i'm a first time home buyer

[Blip55]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

wow.. 266k? that house would go for 5-600k in FL

[vanbibber]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

Here is the best financial advice you will ever get, and I'll get it to you free. Invest. Invest. Invest. And not in stupid sh*t like Bob's new tomato crushing apparatus. Mutual Funds.

You're Welcome. :)

damnit. i just sent Bob 30k :(

[IwannaCamarosoBad]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

wow.. 266k? that house would go for 5-600k in FL

location location location, depends on where it was here, around here 266 is about right, but up in raleigh prolly 3-400

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

damnit. i just sent Bob 30k :(

:slap: dayum, you really do need a financial advisor :slap:

[WishIHad$$$]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

not as rare as you think. I've done it twice. my brother has. From my understanding, with current house prices, it is rather common.

I was talking about 100% financing being rare, not 80-15-5 or 80-20 loans or whatever combination piggy back loan you want to come up with. Unless you want to tell me you've done it twice, and your brother has done it once, but you've still never heard of it.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I was talking about 100% financing being rare, not 80-15-5 or 80-20 loans or whatever combination piggy back loan you want to come up with. Unless you want to tell me you've done it twice, and your brother has done it once, but you've still never heard of it.

oh OK. I thought you were talking about 80-15-5 loans. that's what I have done. I have not heard of 100% financing. That's risky as hell for the lender. Makes sense now when you said it required outstanding credit.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I think im going to rent a cardboard box for the rest of my life.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

Here is the best financial advice you will ever get, and I'll get it to you free. Invest. Invest. Invest. And not in stupid sh*t like Bob's new tomato crushing apparatus. Mutual Funds.

You're Welcome. :)

I wouldn't mind investing, but not sure how much is a significant amount to do every month to see any gains from it in 20 years.

[camaroman1181]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I wouldn't mind investing, but not sure how much is a significant amount to do every month to see any gains from it in 20 years.

as much as you can afford in all honesty... A common number that I hear is 10% of everything you earn. Put as much as you can in a company 401k until you max out the company match. After that, things like a Roth IRA and online checking accounts will yeild you at least 4.5-5% interest on your money...

[Mogobs30th]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

My retirement from the IBEW is far better than any 401k plan, but I don't want that retirement to be the only thing I have. I would like to have $40k a year to live on after I retire, and my retirement will not have such funds to give me. I think I would average around $20k a year after retirement, so I would like to set something up after I get journeyman wages so that I can make up the other $20k I want.

I have been told repeatedly that 401k is ONLY supplemental retirement funds, and should only be used as such, not as a primary retirement nestegg.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I have been told repeatedly that 401k is ONLY supplemental retirement funds, and should only be used as such, not as a primary retirement nestegg.

I don't believe that to be true. a 401K is an excellent retirement option, and a great amount can be earned through it. Of course, the company matching and investment options are up to the individual company. But overall, it is far more than supplemental.

I wouldn't mind investing, but not sure how much is a significant amount to do every month to see any gains from it in 20 years.

I definitely agree you don't want all of your money in your retirement account. Most of my investments are for my son's college (in addition to a 529). The benefit; however, of a retirement plan is it comes out pre-taxes reducing your gross income.

With that said, this is what I recommend. In a savings account, tuck away a few bucks a paycheck - as much as you can swing. When that reaches a decent amount, say $1,000, then invest it. This is how I've been doing it.

The hardest part is figuring out which investments to put your money into. This depends on your willingness to take risk, length of investment, etc. You can open an e*trade account and use the online tools. You can hire someone (but for the amount of money we are talking about, it may not be worth it), or you can talk to friends. Be careful with stock advice. 100% of stock advice I have ever received (and there's been a lot of it) sucked. Mutual funds, imho, are the way to go. Drip the dividends to help your investment grow.

I bought a cheap book a while back by the Wall Street Journal. It was only like 50 pages, easy read, and it was basically an 'investing for complete tools'. That's really how I started.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I don't believe that to be true. a 401K is an excellent retirement option, and a great amount can be earned through it. Of course, the company matching and investment options are up to the individual company. But overall, it is far more than supplemental.




I definitely agree you don't want all of your money in your retirement account. Most of my investments are for my son's college (in addition to a 529). The benefit; however, of a retirement plan is it comes out pre-taxes reducing your gross income.

With that said, this is what I recommend. In a savings account, tuck away a few bucks a paycheck - as much as you can swing. When that reaches a decent amount, say $1,000, then invest it. This is how I've been doing it.

