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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Rubes33 on July 13, 2019, 01:05:26 PM

Title: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 13, 2019, 01:05:26 PM
To start, my wife and I are both 25.

We make 300k a year.

We both have Defined Benefit pensions.
Disclaimer: Our DB pensions are NOT included in these numbers.


Mortgage:
$500k remaining
Market value is around $900k

Vehicles:
Me: 2019 Ford Raptor with a 6" lift and 35" tires.
Her: 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1


Checking: $124
savings: $88
TFSA: $212
 
TFSA: $95
RRSP: $458

I know some of these accounts are not optimal with the MERs and interest rates but that’s why I’m here.
We want to invest our money in a smarter and more efficient way.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: MrThatsDifferent on July 13, 2019, 03:31:24 PM
Sorry mate, you’ve got $55k of vehicles and a mortgage on $80k salaries and you smarter and efficient ways!?!  I honestly wouldn’t know where to begin except. You’re going to need the big brains on this. My first thought would be get rid of those vehicles immediately, change whatever thinking you have that let you believe they were smart purchases and get more serious about your financial strategy. Wow!
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: ender on July 13, 2019, 03:44:35 PM
Do you make $160k total? Or $80k?

If you make $160k like I think, you have a big shovel - you can pay off those cars quickly. Ideally you'd get rid of them and get more reasonable vehicles but with that big of shovel you might not even need to do that.

What do you spend a month? I'd guess you have a ton of cashflow that you could use to burn through a fair number of the things weighing you down.  I think you need to ask yourselves how serious and what age you want to FIRE. If it's anytime soon, those cars are going to have to change.  If you are fine retiring at say 50 it's not as bad.

Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: red_pill on July 13, 2019, 03:47:57 PM

I know some of these accounts are not optimal with the MERs and interest rates but that’s why I’m here.
We want to invest our money in a smarter and more efficient way that enables us to have the option to attain FIRE down the road.


The easy answer to your question is to open up a TD Direct Investing account, look up the model portfolio for TD E-series funds on Canadian couch potato investor and buy those, and boom, you've saved on MERs (they are less than 0.5%).

But, honestly, asking a question about how to trim a percentage off of your MERs for $41,000 of investments while you are spending over $1,200 in vehicle payments a month is sort of like some out of shape guy asking for tips on his bench press technique while he's eating his daily bucket of ice cream.  The MER's probably aren't the biggest obstacle preventing you from achieving your goals.  In fact, a 1.5% MER savings on your portfolio only saves you $600 a year...that's $50 a month.  Don't get me wrong, fifty bucks is fifty bucks and you should go make that change, but it's probably nothing compared to what you could save with some fairly easy lifestyle modification. Seriously, if $1200 a month in car payments isn't giving you heart palpitations, I'm curious to see the rest of your spending habits! 

Can you provide the year, make, model, and km on the vehicles?  Are you in a negative equity position? What is stopping you from getting rid of these things? 

I'm new to this stuff as well, and the changes are slow due to a reluctant wife.  But, we just dumped our expensive car and bought something used - for cash. No car payments for us.  I was nervous since we downgraded significantly in our "level" of vehicle.  I don't regret it one bit.  Not even for half a second. It's awesome.  What generated that change was I looked at what our monthly vehicle expenses were.  Payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking.  It was gross and I couldn't stomach it.  Have you done that calculation?

The other tidbit I've learned here is if you have a DB pension, you should prioritize your TFSA's over your RRSP's since the tax savings from RRSPs won't be as much.  You can save up all your RRSP room for the end of your career, when you're a Captain or whatever and earning more, and then plunk it down then, only to take it out as soon as you retire.   

Also, I have found that with a defined benefit pension it really is golden handcuffs.  For me, I can retire with a partial pension in two years, but if I stay another 4 years beyond that the rewards are substantial. It's a massive increase to my pension.  I guess retiring with a good pension at 48 (for me) is still early retirement compared to the norm, but it seems that plenty of the folks here have broken free of the hamster wheel far earlier than that.  So, for us DB people, it seems the "retire early" part of the FIRE goal is a bit difficult to attain, depending on your definition of early.

My suggestion is to cruise on over to the case study section and put one together.  You'll get lots of help in areas to trim that maybe you never thought of.

But man oh man, what I wouldn't give to go back in time to 29 and institute some of the MMM principles. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 14, 2019, 08:16:04 AM
Sorry mate, you’ve got $55k of vehicles and a mortgage on $80k salaries and you smarter and efficient ways!?!  I honestly wouldn’t know where to begin except. You’re going to need the big brains on this. My first thought would be get rid of those vehicles immediately, change whatever thinking you have that let you believe they were smart purchases and get more serious about your financial strategy. Wow!

I'm a baller

Do you make $160k total? Or $80k?

If you make $160k like I think, you have a big shovel - you can pay off those cars quickly. Ideally you'd get rid of them and get more reasonable vehicles but with that big of shovel you might not even need to do that.

What do you spend a month? I'd guess you have a ton of cashflow that you could use to burn through a fair number of the things weighing you down.  I think you need to ask yourselves how serious and what age you want to FIRE. If it's anytime soon, those cars are going to have to change.  If you are fine retiring at say 50 it's not as bad.


We make 300k

I know some of these accounts are not optimal with the MERs and interest rates but that’s why I’m here.
We want to invest our money in a smarter and more efficient way that enables us to have the option to attain FIRE down the road.


The easy answer to your question is to open up a TD Direct Investing account, look up the model portfolio for TD E-series funds on Canadian couch potato investor and buy those, and boom, you've saved on MERs (they are less than 0.5%).

But, honestly, asking a question about how to trim a percentage off of your MERs for $41,000 of investments while you are spending over $1,200 in vehicle payments a month is sort of like some out of shape guy asking for tips on his bench press technique while he's eating his daily bucket of ice cream.  The MER's probably aren't the biggest obstacle preventing you from achieving your goals.  In fact, a 1.5% MER savings on your portfolio only saves you $600 a year...that's $50 a month.  Don't get me wrong, fifty bucks is fifty bucks and you should go make that change, but it's probably nothing compared to what you could save with some fairly easy lifestyle modification. Seriously, if $1200 a month in car payments isn't giving you heart palpitations, I'm curious to see the rest of your spending habits! 

Can you provide the year, make, model, and km on the vehicles?  Are you in a negative equity position? What is stopping you from getting rid of these things? 

I'm new to this stuff as well, and the changes are slow due to a reluctant wife.  But, we just dumped our expensive car and bought something used - for cash. No car payments for us.  I was nervous since we downgraded significantly in our "level" of vehicle.  I don't regret it one bit.  Not even for half a second. It's awesome.  What generated that change was I looked at what our monthly vehicle expenses were.  Payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking.  It was gross and I couldn't stomach it.  Have you done that calculation?

