergency like 9/11.

I'm in my early 30s, and have just started saving. Wish I had done it way sooner. In hindsight, I would happily exchange most of my immediate gratification spending in my 20s for having saved at a time when I had plenty of disposable income.

Once you start having kids, saving becomes next to impossible... right at the exact same time that you realize how important it is. Oh, the irony.

My advice: have 10% of your paycheck taken out automatically and placed in a mutual fund of your choice. That way you never see the money in your checking account, so there's nothing to miss.

And make sure that neither you nor your significant other ever touch that money for anything (house, car, boat, trips, wedding, ANYTHING) other than retirement or an absolute emergency like 9/11.
I'm 26 and I couldn't agree more! All the money I spent on beer, weed, car stereos, and dumb shit.

And BTW, mutual funds are an EXCELLENT starting point for investment! I have heard from a few sources that this is what you do.


Start saving. Whether is $50 a week in a savings account, or $5 a week under your mattress, START SAVING!
Get to the point where you have 6 months worth of living expense saved up. Just the bare minimum of bills, food, and rent.
If your planning on staying in the area you are in, buy a house. It is the best first investment you can make.
Invest in Mutual Funds. They are a great way to invest relatively safely because the firm that runs the funds usually hedges their bets, so kinda like betting on both teams in a game.
After you've doubled your money in the mutual fund, take 10% out, and put it into high risk, high return investments. (I recommend energy companies.)
Depending on the market, buy more real estate. Flipping a house can get you 5-500k in 6 months if you do it right!

I'll tell you what you don't want to do. Count on your company provided pension. Look at GM. Everyone absolutely has to invest their money wisely on their own, and not just count on their company to do it for them. With the growing pensioner populations, cutting pension is going to be a popular way for companies to save money. Don't trust your company to provide your retirement. Take things into your own hands.

I will try to build my own company or companies. I want to plan the system so that at some point I can leave someone else in charge.

I'm still working on the details. Stay tuned.

If that doesn't work I'll look for a nice bridge to live under.

If your planning on staying in the area you are in, buy a house. It is the best first investment you can make.

Depending on the market, buy more real estate. Flipping a house can get you 5-500k in 6 months if you do it right!
[/LIST]In theory, I agree; x years later you're making a fantastic profit on the thing. However, the average house price in England and Wales is nearly £200,000!!!!!!* It's even higher here in NI (no idea about Scotland, sorry). Leaving school/uni and walking into a mortgage like that is nigh impossible unless you're really well-to-do or have landed a super job (and most of us aren't/haven't :().

Banks (and, theoretically, the government) are trying to make mortgages more accessible, but if you want to live in a decent area, it's not easy. My boyfriend lives just a mile or so from city centre Belfast, close to bars/shops/restaurants etc, and got his house cheap as the previous owner wanted a quick sale. However, it turns out that the two-up-two-down, terraced house is worth circa £110,000 because of its location. His brother, on the other hand, was able to buy a three bedroomed house for £55,000 - but it's in a paramilitary area**, so is not really the kind of place most people want to live...

* Source: http://www.proviser.com/
** Not, of course, that my boyfriend's brother belongs to a paramilitary group, but it was the best he and his girlfriend could afford close to the town centre.

In theory, I agree; x years later you're making a fantastic profit on the thing. However, the average house price in England and Wales is nearly £200,000!!!!!!* It's even higher here in NI (no idea about Scotland, sorry). Leaving school/uni and walking into a mortgage like that is nigh impossible unless you're really well-to-do or have landed a super job (and most of us aren't/haven't :().

Banks (and, theoretically, the government) are trying to make mortgages more accessible, but if you want to live in a decent area, it's not easy. My boyfriend lives just a mile or so from city centre Belfast, close to bars/shops/restaurants etc, and got his house cheap as the previous owner wanted a quick sale. However, it turns out that the two-up-two-down, terraced house is worth circa £110,000 because of its location. His brother, on the other hand, was able to buy a three bedroomed house for £55,000 - but it's in a paramilitary area**, so is not really the kind of place most people want to live...