The hardest part is figuring out which investments to put your money into. This depends on your willingness to take risk, length of investment, etc. You can open an e*trade account and use the online tools. You can hire someone (but for the amount of money we are talking about, it may not be worth it), or you can talk to friends. Be careful with stock advice. 100% of stock advice I have ever received (and there's been a lot of it) sucked. Mutual funds, imho, are the way to go. Drip the dividends to help your investment grow.

I bought a cheap book a while back by the Wall Street Journal. It was only like 50 pages, easy read, and it was basically an 'investing for complete tools'. That's really how I started.

I would like to read this, and this is not the first time I have seen this. This is a direct quote from Alicia Munnell, Director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research...

No one thought this out. The 401(k) plans were originally introduced as supplemental plans. No one ever said, "Oh, let's end these traditional pensions and replace them with 401(k) plans." What happened was these 401(k) plans came in at the same time the stock market took off. People liked them because they liked having their own accounts that they could look at, and they liked being able to control their investments, particularly in an environment where stocks go up every year. And employers liked these plans because they didn't have to worry about the risk and what it might do to their earnings. ...

This is a Q&A with Brooks Hamilton, Benefit Consultant with Brooks Hamilton and Partners...

So in the mid-1990s, you are working ... as a record keeper, looking at a dozen, 15 large companies. What do you see happening over a period of several years with the 401(k) plans?

I was slow to see it. I should have seen it sooner, but my gut told me that forcing novices ... to direct their own investments was not really a good thing to do. I used to ask the CEO, CFO of my major clients, ... often in a conference room [after] some young employee would bring in coffee, and as they would be leaving, I would ask the CEO, "Would you allow that employee to direct the investment of your account in the 401(k) plan?" They always thought I was some kind of idiot: "Of course not. I wouldn't let them touch my account with a 10-foot pole." And I said, "But you force them to manage their own!" And they are running their money into the ground.

... We decided to look at the top 20 percent and the bottom 20 percent [of 401(k) participants, based on annual rate of return]. ... The same story [was] repeated over and over. The top 20 percent [of plan participants] always did anywhere between five and six times the annual investment rate of return of the bottom 20 percent. If the bottom 20 percent, say, had a 4 percent return, ... the top 20 percent might have had a 25, 26 percent return. ...

I label[ed] this yield disparity. I just coined the term. I thought, we have a yield disparity that is a financial cancer in our great, beautiful 401(k) movement. I had never seen it before, but it was everywhere I looked.

What do you mean a financial cancer?

It would destroy the opportunity for ordinary workers to retire in dignity. They couldn't get there from here. There is no way.

These are direct quotes from professionals in the retirement funds industry. Simply put 401k is NOT a sufficient means of saving for retirement on its own. 401k is supplemental, and is the reason why I have not registered at ANY place I have worked at for 401k. 401k is a means for CEO's to cut costs on the payroll, HR, and other places by letting their own employees manage their retirement accounts, and I don't know many people that are smart enough to manage such accounts responsibly. I don't manage mine, it just contribute to it.

I would suggest that anyone wanting to register for 401k should do so as well as invest in other places.

EDIT: I am a little old fashioned when it comes to investments, I would prefer something conservative, but overall something I could make money on. I have considered seperating my money that I would use for investing in three ways, mutual funds, both conservative and risky, real estate, and CD's.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

I would like to read this, and this is not the first time I have seen this. This is a direct quote from Alicia Munnell, Director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research...



This is a Q&A with Brooks Hamilton, Benefit Consultant with Brooks Hamilton and Partners...



These are direct quotes from professionals in the retirement funds industry. Simply put 401k is NOT a sufficient means of saving for retirement on its own. 401k is supplemental, and is the reason why I have not registered at ANY place I have worked at for 401k. 401k is a means for CEO's to cut costs on the payroll, HR, and other places by letting their own employees manage their retirement accounts, and I don't know many people that are smart enough to manage such accounts responsibly. I don't manage mine, it just contribute to it.

I would suggest that anyone wanting to register for 401k should do so as well as invest in other places.

EDIT: I am a little old fashioned when it comes to investments, I would prefer something conservative, but overall something I could make money on. I have considered seperating my money that I would use for investing in three ways, mutual funds, both conservative and risky, real estate, and CD's.

Interesting. I do think 401K that are replacing pension plans have evolved. For example, they have auto investing features for those people that don't want to take the time to figure out their investments. Overall, mine is doing well. Thanks for the interesting point of view though.

I'm traveling now. when I get home, I'll look to see what the real name of the WSJ book is.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

By no means would I say not to invest in 401k, its a good chunk of money to retire with. But I think everyone here would be wise to not keep all their eggs in one basket.

I think this would be a good time to find out exactly what entails my retirement from EIT. I know I have ALOT of annuities, but the A-Card Electricians actually have a defined pension plan.

[Pantera]

Re: i'm a first time home buyer

nice.