It is interesting because a bankruptcy lawyer told me to always focus on your retirement first. If you every have to file bankruptcy, those are protected assets.
This reminds me of how a handful of people were able to outsmart the music & motion picture media companies that were trying to deter pirate downloading by completely ruining them financially.
They eventually declared bankruptcy after ruinous judgments, and the record companies were about to get a big fat nothing. The companies folded in short order and reduced their asks to a few thousand dollars.
I think most people don’t know they can do this, and don’t understand that most of their retirement assets are protected from creditors.
Also your home is protected in some states if it’s your primary residence, think OJ Simpson and Florida.
Depending on your state your home as well. His point was always max out retirement. That way if you do BK you can use that as needed to restart but retirement is job one
I must be missing the political ax to grind? Bears made a comment that aside from a home, a 401K is the biggest way to build wealth. I just pointed out that the average age of first time home buyers is 43…no politics, but housing is significantly more expensive that they were when most of we were in our 20’s…rising at more than twice the rate of inflation. And if a person is buying a house in their 40’s AND trying to fund a 401K, they will likely opt for a 30 year loan. 43 plus 30 is 73…so either people will be retiring later or more people may have a mortgage in retirement. I can’t see politics or an axe anywhere.
Whose fault is it homes are more expensive?
We took out a 25 year mortgage on our house; we could roll all our debts into a 15 year mortgage as we have sufficient equity. Being in a DMP does help with not rushing a decision
Our house is worth $350k, we owe $213k between 2 mortgages, and have about $95,000 on cards.
I have about $200k in retirement. The biggest problem is the zoning and housing restrictions is why homes have such high values
The voter who wants their home to go up. If you want to increase supply, you’ll reduce the price
Curious, what was the interest rate difference (and/or any other advantage) of a 25-yr over a 30?
I didn’t especially realize 25-year mtgs were an option.
I don’t think there was much of a difference if at all.
Second curious question, why not take out a 30 and pay extra?
I am always tempted to take a reduced term mortgage, but typically stop short of doing so bc I figure that the lower payment of a 30-yr is good insurance against inflation of other expenses and/or income reduction.
I don’t know. They have been rising at more than twice the rate of inflation since I bought my first house 35 years ago. So there were a lot of presidents in that timeframe. My house has more than doubled in “value” since i bought it in 2010. If you want me to blame a president, then I guess I blame Obama and the Fed for keeping interest rates so low for so long.
Bears said aside from a home, the 401k is the biggest source of wealth. But I bought my first house when I was 30 and the house was $92,000. We came up with a 20% down payment of $18k and then put money in a 401K for the next 30+ years. That same house today just sold for $435k, so if they want a 20% down payment, they have to come up with $87,000 and they are 43 and they have to also fund a 401K. I’ve seen more and more articles about ‘borrowing’ from teh 401K to make the down payment. There’s nothing political there, just that the house may actully hinder building retirement wealth.
What was your income that year? Today a fireman and RN wife or a power company lineman and school teacher wife earn close to $200k a year.
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The median household income in 2025, that’s the income for everybody living there, is $89,000. I’m sure that there’s some who do pull in over 200,000 but more than half the country makes less than that. And if half the country can’t afford a 401(k) then what the fuck do they do during retirement. I am just pointing out that housing has increased at more than twice the rate of inflation. Incomes did not increase that much. So if they are getting into a house in their 40s and trying to fund a 401(k) and do it all with a 15 year mortgage, it’s rare.
In that number of households are college students, high school dropouts, welfare recipients and other underachievers. Every adult I know over 25 earns close to six figures or at least the mid $70’s a year.
They can get off their lazy ass and earn more money, choose to spend less and invest more. If they don’t want to that’s what Social Security is for, to.prevent them from dying in the streets.
People have 40 years to save for retirement, if they had rather buy, shiny new things, try to impress others and don’t save for their own future too fuvking bad.
I have to admit bears…you are head and shoulders ahead of more than 80% of the population. And you got there all on your own.
Most people I know did it on their own. No one showed up to my job everyday for 30 some years and nobody forced me to live within my means or to invest for my retirement. Same with my kid, he worked hard to get into a good college, worked hard to get good grades and learn the material and got a good job when he graduated. All of his friends did the exact same thing and they’re set to have a pretty nice life. Being an adult isn’t as difficult as you make it out to be.
Not everyone was like you that had everything handed to them and had to put zero effort in.
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