#financial planning

401K Decisions by Age Decade – 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s

How are 401K decisions affected in each age decade? Shortly after the 2008 financial crisis, I saved a Money magazine article on the topic of 401K investing, curious to see if I would change their advice two to three years later.  Now it’s over 10 years later, and most of that advice is still relevant. Following is a synopsis.  For the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, not much has changed.  But for the 60s, note how the article leaned toward armageddon, contingency planning, and worst case scenarios.  There was nothing in the article about staying the course.  It’s interesting to reflect back on the mood at that time. [The following are both direct quotes and paraphrasing of the main ideas of the article.  The sources listed are attributable to Money magazine.] In Your 20s In your 20s, the challenge is that retirement isn’t even on your radar. Debt is accumulating instead, and most 20-somethings can’t see past the goal of getting out of debt first.  According to the Project on Student Debt, 2007 graduates on average who took out student loans left college owing $20,000.  Nevertheless, 20-somethings should pay off high-interest debt like credit card bills and start funding a 401(K). Nearly half of all twenty-somethings with a 401(k) plan turn down the company match by not contributing the full qualifying amount – essentially free, tax-deferred money. What can you do? Start brown-bagging lunch. For someone making $30,000 a year, setting aside $35 a week is all it takes to sock away 6% of salary. An additional pitfall at this stage is job-hopping. When switching employers, many are tempted to pull out their 401(k) savings. But, while $5,000 may not seem like a whole lot of money, if invested, that amount will be substantial by the time you retire. In Your 30s By this decade, just being enrolled in the retirement plan isn’t enough. How the money is invested begins to take on more importance. According to a survey by investment advisor Financial Engines, 40% of all 401(k) participants make investing mistakes that impede their portfolios’ growth.  The two most common mistakes are: 1)  investing too conservatively in cash, therefore not beating inflation; 2) investing too narrowly in a single stock (typically, the employer’s). To catch up, learn to diversify according to “asset allocation.” Embrace both stocks and bonds. Combining the two will bring a cushion against market drops. If your 401(k) has a Roth feature, and you believe your income taxes will be higher in retirement, use that feature to invest after-tax dollars now for tax-free withdrawals later. Once you have your portfolio fine-tuned, revisit it on a regular basis but no more frequently than quarterly to “rebalance” to your original mix. If you start managing your investments early,  you can reap rewards down the line. In Your 40s Too many claims on the paycheck becomes a common problem for forty-somethings. Even though you are entering your peak earning years, major expenses like college tuition loom. When the AARP…

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What Are Your Generation’s Money Messages?

Members of the Greatest Generation are famous for their frugal habits, sometimes to the frustration of their Baby Boomer kids.   It can be hard to understand why Mom or Dad refuse to part with Ziploc bags and empty shoeboxes, or why they will not buy something nice for themselves. Many of us recognize that these habits probably evolved after being raised in a time of true scarcity – the Great Depression.  What I didn’t know until recently was how this money mentality was reinforced by our government throughout World War II. A baby boomer friend recently showed me a historic relic I had only read about but never seen: a war ration coupon book, issued in 1943. It belonged to his mother, born in 1928. The language and tone on the ration book is striking. Authoritarian, even threatening. If you had been a young person holding this ration book, what money messages might you have received? My own thoughts, if it were me at that time, are below. “Rationing is a vital part of your country’s war effort. Any attempt to violate the rules is an effort to deny someone his share and will create hardship and help the enemy.” (Yikes! Both of those sound pretty bad. I’ll comply.) “This book is your Government’s assurance of your right to buy your fair share of certain goods made scarce by war. Price ceilings have been established for your protection. Dealers must post these prices conspicuously. Don’t pay more.” (Those evil dealers/merchants. They’re always trying to get us to pay more than what’s fair.) “Be guided by the rule: ‘If you don’t need it, DON’T BUY IT.’ ” (Right! I got through the last ten years with one pair of shoes; the next pair can last that long, too.) Contrasting Messages 60 Years Later Compare the last message to the one to “go shopping” following the 9/11 attacks.  The word “ration” itself is used 9 times on the outside of the book, plus on every stamp in the book. Other scarcity terms pervade: “This book is valuable. Do not lose it.” “Without the stamps you will be unable to purchase those goods.” “Do not throw this book away…You may be required to present it…” You may ask what self-respecting Americans would have put up with this rationing garbage. Yet, at the time, the government had been given credit for bringing us out of the Depression. We had been attacked by Japan, and German U-boats were off our coastlines. Who else would you turn to for protection? If you wanted “rationed goods,” (many of them household staples), the government was the provider, unless you wanted to risk a $10,000 fine (a lot of money now, and in 1943?), imprisonment, or both. Stiff penalties awaited noncompliant rule-breakers. From this place of fear, a message of scarcity to a Depression-battered generation must have seemed natural, even patriotic. Whose Money Messages Stick? Money messages from authority make the most impact in our formative years, and in times of fear. It depends on…

Continue ReadingWhat Are Your Generation’s Money Messages?

What Were Your Generation’s Money Messages?

Members of the Greatest Generation are famous for their frugal habits, sometimes to the frustration of their Baby Boomer kids.   It can be hard to understand why Mom or Dad refuse to part with Ziploc bags and empty shoeboxes, or why they will not buy something nice for themselves. Many of us recognize that these habits probably evolved after being raised in a time of true scarcity - the Great Depression.  What I didn't know until recently was how this money mentality was reinforced by our government throughout World War II. A baby boomer friend recently showed me a historic relic I had only read about but never seen: a war ration coupon book, issued in 1943. It belonged to his mother, born in 1928. The language and tone on the ration book is striking. Authoritarian, even threatening. If you had been a young person holding this ration book, what money messages might you have received? My own thoughts, if it were me at that time, are below. "Rationing is a vital part of your country's war effort. Any attempt to violate the rules is an effort to deny someone his share and will create hardship and help the enemy." (Yikes! Both of those sound pretty bad. I'll comply.) "This book is your Government's assurance of your right to buy your fair share of certain goods made scarce by war. Price ceilings have been established for your protection. Dealers must post these prices conspicuously. Don't pay more." (Those evil dealers/merchants. They're always trying to get us to pay more than what's fair.) "Be guided by the rule: 'If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT.' " (Right! I got through the last ten years with one pair of shoes; the next pair can last that long, too.) Contrast the last message to the one to "go shopping" following the 9/11 attacks.  The word "ration" itself is used 9 times on the outside of the book, plus on every stamp in the book. Other scarcity terms pervade: "This book is valuable. Do not lose it." "Without the stamps you will be unable to purchase those goods." "Do not throw this book away...You may be required to present it..." You may ask what self-respecting Americans would have put up with this rationing garbage. Yet, at the time, the government had been given credit for bringing us out of the Depression. We had been attacked by Japan, and German U-boats were off our coastlines. Who else would you turn to for protection? If you wanted "rationed goods," (many of them household staples), the government was the provider, unless you wanted to risk a $10,000 fine (a lot of money now, and in 1943?), imprisonment, or both. Stiff penalties awaited noncompliant rule-breakers. From this place of fear, a message of scarcity to a Depression-battered generation must have seemed natural, even patriotic. Money messages from authority make the most impact in our formative years, and in times of fear. It depends on who we view at the time as authority: parents, teachers,…

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