Assuming that one wishes to plan financially.
I'm not really talking about the types of investment or savings, fee
only planner or commission salesperson, but other important choices
that we make that have a major impact on our ability to invest and
save.
Let's look at some of those choices.
Automobiles--------We have a huge choice, and the financial
differences in owning and operating one vehicle vs. another is
significant.
Where we live--------Within limits, we have a choice here too.
Assuming we can earn the same $$$
living in an area that has a lower cost of living, the financial
difference is also significant.
Housing----------How much of our income do we commit to housing? We
have a huge choice here as well. 30% or less of your income vs. 50% is
a huge financial difference and impacts our ability to save and
invest.
These are the three major areas that I see as aiding or impeding our
ability to save and invest and how much we are able to save and invest
over time. There are lesser areas of course, vacations, food,
entertainment, etc. where we have considerable choice. Those daily
Double Latte’s do add up at $3.50 a pop.
Problem is, sometimes we want to have our cake and eat it too.
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
Too boring a topic, or just no one interested in talking about money and financial planning?
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
Lon;589670 wrote: Too boring a topic, or just no one interested in talking about money and financial planning?
I think financial planning and future planning go up in priority as we get older lon. You and I may take it more seriously that our 20 something couterparts. Why plan when you are living for today.
My husband and I are at this time taking a serious look at the fact that on the inside of 15 years we will both be retired. And will we be ready? Our home is paid for..as is one of our cars. We feel a bit comfortable, but there is always that dark cloud hanging over. The what if cloud. We both took a huge hit after 9/11 and our retirement funds are just within the past year beginning to recover.
I think financial planning and future planning go up in priority as we get older lon. You and I may take it more seriously that our 20 something couterparts. Why plan when you are living for today.
My husband and I are at this time taking a serious look at the fact that on the inside of 15 years we will both be retired. And will we be ready? Our home is paid for..as is one of our cars. We feel a bit comfortable, but there is always that dark cloud hanging over. The what if cloud. We both took a huge hit after 9/11 and our retirement funds are just within the past year beginning to recover.
-
nvalleyvee
- Posts: 5191
- Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:57 am
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
People need to make some planning.......I never did because I was a silver spoon girl.....................What a sad mistake.
I do not think my inhertance will keep me flush in my seventies.
I do not think my inhertance will keep me flush in my seventies.
The growth of knowledge depends entirely on disagreement..........Karl R. Popper
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
nvalleyvee;589702 wrote: People need to make some planning.......I never did because I was a silver spoon girl.....................What a sad mistake.
I do not think my inhertance will keep me flush in my seventies.
You are honest to admit that. I hope your inheritance will carry well beyond your seventies.
I do not think my inhertance will keep me flush in my seventies.
You are honest to admit that. I hope your inheritance will carry well beyond your seventies.
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
Lon;589670 wrote: Too boring a topic, or just no one interested in talking about money and financial planning?
Your post was complete in itself cand all too true.
You must decide for yourself what is important to you - the appearance of status or real security. Is a brand new Merc on the drive worth the overdraft or can you be happy getting a two year old Ford every three years?
Your post was complete in itself cand all too true.
You must decide for yourself what is important to you - the appearance of status or real security. Is a brand new Merc on the drive worth the overdraft or can you be happy getting a two year old Ford every three years?
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
In your twenties it is hard to imagine life beyond thirty and it's difficult to take planning seriously when bound up in making your way in the world. In your thirties it is getting more interesting but concerns about kids etc take precedence over everything. In your forties it is very interesting in your fifties it is almost too late to plan for retirement and having seen some of your friends die you set out to enjoy life the way you used to in your youth. It's not the merc in the drive but the Harley or the crotch rocket in the garage with the matching outfit on which you will probably kill yourself wrapping it round a tree.
My parents generation didn't bother much as the odds of them living much beyond 60 were pretty remote. Who needs retirement planning when you need to enjoy life today and you won't live to see it anyway?
You can only plan when you have a disposable income to plan with. People don't save because they need every penny to survive or just get by. At least now the present generation are a lot wealthier than the previous one. But having said that.
posted by Lon
Housing----------How much of our income do we commit to housing? We
have a huge choice here as well. 30% or less of your income vs. 50% is
a huge financial difference and impacts our ability to save and
invest
Depends where you live but here many people pay more in rent than a mortgage would cost but don't earn enough to get the mortgage in the first place. Housing can be 60-70 of your income and you have no choice in the matter. To move elsewhere you need the money to travel, to get a job you need a permanent address, to get an address you need enough money to pay the rent.
