Owner Operators Savings & Retirement

I understand investing I did it for several years. I just decided to pull out of it. I have no faith or trust in the stock markets anymore. It can be wiped out in the blink of an eye but it's always the little guy who loses everything not the insiders.

 

I put money in IRA's and stock.. Also put some in Real Estate.. Retired from trucking in 1997 at 55 years old..

My funds are still going strong because I didn't panic when the stock market took a tank... It recovered and my funds are still doing great..

Far too many fail to plan and end up in hard times in their retirement years.. I am able to take enough funds out of our IRA's to supplement our SS... Our health is still good and we have very good Health Insurance..

I did NOT belong to a Union long enough to draw a pension, so I had to make plans for my own future... One great thing about that is, My pension doesn't end at my death, but family gets what is left over...

I went thru some major downturns so far and have been able to weather them.. Far too many panic and withdrew their funds AFTER the market tanked... BUT is has recovered very nicely for those who stay the course...

Kind of like my trucking career, their will always be good/bad times... Just plan for it, for it will happen....

Instead of worrying about the Government taking your life savings, VOTE....VOTE.... Complaining to the wind does no one any good...

 

Diversifying is OK to a point but if you look at great investors like Warren Buffet, he made his fortune by NOT diversifying. He just focused on a few great companies. Dairy Queen was one of them.
I can understand people investing in index funds. Most active mgrs in mutual funds can't beat the market so indexing is good, but really you are diluting your returns with indexing. You're not going to get rich with a 10% return. And bond funds won't even give you that kind of return. Leveraging your money, something guys like Ramsey abhor, is a good idea as long as you understand the risks and can manage that leveraging. Thus, your returns on RE can be much higher but depends on how you buy and how much time. Investing in RE illustrates that concept and is classic.
in fact you will never buy a home if you won't or don't leverage your $$$. Unless you've got a boat load of cash!!
So I'm amazed when I read some parts of the media advocate renting instead!! I just don't take any notice of the mass media because they spew out the same old tired concepts and old ideas about what makes a great investment. Investing in mutual funds is the lazy mans way, but the only guys that make out like bandits are the managers that run them.
Actually, a better investment IMHO are ETFs....because if the market tanks, you can get out of them almost instantly and cut your losses. unlike mutual funds where it takes longer to exit. Plus, the expenses are much lower too. They act like a stock and you can trade them likewise.
As far as I'm concerned I go off and dig deeper into new and original ideas, and who am I going to take notice of.
the Dave Ramsey's of this world or a seasoned billionaire like Carl Icahn? One of the great investors this country has produced but sails under the radar, somewhat. I'm always fascinated in what companies he's investing in.
So much to learn and never enough time to absorb it all.

 

Everyones retirement needs will be different.I'm retiring(from trucking) at the end of the month,OO for 41 years.My wife wants to continue working a few more years,till she can collect full SS,she has a good job,good benefits.I've decided to collect mine now.I have what we consider a decent amount put away,have always owned my own home,zero debt,but normal household expenses.Are we going to sail around the world when we both fully retire,or buy a beachfront home,no.But I think (and hope)we'll live the same lifestyle we're accustomed to,and that's a simple one.My parents grew up during the depression,and lived very frugal but rewarding lives,I like to think I'm of the same cloth.My biggest expense now is spoiling my grandkids and I fully enjoy that.Keep on trucking,guys!

 

During market crashes gold can save a portfolio. Such was the case as recently as the past decade. You'd have to have an awfully short memory to say gold is useless in "every situation".

Gold allocation FAQ

+1

I just put $10k into VTSAX (Vanguard's Total Stock Market ETF) this morning.

I would retire extremely wealthy with 10% annual returns. I plan to retire moderately wealthy with 6-7% returns. 10% would just be gravy.

Which is exactly the opposite of what you're supposed to do.

 

I fall under both of those statistics you mentioned. I have goals for each week, month, and year, which these allow me to look very long term (retirement). I am actually applying what people always tell me to do (set money aside for the future). After helping my sister and brother in law almost every month since I started trucking, I decided to finally plan for retirement. Some more motivation was my father saying he could last a week without working before the money dried up... needless to say I figured out what I WANT to set aside each WEEK for retirement. Since October 2014 I have successfully taken out $500 every week and set it aside in an envelope until I decide where I want this to go to collect interest. My goal being that I do this until I am 30 (just turned 24) and at 30, still truck but be able to focus my attention towards family. My intention is to know that if I need to stay home I can without worrying about going to work. I refuse to let myself be the person that cries about not doing anything because I failed to plan for the future.

 

$5500. a week!!! What are you hauling??

 

Sorry, just changed it to 500. Didn't proofread it lol

 

Gold isn't that great of a vehicle for a lot of reasons, one is liquidity of the physical asset but the other is that there is no hedge on inflation as sold to people. What I mean is that if you hold gold and it is worth say $1250/oz when you bought it and the economy crashes, then your gold is worth what ever that new currency or the revalued currency is valued at.

So that can revert back to a fix rate easily by some decree or on a market value which could be anywhere - maybe a small fraction of the original costs.

The other half of that is the inflation part, gold doesn't track with inflation as people may think. We have yet to see gold used as a hedge against inflation with the historical price being as high as it was in 1980 and low as it was in 2001. Those who bought gold and held it as a hedge vehicle in say 1985 found that in 1998 they had losses on their hands.

About liquidity, I read this example on another site talking about gold. Say the economy crashed and your prep'r protocol kicks in so you grab a bunch of your gold and take off to find food. I've got chickens and eggs and armed. You come to my camp asking for eggs and I tell you "ok one ounce of gold for one egg" ... what would you do if you are starving?

What's important to me? it ain't gold, I have food that produces more food so I'm all set. You on the other hand need food and have gold. Enjoy that $1250 egg.

Here are a couple of other ideas that have been around for the last few decades (or longer)

http://anallianceforlife.com/retirement/tax-free-retirement/

http://news.yahoo.com/introducing-raf-strategies-experts-insurance-004300340.html

I am not endorsing these sites but have had some success with the form of investment in the past.

 

A "new" or "revalued" currency in the U.S. is a pretty apocalyptic scenario. I'm talking about gold in normal economic times.

But who cares about the price of gold during that period, when stocks were booming? A balanced portfolio would have still made a killing. The point of having gold in a portfolio is that it moves independently of other asset classes and can balance them out. If you rebalance your portfolio every year you're always selling some of the winners to buy the losers, "locking in" those gains. That way you're always buying low and selling high.

By the same token, what good would stocks or bonds be if it's the end of the world? I'm not talking about gold during the apocalypse.

Universal Life is only good for the people selling Universal Life. It's one of the worst investments you can possibly make.