Are you rich?

[+ Coolwave35]

Only very close friends know what I or my family have.

Whenever anyone asks this question in general conversation, I always laugh, smile, deflect and change the subject.

Why?

[BtmBearDad]

Why?

 

I can’t speak for @cany10011, but I do the same, and the reason why is growing up it was taught that speaking about money, (yours or others), was just impolite. It’s a form of bragging, and no one likes a braggadocio.

[kingsley88]

Are you into the FIRE community?

I guess so though I don’t have plans to retire early hence why I say FI instead of FIRE. I like my current job as it’s not that stressful yet pays the bills and am able to save/invest and partake into hobbies such as this. I believe the term for me is fatfire?

[MikeBiDude]

Why?

If you have to ask...

[kingsley88]

When it comes to money I have been extremely lucky. I taught high school here in California for 37+ years and was really never very interested in learning about investing my income. During those teaching year I tried, every summer vacation, to visit different interesting places all over the world. I bought my condo forty years ago and don't have a house paying which is a huge savings. I just bought a new car after keeping my last one for nineteen years. If I do the same with the new one I'll buy my next car at age 99 - not likely. When I retired from teaching the pension system was over the top outstanding.

I wish I had a pension! both my parents retired with a pension and they never got into the stock market and are doing well too!

I think nowadays the average company doesn’t offer pensions and one has to save for retirement through 401k/IRA/Roth/rental properties, etc.

[+ Coolwave35]

If you have to ask...

 

Maybe it’s generational... why would talking about money and wealth be a taboo or off limits conversation?

[+ Coolwave35]

I guess so though I don’t have plans to retire early hence why I say FI instead of FIRE. I like my current job as it’s not that stressful yet pays the bills and am able to save/invest and partake into hobbies such as this. I believe the term for me is fatfire?

I don’t have an interest in the retire early part either, but it’s kind of a fascinating concept. I have several friends working hard towards it and we discuss progress and bench marks. It’s opened my eyes a lot about money.

[marylander1940]

You can be property rich and cash poor... What do you prefer?

[+ WilliamM]

I grew up in a relatively small Massachusetts town where the richest family by far were immigrants from Lithuania. From one limo to one hundred limo's. His wife owned several mink coats. They own acres of woods which we all explored in all four seasons.

 

They owed cows, chickens and pigs - great fun

[+ tassojunior]

I'm in that common boat where all my real estate agent friends are shocked I don't want to sell at the height of the market and cash out my home. # of years life expectancy vs. cash-out value (my brain) says one thing, my heart says "stay". This time of year when I pay Income Tax, DC Property Tax, Homeowners' Insurance, and DC car insurance for the year, I sure don't feel the equity/pension rich they say I am.

Edited April 24, 2021 by tassojunior

[cany10011]

Why?

It’s deemed bragadocious. I think everyone in America is OK with talking about money this money that. But, as a Canadian we weren‘t brought up to talk or display wealth. All these people on instagram showing off their lavish lifesytle is just perplexing to me.

Edited April 24, 2021 by cany10011

[+ WilliamM]

I'm in that common boat where all my real estate agent friends are shocked I don't want to sell at the height of the market and cash out my home. # of years life expectancy vs. cash-out value (my brain) says one thing, my heart says "stay". This time of year when I pay Income Tax, DC Property Tax, and DC car insurance for the year, I sure don't feel the equity/pension rich they say I am.

You are very, very lucky to have a pension!!!

[marylander1940]

I'm in that common boat where all my real estate agent friends are shocked I don't want to sell at the height of the market and cash out my home. # of years life expectancy vs. cash-out value (my brain) says one thing, my heart says "stay". This time of year when I pay Income Tax, DC Property Tax, and DC car insurance for the year, I sure don't feel the equity/pension rich they say I am.

 

you (and most of us) have an expensive hobby!

[+ Charlie]

I wish I had a pension! both my parents retired with a pension and they never got into the stock market and are doing well too!

I think nowadays the average company doesn’t offer pensions and one has to save for retirement through 401k/IRA/Roth/rental properties, etc.

My mother retired with a pension of $36/mo. It never changed during during the 37 years she survived after retirement.

[+ tassojunior]

It’s deemed bragadocious. I think everyone in America is OK with talking about money this money that. But, as a Canadian we weren‘t brought up to talk or display wealth. All these people on instagram showing off their lavish lifesytle is just perplexing to me.

