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Originally Posted by gearheads78
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GREAT ARTICLE RICHARD!!
And yes -- I probably could have written that myself - EXCEPT for the BONDS portion. I don't think anyone should ever be in bonds. They suck just as bad as mutual funds. They're a fixed rate depreciating investment in my opinion. I let my guy talk me into buying a laddered portfolio of bonds (4MM worth) and I couldn't sleep at night owning them (seriously) - I finally said FT and sold 'em all (for a gain)… I can't tell you how happy I was that day. But I digress.
The key is - and has always been -- INCOME -- and TOTAL RETURN. That's how you get success. While we'd love to be the guy that owned Microsoft from the beginning (us)… That's the lottery way to success… not THE way most (all?) folks are going to be able to retire.
Here's the thing I've kind of avoided discussing -- but it is the elephant in the room… so here goes.
If you're in a situation RIGHT NOW - where you're struggling (REGARDLESS OF INCOME LEVEL) to do everything you want to do and pay all your bills etc…
WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU'RE 65 AND OUT OF WORK?
So if you're in that position now… then something needs to be done to get yourself financially healthy NOW… so you can start to prepare for later.. 'cause later is coming up pretty dang fast.
In years past - people didn't live as long as they do now. 30 years ago if you had a heart attack - dude! You died! Now? It's no biggie… So living to the late 80's or 90's is really a pretty reasonable expectation. None of us wants to live under a bridge.
I've been retired for over 20 years now… and that article talking about inflation etc -- that's REAL LIFE and there's nothing you can do about it! My first BMW cost $7600 -- that same car now is $60,000. Yeah I can buy something else -- but is that how you want to live or see yourself living? Ya drove a BMW all your life and now you HAVE to buy a YUGO… Not me! I'd rather drive a Chevy ALL OF MY LIFE…. if that's what it takes then that's what it takes. That to me is a better overall life.
Just talkin' here…. the "you" is anyone reading… and if it's "you" - "you" should be scared and taking some actions to better your situation. It doesn't get easier - it gets harder… So just get 'er done!