* Source: http://www.proviser.com/
** Not, of course, that my boyfriend's brother belongs to a paramilitary group, but it was the best he and his girlfriend could afford close to the town centre.
Yeah, that is for American investors. I know about as much about foreign housing markets as I do about quantum physics. :p

If your planning on staying in the area you are in, buy a house. It is the best first investment you can make.

I don't think a house can be considered an investment. It ties up a lot of cash and carries the added weight of taxes, maintenance, etc. To really be an investment you have to be able to sell it quickly and keep that cashflow moving.

Depending on the market, buy more real estate. Flipping a house can get you 5-500k in 6 months if you do it right!

Familiarize yourself with your local and national laws for this. There may be added benefits in taxation and such that you may not be aware of right now.

I make 30 bucks a week (woo!), and half of it goes straight for university. I'm planning on staying for a while, so I'm going to need all the help that I can get.

With the other money, I generally spend like no tomorrow, so I have it set up that 10 out of the leftover fifteen dollars goes into a savings that I can't touch. Yes, my checking account is virtually empty (60 bucks, and that'll be down when I go to Wal-Mart on Friday).

Once I get a job that I can expect maybe 100 - 200 a week, I'll divide 75% into the savings and get some new clothes.

Considering the lifespan that I have left, doing this is going to get me nowhere, especially seeing as how I want to live out the rest of my days sleeping on my couch.

I don't think a house can be considered an investment. It ties up a lot of cash and carries the added weight of taxes, maintenance, etc. To really be an investment you have to be able to sell it quickly and keep that cashflow moving.
Buying a house is a GREAT investment. Especially if you make improvements. Having to spend money on something doesn't make it a bad investment. Just one to make sure you can afford.

Ask Donald Trump. ;)

Familiarize yourself with your local and national laws for this. There may be added benefits in taxation and such that you may not be aware of right now.
I'm not sure I follow you. :confused:

OK, peoples. What are you all doing to save for your future? Stocks? Bonds? Mutual Funds? 401K's?

So are you prepared? What are you doing?
I've been "retired" to all intents and purposes since 1997. Since almost every dime I ever made went toward taking care of five children, my savings were nil. Now, I have my military disability/retirement and Social Security. They come to a total now of about $2,600.00 per month. Since it's tax free, I'm not doing too badly, provided I don't splurge on anything. My lil home will be paid for by this coming September, so that will free up about $650.00 per month.

I plan on buying my wife a new car, then myself a new car. Beyond that, I want to buy some land near here and build a place for my wife to live after I die, so she can be near our children. Anything beyond all that will go into a trust fund for our grandchildren.

I've been "retired" to all intents and purposes since 1997. Since almost every dime I ever made went toward taking care of five children, my savings were nil. Now, I have my military disability/retirement and Social Security. They come to a total now of about $2,600.00 per month. Since it's tax free, I'm not doing too badly, provided I don't splurge on anything. My lil home will be paid for by this coming September, so that will free up about $650.00 per month.

I plan on buying my wife a new car, then myself a new car. Beyond that, I want to buy some land near here and build a place for my wife to live after I die, so she can be near our children. Anything beyond all that will go into a trust fund for our grandchildren.
Well, there goes the "beer and hookers" plan ya had when you were 18, huh? :p

In theory, I agree; x years later you're making a fantastic profit on the thing. However, the average house price in England and Wales is nearly £200,000!!!!!!* It's even higher here in NI (no idea about Scotland, sorry). Leaving school/uni and walking into a mortgage like that is nigh impossible unless you're really well-to-do or have landed a super job (and most of us aren't/haven't :().

Banks (and, theoretically, the government) are trying to make mortgages more accessible, but if you want to live in a decent area, it's not easy. My boyfriend lives just a mile or so from city centre Belfast, close to bars/shops/restaurants etc, and got his house cheap as the previous owner wanted a quick sale. However, it turns out that the two-up-two-down, terraced house is worth circa £110,000 because of its location. His brother, on the other hand, was able to buy a three bedroomed house for £55,000 - but it's in a paramilitary area**, so is not really the kind of place most people want to live...

