The new American way

[Montecresto]

Saving what's that? Lol no I went in the Marine Corps at 18 and started with 10% and been that way with my job outside the Marine Corps. Only way to get ahead in life is you. Everyone wants a handout, but if you really want to make your mark in life it is all about what you put in it. Me I want to retire one day. I know it will not be tomorrow because I have a 4 year old and a 3 year old and another due in a month, but I want them to live good and have nice things. I do not expect social security to be around by the time I reach age to retire, so me I am looking after my family and myself by taking 10% before taxes and put in a 401k that is matched to 6%. I also try to put 3% in 2 other accounts for my daughter's college fund and also an emergency fund. That is me and that is how I love. I can't say it's right, but it is working for me.

Dude, you can say it's right. I'm impressed. Good for you and your family. You're in better shape than the average American, and a good example!!!!

 

[Admin]

 

[Montecresto]

17 yrs old, high school drop out, pregnant g/f, alcoholic parents and living in the backwoods of a two bit northern MI town. Perfect formula for white trash forever. No silver spoon here. Now I hold a position in an industry that most have a five year degree to achieve. I tell my boys to pay attention and work hard even when no one's looking. It won't go unnoticed.
I put 5% into 401k, have for years. 2008 took its toll though. Everything is paid for except the house and even that isn't much. Bought a house that should've been condemned in a nice area with land. It's worth three times as much as I paid for it in thirteen years. Acquired everything the hard way.

Good for you too trigger. Makes me proud!!!!

 

[Montecresto]

Commercial rentals. Rent to businesses - not deadbeat losers that play the system. That's way better but you have to have the cash to build or remodel as they need.


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Haha, yep, there is money to be made in rentals, commercial and otherwise. But that typically works better if you own a large development in an upscale neighbor hood. Don't think people won't trailer trash your run down strip mall on the south side. Anyway, I'm not criticising rental income, I'm just saying that it's not my cup of tea.

 

[Montecresto]

Almost nobody can get away with not financing a house. It's when people finance things like SeaDoos, P5's and other things that depreciate that they run into trouble.

 

[LandPioneer]

I follow Taylor Larimore's 3-Fund portfolio:

Three-fund portfolio - Bogleheads
Although at one time I did have 200 ac of timberland as well that I have divested myself of.

Paid for rent paying properties are a very good investment if you have the time and want to fool with renters. My parents tried it one time when I was in college, it burned me bad enough I wouldn't be willing to do it now.

I disagree with your statement that real estate is "safe" it is no more safe than the stock market/bond market but it can be a good investment.

The biggest problem with real estate is the lack of liquidity and the fact that you are tied to a local market. Big employer closes and moves overseas or the government decides to put a prison next door and suddenly your value goes to nothing and you can't find good renters. That can be as much or more risk than having your money in the stock market. Especially if you live and work in the same area. Suddenly your house, your job and your properties can have the rug jerked out from under them and there isn't much you can do.

If you know your market, have a backup plan and don't overextend yourself by borrowing too much you can make mint in real estate.

Finding good renters is not the hardest thing in the world. However, you have to work to find them. I do background checks and require 3 previous landlords. I call their references and put in the work on my end. It saves me trouble down the road. A lot of people just rent to whoever comes along. Not me I go off their past experiences and require 3 months rent down. If they aren't interested I move to the next person.
The liquidity for my properties will be the rent coming in once they are paid off. I couldn't pay cash so I borrowed. If I had cash obviously that is the route I would go. I haven't paid the payment on my 2 properties in 5yrs or so. By the time I retire it will be extra money coming in that I basically did very little to acquire. If I get tired of doing it, I'll cash out...
Rentals aren't for everybody but it is definitely a way to make money. My uncle owns some apartments in a nearby College town. He is clearing $105k a year doing absolutely nothing. He has a property manager that he pays to do all maintenance for a fee of 9%. Not a bad gig if you ask me... Not to mention he only paid about $300k for all of it.

 

[Montecresto]

Finding good renters is not the hardest thing in the world. However, you have to work to find them. I do background checks and require 3 previous landlords. I call their references and put in the work on my end. It saves me trouble down the road. A lot of people just rent to whoever comes along. Not me I go off their past experiences and require 3 months rent down. If they aren't interested I move to the next person.
The liquidity for my properties will be the rent coming in once they are paid off. I couldn't pay cash so I borrowed. If I had cash obviously that is the route I would go. I haven't paid the payment on my 2 properties in 5yrs or so. By the time I retire it will be extra money coming in that I basically did very little to acquire. If I get tired of doing it, I'll cash out...
Rentals aren't for everybody but it is definitely a way to make money. My uncle owns some apartments in a nearby College town. He is clearing $105k a year doing absolutely nothing. He has a property manager that he pays to do all maintenance for a fee of 9%. Not a bad gig if you ask me... Not to mention he only paid about $300k for all of it.

