Retirement, please help!

shana+chris

This is probably a frequently asked question, so I apologize for any redundancy. How much are you currently putting aside for retirement?  How old are you/how long have you been saving?

 

Thank you!  

Edit:  currently I pay into social security and I have a 403b set up through work, but my husband and I have yet to begin any personal investments/savings towards retirement.

shana+chris

Tons of views and no responses..anyone?

anssett

I put 5% in a 401k with another 5% matching from my employer. Then I put another 5% in a 403b and when possible max out our Roth IRAs. We're also saving for a house our that might be higher. NNo kids yet and I got started late on really pumping my retirement due to being dirty poor during my PhD.

I can't really envision retirement, though. I can't imagine not working. I'd be bored out if my mind. Maybe I'll consult!

kasi55

We save about 22% of our income for retirement.  I started saving for retirement when I got my first "real" job.  DH started maxing out his Roth IRA while still in college.  Close to ten years for the both of us.

Xan84

I'm 29.  I started saving for retirement at age 23.  My husband is 33 and started saving at around age 31 (when I found out he had no investments and made him start ASAP!  LOL). 

We each put 20% of our pre-tax incomes into our respective 401Ks.  On top of that, we are both maxing out Roth IRAs.  We are also paying into social security, but I'm a pessimist and I don't expect to get much out of that down the road.  :-(

 In both our 401Ks and Roth IRAs, we are invested in Target Date Retirement Funds (mutual funds).  These are funds that automatically adjust the proportion of your investments in stocks/bonds with your age.  When you're young, the funds are close to 100% stocks for maximum growth.  When you're older, the funds are mostly bonds to protect against market crashes as you near retirement.  I like that I can just set it and forget it, as I don't trust myself to pick stocks/play with my portfolio.

shana+chris

Thanks everyone!

Temp885953375007054

DH and I are both 30.  I started a 401k when I was 22. Currently I only am doing 4%, company matches another 4%. We have 5k in a roth, but sadly we are not contributing to it right now. DH doesn't contribute to a retirement account.

I'm sure there are many people here doing better than us, but this is where we are at.

takmjs

Of our income (I'm 31, my husband's 30),

I put 5.6% into my pension, and my work matches that.

I put 17% into my 403b this year, but it was only about 7% most previous years.

We also max out our Roth IRA's. That's the only retirement my husband gets, because he doesn't have any retirement accounts available to him as a farmer.

Altogether, it's about 32% of our income going to retirement.

I don't expect it to stay that high forever, but I like having it high now while it counts more (can get more compounded interest for more years), and I can cut back later if we need money for other things.

I've been saving for retirement since I first got my first "real" job--at age 24. My husband's contributed to his Roth since I met him (I knew he trusted and loved me b/c he was listening to my financial advice) 4-5 years ago.

von1976

I started my 401k/403b at 22 (DH and I are 35/36). I didn't put much in at first, and I'm sorry about that now. For the last twelve years, I've been putting in the maximum amount allowable. The great part about this is that it might bump you into a lower tax bracket (401k/403b contributions don't count as part of your income) when it comes time to pay Uncle Sam.

I do not use the "Target Date" retirement funds. They might work for some people, but they don't do very well. I've been able to invest my money on my own and get a much better return on that investment with only a little know-how. Whenever I get nervous about losing money (it happens sometimes--remember 2008/2009?), I remember that I won't need that money for a looooong time. It has plenty of time to recover.

I also have a Roth IRA investment account. That has a good chunk in it, since I've been maxing that for the past five or six years, too. I opened one for DH, too, but this year I had to cut back on contributions because we're trying to pay off some debt incurred from our wedding. We're currently each contributing $200/month to our accounts. When the debt is paid, I'm going to sock the payments into our Roth IRAs (you have until April 15 to contribute for the previous year).

DH has a pension which he also contributes to, but that's required. He does have a 401k/403b with pathetically little in it, but we probably won't need it with the pension. Even so, he upped his contribution at my request. He's not putting very much in. He was doing approximately $650/year, but now he's doing $2600/year. We will look into upping contributions to that once we max our Roth IRAs out and the debt is paid off.

All of this works out to about 16.5% of our pre-tax income, not including DH's pension. Once the debt is gone, it should be about 23%.

Kellyt2012

I do 3% at work, my company matches 3%.

DH does 5% at work, his company does 4%.

We also pay $100/month into Roth IRA (Charles Schwab) and $100/month into 2 separate mutual fund accounts (these 2 mutual funds are more like our emergency funds and "long term" saving).

nital

As much as we can.  I maxed out my 401k when I first started working.  I was used to living on a low student stipend, and figured I wouldn't miss it.  DH had student loans and car loans, so we started of with just the minimum for his employer match.  Once we paid those off, then we bumped up his contribution.  I increase it each time he gets a raise.