The other tidbit I've learned here is if you have a DB pension, you should prioritize your TFSA's over your RRSP's since the tax savings from RRSPs won't be as much.  You can save up all your RRSP room for the end of your career, when you're a Captain or whatever and earning more, and then plunk it down then, only to take it out as soon as you retire.   

Also, I have found that with a defined benefit pension it really is golden handcuffs.  For me, I can retire with a partial pension in two years, but if I stay another 4 years beyond that the rewards are substantial. It's a massive increase to my pension.  I guess retiring with a good pension at 48 (for me) is still early retirement compared to the norm, but it seems that plenty of the folks here have broken free of the hamster wheel far earlier than that.  So, for us DB people, it seems the "retire early" part of the FIRE goal is a bit difficult to attain, depending on your definition of early.

My suggestion is to cruise on over to the case study section and put one together.  You'll get lots of help in areas to trim that maybe you never thought of.

But man oh man, what I wouldn't give to go back in time to 29 and institute some of the MMM principles. 

Thanks for the detailed response.  I'm already looking into the model portfolio on Canadian Couch Potato. 

As for the vehicles, we have a 19 Raptor w/ 52k km on it and a 19 Corvette ZR1 w/ 45k km on it.

Big help with the TFSA vs RRSP.  I've struggled figuring out which one should be the priority since we both have DB pensions. Like you said it really is golden handcuffs.  But, we both like our jobs and at this point wouldn't mind working until we're 55 and can retire with full benefits.  I just don't want to look back 15-20 years down the road and wish I had invested my money better.  Thanks again for your reply. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: red_pill on July 14, 2019, 03:09:30 PM

I just don't want to look back 15-20 years down the road and wish I had invested my money better.
 

It's not what you are doing with the money you are investing that you will regret.  It's the money you didn't invest because you are spending it on stupid things that you will regret.  Ask me how I know.

Look, I know you want to focus on your investments - that is way sexier than looking at expenses.  But you are trying to fill up a bathtub and you haven't plugged the drain yet. 


As for the vehicles, we have a 17 F150 w/ 52k km on it and a 17 Tucson w/ 45k km on it.  We are in a negative equity position as they're only 2 years old and as stated above I was told that paying off a 0% car loan early isn't the best option as you could invest that extra money instead. 

The vehicles are 2 years old, so we'll need another year or so to get in the positive on them. 


Ah, yes - this sounds like what I was saying a year ago.  Finally I realized that the car had already lost the value, I just hadn't paid for it yet.  But I would have to pay for it eventually.  I would never "get positive" - I would just pay the debt and pay high insurance and gas prices while I was doing it.  I finally decided to rip the band-aid off and just do it. 

And you know what's worse than paying off a 0% loan early?  Paying a loan on a vehicle that you don't need to own in the first place. Again, you're focusing on the wrong things - just like the salesman at the dealership wanted you to.  You are all wrapped up in hanging onto the fact that you save maybe $1,000 of interest per year if didn't have a 0% loan, and ignoring the fact that you bought a vehicle that depreciated over $8,000 a year in the first few years of ownership.  Ouch.

I'm assuming your F150 loan was around $48,000 for 72 months, and the payments are around $650 a month.  Is that close? The gas cost is probably around $200 a month based on the km you drive and an estimated fuel use of 12L/100km at $1.25 a litre.  And what's insurance in Ontario?  Maybe another $200 a month?  Let's ignore maintenance for now.   So that's over $1000 a month for your truck.   And the SUV has got to be about the same.  So $2,000 a month for vehicles.   That. Is. A. Ton. Of. Money.  At your income level you're bringing in how much a month - $9,000?  That means almost 25% of your income is going to vehicles.  That is crazy.

Dude, I'm literally you 13 years from now.  We have very similar income and DB pension pictures.  You are right - with each person making $100K you don't have to try to hard to have extra money rolling around.  You can afford to have fancy vehicles and it won't kill you.  It seems like at first blush you aren't a total disaster and are banking a decent amount.  You could literally do nothing and be totally fine.  I'm in the same boat. 

But I'm telling you, there is a better way. A way that makes you resistant to lifestyle creep.  A way that insulates you from the stuff life is going to throw at you - kids in the future, a spouse's illness, having to help aging parents, unforeseen difficulties, or maybe an opportunity to do something super awesome like travel the world that will cost money you won't have.   

What if you took your $16,000 in your savings account, and saved up a few months of your extra cash flow, and bought something else that would depreciate at a slower rate, cost less insurance, and most importantly - is completely paid off.  Now you are plugging the drain and creating even more cash flow.   Some people here will tell you to buy a $5,000 car.  I didn't do that, and I don't think you'll do that.  There's some very, very good cars out there for $15,000 to $20,000 that will put you in a way better position.  And, yes, you'll end up paying a few grand to get rid of your truck.  It will sting, but you might as well get the pain over with.  Cause you know what else is going to sting - in three years from now you'll still be throwing out $650 a month for a truck that by then will be 5 years old and have 100,000 km on it.

I know, I know, your mind just flooded with a thousand reasons not to get rid of your truck and/or SUV.  Just keep thinking about it. Let the idea rattle around for a while.  Challenge yourself to think differently. You might find that you see some opportunity you didn't see before.

For me, I hemmed and hawed for close to a year before pulling the trigger.  It wasn't until I listed the car for sale that I actually came to peace with it, and then I wished I had done it a year ago.  I threw good money after bad due to my reluctance.  I hope you don't make the same mistakes.

Another thing, I would highly recommend listing out all of your monthly expenses in a case study. You'll get a ton of great advice of little things that add up.  Like cancelling your alarm system. Not paying for an exterminator.  Looking at your house insurance and increasing your deductible. Realizing that $50 a week house cleaner is costing you $1,300 a year.  All these little things - $10 here, $20 there - that add up to substantial amounts of money that totally eclipse whatever you would save on your quest for lower MERs.   Even if you make zero changes, it's great to have a baseline so that you can monitor your lifestyle creep.  When I did that we found thousands of dollars a year of savings.  Thousands.  It was gross.  And I still have work to do.

If nothing else, consider getting a home equity line of credit to serve as your emergency fund if you need it, and then put that $16,000 to work in a TFSA.  But I think you should try to broaden your perspective a bit.


Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Freedomin5 on July 14, 2019, 03:52:49 PM
If you haven’t already, check out the Millenial Revolution website. They’re a young couple from Toronto who made similar incomes, who retired at age 30. They write about their investment strategy and how they were able to FIRE after 6 or 7 years. Very fun writing style.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: use2betrix on July 14, 2019, 07:30:00 PM
I think the bigger concern than the vehicle debt, is that it’s barely less than your savings/investment net worth.

Is your savings/investing net worth possibly low due to your income because you put a huge down payment on the house? How much was your down payment?

