Grant Shipley wrote:
The goal for all people should be to have no debt other than a "modest
home" and a car. Seems like I heard that somewhere before. :)
I agree with your sentence up until "other than". My goal is to have no
debt. Period. Right now, I have no debt except a modest home (more
modest in fact than the 180k number cited earlier). Though I do believe
that it is wise to take on debt to purchase a home, I don't plan on
staying in debt for my home forever.
Amass an "emergency fund" of a year of cash.
I suggest two years.
Why? Just out of curiosity, what would an extra year get you? Have you
heard of an experience where the extra year saved someone?
Save 15-20% of gross income for retirement and children's education in a
mix of Roth IRAs and 401(k) plans.
The financial planners suggest 10% but I try to sock away 30%.
Wow. That's excellent. Good for you. At that rate, you can expect an
early and plentiful retirement.
Pay off house as fast as possible.
I believe the money is better saved outside of the home until you have
enough to pay the balance off in full.
This sounds good, except for one problem. Every month you delay paying
down your mortgage costs you more. Consider Person A and Person B who
both pay off their houses in 10 years. Person A does it by regularly and
consistently paying extra from day 1. Person B pays one lump sum on the
last month of year 10. On a 30 year loan at 5.5% for a $150,000 home,
Person B would have spent $76K on interest. Person A: $42K. Feel free to
correct my numbers.
If a disaster happened (read
depression), the banks like to go after the homes that have a ton of
equity in them versus someone who still have 20 years on their
mortgage.
Not if you don't have a loan. That doesn't make sense to me. Why would
the bank try to call the notes that are worth less to them?
This would be great and is what we should all go for. However, you
mentioned savings in a ROTH IRA and 401k plans. If this is the case,
you will not be able to take your money out of these plans at this
time. You will need to have enough money in cash account to last
until you are at least 62 1/2.
You can take the principal out of a Roth IRA at any time with no
penalty. You can also take interest earned from a Roth to fund education
expenses at any time (restrictions apply). Can't do either of these with
401(k), but you can get a loan from it, which I don't recommend. I agree
with you though, that if you want to retire earlier, you had better find
another vehicle.
Very sound ---- on the surface. However, it could all blow up in our
faces if the market crashes. We would lose everything we have saved.
This is a very REAL possibility. My parents lost hundreds of
thousands of dollars during the last crash. However, it is suggested
you have at least 10% of your savings in gold and silver cions to
offset such a crash.
If the economy is crashing that hard, why would gold investments be exempt?
Sounds like our financial strategies are pretty well aligned, but you
are an even more aggressive saver than I. That's rare, and I laud your
will power and planning. Kudos to you. What I don't understand is how
you are able to spend so extravagantly on electronic goodies and still
follow such aggressive savings and insurance plans.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond. This has been instructive
for me.
--Dave
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