* Source: http://www.proviser.com/
** Not, of course, that my boyfriend's brother belongs to a paramilitary group, but it was the best he and his girlfriend could afford close to the town centre.

Ouch, that would explain why so many Brits move to the general area where I live. That amount of money would buy a mansion in some parts over here.

Buying a house is a GREAT investment. Especially if you make improvements. Having to spend money on something doesn't make it a bad investment. Just one to make sure you can afford.
Trump didn't keep all his cash tied in one immobile asset. He bought, improved, sold, bought, improved, sold, etc. Sometimes you don't even have to improve, just knowing you have someone to sell to before you buy can net you a lot of cash.

If you're buying a house to live in and perhaps sell it in 30 years time, is a lousy investment. You could probably have made a lot more money in that time if that cash had been put to work somewhere else.

I'm not sure I follow you. :confused:
In some places, depending on how fast you sell or buy real estate and the kind of real estate you buy, you can be protected against taxation, or given tax breaks depending on how fast you reinvest your profits. You can qualify for other tax breaks too.

That also reminds me, get yourself an accountant, in the same way you have a family doctor, and ask about the best ways to protect your money against taxes.

Well, there goes the "beer and hookers" plan ya had when you were 18, huh? :p
Heh! Well, I have to admit to having about a case of beer in the icebox, and there's a pretty decent supply of Viagra squirelled away in my luggage. :D

Trump didn't keep all his cash tied in one immobile asset. He bought, improved, sold, bought, improved, sold, etc. Sometimes you don't even have to improve, just knowing you have someone to sell to before you buy can net you a lot of cash.

If you're buying a house to live in and perhaps sell it in 30 years time, is a lousy investment. You could probably have made a lot more money in that time if that cash had been put to work somewhere else.
Your missing the big point here. You have to live somewhere. You either pay rent, and get no returns, ever, or you buy a house, pay your mortgage, and get equity in your house.

If you compare buying a house, or renting one, only one of those options will give you $150,000 at the end.


In some places, depending on how fast you sell or buy real estate and the kind of real estate you buy, you can be protected against taxation, or given tax breaks depending on how fast you reinvest your profits. You can qualify for other tax breaks too.

That also reminds me, get yourself an accountant, in the same way you have a family doctor, and ask about the best ways to protect your money against taxes.
Oh, I got ya!

I have a C.P.A. I smart enough to know I'm not very smart. Especially with a tax book 15 feet thick! :D

I've been "retired" to all intents and purposes since 1997. Since almost every dime I ever made went toward taking care of five children, my savings were nil. Now, I have my military disability/retirement and Social Security. They come to a total now of about $2,600.00 per month. Since it's tax free, I'm not doing too badly, provided I don't splurge on anything. My lil home will be paid for by this coming September, so that will free up about $650.00 per month.

I plan on buying my wife a new car, then myself a new car. Beyond that, I want to buy some land near here and build a place for my wife to live after I die, so she can be near our children. Anything beyond all that will go into a trust fund for our grandchildren.
hey wow thats not bad... more than i'm earning for sure :p

*wishes he could retire* ;)

Heh! Well, I have to admit to having about a case of beer in the icebox, and there's a pretty decent supply of Viagra squirelled away in my luggage. :D
I knew I liked you for a reason! Your me in 40 years! :D

hey wow thats not bad... more than i'm earning for sure :p

*wishes he could retire* ;)
*sighs* If only I'd married a sugar momma! :p

hey wow thats not bad... more than i'm earning for sure :p

*wishes he could retire* ;)
Heh! It's not all it's cracked up to be. Trust me. Why do you suppose I have such a high post count on here? It's definitely not because I have much of a "life," that's for sure. Hopefully, that will change a bit if and when I start my Ph.D. program ... possibly later this year.