What was the new purchase price of the cars? If they were significantly more than the debt, that’s also concerning based on your savings/investing..

What you really need to do is a full case study on here. You need to outline your entire savings/spending numbers.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 14, 2019, 08:32:53 PM
If you haven’t already, check out the Millenial Revolution website. They’re a young couple from Toronto who made similar incomes, who retired at age 30. They write about their investment strategy and how they were able to FIRE after 6 or 7 years. Very fun writing style.

On it. Super interesting and informative. Thanks.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 14, 2019, 08:55:55 PM
I think the bigger concern than the vehicle debt, is that it’s barely less than your savings/investment net worth.

Is your savings/investing net worth possibly low due to your income because you put a huge down payment on the house? How much was your down payment?

What was the new purchase price of the cars? If they were significantly more than the debt, that’s also concerning based on your savings/investing..

What you really need to do is a full case study on here. You need to outline your entire savings/spending numbers.

As explained above, we are both ballers.
 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 15, 2019, 06:52:54 AM

I just don't want to look back 15-20 years down the road and wish I had invested my money better.
 

It's not what you are doing with the money you are investing that you will regret.  It's the money you didn't invest because you are spending it on stupid things that you will regret.  Ask me how I know.

Look, I know you want to focus on your investments - that is way sexier than looking at expenses.  But you are trying to fill up a bathtub and you haven't plugged the drain yet. 


As for the vehicles, we have a 17 F150 w/ 52k km on it and a 17 Tucson w/ 45k km on it.  We are in a negative equity position as they're only 2 years old and as stated above I was told that paying off a 0% car loan early isn't the best option as you could invest that extra money instead. 

The vehicles are 2 years old, so we'll need another year or so to get in the positive on them. 


Ah, yes - this sounds like what I was saying a year ago.  Finally I realized that the car had already lost the value, I just hadn't paid for it yet.  But I would have to pay for it eventually.  I would never "get positive" - I would just pay the debt and pay high insurance and gas prices while I was doing it.  I finally decided to rip the band-aid off and just do it. 

And you know what's worse than paying off a 0% loan early?  Paying a loan on a vehicle that you don't need to own in the first place. Again, you're focusing on the wrong things - just like the salesman at the dealership wanted you to.  You are all wrapped up in hanging onto the fact that you save maybe $1,000 of interest per year if didn't have a 0% loan, and ignoring the fact that you bought a vehicle that depreciated over $8,000 a year in the first few years of ownership.  Ouch.

I'm assuming your F150 loan was around $48,000 for 72 months, and the payments are around $650 a month.  Is that close? The gas cost is probably around $200 a month based on the km you drive and an estimated fuel use of 12L/100km at $1.25 a litre.  And what's insurance in Ontario?  Maybe another $200 a month?  Let's ignore maintenance for now.   So that's over $1000 a month for your truck.   And the SUV has got to be about the same.  So $2,000 a month for vehicles.   That. Is. A. Ton. Of. Money.  At your income level you're bringing in how much a month - $9,000?  That means almost 25% of your income is going to vehicles.  That is crazy.

Dude, I'm literally you 13 years from now.  We have very similar income and DB pension pictures.  You are right - with each person making $100K you don't have to try to hard to have extra money rolling around.  You can afford to have fancy vehicles and it won't kill you.  It seems like at first blush you aren't a total disaster and are banking a decent amount.  You could literally do nothing and be totally fine.  I'm in the same boat. 

But I'm telling you, there is a better way. A way that makes you resistant to lifestyle creep.  A way that insulates you from the stuff life is going to throw at you - kids in the future, a spouse's illness, having to help aging parents, unforeseen difficulties, or maybe an opportunity to do something super awesome like travel the world that will cost money you won't have.   

What if you took your $16,000 in your savings account, and saved up a few months of your extra cash flow, and bought something else that would depreciate at a slower rate, cost less insurance, and most importantly - is completely paid off.  Now you are plugging the drain and creating even more cash flow.   Some people here will tell you to buy a $5,000 car.  I didn't do that, and I don't think you'll do that.  There's some very, very good cars out there for $15,000 to $20,000 that will put you in a way better position.  And, yes, you'll end up paying a few grand to get rid of your truck.  It will sting, but you might as well get the pain over with.  Cause you know what else is going to sting - in three years from now you'll still be throwing out $650 a month for a truck that by then will be 5 years old and have 100,000 km on it.

I know, I know, your mind just flooded with a thousand reasons not to get rid of your truck and/or SUV.  Just keep thinking about it. Let the idea rattle around for a while.  Challenge yourself to think differently. You might find that you see some opportunity you didn't see before.

For me, I hemmed and hawed for close to a year before pulling the trigger.  It wasn't until I listed the car for sale that I actually came to peace with it, and then I wished I had done it a year ago.  I threw good money after bad due to my reluctance.  I hope you don't make the same mistakes.

Another thing, I would highly recommend listing out all of your monthly expenses in a case study. You'll get a ton of great advice of little things that add up.  Like cancelling your alarm system. Not paying for an exterminator.  Looking at your house insurance and increasing your deductible. Realizing that $50 a week house cleaner is costing you $1,300 a year.  All these little things - $10 here, $20 there - that add up to substantial amounts of money that totally eclipse whatever you would save on your quest for lower MERs.   Even if you make zero changes, it's great to have a baseline so that you can monitor your lifestyle creep.  When I did that we found thousands of dollars a year of savings.  Thousands.  It was gross.  And I still have work to do.

If nothing else, consider getting a home equity line of credit to serve as your emergency fund if you need it, and then put that $16,000 to work in a TFSA.  But I think you should try to broaden your perspective a bit.

Ok you're pretty cool
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: fuzzy math on July 16, 2019, 09:16:45 AM
One of the biggest things here is how much you're driving... You've put 52,000 kms on a vehicle in 2 years. You're going to drive that thing into the ground right around the time that your loan is paid off. Assuming firefighter schedules are the same in Canada, you work a couple days at the station 24 hours, then you're home for the rest of the week, right? Where the heck are you driving to? Your cost per KM is really high both in fuel and depreciation of the truck. You have more kms than your wife, who needs to drive every single day to her job. Are you driving your vehicle when you go out together? One rule should be to always drive the cheaper to operate vehicle when you can. You don't mention kids, and yet you have a giant truck and a SUV. Why isn't one of you driving a smaller vehicle?

Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 10:08:55 AM
One of the biggest things here is how much you're driving... You've put 52,000 kms on a vehicle in 2 years. You're going to drive that thing into the ground right around the time that your loan is paid off. Assuming firefighter schedules are the same in Canada, you work a couple days at the station 24 hours, then you're home for the rest of the week, right? Where the heck are you driving to? Your cost per KM is really high both in fuel and depreciation of the truck. You have more kms than your wife, who needs to drive every single day to her job. Are you driving your vehicle when you go out together? One rule should be to always drive the cheaper to operate vehicle when you can. You don't mention kids, and yet you have a giant truck and a SUV. Why isn't one of you driving a smaller vehicle?

