Victor
Senior Member
- Location
- midwest USA
I know that returns count. I was thinking of my dividends when I said yield.
They are a needed bonus to my income.
They are a needed bonus to my income.
if it wasn't for the 30 years i spent investing in diversified funds i would not be retired today. in fact over a typical accumulation period spanning decades no one in our history in this country ever lost a penny except through bad investor behavior
the best of all outcomes is a pension and your own investing .
it took the first 50 years of my life to compound to a million dollars but only 13 years to triple it .
a well deserved humble brag i might add . i grew up in a new york city housing project and vowed never to return or ever raise a family there . a promise that kept me motivated and driven not to fail financially for a lifetime . but it is also an example of how powerful compounding can be on the bits we are able to save from our pay checks .
the best of all outcomes is a pension and your own investing .
50 years of investing probably isn't possible for most posting here. I don't think many companies offer pensions now since 401k's with a percent match became popular. But there probably is time for offspring to learn & even easier with tons of info available on the internet.
Fortunately both my wife and I worked for companies that had pension plans & 401k's. Foolish to invest in the companies we worked for was the "expert" opinion. Didn't listen to the experts. Between company match in our 401k's & ESOP's at no cost to buy and a percent discount on the average stock cost, that long term advantage kicked. The way it kicked in was two for one splits, and even a 4 for 1 split.
Best thing we did was to convert the 401k's into self directed IRA's. The traditional IRA's we have as a hedge are nice but don't amount to much.
So out of the dumb luck to have a long time to prepare for our old age, we both have 4 sources of income. New goal is to leave each of our sons 15,000 shares of a stock that as of now pays $1.60 a year in dividends. With any luck those will split for them.
OH it is possible to invest for decades . most choose not to .
at one point in my career i had 3 jobs going on to make sure i always had money to invest . i was a drummer doing side gigs weekends , i had my regular hvac tech job and i ran my own service company on the side at night if i could get work .
it all depends on priorities and how dedicated to having some extra money to invest you are ..
as they say , those who really want to succeed at something will find a way- the rest will find an excuse
I agree that it is possible to invest for decades if you have decades left to be able to do that. I was reflecting on the fact this is a seniors site and the probability that most here are past having that time frame.
The best I expected to do by posting about our long term investing was to show it can be done. But as you point out there is a truth in those who really want to succeed at something will find a way- the rest will find an excuse
Jim Cramer was one of the experts touting Fitbit. I bought only 25 shares (thank goodness) at $45+ and 20 at $36+. Today the stock is $5.62!I've found that the best financial advice, for me, comes from watching CNBC, and their analysts...especially Jim Cramer, at breakfast every day. Following their tips, and monitoring my portfolio myself has allowed me to keep our assets intact. I've been pulling a monthly allotment from the IRA for almost 16 years, and as of this morning, I have slightly more than what I started with....essentially giving us over $400K of "free" money, since retiring. The stock markets are certainly a bit of a gamble, but if a person pays attention, and reallocates as market conditions change, the "ride" is not that bumpy.
Trade...our N.J. governor Christie, also a Republican, tried to do the same. He had it out for retirees and teachers from day one. He stopped our COLAs, promised he would fully fund the plan, then reversed that decision even after a judge told him it was a mandatory obligation. I was so afraid he would cut our pension benefits and wreak havoc on our retiree health benefits but so far he hasn't. New hires face stunning benefit changes however.I hung in for 31 years years with State Government in Florida so that I could get a defined benefit Pension. I would have never been able to put away enough myself to retire like I have. The State of Florida had a pretty good retirement system. Unfortunately two of the last three Republican Governors, Jeb Bush, and Rick Scott, have been trying their best to destroy it, because that's what Republicans do. Charlie Crist wasn't so bad, but the Republican Party drove him out.
Buy low sell high which means you have to keep an eye on it. Never assume that stock or company will be there when you want to sell or cash in. Also think about stock and funds for income. The key word being funds because a fund can have a company/stock go bad and still be worth something unlike a person who holds that individual stock