I'll never be able to retire - Or - How's the stock marking treating you?

[Forgotten Ancient]

?

[Rman]

I actually never want to retire. 

[Rman]

Cheer up, dude.  The historical gains of the stock market have been pretty solid.  Look it up.  Plus, isn't your money in mutual funds and not individual stocks?

[abrader]

trading sucks.

[Mupepe]

trading sucks.

not when it's pokemon cards.

GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, the economy is all kids of shit. thanks, sheenies and your usurious lending practices! thanks, dumbass americans and your sad attempts to pretend you aren't filthy poors through credit abuse! thanks, oil moguls and your 1910 robber baron market ethos! thanks, ron paul and your economically ignorant supporters!

[lordmaji]

It'll be a good couple of years for this to fix itself so people better be ready to scrimp, something I'm not sure the average American consumer knows how to do anymore.

You may be right.

[Rman]

FYI, ING Orange Direct accounts have very competitive rates for standard checking and savings accounts.  Look into them as well. 

[Van Cruncheon]

i'm already gearing up to scrimp -- i have more money than ever going into savings (and my 401k), and guess who's gonna suffer? the games and blu-ray markets :'(

[Van Cruncheon]

it's truly a horrible thing. :'(

[tiesto]

Just found out that my pension is cut by 20%

I don't even expect any of it to be there by the time I'm 65, that's why I'm putting 16% into my 401k (employee matches up to 4%)

[Van Cruncheon]

i have 10% into my 401k, with 10% matching. then again, i don't give an eff about ever retiring, although i do wanna use that money to buy another human being.

[GilloD]

I'm debtless at the moment, but also cashless and investmentless. I wish I had a couple of bucks to sink- You could make some smart money off of smart guesses, i.e. copper commodities (Thanks China!) and following the logic from there- Wheat and other grains, but also John Deere, who had a fuckin' great year last year thanks to- TA DA- China. The China bubble will burst, but being agile with your money could make you a fucking fortune.

Now if only I had a job!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

yeah, the economy is all kids of shit. thanks, sheenies and your usurious lending practices! thanks, dumbass americans and your sad attempts to pretend you aren't filthy poors through credit abuse! thanks, oil moguls and your 1910 robber baron market ethos! thanks, ron paul and your economically ignorant supporters!

This actually surprised me. I only use my CC for convenience and I never, ever carry a balance from month to month. Because then you are spending money on paying imaginary fees, and not on actual objects and people to enjoy.

When I heard that people max out their CCs and carry huge balances and spend most of their income on paying off the interest, not the balance, I was like...really?

It had never even OCCURRED to me that people would spend their money like that.

[lordmaji]

awww bummer, no suicide emoticon.

[MrAngryFace]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/RetirementCrisisFromBadToWorse.aspx

[Boogie]

I can retire at 55 with a pension that will amount to just over 60% of my best salary years.

I'm sure I'll start to invest once I get my student loans taken care of, but it's nice not having the stress of worrying about the future too much.

[Mupepe]

I'm really beginning to cut back on my spending.  When taco bell raised their prices, I knew the economy was going in the shitter

[lordmaji]

My 401 is broke! I had to take hardship on it.

I'm a broke bitch. At least I have something in common w/ Willco. 

[MrAngryFace]

The amount of money needed in a 401 to completely retired with a comfortable income for my neck of the woods is FUCK SCARY

[Fragamemnon]

Still well on track to retire at 55 with a fully paid off home. 

Biggest problem a lot of people have is that they insist on having kids and then they can't pay for both their retirement, their children's upbringing, and the quality of life they want all at the same time. So the retirement gets pushed out since the other two are more pressing/offer immediate reward.

[ToxicAdam]

I lost 8000 on MFNX back in 2000. Quit yer bitching.

[Phoenix Dark]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Buy stock in Buffalo Wild Wings. trust me

[close]

[lordmaji]

FA... you're right. We need to start getting paid in Euros. 

Also, I keep thinking about this American Axel UAW strike... I personally think they are going to picket themselves out a damned job.

What's stopping GM from saying fuck American Axel and fuck Three Rivers, it's time to move this plant to Mexico? I really think they need to do something about these damned unions. Unions are alright, but IMO I think they have GM,Ford,etc by the balls and just pissing them off and making them say fuck it. It's time to move.

*chant* "hey we're dildos, picketing ourselves out of a job" - Protesters outside of AA this morning.

But then again, I could be wrong. *shrug*

[Mupepe]

you're not wrong.  those unions are bleeding the company dry and think that right now is the time to kick the company's while they're down.  Unions are crooked as fuck and their members are brainwashed as fuck.

they should really be working with the company, so ya know, they can have these benefits in 20 years instead of being bankrupt

[lordmaji]

you're not wrong.  those unions are bleeding the company dry and think that right now is the time to kick the company's while they're down.  Unions are crooked as fuck and their members are brainwashed as fuck.

they should really be working with the company, so ya know, they can have these benefits in 20 years instead of being bankrupt

Amen to that brother.

[Eric P]

i'm generally pro-union because i'm pro-labor

i'm really kind of down on uaw and fuck the afl-cio

[lordmaji]

Problem w/ some Unions now are the fact that they feel "entitled" to keep the job. How the hell are you going to keep your job if all you are doing is fucking the company you are working for and basically making them say "fuck it, and fuck unions. We're moving".

Sorry, but you are not entitled to have that fucking job if all you're going to do is squeeze the balls of the company paying your bills. They are already having issues. Instead of causing more and making them say "fuck you". You should be working w/ them.

IMO I suppose. Unions are going to fuck us in the long run. Good luck w/ your union when you don't have a company to work for.

[lordmaji]

Poor companies  :'(

Poor Unions. They'll be the ones out of a job eventually.

[lordmaji]

I'm not anti-union...but unions were created to prevent exactly what the UAW does - that is, prevent an entity from exerting its power unfairly onto another.  The UAW's kind of flipped the script and has given labor workers and unions a bad name.  Not all auto laborers are for this, but as they're forced to be in the UAW they have little choice but to either picket alongside the rest of them, or sit down and shut up.  Instead of protecting the laborers from the employee, it's looking like many of the laborers should be protected from their unions.

It's tough to really say what to do in this situation other than to let it play out.  If the auto workers push the manufacturers hard enough, the jobs will surely be sent either to another location or eliminated entirely.  The stupid thing is that a lot of times the shit comes down to pride and principles rather than practicality.  As in the case of the writers strike, the time / money lost while picketing will take years (if ever) to recoup.  Granted, we can't let companies muscle their way around the employees and unions totally, but ESPECIALLY in a time of nationwide economic crisis, some concessions to the employer need to be made. 

Because American Axle is the #1 employer in the small town I grew up in (Three Rivers, Michigan), they really can't afford this.  It's one thing to fight for better wages, it's a completely different one to complain and picket about your pay and benefits when you're already working at a position many others would kill to have.  For small markets like in Three Rivers, Michigan, American Axle IS the best paying job a non-skilled laborer can hope to find.  A plant shutdown ultimately screws over the other small factories in the area and causes everyone to suffer. 

Perfectly put.