Yeah I get that vehicles are a big faux pas here, it's been established. However, I'm a little thrown off by your math/basic vehicle knowledge. A raptor will run forever. And if it doesn't I'll be a new one.  And that ZR1 is pushing 800hp.  See me in the streets.

Also, I don't just sit at home on my days off. 

"Giant truck" is a little dramatic, I could've gone with the 37" tires. And it is used as a truck should be used; i.e. hunting, camping, hauling, towing, and scaring little prius owners like you. As far as her Corvette goes, its 800hp of gas guzzling american sex appeal. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: fuzzy math on July 16, 2019, 10:46:20 AM
One of the biggest things here is how much you're driving... You've put 52,000 kms on a vehicle in 2 years. You're going to drive that thing into the ground right around the time that your loan is paid off. Assuming firefighter schedules are the same in Canada, you work a couple days at the station 24 hours, then you're home for the rest of the week, right? Where the heck are you driving to? Your cost per KM is really high both in fuel and depreciation of the truck. You have more kms than your wife, who needs to drive every single day to her job. Are you driving your vehicle when you go out together? One rule should be to always drive the cheaper to operate vehicle when you can. You don't mention kids, and yet you have a giant truck and a SUV. Why isn't one of you driving a smaller vehicle?

Yeah I get that vehicles are a big faux pas here, it's been established. However, I'm a little thrown off by your math/basic vehicle knowledge.  52,000 kms is roughly 32,000 miles which is 16,000 miles per year or 1,300 miles/month.  My truck will be paid off in 45 months which will put me just over 90,000 miles. Now if my truck is "run into the ground" at 90,000 miles then something is seriously wrong. 

Also, I don't just sit at home on my days off. 

"Giant truck" is a little dramatic and it is used as a truck should be used; i.e. hunting, camping, hauling, and towing. As far as her Tucson goes, it's a 1.6l turbo that gets 30 mpg.  I'd hardly call it a gas guzzling SUV.

I did the math (not that it wasn't intuitive to begin with as I use the metric system for my profession. My username was a reference to not originally knowing when I'd be able to retire). Larger vehicles, especially domestic ones, tend to have large expensive transmission or engine repairs needed at about the 90k miles mark (especially when towing). I also have typically put 6k miles on a vehicle a year, commuting about 5 miles a day to work. My spouse currently commutes 35 miles each way to work (hopefully ending soon), which ends up being 1400 miles a month on a vehicle. We consider that unsustainable in terms of time on the road (2 hours daily), environmental costs and personal costs. Just trying to get you to re-examine your life choices.  You have negligible amounts in your personal retirement accounts, about 4 months in savings and should either of you come into a situation where you were unemployed you'd have $1k+ a month in vehicle payments alone on loans that you're upside down on.

You failed to mention your boat and/or camper that you're towing. Prepare to get reamed by others for those toys too.

A quick googling shows that the Tuscon gets at best a combined 28 mpg, and in the city its 25 mpg. You'll also notice if you re-read what I wrote, that I never called her vehicle gas guzzling, I referred to it as the more gas efficient vehicle.
 https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2017_Hyundai_Tucson.shtml

Your vehicle on the other hand is averaging 20 mpg. You were quick to crap on my suggestions to use your wife's more fuel efficient vehicle, when the entire reason SUVs were made was for light hauling, camping, etc. If you or she isn't willing to use her vehicle for that then she should really be driving a sedan which is much cheaper to purchase.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&year1=2017&year2=2017&make=Ford&baseModel=F150&srchtyp=ymm

Its a free world man, even in the great white north. You're free to burn all that hard earned money driving around if you wish, but you posted here seeking advice on saving those same dollars.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: insufFIcientfunds on July 16, 2019, 12:02:54 PM
Your mistake here was admitting you have a car loan. I would have held that back. You don't ask a vegan for steak recipes.

With that being said, there are many readers on here that have nice cars and I am sure they have loans, but not openly admitting they do so. Seems like this conversation (judging by the responses) is as focused around having a car loan as it is doing a quick analysis of your situation.

Defined benefits can't be over stated. I am in a similar situation. I might be able to FIRE earlier, but I have diabetes and wife has heart disease so the insurance (I'm down here in US) covers it all, no questions asked.

Enjoy your truck. Next time, buy a diesel, jack it up, and roll coal on the Honda Fits as they judge you. :)
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 12:11:05 PM
I did the math (not that it wasn't intuitive to begin with as I use the metric system for my profession. My username was a reference to not originally knowing when I'd be able to retire). Larger vehicles, especially domestic ones, tend to have large expensive transmission or engine repairs needed at about the 90k miles mark (especially when towing). I also have typically put 6k miles on a vehicle a year, commuting about 5 miles a day to work. My spouse currently commutes 35 miles each way to work (hopefully ending soon), which ends up being 1400 miles a month on a vehicle. We consider that unsustainable in terms of time on the road (2 hours daily), environmental costs and personal costs. Just trying to get you to re-examine your life choices.  You have negligible amounts in your personal retirement accounts, about 4 months in savings and should either of you come into a situation where you were unemployed you'd have $1k+ a month in vehicle payments alone on loans that you're upside down on.

You failed to mention your boat and/or camper that you're towing. Prepare to get reamed by others for those toys too.

A quick googling shows that the Tuscon gets at best a combined 28 mpg, and in the city its 25 mpg. You'll also notice if you re-read what I wrote, that I never called her vehicle gas guzzling, I referred to it as the more gas efficient vehicle.
 https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2017_Hyundai_Tucson.shtml

Your vehicle on the other hand is averaging 20 mpg. You were quick to crap on my suggestions to use your wife's more fuel efficient vehicle, when the entire reason SUVs were made was for light hauling, camping, etc. If you or she isn't willing to use her vehicle for that then she should really be driving a sedan which is much cheaper to purchase.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&year1=2017&year2=2017&make=Ford&baseModel=F150&srchtyp=ymm

Its a free world man, even in the great white north. You're free to burn all that hard earned money driving around if you wish, but you posted here seeking advice on saving those same dollars.

You know nothing about vehicles John Snow.

A far as our personal retirement accounts go.  We're Ballers!

Don't worry about what I tow.  Worry about what you can't tow with that mountain bike and that female lady part on wheels called a prius. 

She drives Corvette ZR1.  What you talking bout this Tucson for?

Corvette has no trunk space for dead animals.  Gotta use my brand new ford raptor.  It can go anywhere off-road, I don't even have to drag the animal. 

I don't like you. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 12:18:56 PM
Your mistake here was admitting you have a car loan. I would have held that back. You don't ask a vegan for steak recipes.

