This is more of a rant than "give me face punches", but I was watching NBC morning news and in this segment 2 couples were presented, one that just retired around the age of 70 and on in their 30's. The 70 year old couple started saving massively in thier 40's didn't gain enough in the market, and had to put off retirement (many people have had this happen in the past 5 years, understandable). The second couple was in their 30's had no retirement savings (YIKES!), started saving a massive amount for the past few months. And by massive amount I mean $250/ month. I though "Okay, they are saying something". The wife then said "I guess that we want things when we want it. And get it now." But that was not the part that ticked me off.
The part that made me perk my ears up was the Financial adviser. Her advice was to take the savings out of a savings account and put it in a roth. Ok good advise, but this is without reviewing their taxes and going "Well you could be in a lower bracket if you did this..." Then she showed "If you invest in index funds by the time you retire is this" and showed three different numbers in if then statements on how much they could have by the time they retire.
As I was going okay they are starting to take a right step, I looked at the bottom of the screen and saw the calculation were based on 8%. My thought was 8%! IN A SHORT TERM INDEX FUND! As I was scratching my head pondering this the conversation moved to a 401k, the wife had the opportunity to contribute (with no matching) and the husband had none. The FA then said "I Wouldn't put anything in that yet, until the Roth has been matched." That is when I decided that I should go make another pot of coffee and take a shower.