14k would have been $132k in 45 years when you would have otherwise retired.
The power is in the interest. Even if you max out your 401k in the future it cannot make up for missing interest earnings on early deposits. Having to use it it now means nobody in this entire generation will ever retire, ever.
Just to put it into perspective, if the inflation rate for the past 45 years predicts the next 45 years. $14K today = $55K in 45 years. A $75K household income today would be $294K in 45 years.
So $14K in a 401K saved for 45 years is a pittance and should never be considered a retirement “program”. It’s all bullshit to decrease and eliminate the cost of actual pension programs.
You don’t just put $14k into a 401k, you keep contributing to it. Getting more and more money to compound upon itself.
If you put $4k into it every year (remember, this is pre-tax money and often has an employer match), and it grows 8% per year on average (S&P 500 actually does more like 10%, but we will be more conservative and say 8%), we will also be conservative and assume you won’t increase contributions, even as you earn more later in life, then you have $1,546,022 after 45 years of working.
It’s the opposite actually. The stock market has historically returned an average of about 7%/year after inflation. $14k invested at 7% per year is worth about $327k after 45 years. And that 7% is again, an average rate, so a balancing of the crashes vs. the rallies, and it’s after inflation.
Eh. I’ve done pretty well with the 401k system. Pensions often just seem like a way for employers to pull a bait-and-switch. Need to work for 30 years at a company for a full pension? They get you to accept a lower wage on that promise, then you get fired at year 29. Or a company recruits a bunch of young workers on a promise of a pension decades down the line. Decades later, when they’re about to face a massive surge in those on the company pension rolls, the company mysteriously goes bankrupt. The company owners looted the company, wracked it up with debt, and let it go bankrupt before the pension bill came due, and left the workers holding the bag.
The nice thing about 401ks is that employers can’t screw you over after the fact. I don’t trust companies to be able to deliver on promises decades from now. With a 401k, they give all they’re ever going to give up front, and you can make an informed decision over whether you’re being fairly compensated. It’s hard to judge the fair value of a pension that may or may not disappear before you’re eligible to collect it decades from now. Oh, and employers only retain control over your 401k funds for as long as you work there. After that, you transfer them to an IRA account that is completely under your control.
My partner and I are in our late 30s and have made regular contributions to 401ks and IRAs. At this point, our retirement is fully funded. By this I mean we could choose to never make another contribution, and if we just let our investments sit and grow, we would be able to comfortably retire at age 65. We’re still making investments, but only to move forward the date we’re able to retire.
Yes, it requires some discipline and you have to educate yourself. You need to learn about things like investment ratios, index funds, etc. But ultimately it isn’t that complicated as people like to pretend it is. And you have to have the discipline to not panic sell when the market drops. It’s a bit different if people have to cash out for a financial emergency. But many make really stupid mistakes such as selling during a downturn, trying to time the market, instead of just buying and holding cheap index funds until retirement.
But yeah, we’ve done pretty well. At this point, barring some catastrophic life-altering scenarios, our retirement is assured. We don’t have to worry about an employer pulling the rug out from under us. We don’t have to worry about a company going bankrupt. We don’t have to worry about being fired shortly before reaching reaching the number of years needed for a full pension. We don’t have to stay at a job earning below-market wages for years just for the pension. We don’t even have to work some arbitrary number of years; we can retire as soon as our assets are enough to provide for whatever lifestyle we’re comfortable with.
And if you’re just worried about running out of money in retirement? You can always invest in the stock market and then buy annuities once you reach retirement age.
Pensions have their place. But I think we tend to look at them with rose-tinted glasses. Companies bankrupting their way out of pension responsibilities was an infamous thing not too long ago.
Same happened with pension though. Get sick and lose your job? Those twenty years you spent earning less than you’re worth, just for the sake of the pension? Poof.
I had $20K a 401K and $15K in school loans when I swapped jobs in my late 20’s. Guess what I did with it.
3 years later I was able to purchase my first house because I saved up money instead of paying the student loans.
Right now I should be maximizing my retirement savings according to all the advisors. Instead I am using the money to pay for my kids college so they can start off in life above zero instead of -$50k like my wife and I did.
I figured out a long time ago that there is no way in hell I can retire and remain in the U.S. The system is rigged against me. So my goal for the next 10 years is to learn Spanish.
I had 14 grand in a 401k. I had to spend it to survive for a year while I looked for a job. All of it.
Now I know 14k aint shit. But that is where we are.
14k would have been $132k in 45 years when you would have otherwise retired.
The power is in the interest. Even if you max out your 401k in the future it cannot make up for missing interest earnings on early deposits. Having to use it it now means nobody in this entire generation will ever retire, ever.
And $132K in 45 years will buy you 1 Happy Meal. ;)
Without the toy, because we can’t incentivize kids to ask for fast-food meals.