Most of what I make right now goes to paying off a mountain of debts I managed to accumulate while almost starving to death on nothing but my military retirement/disability pay. Heh!

I knew I liked you for a reason! Your me in 40 years! :D
LOL! Well, hopefully without the years-long separation, the deprivation before I started getting my SS, and the loss of my prostate! :p

Your missing the big point here. You have to live somewhere. You either pay rent, and get no returns, ever, or you buy a house, pay your mortgage, and get equity in your house.

If you compare buying a house, or renting one, only one of those options will give you $150,000 at the end.

There are two more things you have to consider: Cost of opportunity and return on investment. To get those $150,000 at the end, how much did you have to put in? Take into account mortgage (with interests and all), maintenance, and taxes. If you made a profit, that's great, all you have to do is divide by the number of years you kept the house to see what your ROI was.

Now that you know what your ROI was, see if you had been able to do better investing that money you put into your house in other options. That'd be the cost of opportunity. If you still come up ahead, that's a good investment.

And equity is not that useful unless the debt it allows you to contract goes to produce more money and not just generate interests. Of course, trying to keep a manageable debt.

I have a C.P.A. I smart enough to know I'm not very smart. Especially with a tax book 15 feet thick! :D
That's alright. I'm not particularly bright. Fortunately all one has to do is know smart people, not necessarily be one of them :)

*sighs* If only I'd married a sugar momma! :p
Now, that's a plan!

Heh! It's not all it's cracked up to be. Trust me. Why do you suppose I have such a high post count on here? It's definitely not because I have much of a "life," that's for sure. Hopefully, that will change a bit if and when I start my Ph.D. program ... possibly later this year.

Most of what I make right now goes to paying off a mountain of debts I managed to accumulate while almost starving to death on nothing but my military retirement/disability pay. Heh!
lol you should try being a student like i was: not only do you not have a life but you've got no money either! :p (why do you think i've got 10,000 posts ;) ok you have twice as much but... uh... look over there! *runs*)

but yeah, i do know (second-hand but all too well) that debts suck :(
nice one on paying off the mortgage buddy :)

lol you should try being a student like i was: not only do you not have a life but you've got no money either! :p (why do you think i've got 10,000 posts ;) ok you have twice as much but... uh... look over there! *runs*)

Ehhhhhhhhh....I found that all that was necessary to keep a life and earn money at the same time is not sleeping. :p

£75 a month into a regular savings account, an amount which will increase along with my means. Company pension, which is from what I can tell relatively intact despite the pension problem plaguing the nation. Eventually I also hope to have a property of my own, though given the fact that property prices seem to be rising faster than income I doubt that will ever happen.

All that said and done, I don't intend to ever be in a position where I will need a pension anyway. The very thought of being old makes me feel ill. It's not an eventuality I will allow to happen if I can help it.

Nothing. I don't plan to retire.

Ehhhhhhhhh....I found that all that was necessary to keep a life and earn money at the same time is not sleeping. :p
ah now see i had a different plan... i just sponged off parents (and worked in holidays), used up all my savings and went into debt... and slept a lot :D

ok so the missing factor there was the "life" but i smoked lots of pot instead *nods*

ah now see i had a different plan... i just sponged off parents (and worked in holidays), used up all my savings and went into debt... and slept a lot :D

ok so the missing factor there was the "life" but i smoked lots of pot instead *nods*

Well, I live at home with parents too. But even considering that, i'm not earning enough to pay off my uni debt. So stuff it, why bother saving if it only gets taken away? Might as well wait until I actually have spare cash. I'm hoping to travel next year and maybe not come back anyway.

