How many of you invest?

[longliveCS40]

Or beanie babies. That would work as well.

Catching your sarcasm here...

While I agree, it's a high risk basically gamble, this is completely different than beanie babies because:

1. Cryptocurrency has made many millionaires in the last 3 years.

2. It's a technology that you're gambling on being adopted.

Beanie babies might quadruple your money 50 years from now. Crypto might return 500 times your money in 2 years.

Worth the gamble with a grand to me.

 

[Pepperman]

Catching your sarcasm here...

While I agree, it's a high risk basically gamble, this is completely different than beanie babies because:

1. Cryptocurrency has made many millionaires in the last 3 years.

2. It's a technology that you're gambling on being adopted.

Beanie babies might quadruple your money 50 years from now. Crypto might return 500 times your money in 2 years.

Worth the gamble with a grand to me.

Why not just buy gold? It is physically limited in supply more or less, and is pretty easy to convert into most major currencies. Requires no passwords and can’t be hacked.

 

[Foxclone]

I agree wholeheartedly about lifelong investing. That's something many overlook, to their detriment. Well said.

I think we may have a difference of opinion regarding long term care insurance.

About 25% of people over 65 will need some form of long term care. Most good plans cover far more than nursing home care, these also cover assisted living and in-home care. It's a very complicated area and requires a lot of time to figure out what works best for your situation.

Another benefit of quality LTC insurance in some states is that it may allow you to retain more in assets should you need government assistance to stay in a nursing home. This is especially important if one spouse needs care while the other is trying to live independently. Like I said earlier, it's a complicated area, but one that a person should consider when developing their personal financial plan.

I invest, have a IRA's a 401k, life insurance, annuities and long term care. I am in a moderate investment profile and I have no debt. I watched and had to both my parents going into nursing homes. They had some LTC but with my father 3 years and mother 5 years it still helped protect assets. I have been in the business for 18 years and have helped process 100's of death claims. I believe in protection to help balance the risk in investing.

 

[longliveCS40]

Why not just buy gold? It is physically limited in supply more or less, and is pretty easy to convert into most major currencies. Requires no passwords and can’t be hacked.

Because gold has a limited growth potential. If you pick the right crypto, (like if you'd picked bitcoin 5 years ago), you make literally millions.

I probably shouldn't even mention it in this thread because I don't consider crypto and investment. It's a gamble but it's an educated gamble.

If you had put $1000 into bitcoin 3 years ago, you'd have $75000 now. If you got into it in 2011, you'd have millions now.

 

[theiacowtipper]

According to this story it's only about 84% funded and has $5.6 billion of unfunded liability.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...unfunded-liability-nears-56-billion/94735470/

And it’s still financially stable. According to that article.

 

[Pepperman]

Because gold has a limited growth potential. If you pick the right crypto, (like if you'd picked bitcoin 5 years ago), you make literally millions.

I probably shouldn't even mention it in this thread because I don't consider crypto and investment. It's a gamble but it's an educated gamble.

If you had put $1000 into bitcoin 3 years ago, you'd have $75000 now. If you got into it in 2011, you'd have millions now.

You’re telling me what has already happened. I’m asking what the investment case is going forward, and I’m curious why gold isn’t a better fit for what I think that case consists of?

You know how much you could’ve made buying tulips 400 years ago?

 

[bojihawk44]

Please god let IPERS still be similar to what it is today when I go to retire in 30 years. One of the few benefits of being a teacher.

 

[longliveCS40]

You’re telling me what has already happened. I’m asking what the investment case is going forward, and I’m curious why gold isn’t a better fit for what I think that case consists of?

You know how much you could’ve made buying tulips 400 years ago?

I'm telling you that a 400 year growth on tulips or even a 50 year growth on gold isn't usable unless your goal is to grow wealth for your beneficiaries.

Crypto has much higher growth potential in a much shorter time span.

 

[dandh]

And it’s still financially stable. According to that article.

Yeah, it's stable for now. So it will probably be OK. But a big problem in the equity markets could create a situation that would negatively impact benefits. People with public sector pensions have a great benefit, but the smart ones will also find two or three other income streams to ensure a comfortable retirement (imho).

 

[dandh]

I wonder what the actuarial assumptions are for ipers or if that’s easily found? My guess is they’re assuming at least 7.5% return per annum?

I read somewhere (maybe the article I linked?) that IPERS historical rate of return is 6.6%, so it would be foolish if they assumed anything higher than that. They should have that info available to their members, and it sounds like the type of thing that would be public data.

 

[theiacowtipper]

Yeah, it's stable for now. So it will probably be OK. But a big problem in the equity markets could create a situation that would negatively impact benefits. People with public sector pensions have a great benefit, but the smart ones will also find two or three other income streams to ensure a comfortable retirement (imho).

.

I contribute 6% of my gross to IPERS. My employer 9%. I contribute another 10% to a 401k through my 2nd job. No match. I can’t afford to retire if IPERS isn’t there. That money is owed to me, even if the state has to take out bonding to pay for it. I’m no different than any other entity owed money by the state.

Reference your bolder, the same could be said about a 401k

 

[dandh]

.

I contribute 6% of my gross to IPERS. My employer 9%. I contribute another 10% to a 401k through my 2nd job. No match. I can’t afford to retire if IPERS isn’t there. That money is owed to me, even if the state has to take out bonding to pay for it. I’m no different than any other entity owed money by the state.

Reference your bolder, the same could be said about a 401k

Glad to hear you have a 401k, also. I understand why you feel the way you do about IPERS, but that doesn't absolutely guarantee it. It's not the state that owes you money, it's the pension plan's obligation. If you're doing 10% of your total income in the 401K that should be sufficient. If it's 10% of a part-time salary then you might want to try to increase it a little. One good strategy is to put pay increases directly into savings. That allowed us increase our savings level to over 25% of our income after several years.