Just to put it into perspective, if the inflation rate for the past 45 years predicts the next 45 years. $14K today = $55K in 45 years. A $75K household income today would be $294K in 45 years.
So $14K in a 401K saved for 45 years is a pittance and should never be considered a retirement “program”. It’s all bullshit to decrease and eliminate the cost of actual pension programs.
You don’t just put $14k into a 401k, you keep contributing to it. Getting more and more money to compound upon itself.
If you put $4k into it every year (remember, this is pre-tax money and often has an employer match), and it grows 8% per year on average (S&P 500 actually does more like 10%, but we will be more conservative and say 8%), we will also be conservative and assume you won’t increase contributions, even as you earn more later in life, then you have $1,546,022 after 45 years of working.
Yes, this is something you can retire on.
Gotta include inflation in there.
$1,546,022 in 45 years with the same inflation we’ve had for the past 45 years would only be worth $529,400 in todays money.
If you only plan on living for 10 years or less after retiring, then, Maybe.
deleted by creator
It’s the opposite actually. The stock market has historically returned an average of about 7%/year after inflation. $14k invested at 7% per year is worth about $327k after 45 years. And that 7% is again, an average rate, so a balancing of the crashes vs. the rallies, and it’s after inflation.
I would really rather just have a pension.
But that’s too much to ask.
Eh. I’ve done pretty well with the 401k system. Pensions often just seem like a way for employers to pull a bait-and-switch. Need to work for 30 years at a company for a full pension? They get you to accept a lower wage on that promise, then you get fired at year 29. Or a company recruits a bunch of young workers on a promise of a pension decades down the line. Decades later, when they’re about to face a massive surge in those on the company pension rolls, the company mysteriously goes bankrupt. The company owners looted the company, wracked it up with debt, and let it go bankrupt before the pension bill came due, and left the workers holding the bag.
The nice thing about 401ks is that employers can’t screw you over after the fact. I don’t trust companies to be able to deliver on promises decades from now. With a 401k, they give all they’re ever going to give up front, and you can make an informed decision over whether you’re being fairly compensated. It’s hard to judge the fair value of a pension that may or may not disappear before you’re eligible to collect it decades from now. Oh, and employers only retain control over your 401k funds for as long as you work there. After that, you transfer them to an IRA account that is completely under your control.
My partner and I are in our late 30s and have made regular contributions to 401ks and IRAs. At this point, our retirement is fully funded. By this I mean we could choose to never make another contribution, and if we just let our investments sit and grow, we would be able to comfortably retire at age 65. We’re still making investments, but only to move forward the date we’re able to retire.
Yes, it requires some discipline and you have to educate yourself. You need to learn about things like investment ratios, index funds, etc. But ultimately it isn’t that complicated as people like to pretend it is. And you have to have the discipline to not panic sell when the market drops. It’s a bit different if people have to cash out for a financial emergency. But many make really stupid mistakes such as selling during a downturn, trying to time the market, instead of just buying and holding cheap index funds until retirement.
But yeah, we’ve done pretty well. At this point, barring some catastrophic life-altering scenarios, our retirement is assured. We don’t have to worry about an employer pulling the rug out from under us. We don’t have to worry about a company going bankrupt. We don’t have to worry about being fired shortly before reaching reaching the number of years needed for a full pension. We don’t have to stay at a job earning below-market wages for years just for the pension. We don’t even have to work some arbitrary number of years; we can retire as soon as our assets are enough to provide for whatever lifestyle we’re comfortable with.
And if you’re just worried about running out of money in retirement? You can always invest in the stock market and then buy annuities once you reach retirement age.
Pensions have their place. But I think we tend to look at them with rose-tinted glasses. Companies bankrupting their way out of pension responsibilities was an infamous thing not too long ago.
And then one major medical emergency happens… poof!
Same happened with pension though. Get sick and lose your job? Those twenty years you spent earning less than you’re worth, just for the sake of the pension? Poof.
We should have universal healthcare and other social safety nets in the US.
I had $20K a 401K and $15K in school loans when I swapped jobs in my late 20’s. Guess what I did with it.
3 years later I was able to purchase my first house because I saved up money instead of paying the student loans.
Right now I should be maximizing my retirement savings according to all the advisors. Instead I am using the money to pay for my kids college so they can start off in life above zero instead of -$50k like my wife and I did.
I figured out a long time ago that there is no way in hell I can retire and remain in the U.S. The system is rigged against me. So my goal for the next 10 years is to learn Spanish.
14k is worth 14k, and you can live a very spartan year on it apparently.
Probably worth a lot less after early withdrawal penalties and taxes.
Yep. Was 18k originally.
Luxury, I had 9.5k and had to spend it to survive for 2 years while I looked for a job.