Personal Finance Questions and Answers

Is This Featured Story On Yahoo News Today A Joke Or What?

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/arti...

I found it quite simple but unrealistic and intensely long-term. Im about 35 so it assumes I already enjoy $50,000 in stash, what? I wish. I've worked since age 15 and I currently enjoy about 1/5 that surrounded by savings. Im presently in the 35k-40k gross annual web income bracket, but for many years I never made more than 25k gross surrounded by a year. I also supported my mother until she died last year because she have no pension from her employer of 25+ years and her nest egg was lost on paying for her folks retirement home, fundamental care but still over $2,500 a month for over 6 years, and logically SS is a joke. And if I dont hold 50k saved it say I would need to put away $671 a month for over 30 years to gain millionare status by age 65. The dollar losing value, our affairs of state borrowing money from China for the war and to reward for this $500 check we are all getting to comfort the economy, smaller number jobs, bleak banks. Can anyone here do this? I cant.


Answers: My answer is HELL NO, I can't do this. I be so angry when I read that article... Angry and depressed. I thought I would be getting real suggestion and all I get was a bunch of numbers that be punched in a bit computer program. I wish I have $50.00 left over by the fall of the month, let alone $700.00. I'm next to you on this one. Bad joke, that's for sure.
It's not a ploy but it is completely unrealistic. You're right to that a million is not going to mean what it used to--after adjectives experts say we will spend $250K simply on MEDICAL in retirement years. For most folks, Social Security will NOT transpire and Medicare is already going bankrupt, etc.
You purely have to school yourself on financial matters--four good books I'd recommend are:

Your Money Matters for Financial Freedom by Michael J Laurence
All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren
The Road to Wealth by Suze Orman and her
The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom

We are surrounded by a very impossible place and the government doesn't want to do what requests to be done. Best book I've read in a LONG time on what we should be doing:
Cassandra Nathan's Save America, Save the World
searchable on Amazon.com and also you can see the one well brought-up plan for medical reform I've see to date at this site's PDF
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3068.htm...
Read the PDF, not the blurb, for the bulk of the plan. Book is searchable on Amazon.com
Cassandra Nathan's Save America, Save the World
I agree with you.

Like I hold $700 to put away in stash every month.
I don't see anything unrealistic about it.

The point is to start infantile and budget your money wisely. I don't receive an incredible amount of money, but still manage to put more than $750 away respectively month into long-term savings.

I really don't construe $1million is enough. I integer I'll need at least possible $2million at retirement to avoid outliving my savings.

At age 65 is a million dollars plenty to retire on?

With life spans getting longer and expenses constantly increasing is a million dollars the trickery number it once was?


Answers: It's not the sleight of hand number it once was, but you can retire at 65 on a million, if it is invested astutely, and gives you a fully clad return. You can have a nice lifestyle, but you can't step wild and spend spend spend adjectives the time, the cost of living is just too large. Be sensible and you can live comfortably.
I'd retire on it right now if I have it.
I'm 50.
Yes. It needs to be contained by investments that will continue growing so the age span doesn't consume it. Also, depends on what lifestyle you want, but I could fashion it on that.
America is all almost greed. We are green---no, not environmentally although we are trying--but all we see or perfectionism about is money, money, money. Unfortunately, it's the truth and the lone way we can live to survive. Consumerism is expanding more than ever beside fast cars becoming faster and advanced technology going HD and person more advanced. A million dollar should be fine at the age of 65--but what we really need at that age is to spend the rest of our short lives beside those we love.
No it is not the magic number - but whether it is plenty or not depends entirely on how you plan to live. Will your home be paid for free and clear? Will you want to whip vacations and play golf every daytime or will you sit and watch TV and munch through beans out of a can? What will the taxes be where you retire, utilities, groceries? Start to clear out a budget and you will see that $1M won't last you that long especially if you factor inflation into the equation.
Million is plenty Money to go for retirement
if you use it sagaciously like deposting the money within Bank or investing it
It depends on the lifestyle you want and it also depends on whether you are talking something like $1 million of net worth or $1 million surrounded by a retirement fund. A million dollars retirement fund can provide a very comfortable income, especially if you live contained by a low-cost area. Invested surrounded by a a diversified set of stocks bonds, and real estate, $1 million should be capable of earn 7%, or $70,000 per year. Combine this with Social Security, and you are within good shape. You would probably lug out only 6% to manufacture sure the fund keeps up near inflation.

