Retirement

[Ground Effects]

Besides heading to FL with my flowered print shirt,pink suspenders,green shorts,blue slippers,and green transparent visor in my brand new Caddy what are some suggestions I could keep in mind about my colorful future? <br> Any of you playing the stock market,stuffing it in the mattress,IRA's,Etc?<br> Thanks Again :)

[scottlawns]

well seeing your so rich you could drop off your truck trailer and mowers by my house before you go,then go enjoy yourself.<p>scott

[cjcland]

when you get to florida, look me up ill be happy to give you a free estimate:)<p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida

[Guido]

ROTH IRA is the way to go.....look into it!<br><p>----------<br>&quot;guido&quot;<br>David M. Famiglietti

[steven Bousquet]

Glad to see you asking that question.The best thing I,ve done is getting a plan made up by a professional. Prudential has a program that shows you how much you need to invest for retirement,save for kids schooling,emergency account. you get a hard covered book all about you your gaols and what you have to do, exactly do to acheive your goals. If you started now you could easily have over a million when you retire invest as little as $200 per month. Good luck.

[Barkleymut]

The above post has great advice. See a professional. Just think about all the times you have been told how to do something in a lawn by a homeowner. Sometimes they are right, sometimes not. Do you want to chance your future? Do you want to be riding a sulky at age 79? If not then you need to plan plan plan. The Roth IRA is a great option. I would contact T Rowe Price and Vanguard about their mutual funds. Most of them have no load (which means no upfront fees). If you go through a local guy then you will most likely have to pay 5% upfront which means $500 on $10,000. But if you don't know a stock from 2-4D then you should go through a local guy who comes highly recommended from a name you know (ie. Legg Mason, Charles Schwab). It will be the best move you have ever made.

[GrassMaster]

Hello:<p>All of the above is very good advice & anyone that is smart would do the same!<p>My parents about 25 years ago started buying rental property, it was a headache for them for a while. Now they pay people to look after their property.<p>They have a income now of over $1500 a week, during that period of time that had all kinds of write offs to the property.<p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/

[jeffclc]

All the above posts offer good advice. My two cents worth is:<p>Whatever you decide to do, DO IT NOW!!!! I have seen the numbers on the cost of procrastination, and it will blow your mind how much less money you will have at retirement if you delay saving for 5, 10 or 20 years. My best advice os to put as much as you can away as young as you can.<p>The other key thing is to talk to a professional that will sit down ans talk with you. If he isn't asking your goals in 5, 10, 20 years, you don't want to be talking with him. Try to find someone that will look at your unique situation, and devise a plan to suite your needs. Don't just talk to your rich uncle that has made a bundle in the market, his needs are different than yours.<br>

[Lazer]

Maximize your own productivity. Save the rest.<p>i.e. Don't mow with a 21&quot; or 36&quot; mower because you wanted to save money for retirement. I agree with saving early: I opened my IRA when I was 22 and have maxed it every year.<p>But you've gotta make money in order to save it.<p>Where you cross the line is when you invest in a 2nd crew instead of your own retirement.<p>Maximize you own productivity, save the rest.

[steveair]

Hey,<br>I'm only 26, and know I wish I had already started saving early. Money in the bank now is very important. Don't wait any longer, because the outcome when you are 50 is unbelievable. <p>I work full time, so have a 401k setup. After this year, I plan on dumping a good portion of my full time job earning into it and try to live off of my parttime landscape work only, only spending what I have too. With the way the market is today, it would be a great shame to miss out. Returns of 50% are in reach, and can add up to huge chunk of change.<p>Some things I like to remember are...<br> <br>The rule of seven, Every seven years at 7 % interest your mony doubles. Think about this and about how much longer you want to wait in planning your future.<p>Second, As some people here have mentioned, if you want to retire comfortabley when your 55, then plan on needing around 1 million +_ to do so. With the life expectancy being as long as it is, I would plan for even more. I already am on track to be a millionaire when I'm 52, and plan on having a nice retirement. <p><p>

[Toroguy]

My retirement goals are in FL. I would like to retire as a PT grounds keeper at Busch Gardens. To get there comfortably an IRA should be a safe investment vehicle. I invest online through Ameritrade. Its easier than falling in love. Like the previous posts advise, start early, always pay your investment. Planning your retirement and watching it grow is as rewarding as a well cut lawn

[paul]

I agree with the above post and do invest for retirement but always think that, do I really want to leave this work. Most of the people I know don't. They can at any time but each day we grow learning new things. Working past sixty five, keeping my brain running full steam, and being active in the industry, maybe doing more work outside the company at a industry level. More like a figure head for my company, letting other run the day to day, but being there to still enjoy what we do. I have alot of free time now during the winter months, even with snow plowing. This year spent 4 weeks hunting, and a vacation with family for 2. Don't really want to slow down and move away from it. Having too much fun!<p>----------<br>paul<br>

[MRPLOW]

Don't forget that self employeed people can start up a SEP account, which lets you deposit more than a regular IRA or Roth Ira.

[yardsmith]

Actually I remember it as the &quot;rule of 72&quot;. Financial wizards long ago fig. out a formula to estimate the growth of compounding interest %. <br>Take the % of return & divide it by 72 & your answer will be how many yrs. (at that rate) before your initial investment doubles.<p>For ex. if you invest $1000 into a mutual fund (or whatever) AT 12% return, your money will double itself in 6 years (72 div. by 12% = 6yrs.) So you can see the benefit for getting as high a % as you can! 7%= 10.28 yrs., 15%= 4.13 yrs. That's the magic of compounding interest.<p>Many other good points here too; just remember not to put all your eggs in one basket. :)<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[zimm4]

The experts say we all need 80% of our pre- retirement income. I agree. If you make 50000 a year. You will need 40000 in investment income. This means that you will have about 400000 in a fund. This is a easy figure to reach.<p>Kyle

[dylan]

I was told a story once about starting early.<br>Two brothers age 20. One starts investing money in his mutual fund right away. He puts in $2000 a yr for 6 yrs. He never puts any more in. The second brother starts investing in 6 yrs and puts in $2000 for 39 yrs. At age 65 they meet for supper. The second brother mentions that he has made 1.5 million by investing for many yrs. The first brother replies, I have a 1.5 million too and I only invested for 6 yrs.<br>The power of time and compound interest can make you a lot of money.<br>

[MOW ED]

Very good advise from everyone. Everyones personal situation is different but if you have family (wife, husband or kids) remember to invest something in adequate Life Insurance to bridge the gap until you make it to retirement. God forbid you die before the you cash that first check from Charles Schwab. I'm not being a pessimist but I am talking from experience. This is why a professional financial planner can help, they look at your total situation and cover all the bases. Good luck, ed