Old self is greedy and wants young self to reduce the fun of their prime years by locking away money so they can sit on a big ol’ retirement fund in their older years. Of course, that’s assuming that past performance guarantees future results and that the conditions of the 401k will remain the same. What’s to say politicians don’t start applying extra taxes on 401k withdrawals? What’s to say they won’t increase the retirement age?
A lot of people can’t spare 10-15% of their income and I’m not so sure the advice is not just a ploy by 401k fund managers to squeeze out extra fees. Maybe it’s just a silly little comic and I’m taking it too seriously.
Well. I assume this guy is actually from the future. So in theory wouldn’t he know that in the future 401k’s have not been taxed into irrelevance? I feel like if he’s coming from the future with this advice it’s because he feels it’s still good advice in his future.
And then one day you wake up and you are that “old” person. Then you realize you’re screwed: the health problems that aren’t a big deal if they’re treated are debilitating because you can’t afford treatment. Those issues you assumed are going to kill you don’t, and instead you linger for decades with a garbage quality of life.
The worst part is you aren’t even that old: mentally you’re still pretty much the same person you were in your 30s, just trapped in a body that’s slowly falling apart and needs constant maintenance.
Yes, you need to strike a balance – but not doing what you can to financially plan for old age is fucking stupid.
and then those health problems turn out to be so expensive that the cost far exceeds what you can afford through your 401k anyway. I’m not saying no planning should be done, I’m saying that your planning should lean more favorably toward the present than the far future. For many, 10-15% of income is so much of a sacrifice that I’m willing to bet the payoff wouldn’t be worth it in most cases.
…I’m not so sure the advice is not just a ploy by 401k fund managers to squeeze out extra fees.
Invest in an index fund and the fees are almost non-existant. Invest in several index funds (Large / mid / small cap & emerging markets) so that you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.
I don’t bother with a 401k because I don’t believe I’ll be able to benefit from it.
As in, I will either be dead long before I can touch it without penalty, or society will be so unrecognizable that it won’t make a difference either because of extreme inflation or societal collapse/restructure due to exterior factors such as climate change.
If this ends up biting me in the ass, rest assured I’ll go back and tell all the commentors who say you’ll be sorry and give them their brief dopamine hit from being right. Until then, I guess we’ll see.
You can withdraw from 401ks early if you use e.g. a Roth Ladder. If nothing else, withdrawing with a penalty is still a viable option if you’ve been investing properly and have an excess of money.
As for betting against the earth, if you’re that blackpilled you can make flexible investments by putting money into a Roth IRA, whose principal (not growth) can be withdrawn at any time without penalty. You can’t put the money back into the Roth IRA later, however. If your company offers a 401k match you should always always always invest the minimum amount to get the full match, idc how depressed you are.
Old self is greedy and wants young self to reduce the fun of their prime years by locking away money so they can sit on a big ol’ retirement fund in their older years. Of course, that’s assuming that past performance guarantees future results and that the conditions of the 401k will remain the same. What’s to say politicians don’t start applying extra taxes on 401k withdrawals? What’s to say they won’t increase the retirement age?
A lot of people can’t spare 10-15% of their income and I’m not so sure the advice is not just a ploy by 401k fund managers to squeeze out extra fees. Maybe it’s just a silly little comic and I’m taking it too seriously.
Young Johnny should ask old Johnny why they don’t simply buy a sports almanac
Because Marty will just steal it. Duh.
Well. I assume this guy is actually from the future. So in theory wouldn’t he know that in the future 401k’s have not been taxed into irrelevance? I feel like if he’s coming from the future with this advice it’s because he feels it’s still good advice in his future.
And then one day you wake up and you are that “old” person. Then you realize you’re screwed: the health problems that aren’t a big deal if they’re treated are debilitating because you can’t afford treatment. Those issues you assumed are going to kill you don’t, and instead you linger for decades with a garbage quality of life.
The worst part is you aren’t even that old: mentally you’re still pretty much the same person you were in your 30s, just trapped in a body that’s slowly falling apart and needs constant maintenance.
Yes, you need to strike a balance – but not doing what you can to financially plan for old age is fucking stupid.
and then those health problems turn out to be so expensive that the cost far exceeds what you can afford through your 401k anyway. I’m not saying no planning should be done, I’m saying that your planning should lean more favorably toward the present than the far future. For many, 10-15% of income is so much of a sacrifice that I’m willing to bet the payoff wouldn’t be worth it in most cases.
Invest in an index fund and the fees are almost non-existant. Invest in several index funds (Large / mid / small cap & emerging markets) so that you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.
I’ll be honest.
I don’t bother with a 401k because I don’t believe I’ll be able to benefit from it.
As in, I will either be dead long before I can touch it without penalty, or society will be so unrecognizable that it won’t make a difference either because of extreme inflation or societal collapse/restructure due to exterior factors such as climate change.
If this ends up biting me in the ass, rest assured I’ll go back and tell all the commentors who say you’ll be sorry and give them their brief dopamine hit from being right. Until then, I guess we’ll see.
You can withdraw from 401ks early if you use e.g. a Roth Ladder. If nothing else, withdrawing with a penalty is still a viable option if you’ve been investing properly and have an excess of money.
As for betting against the earth, if you’re that blackpilled you can make flexible investments by putting money into a Roth IRA, whose principal (not growth) can be withdrawn at any time without penalty. You can’t put the money back into the Roth IRA later, however. If your company offers a 401k match you should always always always invest the minimum amount to get the full match, idc how depressed you are.