 

I'll remember that next time I'm grocery shopping with college kids in $1500 Canadian Goose jackets.

[MikeBiDude]

my heart says "stay".

Listen to this...

[sincitymix]

You are very, very lucky to have a pension!!!

Most corporations that gave pensions did not realize the employees were living so long, and were going broke paying them. They shifted to buying out pensions for lump sums, and not giving pensions to any new employees.

The flip side is most pensions did not keep up with inflations and cost of living. Its not unheard of for many retirees to have pensions of only a few hundred dollars a month which allowed them to survive in the early 1950,1960 etc.. but not now in 2021.

[+ WilliamM]

Without knowing Mr. Tassojunior's employer, let us hope he is receiving a huge amount of money each month.

[+ sniper]

"Big front seat" is only $40 extra on Spirit. (it's a United domestic biz seat).

Unite

Most corporations that gave pensions did not realize the employees were living so long, and were going broke paying them. They shifted to buying out pensions for lump sums, and not giving pensions to any new employees.

The flip side is most pensions did not keep up with inflations and cost of living. Its not unheard of for many retirees to have pensions of only a few hundred dollars a month which allowed them to survive in the early 1950,1960 etc.. but not now in 2021.

If they invested properly it wasn't really a problem. Most companies canceled pensions not because they were so incredibly expensive, but because there was a pile of money sitting there they could grab when they terminated the plan. Because benefits are frozen at the time the plan is terminated, and won't need to pay out until the workers retire,which means there was surplus to grab. (Benefits are based on your final X years of salary in the plan. So when they are setting aside for you, they project out to your retirement age and work toward a number that is heavily backloaded. So by ending the plan 20 years before you retire, not only is the number of years lower, the base salary that gets multiplied is lower, so there's excess they can skim. It massively screws over the employees, because they generally aren't making enough to set aside enough to cover the difference in benefits.You'r halfway through your career and half your time to save is gone, but your accrued benefit is FAR less than half of what it would be had the plan not terminated.)

[sincitymix]

Unite

 

If they invested properly it wasn't really a problem. Most companies canceled pensions not because they were so incredibly expensive, but because there was a pile of money sitting there they could grab when they terminated the plan. Because benefits are frozen at the time the plan is terminated, and won't need to pay out until the workers retire,which means there was surplus to grab. (Benefits are based on your final X years of salary in the plan. So when they are setting aside for you, they project out to your retirement age and work toward a number that is heavily backloaded. So by ending the plan 20 years before you retire, not only is the number of years lower, the base salary that gets multiplied is lower, so there's excess they can skim. It massively screws over the employees, because they generally aren't making enough to set aside enough to cover the difference in benefits.You'r halfway through your career and half your time to save is gone, but your accrued benefit is FAR less than half of what it would be had the plan not terminated.)

 

I had the pleasure of talking with many retirees from IBM and helping them with their Medical and RX insurance. IBM did admit to them that the pension plans they were paying was a huge cost burden to them. They offered the retirees a buyout of the pension. The retirees were living way longer then expected. They were expected to drop dead maybe10 or 20 years after retiring (using the words of one retired executive I chatted with) and certainly not living into their 90's and above.

They also had to start charging them for insurance.. even though the retirees claimed IBM promised them free healthcare for life when they retired. (What ever was verbally promised was not in the written documents, so IBM was able to say they never promised free healthcare).

 

They did end the pension plans for those who had not yet reached retirement age and instead gave them a pat on the head and a lump sum. Those that were hired after a certain time were given a 401k. so I'm sure yes there was a huge cash pot they were able to grab, and I'm sure Union negotiated retiree benefits was costing them a fortune too.

[+ WilliamM]

I had the pleasure of talking with many retirees from IBM and helping them with their Medical and RX insurance. IBM did admit to them that the pension plans they were paying was a huge cost burden to them. They offered the retirees a buyout of the pension. The retirees were living way longer then expected. They were expected to drop dead maybe10 or 20 years after retiring (using the words of one retired executive I chatted with) and certainly not living into their 90's and above.

They also had to start charging them for insurance.. even though the retirees claimed IBM promised them free healthcare for life when they retired. (What ever was verbally promised was not in the written documents, so IBM was able to say they never promised free healthcare).

 

They did end the pension plans for those who had not yet reached retirement age and instead gave them a pat on the head and a lump sum. Those that were hired after a certain time were given a 401k. so I'm sure yes there was a huge cash pot they were able to grab, and I'm sure Union negotiated retiree benefits was costing them a fortune too.