With that being said, there are many readers on here that have nice cars and I am sure they have loans, but not openly admitting they do so. Seems like this conversation (judging by the responses) is as focused around having a car loan as it is doing a quick analysis of your situation.

Defined benefits can't be over stated. I am in a similar situation. I might be able to FIRE earlier, but I have diabetes and wife has heart disease so the insurance (I'm down here in US) covers it all, no questions asked.

Enjoy your truck. Next time, buy a diesel, jack it up, and roll coal on the Honda Fits as they judge you. :)

Agreed, I'll keep the vehicles to myself next time.

Sorry bout the health issues, but I'm glad you have the DBP coverage.   

Haha thanks for the laugh man. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: fuzzy math on July 16, 2019, 12:35:16 PM
I did the math (not that it wasn't intuitive to begin with as I use the metric system for my profession. My username was a reference to not originally knowing when I'd be able to retire). Larger vehicles, especially domestic ones, tend to have large expensive transmission or engine repairs needed at about the 90k miles mark (especially when towing). I also have typically put 6k miles on a vehicle a year, commuting about 5 miles a day to work. My spouse currently commutes 35 miles each way to work (hopefully ending soon), which ends up being 1400 miles a month on a vehicle. We consider that unsustainable in terms of time on the road (2 hours daily), environmental costs and personal costs. Just trying to get you to re-examine your life choices.  You have negligible amounts in your personal retirement accounts, about 4 months in savings and should either of you come into a situation where you were unemployed you'd have $1k+ a month in vehicle payments alone on loans that you're upside down on.

You failed to mention your boat and/or camper that you're towing. Prepare to get reamed by others for those toys too.

A quick googling shows that the Tuscon gets at best a combined 28 mpg, and in the city its 25 mpg. You'll also notice if you re-read what I wrote, that I never called her vehicle gas guzzling, I referred to it as the more gas efficient vehicle.
 https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2017_Hyundai_Tucson.shtml

Your vehicle on the other hand is averaging 20 mpg. You were quick to crap on my suggestions to use your wife's more fuel efficient vehicle, when the entire reason SUVs were made was for light hauling, camping, etc. If you or she isn't willing to use her vehicle for that then she should really be driving a sedan which is much cheaper to purchase.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&year1=2017&year2=2017&make=Ford&baseModel=F150&srchtyp=ymm

Its a free world man, even in the great white north. You're free to burn all that hard earned money driving around if you wish, but you posted here seeking advice on saving those same dollars.

I have owned 3 trucks and my immediate family has owned many more and we have never ever had any major transmission issues or problems anywhere near 90k miles.  At the most, you might need to do a transmission flush and then later on change the fluid on or replace some other parts, but I can do nearly all of that at home.

A far as our personal retirement accounts go.  I went ahead and edited my original post and put it in bold.  We both have Defined Benefit Pensions. That money was not included in any of our savings calculations. (60%+ of our top 5 years for life) We have much more than 4 months (no idea where you got that number from) in savings, plus our $300k in home equity. 

Anything that I tow cost me $0 or is family owned. 

I literally just googled Tucson 1.6T mpg and it shows 26 city/33 hwy 29 combined.  Or I could just take a picture of the dash that shows 7.8l/100km and since my wife's drive to work is nearly all highway I'd say that those numbers are pretty accurate.  But then again, you could just do a Tucson mpg search like you did and get shown the naturally aspirated engines that get the numbers you wrote.

I'd rather not throw a dead animal in the back of my SUV.  Or any of the other things that I use my truck for.

I posted looking for advice on investing our additional savings.  I understand that having a less expensive lifestyle would add to more money being invested. Some of the other members have been very helpful with their advice and guidance. However, you have used multiple incorrect statements and failed to take into account a HUGE part of our savings and future retirement ($120k+/year for life). It seems like as soon as you saw vehicles your mind exploded and you didn't look at anything else I wrote.

It seems as soon as you read my reply, your head exploded and took out all your angst on me from the variety of people telling you the same thing about your vehicles. For some reason you thought I would be the easiest person to defeat.

Your continued employment in your field 15 years from now makes a lot of very optimistic assumptions about your health and safety in a very volatile work environment.

I got your figure for your savings from your original post. $21k / $5k per month spend = 4 months living expenses. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to cash out the small amount in your RRSPs and TFSAs for a personal emergency so I excluded those.


Quote
All of our banking is through TD
Joint accounts
Unlimited Checking: $5,000
E-premium savings: $16,000
- lousy 1.05% interest rate

If you are happy continuing to barely contribute to personal retirement accounts, and retire at the standard retirement ages for your DBPs, then the bogle heads forum may be more to your liking.

Feel free to quibble further about your DW's self-reported 1 MPG increase in fuel efficiency, but know that I'm not into water sports and your pissing match isn't something I'm going to return for. Again, its your life to do as you please. Haul those dead animals 1300 miles a month if that makes your heart sing.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 12:52:52 PM
I don't know what I'm talking about.  I think I have more estrogen than testosterone.
You know nothing about vehicles John Snow.

A far as our personal retirement accounts go.  We're Ballers!

Don't worry about what I tow.  Worry about what you can't tow with that mountain bike and that female lady part on wheels called a prius. 

She drives Corvette ZR1.  What you talking bout this Tucson for?

Corvette has no trunk space for dead animals.  Gotta use my brand new ford raptor.  It can go anywhere off-road, I don't even have to drag the animal. 

I don't like you.

Once again, I'm a dummy.


Quote
I'm a baller

You are my hero.

Thanks. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: red_pill on July 16, 2019, 01:04:18 PM
Can we go back to having fun playing with numbers now?
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 01:05:21 PM
Can we go back to having fun playing with numbers now?

Yes pleeeeease. Lol
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: insufFIcientfunds on July 16, 2019, 03:05:34 PM
Great idea! So this is how I think about my situation. I also like my job and can retire with full bene's at 57 (currently 35) or earlier with slightly reduced bene's at 49. Early retirement still gets me medical until Uncle Sam forces Medicare on me.

My pension is ~30% of my top 3. So I am working top 3 back. I want to 100% replace my top 3 into retirement. So if 30% is covered with the pension, I only have 70% to go. I contribute the max in 401k, and do the full Roth IRA as well. I am hoping the 401k throws in ~30%, Roth probably ~20% (been doing that since I was 22) and Uncle Sam throws in the rest when I turn 65 via social security. I don't want a SS debate, so living off 80% of my top 3 is awesome to me. I'm a pretty simple guy. Had kids young, want to get a little older, retire, hang out with the grandkids and wife.