Well, I live at home with parents too. But even considering that, i'm not earning enough to pay off my uni debt. So stuff it, why bother saving if it only gets taken away? Might as well wait until I actually have spare cash. I'm hoping to travel next year and maybe not come back anyway.
yay! you can stay in my shed :)
please, it'll be my pleasure :D


but thats pretty much what i figured: if i work i can't study properly, and if i study i can't work properly (enough to keep up with rising debts), so do one or the other, not both... problem is i've kinda ended up doing neither lol :(

lol you should try being a student like i was: not only do you not have a life but you've got no money either! :p (why do you think i've got 10,000 posts ;) ok you have twice as much but... uh... look over there! *runs*)

but yeah, i do know (second-hand but all too well) that debts suck :(
nice one on paying off the mortgage buddy :)
LOL! I got through college with the old man's help, and lived at home the entire four years, which sucked big time! Uncle Sam paid for my Masters via the GI Bill.

I absolutely cannot frakkin' wait for that last mortgage payment! Just think ... no more paying out $650 a month, and no rent payments either! Wow! I can hardly believe it! :D

Nothing. I don't plan to retire.
I didn't either, but ... events ... dictated otherwise. Sigh.

And now for a completly off-topic question:

Man in Black, did you ever post on these forums as a different nation? Your writing style reminds me of someone, and I just can't place it. It's been driving me crazy for a while now.

I'm curious because I tried telling my 20 year old brother-in-law how important it is to start early, but all he keeps saying is "dude, I'm only 20, I don't care right now"

I keep trying to tell him it's either care now, or pay later.
I think I figured out at work one day that if a 20 year old put the max into a Roth IRA for 8 years, and then didn't touch it again, that when he retired he would have like a half million dollars. Me? I am still paying in (I am only 24) and my hubby has a 401K and we are starting some mutual funds this year.

My best financial advice (and believe me most have to pay for it) is if you can get a job with a 401K then pay at least your first 3 hours each day into it, until you are 25 and can get a Roth IRA (or get married to somone old enough and get them to set you up a spousal IRA) not only does a Roth get a pretty good rate, they are pretty safe and tax defered.

You can contribute for example for 5 years, and then pull your investments and interest penalty free for the down payment on your first house, and you can pull your investments penalty free earlier than that for a whole list of things like education, medical bills, buying a house ect. It's a really good all around investment and an awesome retirement investment, because when you retire you get to take tax free distributions.

free tax advice, you can make a tax deductible contribution to a traditional IRA up until April 15th and take it off this years taxes, you have to file a 1040 though to get the credit because there isn't a line on the EZ form. The max is around $3000 and it comes off your gross income, so if you are just a few thousand over getting a refundable credit, it could be a good move. You can always roll it over (tax free if you do it right) to a Roth IRA later.

Currently, still paying off student loans and a mortgage. When the student loans get paid off (in a year or two - we're overpaying on them) the money that was going towards them every month will go partly towards overpaying the mortgage, and investing in things, who knows what. Money's tight enough right now that "saving" much is out of the question if we still want to eat. We probably should've gone with a cheaper house.

yay! you can stay in my shed :)
please, it'll be my pleasure :D

Heh, well...I can stay in England for two years without needing a visa...might be a bit cold for me though. :p

but thats pretty much what i figured: if i work i can't study properly, and if i study i can't work properly (enough to keep up with rising debts), so do one or the other, not both... problem is i've kinda ended up doing neither lol :(

Aye...I've ended up becoming very apathetic about both. My job goes nowhere and I hate it (been looking for another for about a year. No luck. I'm too old for retail work now), and my course bores me. On top of all this, I need to start thinking about paying for driving lessons and getting a car...not going to happen. :(

Currently, still paying off student loans and a mortgage. When the student loans get paid off (in a year or two - we're overpaying on them) the money that was going towards them every month will go partly towards overpaying the mortgage, and investing in things, who knows what. Money's tight enough right now that "saving" much is out of the question if we still want to eat. We probably should've gone with a cheaper house.
I would recomend if you can do it at all, to try to save up an emergency fund, even if you can only put back $20 a month it's really worth it. I would suggest having at least 3 months of emergency funds before you even think about saving for retirement. Do you live in America? If so are you deducting your student loan intrest on your taxes, you can do that even if you don't itemize. A good use of a tax refund is to put it back for emergency funds, but it wouldn't be very fun. ;)

sorry, I just like talking tax and financial.