Yep, there's a huge rental market, and people make a lot of money at it. But it's not for everybody. I'm glad that you're doing well with it, and I like seeing that there's so many members here working on their retirement!!!!!

 

[rocmar]

More important. .......
a good medical insurance. ..
Cause a medical problem
could bankrupt you....
......QUOTE. ......
Park Avenue. .leads to Skid Row

 

[rocmar]

Trump =New American way

 

[Montecresto]

We do need incentive to save, and be more independent. Problem is, the new majority doesn't want to hear that. They want free cell phones and free cars and all that. The inner city population has the numbers to control the vote. I'm in PA and our state's politics are controlled by Philadelphia. You go practically anywhere else in PA and it's more on the conservative side. Any candidate that doesn't at least have some appeal to that population will never have a chance. This election is a mess. It's sad that these are the best two candidates we can come up with. But, as always, it's the lesser of two evils. 90% chance Trump will be a better president than HRC. 25% chance he'll be a great president. 50% chance he will be an OK president. 25% chance he will be an awful president.... Unfortunately, that's what we're left with.

Gary Johnson on the issue.

Current tax code penalizes productivity & investment
Today's federal tax code does all the wrong things. It penalizes productivity, savings and investment, while rewarding inefficiency and designating winners and losers according to political whim. For far too long, tax laws have been used not just as a means to collect needed revenues, but as a weapon with which to manipulate our behavior, create and destroy industries and fulfill politicians' dreams of social engineering. The result is a tax code that is more than 70,000 pages long enforced by a government agency with almost 100,000 employees. It is a nothing less than a massive deployment of government force on our lives, our finances and our freedom.Source: 2016 presidential campaign website GaryJohnson2016.com , Jan 11, 2016

 

[rocmar]

1/2 the population. ....don't work
3/4 of those that work....live
payday......to payday....
so......

 

[JTW]

Almost nobody can get away with not financing a house. It's when people finance things like SeaDoos, P5's and other things that depreciate that they run into trouble.

If someone can make payments, then they can save to buy outright. I don't disagree with you on the last point.

 

[rocmar]

So.....all they have to
save....is Government
Cheese.

 

[rocmar]

Gary Johnson. .....
ran the state I
live in.....
State worse off
after his term....
....FACT.....

 

[Montecresto]

If someone can make payments, then they can save to buy outright. I don't disagree with you on the last point.

True, you could live in a teepee for thirty years while you save a couple hundred thousand dollars up to buy a house, lol.

 

[Montecresto]

Half the people in this country pay zero income tax, and many of them don't even work (because why work if the government will pay you not to?)

I look more kindly on someone that doesn't pay tax if they are employing thousands of people that DO. It's not the billionaires that upset me. And I can't stand it when people whine about rich people just because they have it better than we do. Those rich people are the ones signing paychecks. If i'm a billionaire, and the government wanted to change tax laws to take 70% of my income, I'll take my business somewhere else. Start taxing the hell out of the billionaires and big corporations more and that's what will happen.

Its selective. I employee people that pay taxes too, but the Feds don't exempt me from paying personal taxes Because of it. And you and I as working stiffs are taxed at an income rate that's much higher than dividend rates that most of the uber rich pay. Johnsons platform addresses this. Many polices he tried to implement as governor were blocked by a Democratic Party legislature his entire term.

"Faced with Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, die hard conservatives who've grown weary of Trump's full-on racist brand of populist nationalism are shopping for an alternative candidate. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president might just fit the bill nicely."
Gary Johnson's Record As Governor Of New Mexico Is Getting Mixed Reviews

 

[rocmar]

Both sides of Gary Johnson. ...
should be exposed...instead
of the good clipets....on
this....debate....
.....he inherited a debt of $1.8 Billion
left office and ran leaving this
state a debt of $4.6 Billion....FACT...

 

[Montecresto]

Gary Johnson: The Only Candidate that can Protect Your Retirement

 

[rocmar]

Gary Johnson got the
vote in New Mexico. ...by
traveling to all 13 Native
American nations....
Smoking peace pipe
in there qunse huts
(No Racism....my wife's
Chippewa )
Fact & truth....

 

[rocmar]

I think if you back a presidential
candidate. ...you should own
there...Good & Bad....not just
push...wat little good they
have done....
Trump ain't my 1st choice...
I do agree this country needs
to be run...like a business. ..

 

[rocmar]

$ 50 billion.
for Senate, House.
for storage of walkers
& wheelchairs. ..& an
escalater....to get them
to there seat?
New Blood....get
the same ole....out