 

[luvmyhawks]

.

I contribute 6% of my gross to IPERS. My employer 9%. I contribute another 10% to a 401k through my 2nd job. No match. I can’t afford to retire if IPERS isn’t there. That money is owed to me, even if the state has to take out bonding to pay for it. I’m no different than any other entity owed money by the state.

Reference your bolder, the same could be said about a 401k

A 401k isn’t a defined benefit pension plan. You are comparing apples to oranges.

Again. Ipers appears to be in decent shape, so I wouldn’t be terribly concerned if I were you. There are several others out there that are hot messes. Thos3 are the ones I was referring to.

 

[Pepperman]

.

I contribute 6% of my gross to IPERS. My employer 9%. I contribute another 10% to a 401k through my 2nd job. No match. I can’t afford to retire if IPERS isn’t there. That money is owed to me, even if the state has to take out bonding to pay for it. I’m no different than any other entity owed money by the state.

Reference your bolder, the same could be said about a 401k

Call me crazy, but the money that’s actually there is what you and every other IPERS beneficiary should be getting. Note that’s not at all the same thing as what you’ve been “promised”. Defined benefit plans shouldn’t even be legal.

Edit - actually let them be legal with no higher return assumptions than the current 10-year treasury note yield.

 

[theiacowtipper]

Call me crazy, but the money that’s actually there is what you and every other IPERS beneficiary should be getting. Note that’s not at all the same thing as what you’ve been “promised”. Defined benefit plans shouldn’t even be legal.

Edit - actually let them be legal with no higher return assumptions than the current 10-year treasury note yield.

IPERS has a annualized rate of return of 6.6%. I shouldn’t get that either? Again, I didn’t choose to join IPERS. I have no choice. I’ve worked 27 years as a public employees. I’ve crawled through muddy, dirty, snow packed ditches at 2 o’clock in the morning. In return, I’ve received a paycheck that was fairly comparable to private employers in my field. It’s important to remember that I’ve payed a significant amount of money, matched by my employer.

Part of the deal was that I would receive a decent pension as part of the end game. Your opinion about the legality of defined benefit plans is irrelevant. They are legal. At least in Iowa, there is no financial distress that would lead to a termination of the plan without paying benefits.

 

[Pepperman]

IPERS has a annualized rate of return of 6.6%. I shouldn’t get that either? Again, I didn’t choose to join IPERS. I have no choice. I’ve worked 27 years as a public employees. I’ve crawled through muddy, dirty, snow packed ditches at 2 o’clock in the morning. In return, I’ve received a paycheck that was fairly comparable to private employers in my field. It’s important to remember that I’ve payed a significant amount of money, matched by my employer.

Part of the deal was that I would receive a decent pension as part of the end game. Your opinion about the legality of defined benefit plans is irrelevant. They are legal. At least in Iowa, there is no financial distress that would lead to a termination of the plan without paying benefits.

I don’t begrudge you or claim you haven’t worked. I’m saying you might have to get whatever 6.6% returns can pay you and NOT the 7.5% or whatever they thought they might earn would pay you.

Now for the scary part - if the markets really crumble and the returns simply aren’t there, guess how we as a society are going to solve this problem?

 

[stout1]

Now for the scary part - if the markets really crumble and the returns simply aren’t there, guess how we as a society are going to solve this problem?

Huge tax cuts for the rich. Duh.

 

[theiacowtipper]

I don’t begrudge you or claim you haven’t worked. I’m saying you might have to get whatever 6.6% returns can pay you and NOT the 7.5% or whatever they thought they might earn would pay you.

Now for the scary part - if the markets really crumble and the returns simply aren’t there, guess how we as a society are going to solve this problem?

They will take every dime I have contributed, to use for tax cuts for the rich

 

[Pepperman]

They will take every dime I have contributed, to use for tax cuts for the rich

And I don’t think the left will ever come for my 401(k) correct?

You should save for your retirement in other ways. Maybe one excellent way would be to demand your social security AND defined benefit pension plan were directed to an account you controlled. That account would be completely yours. Curious how you’d feel about that?

 

[archmage2002]

My wife and I have $50,000 saved. Our house will be paid off in 3 years, when I am 45. We have no kids. I want to invest but know nothing about it. We need to get a financial planner. Where do you recommend where to start?

It depends on several factors. How much risk are you willing to accept, how hands on do you want to be and how much are you willing to pay. The sad fact is most financial services will not accept anything under 100k for investing because any profit under that will have be eaten up by their management fee's so its pointless.

The high fee has given rise to the simple, low-cost RoboAdvisors. They are computer controlled investing vehicles and have much smaller fee's do to reducing the human element, you just choose how much risk you are willing to take in investing and it will automatically invest for you. Some of the robo advisors are are really good and they will even offer traditional human financial servies. Charles Swab has a really good robo with human advisors backing it, Personal Capital is another really good robo with human advisors. For pure robo's Betterment, Wealthfront and Hedgeable are the way to go.

If you are really crazy and don't care about the risk you can always go crypto. You will have a chance of multiplying your investment by 1000 or losing it all.

 

[Urohawk]

Why not just buy gold? It is physically limited in supply more or less, and is pretty easy to convert into most major currencies. Requires no passwords and can’t be hacked.

I have never understood the worlds love for gold as a form of value. Seems steeped in tradition of a love for a shiny metal. It has some industrial uses especially in the computer industry but beyond that it is pretty worthless. Sort of comes down to the same idiocy of why a gallon of gas is so cheap compared to a gallon of milk. You can do a ton of stuff with gas. Milk not so much.

I guess another way to phrase it, is if the apocalypse hits who gives a sheet about gold.