Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

Bank of America Premium Rewards

 

Truth!

The only card I have. All the home renos are going on it, the rewards are adding up like crazy.

** I also pay my balance off to zero every month. CC points don’t mean shit compared to interest lol

 

see here's the deal, after I collect my cash back for the year plus entry bonus can i just cancel the card?

that's the only thing stopping me from taking that small hit on credit to earn that money is ease of closing account and ease of collecting bonus.

 

well if you're shopping at lowes it may be best to get their CC as it's 5% off everything. unless you're military and getting the 10% off, in which case you can't combine the two so your 2.5% cash back card is best to use.

 

LOL. Believe me I have helped friends and neighbors with their home projects. One thing I learned, if you are handy, if you've a mind to, there's loads of handyman work available that pays pretty well. A retired friend of mine supplements his retirement doing this type of work. There are a lot of people who are totally inept at anything that needs fixing around a house. Allows him to pick and choose what jobs he wants to do. He turns down a lot of work. Pressure washing, deck staining, installing ceiling fans, light fixtures, etc. He installed 3 ceiling fans for a lady last week and she paid him $700. Not too bad for about 3 hours work.

 

Parents are veterans... I get me the 10%

But I will say I buy Home Depot when possible. They do 10% military and typically beat out Lowes on pricing.

 

I'm afraid I have no idea. My wife takes care of all the budgeting/bill paying/etc. What's funny about that is that I'm the one with accounting and finance degrees. She's in Human Resources.

 

I want my handyman trade to be welding, where people come to me with their stuff like trailers, or utility racks, and other small items to weld. I just need to get better at it.

 

this couples making too much money

Nice, I've got finance degree, but i do logistics for caterpillar.

I wanna move to the power company eventually though as i believe my chance of promotion is better, plus i know their benefits are better.

 

Unfortunately not been available for new applicants since the start of the year.

 

It's all about having a plan IMO.

 

My cousin got a degree in computer sciences... he runs heavy equipment and makes MUCH more a year than I or my wife do!

I was lucky to come from a family who was very good with what little money they had. Neither of my parents went to college. My dad was a logger, and my mom was a stay at home that could really stretch a buck. And extra lucky was finding a wife who is good with money too. My previous GF had me spending money faster than I was making it.

 

i'm glad my current GF is just as frugal as me, can stretch a buck, but we do still have very nice things.

never asks me to take her out, it's always my choice. Also she grinds harder than I do, senior full time student with 2 jobs, she doesn't make as much, still well above minium though, and it's made her know the value of a dollar.

 

So, where does paying off a house or condo fit in for you guys? I see that as a HUGE investment for retirement. We plan to have the house paid off when we retire. That's 15 years. We are currently paying about $500 extra per month on it. We'll always have property taxes to pay, but not paying out a house payment will be AWESOME.

 

from my understanding and it's all about what you're comfortable with. and that 500 per month would be better spent investing in something.

again, it's what you're comfortable with.

 

Retire to where? The shuffle court? NEVER!

 

Just remember. Nobody ever said on their death bead, I wish I had worked more!!!!

 

Plan is to pay off current home we just bought in 5 years.
Kids are planned in that time so we’ll move onto something bigger and may have a small mortgage but that should be gone in a couple years.

Having a paid off home is a huge priority to me.

I recently got myself in a situation where I was at a job I couldn’t stand anymore. My actual job I loved, but I had unethical bosses that treated their staff like trash.

Luckily I was able to secure a new job very quickly but if that didn’t happen, my husband and I have worked hard enough where I could have quit any time I wanted.
That was the first moment I truly appreciated living frugally and the options it gave me.

Having as minimal financial obligations as possible gives you the most options in life.

No debt = options

 

I think you need to find a balance.
You need to save for retirement before paying off a home. You shouldn’t forgo investments to pay the loan off faster.

Having no mortgage allows you to dedicate more funds for investing as well. Getting rid of a $800 mortgage and a $500 principal payment gives you $1,300 extra per month to invest.

OR it gives you an extra $1,300 a month to spend.
You don’t need to invest everything. You always need to have money to enjoy.

I pretty much plan on sticking to a set amount per month for retirement and no more. The extra money I free up in the budget is for me.

 

Never.