If $1 million is your net worth, presumably module of it is in your rewarded home, so you have no rent or house payments. It depends how much of this lattice worth is available to earn income. It is still a beter net worth than roughly speaking 85 percent of Americans. You can easily govern on this, but you won't live in luxury.
It depend on how you live (spend) and how your form turn out to be, it is very expensive if you stipulation long term vigilance or long term support.
1 million is the number put you on the line surrounded by one hand have too much to get long possession care comfort from government until it is adjectives depleted, too little for self insurance for long term attention to detail need.
Unless you do not want to quit anything behind for your spouse or children, the artifice number turn out to be the number make you the claimant that need to buy long permanent status care insurance.
Save more if you can, you will enjoy more flexibility on self insure instead pay for expensive long residence care insurance.
It adjectives depends on what life style you want to live. I could retire on that right immediately at age 38 by living a conservative life style and making smart investments

Refinance or heloc?

Hi.I have a home valued at give or take a few 235k(bought in 8/07).Balance on current mortgage is 203k.I used a VA home loan next to fixed rate of 6.6%.i want to consolidate or pay past its sell-by date hi-interest cc bills totaling about 14k-accumulated from grad school(now finished); and also product some minor home improvements.fico score is objective.staying in the home for at smallest 7 yrs.should i do a cash out refi? or gain a heloc? or just refi?


Answers: Well you're currently paying PMI, correct? (As your loan amount is more than 80% of the home utility, I'm assuming this).

If you Refi and pull more money out, you'll be paying a large amount of money towards the PMI, money you'll never see returned to you...

What do I mean by adjectives this?

A 30 yr fixed (again I'm assuming) is a closed amoratization loan. Your monthly payments on this home are first going to the monthly Interest accrued; afterwards the small portion remaining goes towards your match.

If I had to guess, I'd utter your monthly loan payments are 1300-1400 a month with an extra 175-200 a month paying your mortgage insurance. Am I contained by the ball park?

The first month you compensated this $1600 or so and had nearly $250 go towards your principal. The subsequent month you had roughly $251 dance towards principal and so on. So in the 6 months since, you've remunerated down maybe $1500 of you loan match. You paid 9k to the mound to pay stale 1500...

Until your loan balance hits 188k you'll enjoy to keep paying your mortgage Insurance (PMI).

So, the current 15k that you'll enjoy to pay sour will take most of the 7 years you plan to live contained by this house.

If you refi and pull out another 14k you might gain a lower interest rate (if you can even get a edge to loan you money up to the 93% LtV ratio), BUT your PMI will be recalculated higher, your monthly allowance will be recalculated higher, AND your ammoritazation diary will restart, meaning smaller number will be going to your principal and a longer time you'll be paying your PMI.

Not something I'd want happen to me...

IF, IF, IF you HAVE to do something going on for these credit cards and can't pay them adjectives off presently, get yourself a HELOC and pay cheque it down as fast as possible.

Then you hold afew options similar to paying a chunk of your principal down via your HELOC to get out from lower than the PMI faster, but that's a more advanced topic for ater conversation.

My BEST advice...

Just earnings the cards off as much as you can. Make the minimum transfer of funds on three out of the four and pay the unbeatable one down as fast as possible.
If something happen, and you miss a payment on your credit cards, they'll cry and yell.
If you miss a allowance on your new heloc, they'll purloin your house.
Is it really worth saving a few points?
Or stretching out your credit card bills out for 30 years?

Also, if you refi, you'll owe $217K on a $235K house, departing you with individual 8% equity. You won't get a low interest rate beside that low an equity, plus you'll be paying PMI.

My advice: Don't refi, don't win a heloc, just reimburse down your credit cards with as much as you can squirrel away from your monthly income.

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