I would recomend if you can do it at all, to try to save up an emergency fund, even if you can only put back $20 a month it's really worth it. I would suggest having at least 3 months of emergency funds before you even think about saving for retirement. Do you live in America? If so are you deducting your student loan intrest on your taxes, you can do that even if you don't itemize. A good use of a tax refund is to put it back for emergency funds, but it wouldn't be very fun. ;)

Well, I made it sound like we live pay-check to pay-check, but we do have a bit of a buffer. It's just not really growing. And were an emergency to come up, my husbands parents have some money they took as "rent" while he was living with them, and saved for him. They've encouraged us to spend it, but we've been holding off on that until we have another back-up plan. And yes, I live in America, and we do deduct the student loan interest, and we'll be itemizing this year too, for the first time, due to the mortgage interest being deductable too, as well as charitable contributions, (which are important to us, so we keep up with that, even in a tight budget) it should come out way ahead of the standard deduction. And yes, the tax refund is likely to go straight into savings. Plus, we should be getting a Christmas bonus sometime in february (heh) which should pay for the insurance copays some work that needs to be done on the kid's teeth, and the rest go into savings too. Plus, I just got a part-time job writing computer help files, and doing tech support, and also another tutoring a college kid, so we should be okay... I just don't like depending on "windfalls" as normal income, so we try to live within that, and extras go to savings, or paying extra bits off on loans. Hopefully someday we'll get all the loans gone... we'd have HUGE bits of money then... and probably wouldn't spend all that much more. Keep the house a bit warmer, eat a bit better, fix up the house some perhaps, but hopefully we'll get there eventually.

LOL! I got through college with the old man's help, and lived at home the entire four years, which sucked big time! Uncle Sam paid for my Masters via the GI Bill.

I absolutely cannot frakkin' wait for that last mortgage payment! Just think ... no more paying out $650 a month, and no rent payments either! Wow! I can hardly believe it! :D

As the oldest SOB still playing computer games I could give more advice than anyone wants to hear. I paid off my house just in time for a divorce. To give Ex her half of everything I had to remortgage the house (at a time when interest rates were 27%) for twice as much as I originally paid for the house. No matter, It's all paid off again.

You can do what I did: live frugally, save your money, and what is left after the divorce, give to the kids.

Well, I made it sound like we live pay-check to pay-check, but we do have a bit of a buffer. It's just not really growing. And were an emergency to come up, my husbands parents have some money they took as "rent" while he was living with them, and saved for him. They've encouraged us to spend it, but we've been holding off on that until we have another back-up plan. And yes, I live in America, and we do deduct the student loan interest, and we'll be itemizing this year too, for the first time, due to the mortgage interest being deductable too, as well as charitable contributions, (which are important to us, so we keep up with that, even in a tight budget) it should come out way ahead of the standard deduction. And yes, the tax refund is likely to go straight into savings. Plus, we should be getting a Christmas bonus sometime in february (heh) which should pay for the insurance copays some work that needs to be done on the kid's teeth, and the rest go into savings too. Plus, I just got a part-time job writing computer help files, and doing tech support, and also another tutoring a college kid, so we should be okay... I just don't like depending on "windfalls" as normal income, so we try to live within that, and extras go to savings, or paying extra bits off on loans. Hopefully someday we'll get all the loans gone... we'd have HUGE bits of money then... and probably wouldn't spend all that much more. Keep the house a bit warmer, eat a bit better, fix up the house some perhaps, but hopefully we'll get there eventually.

If you are itemizing, I would definatly go back and see what you have that you can add on (every little bit helps) like health ins premiums that you pay with after tax money, prescriptions, miliage to and from the doctor and pharmacy, volunteer miles, investment expenses, last years tax prep (if you paid to have them done, if not the cost of any computer programs or books you bought to help) as far as the tutoring you can claim it on a schedule C as a business, and deduct miliage, expenses and ect. for it too.

I can't wait for tax season :D I should have clients calling me any time now, taxes are so much fun:D

10 dollars a month into a RAF fund