I like to follow various blogs and discussions related to the FIRE movement. For those that don’t know what FIRE is, it is the Financial Independence Retire Early mantra. There are many websites that will go into the details of how it works. I really wished that I had discovered this or had the wherewithal to come across those ideas when I was a lot younger. Now I’m in my 50’s and retiring early is not an option. I do hope though that by following some of what is recommended by these groups and implementing mine, I can make up for lost time and retire with enough to not worry about money.
The vast majority of my retirement funds are in either an S&P 500 index fund or a total stock market fund. I do have about 30% in a technology sector fund, I just can’t get my self to part with it. It does have a higher fee, but it has averaged over 20% returns since I’ve owned it. Now I know most of that is due to the bull run from the markets recovery since the 2008 crash, but I’m a tech guy and I like it.
I’ve made lots of mistakes when it comes to retirement money. I’ve worked at a multitude of jobs, easily over 25 where I never vested at any of them. This has resulted in lots of lost matching contributions. My current job, fortunately has a pension, although I’ve only been there 3 years. However due to my age, I would need to stay till I’m in my upper 60’s to be able to live off of it alone. Which is why I pour money into retirement accounts.
Due to my age I can contribute catchup contributions for both my IRA and 457K, but I don’t see how people are able to do that. I still manage to dump 19% of my salary into the 457, which isn’t maxed out. My IRA, I’m hoping that I can start contributing more too.
I know that’s a lot of rambling, but I will update more later.