Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum 401k Average Balances by Age...

Well that's just the thing.... you don't take on a car payment, cable bill, cell phone bill, etc. That's living above your means. That's what I did anyway. I drove the car I had paid off even though it was a pile of crap and I made it work for years beyond when it should have. I used the wal mart phone for years (pay as you go) and would only have a cell phone when I was able to pick up overtime basically. We never had cable or internet at the house. We also weren't able to max out our contributions to either because we had a child and we were only in our twenties and I was in college (Army paid) so live was not exciting but it was all worth it looking back. We definitely weren't able to keep up with the Jones's like a lot of our friends were, and I believe we lost a lot of so-called friends because of it, but we're in a much better position now.

I guess my whole point with this post was that I was kind of shocked at how little most people have invested in their 401k accounts. I know some people say that, "Well, I'm sure those people have money in something else like real estate, Roth, etc..." But I don't think so. I see lots of folks are way over extended buying things like nice, new cars and trucks, boats, vacations and mini-mansions in the suburbs and they just don't have any money "left over" to save and invest for their future. If you don't think that's true, look at how many folks were foreclosed on back in the last downturn.

To many people want it all now, and that's fine if that's what you want, but come retirement age I foresee a jobs crisis. Older folks staying in the employment pool taking jobs that were once available to younger folks, and also competing with illegal immigrants for those same jobs. When you have a huge majority competing for lower wage jobs and not enough to go around, it sounds like a recipe for Socialism.

Lot of folks in the US do not save and in many cases spend more than they actually make.

I worked with a guy for 14 years at GE. He never put a dime in his 401k. I couldn't under are stand it. I told him he was turning down free money. He finally got laid off and could have walked out with over 120,000K if he would have just contributed what the company would match. Everytime I see him he talks about how bad he's got it. He doesn't see any of it as his own choices causing his problems.

Exactly... And when people become poor they quickly become Socialists.

But he damn sure had a 5,000 soft house, 8 kids in private school, 2020 F350 Limited, 2020 Bassbost and took vacations seeming every month.

Nope, he doesn't have a thing. He took his check home, gave it to his wife who sat at home. Had bill collectors calling work, drove old trucks.

In October, I moved 100% of my investments into Treasuries. But for the last two years I have been in and out of two specific stocks. They took a beating in December, so I loaded up on them. Their quarterly reports came out Jan 29. All I can say is "Wow".

Those numbers are disheartening. It's not hard to save money if you make it a priority. Quit buying cars and houses you can't afford and put 15% into your 401k or iras

That is one thing that shocked me during the gov. shut down. All these people lined up for food saying they are going to lose their house etc. That was not after getting 1 check.

Good points all in this thread.... basically here is the typical American's retirement plan:

Low paying job

Sacrifice to put money back for retirement.

Invest that money into a 401(k) so that Wall Street liberals can steal a percentage quarterly.


That basically sums it up. The stock market is rigged fellas. You heard it here first. Machines and trading in Dark Pools have pretty much sealed your fate. I've been on the trading floor and seen it with my own eyes. There ain't nobody there. It's crazy when you think back to the 1980's and people crowded the floor.

All of those people have the live for the day and screw tomorrow attitude then when they don’t have a damn thing it’s poor pitiful me and somebody else’s fault. Not only that those people are so jealous of the ones that have scratched by so they can put money back to fall back on and have money for the future.

So you think in a general sense the stock market and specifically the 401k plans are a scam?

K.

Folks who know me , especially my wife, would find it laughable for someone else to try and school me on being tight with $. But since we really don't know each other you get a pass.

I do. However there is not much you can do about it. Investing in alternatives, real estate for example, takes time and additional effort and is not really how the whole process was envisioned. The 401k was a solution to pension problems. Going out and buying rental property in an effort to retire was not the vision for the average American... Then they figured out how to rob you of a small percentage of your money across millions and millions of people.

Last time I was on the trading floor I asked one of the guys in the blue jacket - Every time I come in here there are less people, when are you guys just gonna go home and turn off the lights?....

His reply was they could do that at anytime.

Machines are in control.

Nobody wants to discuss this but the entire country is in a retirement crisis. Social Security isn't going to cut it for anyone and I honestly believe between this issue and the National Debt our economic position and living conditions are going to continue to deteriorate. There will be a LOT more poor people in 30 years than there are today, old and without good Healthcare.

Numbers can tell a lot of stories, and if you want to define a narrative, you can. In this day an age, I don't believe much I read anymore.

In my 30's I was maxing out 401K but had way more assets in other investments vehicles. It remains that way today.

I have a lot of late 20's and early 30's working for me and most of them are maxing out their plan and getting a safe harbor match and profit sharing. I guess maybe I've stumbled on some good ones.

Yep.
I don't believe there is a better investment than a 401k, especially if your employer offers a 50% to 100% matching.
Hell, you make at least a 50% profit immediately!

Most employers will only match up to 3-5% of your paycheck now.

And a Roth 401k is even better

If they match 100% of the first 3% that is a 100% gain on your investment immediately is what Mark is saying assuming he hasn't been drinking yet.