Thats my overall strategy, not drilled down to the actually investment vehicles.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: DeniseNJ on July 16, 2019, 03:19:00 PM
No body who is reading this site today should be planning for retirement is 25 YEARS.  If you have this info today you should be planning for retirement in 10 to 13 years--then if you still work fin, but you'll have options.  Retireing at 55 if for people who didn't start planning until 45.  I'm plaaing my out in 9 years.  I just started planning less than a year ago.  People who "plan" don't have to wait 25 years to retire.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: insufFIcientfunds on July 16, 2019, 05:27:40 PM
Thanks Denise. Your magical insight into retirement is massively helpful! Hopefully in retirement you can work on your spelling. :)
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 05:46:02 PM
Great idea! So this is how I think about my situation. I also like my job and can retire with full bene's at 57 (currently 35) or earlier with slightly reduced bene's at 49. Early retirement still gets me medical until Uncle Sam forces Medicare on me.

My pension is ~30% of my top 3. So I am working top 3 back. I want to 100% replace my top 3 into retirement. So if 30% is covered with the pension, I only have 70% to go. I contribute the max in 401k, and do the full Roth IRA as well. I am hoping the 401k throws in ~30%, Roth probably ~20% (been doing that since I was 22) and Uncle Sam throws in the rest when I turn 65 via social security. I don't want a SS debate, so living off 80% of my top 3 is awesome to me. I'm a pretty simple guy. Had kids young, want to get a little older, retire, hang out with the grandkids and wife.

Thats my overall strategy, not drilled down to the actually investment vehicles.
That’s a smart plan working backwards like that.  From my understanding (I may be wrong) a 401k is similar to our RRSP and a Roth IRA is similar to our TFSA.  I believe Red_pill gave me some good advice earlier in prioritizing your TFSA over your RRSP based on your DBP.  The reason being it’s tax free and doesn’t add to your income tax when you’re retired. 
I’m like you, I’ll retire when I’m ready and enjoy time with family and friends.  Maybe have a few nice things to enjoy along the way.  Just need to figure out the actual investment vehicles like you said.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: marty998 on July 16, 2019, 06:04:51 PM
No body who is reading this site today should be planning for retirement is 25 YEARS.  If you have this info today you should be planning for retirement in 10 to 13 years--then if you still work fin, but you'll have options.  Retireing at 55 if for people who didn't start planning until 45.  I'm plaaing my out in 9 years.  I just started planning less than a year ago.  People who "plan" don't have to wait 25 years to retire.

Thanks Denise. Your magical insight into retirement is massively helpful! Hopefully in retirement you can work on your spelling. :)

Rule 1, don't be a jerk. She has a point, and it was made earlier by another poster, a DB pension really can be golden handcuffs, blinding you to not seek out alternatives that could be more beneficial (both time and money wise).

Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: use2betrix on July 16, 2019, 07:05:27 PM
I think the bigger concern than the vehicle debt, is that it’s barely less than your savings/investment net worth.

Is your savings/investing net worth possibly low due to your income because you put a huge down payment on the house? How much was your down payment?

What was the new purchase price of the cars? If they were significantly more than the debt, that’s also concerning based on your savings/investing..

What you really need to do is a full case study on here. You need to outline your entire savings/spending numbers.

As explained above, we both have defined benefit pensions.  I did not include that money in my original post so you’re not getting a full picture of our savings. I’m simply asking what to do with the other money. 

We put $84k down on the house.  We now have approximately $300k in equity. I’m a bit confused as to why that would be a bad thing? We made over $100k on the house before we even moved in because of our timing with the market.

Obviously the purchase price of our cars is going to be more than the debt.  We’ve had them for 2 years and have been paying them off.

So what was the purchase price of the new cars?
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 07:15:50 PM
I think the bigger concern than the vehicle debt, is that it’s barely less than your savings/investment net worth.

Is your savings/investing net worth possibly low due to your income because you put a huge down payment on the house? How much was your down payment?

What was the new purchase price of the cars? If they were significantly more than the debt, that’s also concerning based on your savings/investing..

What you really need to do is a full case study on here. You need to outline your entire savings/spending numbers.

As explained above, we both have defined benefit pensions.  I did not include that money in my original post so you’re not getting a full picture of our savings. I’m simply asking what to do with the other money. 

We put $84k down on the house.  We now have approximately $300k in equity. I’m a bit confused as to why that would be a bad thing? We made over $100k on the house before we even moved in because of our timing with the market.

Obviously the purchase price of our cars is going to be more than the debt.  We’ve had them for 2 years and have been paying them off.

So what was the purchase price of the new cars?
Duuude...really? We're ballers.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: insufFIcientfunds on July 16, 2019, 08:28:01 PM
I can see how the pension can be a golden handcuff. Then again maybe it isn’t. Maybe a decent truck is part of your plan, and that’s okay. I’ll admit I don’t have a car payment but I hate the maintenance on my old Acura. My work backward plan accounts for a 20k car, maybe yours does too. If it does then add that into your math and if that changes your timeline then so be it. fire can be any age, no one should say unless you retire at X age you aren’t fire. That’s garbage. Seems like we have taken a bunch of heat in this thread but there’s also some really good opinions.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: aetheldrea on July 16, 2019, 08:46:50 PM
Sorry, I should have explained our goals a bit better.  We are not aiming to retire anytime in the near future.  We both love our jobs and have very good schedules that enable us time to do most anything we want...
Like stay home and raise your kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you? Does your job allow you to do that?

Your getting frustrated with people on this forum focusing on your cars is like going to the doctor for a hangnail and finding out all she wants to talk about is the bleeding ulcer on your back. Dang, I shouldn’t have mentioned that ulcer.

If you are not interested in financial freedom, that’s fine, but maybe this is not the forum for you.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 16, 2019, 08:49:42 PM
Sorry, I should have explained our goals a bit better.  We are not aiming to retire anytime in the near future.  We both love our jobs and have very good schedules that enable us time to do most anything we want...
Like stay home and raise your kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you? Does your job allow you to do that?

Your getting frustrated with people on this forum focusing on your cars is like going to the doctor for a hangnail and finding out all she wants to talk about is the bleeding ulcer on your back. Dang, I shouldn’t have mentioned that ulcer.

If you are not interested in financial freedom, that’s fine, but maybe this is not the forum for you.

Actually yes, my job does allow me to do that...plus we're ballers.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: mrmoolaman on July 17, 2019, 01:23:36 AM
Sounds to me like you just need to set some goals for yourself. If you have a DB pension, and are not planning on retiring before it can be used then is there a point to saving any extra money?

Maybe put together a healthy emergency fund of 15k in a GIC ladder. Other than that, simply save up for things you want and then do/buy those things.

If you don't have long term savings goals...just carry on doing what you're doing.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: mistymoney on July 17, 2019, 06:20:18 AM
Sounds to me like you just need to set some goals for yourself. If you have a DB pension, and are not planning on retiring before it can be used then is there a point to saving any extra money?

Maybe put together a healthy emergency fund of 15k in a GIC ladder. Other than that, simply save up for things you want and then do/buy those things.