I am sure the IBM employees were shocked when they tried to cash that "Pat on the back."

[fedssocr1]

I've done well by living below my means for many, many years. Working for the federal government has been great for me. I'm paid well, have a good work-life balance, and between my federal pension, retirement account (TSP which is basically the government's 401(k) program) and lots of saving over the years I should be in good shape to retire early in a few years with more than enough money for the rest of my life. Having a financial planner has been very helpful as well.

 

Also, not everyone here hires pricey escorts several times a year as the premise of this thread indicates. Frankly I can't even remember the last time I hired an escort. I have enjoyed many trips to Asia over the last 15 years or so with lots of visits to massage places and gogo bars.

[+ keroscenefire]

When it comes to money I have been extremely lucky. I taught high school here in California for 37+ years and was really never very interested in learning about investing my income. During those teaching year I tried, every summer vacation, to visit different interesting places all over the world. I bought my condo forty years ago and don't have a house payment which is a huge savings. I just bought a new car after keeping my last one for nineteen years. If I do the same with the new one I'll buy my next car at age 99 - not likely. When I retired from teaching the pension system was over the top outstanding. My major expenditures are traveling (curtailed over the last year but I have still managed to do some) and entertaining. I love to cook and I spend a fortune on food cooking for friends and family. Fortunately I still have enough discretionary income to hire escorts on a somewhat regular basis. Damn I've had a good life.

At 80 I'm trying to get things in order for my eventual demise. My parents, years ago, bought a cemetery plot, next to theirs, for me. I recently had my headstone put in place. It has all the standard information engraved on it except for my death date of course. At the bottom I had engraved the title of a famous Frank Sinatra song "I Did It My Way". Hopefully that's true of the way I have tried to lived my life. I was tempted to have the title of a very famous Mexican ranchera song engraved "La Vida No Vale Nada" (Life is Worthless) but decided that as much as I like the song it was too negative.

 

Thanks for your post. You have a lot of wisdom and actually I think I am probably in a similar position that you were in during your working years. So it helps to kinda see what my future holds. I am definitely lucky and grateful to have a pension as well. Though one thing people often don't realize with jobs with a pension is that we are not paying social security but instead are paying into a pension at a significantly higher rate than one pays into social security. So we actually have lower take-home pay than someone making the same amount of money in a non-pension job. The benefit is that we make more money in retirement than we would get from social security, but we make less per paycheck for the entire time we have that job with a pension.

[+ WilliamM]

Thanks for your post. You have a lot of wisdom and actually I think I am probably in a similar position that you were in during your working years. So it helps to kinda see what my future holds. I am definitely lucky and grateful to have a pension as well. Though one thing people often don't realize with jobs with a pension is that we are not paying social security but instead are paying into a pension at a significantly higher rate than one pays into social security. So we actually have lower take-home pay than someone making the same amount of money in a non-pension job. The benefit is that we make more money in retirement than we would get from social security, but we make less per paycheck for the entire time we have that job with a pension.

Why do you believe those with pension Don't also pay into social security? And receive payment from both upon retiring?

[+ keroscenefire]

Why do you believe those with pension Don't also pay into social security? And receive payment from both upon retiring?

 

It actually depends on the circumstances of the individual. Actually I may end up getting both SS and my pension because I started working at age 15 as a lifeguard and had regular social security jobs for basically the next 15 years. But ever since I started working in education, I have only been paying into the pension and not into social security. I am already vested in my pension so I am guaranteed some benefits.

 

There are some rules with taking social security benefits if you have a pension that may reduce or even eliminate social security benefits upon retirement. I am not super familiar with the exact rules. But I have gathered that like someone who started teaching right out of college at age say 22 and spent 40 years teaching and contributing to the pension would receive the pension benefits but not much or any social security even if they say worked through college at like McDonalds and contributed to social security for five years.

 

But someone in my situation who worked regular jobs for 15 years, spent 15 years teaching and then 15 years working a regular job again (assuming this is what I do) would receive both the pension and social security upon retirement.

 

Regardless, for the time one works in a pension-earning job, they are not paying into social security and instead are paying more per paycheck into a pension. So their take-home pay would be less during that time than someone working a more typical job that pays into social security. I believe this is how it generally works with employees with pensions, although I am not necessarily an expert on this. Certainly that is how it works with my job. There literally is no social security line on my paystub, just the money for my pension.