The feckless poor are often just trapped in a vicious circle they can't get out of. I come from the archetypal single parent family in a large council housing scheme-like the majority of single parents it wasn't from choice three decades previously we would have been in the poor house. Being unemployed or living in poverty is not a life choice most people will make but often find themselves in because of circumstances they can't control. After a while despair can become the mother of apathy
posted by lon
These are the three major areas that I see as aiding or impeding our
ability to save and invest and how much we are able to save and invest
over time. There are lesser areas of course, vacations, food,
entertainment, etc. where we have considerable choice. Those daily
Double Latte’s do add up at $3.50 a pop.
No there is really only one. How much money you have or can earn. What car, where you live and what house you buy are choices you make depending on how much you earn. Buy a car-don't buy a car assumes you have the wherewithal in the first place to buy one. If everything goes on rent and living expenses all else is academic.
My parents generation didn't bother much as the odds of them living much beyond 60 were pretty remote. Who needs retirement planning when you need to enjoy life today and you won't live to see it anyway?
You can only plan when you have a disposable income to plan with. People don't save because they need every penny to survive or just get by. At least now the present generation are a lot wealthier than the previous one. But having said that.
posted by Lon
Housing----------How much of our income do we commit to housing? We
have a huge choice here as well. 30% or less of your income vs. 50% is
a huge financial difference and impacts our ability to save and
invest
Depends where you live but here many people pay more in rent than a mortgage would cost but don't earn enough to get the mortgage in the first place. Housing can be 60-70 of your income and you have no choice in the matter. To move elsewhere you need the money to travel, to get a job you need a permanent address, to get an address you need enough money to pay the rent.
The feckless poor are often just trapped in a vicious circle they can't get out of. I come from the archetypal single parent family in a large council housing scheme-like the majority of single parents it wasn't from choice three decades previously we would have been in the poor house. Being unemployed or living in poverty is not a life choice most people will make but often find themselves in because of circumstances they can't control. After a while despair can become the mother of apathy
posted by lon
These are the three major areas that I see as aiding or impeding our
ability to save and invest and how much we are able to save and invest
over time. There are lesser areas of course, vacations, food,
entertainment, etc. where we have considerable choice. Those daily
Double Latte’s do add up at $3.50 a pop.
No there is really only one. How much money you have or can earn. What car, where you live and what house you buy are choices you make depending on how much you earn. Buy a car-don't buy a car assumes you have the wherewithal in the first place to buy one. If everything goes on rent and living expenses all else is academic.
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
[quote=gmc;589771]In your twenties it is hard to imagine life beyond thirty and it's difficult to take planning seriously when bound up in making your way in the world. In your thirties it is getting more interesting but concerns about kids etc take precedence over everything. In your forties it is very interesting in your fifties it is almost too late to plan for retirement and having seen some of your friends die you set out to enjoy life the way you used to in your youth. It's not the merc in the drive but the Harley or the crotch rocket in the garage with the matching outfit on which you will probably kill yourself wrapping it round a tree.
My parents generation didn't bother much as the odds of them living much beyond 60 were pretty remote. Who needs retirement planning when you need to enjoy life today and you won't live to see it anyway?
You can only plan when you have a disposable income to plan with. People don't save because they need every penny to survive or just get by. At least now the present generation are a lot wealthier than the previous one. But having said that.
posted by Lon
Depends where you live but here many people pay more in rent than a mortgage would cost but don't earn enough to get the mortgage in the first place. Housing can be 60-70 of your income and you have no choice in the matter. To move elsewhere you need the money to travel, to get a job you need a permanent address, to get an address you need enough money to pay the rent.
The feckless poor are often just trapped in a vicious circle they can't get out of. I come from the archetypal single parent family in a large council housing scheme-like the majority of single parents it wasn't from choice three decades previously we would have been in the poor house. Being unemployed or living in poverty is not a life choice most people will make but often find themselves in because of circumstances they can't control. After a while despair can become the mother of apathy
posted by lon
p.
No there is really only one. How much money you have or can earn. What car, where you live and what house you buy are choices you make depending on how much you earn. Buy a car-don't buy a car assumes you have the wherewithal in the first place to buy one. If everything goes on rent and living expenses all else is academic.[/quote
I appreciate your your response GMC. As one who also came from the archetypical single parent single parent family situation with similar housing scheme, I can relate. Fortunately, life presented some opportunities that I was able to take advantage of.