If you don't have long term savings goals...just carry on doing what you're doing.

I know a couple of people who ended up with pensions far less than they were expecting. While not as pressing for those without pensions, it would be good to have a back up, JIC.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: DeniseNJ on July 17, 2019, 06:50:04 AM
Thanks Denise. Your magical insight into retirement is massively helpful! Hopefully in retirement you can work on your spelling. :)
Cute.
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 17, 2019, 06:51:54 AM
I can see how the pension can be a golden handcuff. Then again maybe it isn’t. Maybe a decent truck is part of your plan, and that’s okay. I’ll admit I don’t have a car payment but I hate the maintenance on my old Acura. My work backward plan accounts for a 20k car, maybe yours does too. If it does then add that into your math and if that changes your timeline then so be it. fire can be any age, no one should say unless you retire at X age you aren’t fire. That’s garbage. Seems like we have taken a bunch of heat in this thread but there’s also some really good opinions.

Totally agree man.  Everyone has different goals.  I'm just looking to optimize my investments so that I have OPTIONS as I get closer to retirement.  I'm not looking for the financial freedom of living off of $40k a year for $50+ years.  That doesn't sound appealing to me at all.  I'm looking for the financial freedom that allows me to splurge every once in a while and spend a little bit more on certain things that I enjoy because I invested my money wisely. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Hirondelle on July 17, 2019, 06:55:05 AM
The reason people focus on your cars is because it's the only obvious expense you listed. The cars just happen to do way more damage than the probable sub-optimality of your investments. Plus slashing expenses is just way more interesting and life changing than reducing your investment fees by 0.01% (which obviously doesn't mean you shouldn't do the latter and people have responded with resources for that too!). In particular red_pill has provided some solid info.

I'm sure that if you'd post a case study of your overall spending we would find way more fluff to complain about :)

 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: DeniseNJ on July 17, 2019, 07:13:02 AM
Sounds to me like you just need to set some goals for yourself. If you have a DB pension, and are not planning on retiring before it can be used then is there a point to saving any extra money?

Maybe put together a healthy emergency fund of 15k in a GIC ladder. Other than that, simply save up for things you want and then do/buy those things.

If you don't have long term savings goals...just carry on doing what you're doing.

I know a couple of people who ended up with pensions far less than they were expecting. While not as pressing for those without pensions, it would be good to have a back up, JIC.

The whole point of planning is to have options that are under your control.  You may be planning that your pension will be part of your retirement and it might be but you just don't know what's going to happen in 25 years.  You may get to 15 years and not want to work but you'll be stuck.  Or the pension may not provide as much as you currently think it will.  What if one of you is injured and can't work-- a lot can happen in 25 years: illness, injury, disability, children with special needs, etc.

Right now your most important and significant asset is TIME.  You have to use that and spend it as carefully as you do your money.  You have plans for your money and making the most of it.  Make the very most of your time too.  I'd gladly trade my half mil for 25 years!  I just started planning in earnest with MMM less than a year ago--I'm 48.  I will retire in 9 years.  That's ten years of real planning.  I look back at how I spent my money in my thirties and wish I could have back every dime, but I regret wasting the time more than I regret wasting the money.  Even slightly more savings over 25 years would have made a big difference.  We were pretty broke.  In later years I could make up the money with a higher paying job but I can't make up the growth over the past 25 years.  The only thing I did right was contirbute to my work 401K and that has grown with minimal contributions to a much bigger amount than I ever expected.  Plan to retire in 10, then if you still want to work, you can.

[Typing on a very sticky keyboard so excuse spelling errors]
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 17, 2019, 08:04:41 AM
The whole point of planning is to have options that are under your control.  You may be planning that your pension will be part of your retirement and it might be but you just don't know what's going to happen in 25 years.  You may get to 15 years and not want to work but you'll be stuck.  Or the pension may not provide as much as you currently think it will.  What if one of you is injured and can't work-- a lot can happen in 25 years: illness, injury, disability, children with special needs, etc.

Right now your most important and significant asset is TIME.  You have to use that and spend it as carefully as you do your money.  You have plans for your money and making the most of it.  Make the very most of your time too.  I'd gladly trade my half mil for 25 years!  I just started planning in earnest with MMM less than a year ago--I'm 48.  I will retire in 9 years.  That's ten years of real planning.  I look back at how I spent my money in my thirties and wish I could have back every dime, but I regret wasting the time more than I regret wasting the money.  Even slightly more savings over 25 years would have made a big difference.  We were pretty broke.  In later years I could make up the money with a higher paying job but I can't make up the growth over the past 25 years.  The only thing I did right was contirbute to my work 401K and that has grown with minimal contributions to a much bigger amount than I ever expected.  Plan to retire in 10, then if you still want to work, you can.

[Typing on a very sticky keyboard so excuse spelling errors]


Good points.  I definitely want to have that back up plan in case anything were to happen. The reason I made my initial post was to get tips on investing the additional money that we have been saving (the money not included in our pension). I don't want to look back 20 years from now and regret not having invested my money optimally.  Like you said, even slightly more savings over a long term can make a big difference.  Sure, the vehicles might be a luxury and I could save more money if I were to get something cheaper. But, I'm a Raptor guy and my wife prefers her ZR1's.  So if we want to spend a little more on vehicles then so be it.  We're not struggling with bills or anything, we just want to know where to put our additional savings. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: erutio on July 17, 2019, 06:12:05 PM
Sorry, I should have explained our goals a bit better.  We are not aiming to retire anytime in the near future.  We both love our jobs and have very good schedules that enable us time to do most anything we want...
Like stay home and raise your kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you? Does your job allow you to do that?

Your getting frustrated with people on this forum focusing on your cars is like going to the doctor for a hangnail and finding out all she wants to talk about is the bleeding ulcer on your back. Dang, I shouldn’t have mentioned that ulcer.

If you are not interested in financial freedom, that’s fine, but maybe this is not the forum for you.

Actually yes, my job does allow me to do that...

You dont have kids yet, so you don't know.  No one knows what happens to their lives once they have kids. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 17, 2019, 06:32:00 PM
Sorry, I should have explained our goals a bit better.  We are not aiming to retire anytime in the near future.  We both love our jobs and have very good schedules that enable us time to do most anything we want...
Like stay home and raise your kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you? Does your job allow you to do that?

Your getting frustrated with people on this forum focusing on your cars is like going to the doctor for a hangnail and finding out all she wants to talk about is the bleeding ulcer on your back. Dang, I shouldn’t have mentioned that ulcer.

If you are not interested in financial freedom, that’s fine, but maybe this is not the forum for you.

Actually yes, my job does allow me to do that...

