Retirement Targets
- Thread starter yowza
- Start date
Guess I'm lucky.
Have decent bank. LOVE my job/fellow employees.
Retirement, not on my radar, given the above.
Have decent bank. LOVE my job/fellow employees.
Retirement, not on my radar, given the above.
Want to comment on something a couple different people have stated here abt SSI being "owed", thats its "your money" and government is "paying back".
That is NOT what is happenening with SSI. Your contributions do not go into some account earmarked for you.
There is no contract, its not your money, its not owed to you in any way. Certainly not in any enforceable way. SSI is just another welfare benefit, targeted to the elderly. They can change SSI the same as they can change WIC or food stamps, at any time. They could cancel it entirely tomorrow, and you would get zero.
Its a tax, and that money is spent today. Theres currently a promised benefit that you get with the same name, but its a psychological trick to make you think its not a tax like any other.
That is NOT what is happenening with SSI. Your contributions do not go into some account earmarked for you.
There is no contract, its not your money, its not owed to you in any way. Certainly not in any enforceable way. SSI is just another welfare benefit, targeted to the elderly. They can change SSI the same as they can change WIC or food stamps, at any time. They could cancel it entirely tomorrow, and you would get zero.
Its a tax, and that money is spent today. Theres currently a promised benefit that you get with the same name, but its a psychological trick to make you think its not a tax like any other.
SSI is Supplemental Security Income. It is welfare in that there is no requirement to have paid into the program. Social Security requires the beneficiary or their spouse to have paid withholding and benefits vary according to the amount paid in. While there is no formal contract or individual account, there is a very strong moral and political obligation to pay benefits and changes have to be incremental.
I don't know them specifically, but I am not usually a big fan when it's kind of a "franchise" financial advisor - esp one from a radio show?
I've been trying to find a decent financial advisor that charges basically by the hour rather than 1% of assets. A couple of the 1% advisors will do it for a flat fee, but the flat fee is $10k (paid up front) and that also seems like a lot on a per hour basis.
Doesn't hurt to go in and talk to them, finding a person or company to invest with is not easy, you really have to feel that they are looking out for your best interests and not just looking to make a sale. You need to be able to sit down and tell them your goals, and ask them how they are going to go about reaching those goals for you if you go with them. Its more of a trust factor than anything else.
I get this and it's something I wrestle with. The marginal tax rate is low historically, but it still sucks when those dollars are taxed at that level.
Thinking hard about next year. I do a hybrid tradional-roth structure for tax reasons (now and in the future) as well as a legacy play (if the kids can stay in the will. That's TBD).
Currently at a roughly 50-50 split. Wife is more like 90-10. I'd like to get her side of the equation closer to 50-50.
Should note that when you’re reviewing the traditional vs Roth argument, the standard deductions will count towards whatever income you’re drawing from your accounts.
If you set up your savings to have enough traditional dollars (25x?) to cover that, you’ll come out ahead supplementing with Roth. And look at brackets lower than you if you want to go further (which will adjust up for inflation each year).
Consult a professional for SS tax and other considerations.
If you set up your savings to have enough traditional dollars (25x?) to cover that, you’ll come out ahead supplementing with Roth. And look at brackets lower than you if you want to go further (which will adjust up for inflation each year).
Consult a professional for SS tax and other considerations.
Yeah, it gets murky and every situation is different. Another thing to remember is that when you have income of 25 k (32k for married couples so that’s low) your social security is taxed at either 50 or 85% at ordinary income. So that can make a difference in traditional vs Roth also.
Yep. I wasn’t aware of that until a few years ago.
Started back in the 90s IIRC, or at least at levels that caught more than just a fraction of people.
Some people also don’t know that Medicare is based on annual income also. My mom sold a building site (a whopping 30k gain) and her Medicare was around 3k year more due to that.
Why do you need a financial advisor anymore? They can't beat just buying ultra low cost ETF's and relaxing. VOO and chill is all you need for retirement. Unless of course you are ready to start withdrawing.
