Author Topic: Personal Capital Comedy  (Read 2987 times)

Mgmny

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Personal Capital Comedy
« on: November 06, 2018, 02:10:31 PM »
Picture says it all!



Why yes, yes I do think it is! I've only been 28 for 1.5 months, so I've got another 10 months to go!

But in all seriousness, I'm thinking that PC is a bit confused because I track our entire family's financial picture here (which includes my wife's retirement accounts), so they probably think it's all mine when some percentage is hers as well.

merula

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2018, 03:11:48 PM »
I get the weirdest messages from PC. "Do you have enough cash to cover unexpected expenses?" one day, and then "Are you holding too much cash? Invest it to protect yourself against inflation" the next.

I don't think age group is one year, though. I've gotten the impression they do more like 20-25, 25-30, etc.

DS

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 03:13:28 PM »
It is good to see they at least acknowledge early retirement.

simonsez

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2018, 03:58:49 PM »
Wait, 98% of the average?  So, this means slightly below average but I'm guessing the population of PC users is skewed toward higher retirement savings than the average Joe.  Plus, $ numbers are always extremely right-tailed so you might be well above the median but still below average due to the heavy hitters.

It very well could be better to be just below average for your age/group on PC compared to say, 150% of average when compared to all Americans at your age/group.

Mgmny

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2018, 07:45:14 PM »
Wait, 98% of the average?  So, this means slightly below average but I'm guessing the population of PC users is skewed toward higher retirement savings than the average Joe.  Plus, $ numbers are always extremely right-tailed so you might be well above the median but still below average due to the heavy hitters.

It very well could be better to be just below average for your age/group on PC compared to say, 150% of average when compared to all Americans at your age/group.

Oh shoot you're right!

I took this as I was in the 98th percentile, not that I didn't even have the average.. How is that even possible? What other 28 year old has 120k in retirement accounts?!?!

ysette9

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2018, 09:06:28 PM »
I did at 28 ;-)

Let me tell you, it sets you up nicely for when you are 38.

Travis

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2018, 09:29:38 PM »
Every time I log in, I get a pop up that declares that I have "earned" myself a free one on one session with one of their advisors.  It has come up every time I log in for the last month.  I can either pick an appointment time or kill the window, but I can't prevent it from coming back the next time.

Also in my inbox:
"Placing dividend-generating assets in tax-deferred accounts and capital gains-generating assets in taxable accounts provides the flexibility to reduce your tax liability."

So, the two IRAs I keep maxed out each year?

It's been a while since I got that "you're saving X% compared to some other group of folks," which is worded strangely.

jlcnuke

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2018, 05:58:58 AM »
Every time I log in, I get a pop up that declares that I have "earned" myself a free one on one session with one of their advisors.  It has come up every time I log in for the last month.  I can either pick an appointment time or kill the window, but I can't prevent it from coming back the next time.

Also in my inbox:
"Placing dividend-generating assets in tax-deferred accounts and capital gains-generating assets in taxable accounts provides the flexibility to reduce your tax liability."

So, the two IRAs I keep maxed out each year?

It's been a while since I got that "you're saving X% compared to some other group of folks," which is worded strangely.

Yeah, I'm saving (less than 50%) in retirement accounts compared to other people like me... yet I'm maxing out my retirement account contributions. Apparently most people are doing mega-backdoor Roths etc in my age group... yeah right.

Mgmny

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2018, 10:55:39 AM »
Every time I log in, I get a pop up that declares that I have "earned" myself a free one on one session with one of their advisors.  It has come up every time I log in for the last month.  I can either pick an appointment time or kill the window, but I can't prevent it from coming back the next time.

Also in my inbox:
"Placing dividend-generating assets in tax-deferred accounts and capital gains-generating assets in taxable accounts provides the flexibility to reduce your tax liability."

So, the two IRAs I keep maxed out each year?

It's been a while since I got that "you're saving X% compared to some other group of folks," which is worded strangely.

Yeah, I'm saving (less than 50%) in retirement accounts compared to other people like me... yet I'm maxing out my retirement account contributions. Apparently most people are doing mega-backdoor Roths etc in my age group... yeah right.

Yeah!! See?!?! Crazy!! How can i only be at 98% of average?! I just did the math and as far as PC knows, I have $146,300 in retirement accounts. I'm 28. So if their average user starts at 18, they would need to have contributed about $10k per year at 8% interest for the last 10 years to be "average." If that's true, this whole "retirement crisis" that USA is facing is WAY overblown.

I don't believe PC one bit.

DS

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2018, 11:27:39 AM »
I would guess there's definitely correlation between being a young user of PC and having a high net worth for your age group.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2018, 12:46:56 PM »
I don't believe PC one bit.

Nor should you. Every time I log in, I get this message:

Quote from: Personal Capital
You've saved 77% of the average retirement savings (like IRA & 401K) for your age group among Personal Capital users. Is it time to start saving more?

and then when I close that popup, I see:

Quote from: Personal Capital
Good job! You've hit your savings goal this year. $43,869 of $36,000

Seriously? I've saved 58% of my annual income to date, and you think it's "time to start saving more"??? Fuck you, Personal Capital. I'm doing quite alright.


merula

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Re: Personal Capital Comedy
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2018, 02:47:14 PM »
Yeah!! See?!?! Crazy!! How can i only be at 98% of average?! I just did the math and as far as PC knows, I have $146,300 in retirement accounts. I'm 28. So if their average user starts at 18, they would need to have contributed about $10k per year at 8% interest for the last 10 years to be "average." If that's true, this whole "retirement crisis" that USA is facing is WAY overblown.

I don't believe PC one bit.

I don't believe PC either, but I'm guessing it's something more like "Of PC users 26-39, your savings equals 98% of the average savings". That makes sense if you assume that people who have been in their careers more than twice as long have at least twice the retirement savings. And I think assuming people start their careers around 22 rather than 18 is more realistic for the type of users PC has.

Also, I think PC users skew towards higher income and higher savings rates.