My parents generation didn't bother much as the odds of them living much beyond 60 were pretty remote. Who needs retirement planning when you need to enjoy life today and you won't live to see it anyway?
You can only plan when you have a disposable income to plan with. People don't save because they need every penny to survive or just get by. At least now the present generation are a lot wealthier than the previous one. But having said that.
posted by Lon
Depends where you live but here many people pay more in rent than a mortgage would cost but don't earn enough to get the mortgage in the first place. Housing can be 60-70 of your income and you have no choice in the matter. To move elsewhere you need the money to travel, to get a job you need a permanent address, to get an address you need enough money to pay the rent.
The feckless poor are often just trapped in a vicious circle they can't get out of. I come from the archetypal single parent family in a large council housing scheme-like the majority of single parents it wasn't from choice three decades previously we would have been in the poor house. Being unemployed or living in poverty is not a life choice most people will make but often find themselves in because of circumstances they can't control. After a while despair can become the mother of apathy
posted by lon
p.
No there is really only one. How much money you have or can earn. What car, where you live and what house you buy are choices you make depending on how much you earn. Buy a car-don't buy a car assumes you have the wherewithal in the first place to buy one. If everything goes on rent and living expenses all else is academic.[/quote
I appreciate your your response GMC. As one who also came from the archetypical single parent single parent family situation with similar housing scheme, I can relate. Fortunately, life presented some opportunities that I was able to take advantage of.
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
Oiy Lon this is a topic that sits like a rock in my stomach daily.
I have naught to put into my financial future that is going to carry me too far, thanks to a nasty divorce that robbed me of it all. Ouch....
At my age there should be more than what I have, and this is something I struggle with daily, especially when I see my folks and brother living high on the hog so to speak.
I flounder by for now.
Here houseing is outrageous
1200sq foot house depending on the area ... starts at $300,000.00 if you go inner city it's way higher almost double. So that is not terribly promising for those who have not much.
I have naught to put into my financial future that is going to carry me too far, thanks to a nasty divorce that robbed me of it all. Ouch....
At my age there should be more than what I have, and this is something I struggle with daily, especially when I see my folks and brother living high on the hog so to speak.
I flounder by for now.
Here houseing is outrageous
1200sq foot house depending on the area ... starts at $300,000.00 if you go inner city it's way higher almost double. So that is not terribly promising for those who have not much.
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�
• Mae West
• Mae West
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
posted by Lon
I appreciate your your response GMC. As one who also came from the archetypical single parent single parent family situation with similar housing scheme, I can relate. Fortunately, life presented some opportunities that I was able to take advantage of.
ditto. I also learned to make my opportunities but I still remember the feeling of despair and being trapped.
I appreciate your your response GMC. As one who also came from the archetypical single parent single parent family situation with similar housing scheme, I can relate. Fortunately, life presented some opportunities that I was able to take advantage of.
ditto. I also learned to make my opportunities but I still remember the feeling of despair and being trapped.
Choices to be made in Financial Planning
minks;589930 wrote: Oiy Lon this is a topic that sits like a rock in my stomach daily.
I have naught to put into my financial future that is going to carry me too far, thanks to a nasty divorce that robbed me of it all. Ouch....
At my age there should be more than what I have, and this is something I struggle with daily, especially when I see my folks and brother living high on the hog so to speak.
I flounder by for now.
Here houseing is outrageous
1200sq foot house depending on the area ... starts at $300,000.00 if you go inner city it's way higher almost double. So that is not terribly promising for those who have not much.
Divorce can certainly make any financial planning difficult, and unfortunately, it is the female that has the more difficult time recovering.
Community Property? Half of nothing is nonthing.
I have naught to put into my financial future that is going to carry me too far, thanks to a nasty divorce that robbed me of it all. Ouch....
At my age there should be more than what I have, and this is something I struggle with daily, especially when I see my folks and brother living high on the hog so to speak.
I flounder by for now.
Here houseing is outrageous
1200sq foot house depending on the area ... starts at $300,000.00 if you go inner city it's way higher almost double. So that is not terribly promising for those who have not much.
Divorce can certainly make any financial planning difficult, and unfortunately, it is the female that has the more difficult time recovering.
Community Property? Half of nothing is nonthing.