You dont have kids yet, so you don't know.  No one knows what happens to their lives once they have kids.
Lol what? Now he's a philosophizer. 
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: red_pill on July 17, 2019, 08:00:36 PM

Read some of my other posts on the thread if you want to know my goals.  I don’t aspire to sit at home living off of 40k a year for the rest of my life.  Doesn’t interest me one bit.


Bro, I think you gotta understand where you are here... most people here subscribe to a counter-cultural mentality around working and spending money.  What you have essentially done is wander into a hardcore powerlifting gym and ask the guys doing deadlifts when the next yoga class is; then you're getting mad when they look at you funny and try to explain the benefits of powerlifting.  Maybe you don't want to be a powerlifter - that's cool, it's not for everyone. But surely there are some things you could learn that would help you with what you do want to do.

But what is it that you do want?  You said you don't want to be a live off $40K a year guy (I'm not that way either).  But not wanting to be something doesn't say what you do want to be.  So what is the actual plan? If you want to live off your pension you'll have to somehow ween yourself down to living off of 60% of your salary - how are you going to do that?  Will you pay your mortgage off early, or will you still be paying it when retired?  Do you have your savings rate firmly established? Do you know your savings rate? What financial position do you want to be in when you hit your retirement age?

Everyone jumped all over you for your truck because, well, it's ridiculous lol.  Sorry man, but it is.  But that's okay, we all have that when we start.  Look up my old case study, I got ridiculous stuff too... and I staunchly defended all of it as non-negotiables.  I should do an update because over time I have changed most of them.  They weren't the immutable aspects of my life as I thought they were.  And some things haven't changed.  In fact, I have increased spending on some things because I realized they provided more value to me once I really examined what I was trying to accomplish.  Just understand that the "I'm a truck guy" or "my wife likes her SUV" are most likely emotional responses to defend the status quo.  That's a normal response - the status quo is hard to disrupt.  But have you really thought out what "I'm a truck guy" means when you consider how it impacts your long term plans?  Or do you not have well defined long term plans, so you've never made that assessment?  That's the kind of stuff I think people are picking at.  Because that's how the vast majority of society operates - just going along like everyone else and assuming it's going to get you where you want to be.  But do you know where you want to be?

Really looking forward to that case study and hope you'll do it.   
Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: insufFIcientfunds on July 17, 2019, 08:21:32 PM
Red Pill has had some pretty solid comments throughout this entire thread, I must say. I am not a 40k/year guy either. For sure not. You mentioned your pension is 60% - so are you trying to replace that extra 40%? If you are, and you know your retirement age, then diligently cutting certain costs incrementally, while contributing any cost of living increases to savings might be a good start for you. Run simple simulations in excel to see how to replace that income. You may be surprised. I'd suggest going over to the Investor site, read threads on funds people invest in, and research the heck out of them. Look at funds that are similar via Fidelity, and take notes on what you like and don't like. I think Fidelity has a "wish list" or something where you can bookmark securities you like. Find things within your risk tolerance that you feel comfortable investing in and go for it. It's cheesy, but Albert Einstein said "The most powerful force in the Universe is compound interest" for a reason. If some other readers can achieve that in 9 years, then great...but if you are 29 you have the opportunity to capitalize on that in such a more significant way than someone 20 years older than you.

I will say that I read several irritating things on this site. I have also poured over the "Investor Alley" section of the forum and have re-balanced my portfolios based on what I have learned from others and it's been helpful. But I found that while I got into the index funds, I also invest in other things that would make people on here sick. So I am not what I used to be but I'm also not some of the nutballs that starve themselves because they forgot their lunch. I found a pretty comfortable spot in between, and that's why I read this site every day.

Being a firefighter is an honorable profession. I sure don't run into buildings when they are on fire. So good on you for doing that. Not sure if that was brought up in the thread. It might have been if you would have kept that darn truck to yourself lol.

Title: Re: What to do/where to go from here?
Post by: Rubes33 on July 17, 2019, 09:13:26 PM

Read some of my other posts on the thread if you want to know my goals.  I don’t aspire to sit at home living off of 40k a year for the rest of my life.  Doesn’t interest me one bit.


Bro, I think you gotta understand where you are here... most people here subscribe to a counter-cultural mentality around working and spending money.  What you have essentially done is wander into a hardcore powerlifting gym and ask the guys doing deadlifts when the next yoga class is; then you're getting mad when they look at you funny and try to explain the benefits of powerlifting.  Maybe you don't want to be a powerlifter - that's cool, it's not for everyone. But surely there are some things you could learn that would help you with what you do want to do.

But what is it that you do want?  You said you don't want to be a live off $40K a year guy (I'm not that way either).  But not wanting to be something doesn't say what you do want to be.  So what is the actual plan? If you want to live off your pension you'll have to somehow ween yourself down to living off of 60% of your salary - how are you going to do that?  Will you pay your mortgage off early, or will you still be paying it when retired?  Do you have your savings rate firmly established? Do you know your savings rate? What financial position do you want to be in when you hit your retirement age?

Everyone jumped all over you for your truck because, well, it's ridiculous lol.  Sorry man, but it is.  But that's okay, we all have that when we start.  Look up my old case study, I got ridiculous stuff too... and I staunchly defended all of it as non-negotiables.  I should do an update because over time I have changed most of them.  They weren't the immutable aspects of my life as I thought they were.  And some things haven't changed.  In fact, I have increased spending on some things because I realized they provided more value to me once I really examined what I was trying to accomplish.  Just understand that the "I'm a truck guy" or "my wife likes her SUV" are most likely emotional responses to defend the status quo.  That's a normal response - the status quo is hard to disrupt.  But have you really thought out what "I'm a truck guy" means when you consider how it impacts your long term plans?  Or do you not have well defined long term plans, so you've never made that assessment?  That's the kind of stuff I think people are picking at.  Because that's how the vast majority of society operates - just going along like everyone else and assuming it's going to get you where you want to be.  But do you know where you want to be?

Really looking forward to that case study and hope you'll do it.

I feel more like the powerlifter in the yoga studio lol.
I looked over your case study and I think my goals are very similar to yours.  Having a DBP, leaving early would incur a huge penalty.  I’m more than likely working until I reach my eligibility unless I somehow manage to come into a lot of money between now and then.  And to be honest I like my job and like having a purpose.  However, when the time comes and I’m eligible to retire I don’t want to have to hesitate or worry about money.

We want to be ballers.  Maybe shot callers down the road.

Having said that, I want to enjoy life man. I’m not trying to be coupon clipping and penny pinching all day every day. I don’t want to be restricted to some fixed income.  I understand what this forum is about but the way same of these people have freaked out over a random person’s vehicle is crazy.  It’s just a Raptor.   
I think if I can take some of the advice and tips that I get on here and apply them to my current lifestyle then I’ll be laughing come retirement.  I’m just looking for some actual advice (like you have given) and not this repetitive condescending car=bad crap.