If anyone wants to do some retirement planning, there is a fantastic app you can use that lets you model pretty much anything. It's fairly new, but I can see an increasing number of financial planners using it (so being able to plug your own numbers in is a head start). It's also why tracking your net-worth is important.
Posts by Simon
-
48Retirement Planning for ex-JW's
by Simon inthis is something i think about a lot, possibly because i'm just getting older.
it seems that not only should i finally one day decide what i want to do with my life, but i should also be planning for retirement.. hands up everyone who feels their future has been royally screwed by the wts experience?.
if you were a good jw and followed the wts advice you could well be finding yourself facing middle or even old age without much or anything put aside in retirement savings.
-
-
-
48
Retirement Planning for ex-JW's
by Simon inthis is something i think about a lot, possibly because i'm just getting older.
it seems that not only should i finally one day decide what i want to do with my life, but i should also be planning for retirement.. hands up everyone who feels their future has been royally screwed by the wts experience?.
if you were a good jw and followed the wts advice you could well be finding yourself facing middle or even old age without much or anything put aside in retirement savings.
-
-
Simon
Wow, things change fast in less than 10 years. Peer-to-peer lending was quite good for us for a good while, but it was clear some of the companies were in trouble when the economy took a downturn around Covid so I got out of them before things went bad and defaults ticked up.
We've done quite well with our investments and built up quite a decent nest-egg for retirement. So you can start late, and you can catch up and can get ahead if you put your mind to it and are disciplined. Most people don't, even without the "excuse" that they were brought up believing that growing old wasn't going to be a thing.
Of all the things there are to learn about investing I think the most valuable to me has been that prices are often a measure of psychological views of a stock as much as the real finances of the company. When things look good, prices can go up with the euphoria and amplified out of all proportion (why there is so much "hype"), and when things look bad everyone wants to sell. Knowing this, the Rothschilds quote that "the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets (even if it's your own)" makes sense, repeated by Warren Buffet as "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful". It doesn't mean you should buy underperforming stocks just because they are cheap but when markets take a tumble because of some world event or uncertainty, it's almost always a severe overreaction and there are bargains to be had. An example of this was Covid, when you could get some high quality stocks at bargain prices, especially Oil & Gas. It's not easy, your instinct will be screaming not to, but it's the best time to buy.
The other thing is to let your winners ride - don't sell stocks because they are hitting their all time highs, they can always go higher. There are lots of stories of people selling stocks like Apple and Microsoft decades ago because they thought they had grown so much, but they kept going up and up and up. Some stocks are worth keeping hold of for the long-term (and investing should be long-term, most people lose money when they over-trade). But of course if the fundamental business of a company is being eroded, then it's time to reconsider and take profits. But likewise, if a stock isn't doing anything, or is underwater, consider getting rid of it - it's psychological to want to wait until it recovers so you don't "loose" but you'll always loose even if it does, because other stocks would have gone up more in that same period. Don't be afraid to kill losers and move the money to something better.
Finally, I've changed my views on paying off debt. While in theory it's mathematically better to get 5-7% by investing while paying off 2% debt as slow as possible, the typical scenario is for a mortgage and as we've seen, things change. You can't guarantee that your mortgage renewal won't be +7% due to the clowns in charge of central banks printing phoney money. Paying off debt while it's cheap is always worthwhile IMO because it gives you future options and prevents the chance of renewal shock. We were lucky with timing to get a 1.79% rate and by overpaying we'll have it paid it off when it comes up for renewal next year. Mortgage freedom is priceless, and you'll then have your mortgage + overpayment amount to invest with less worry.
Finally, realize that what you hear on the news about the economy, and what you hear from the government and bankers is pure lies. They are stealing your wealth with their money printing and taxes. If printing money doesn't cause inflation, why do they need taxes at all? Just print it instead ... If you consider that a 3% management fee on mutual funds take 50% of your wealth over a 25 year period, what does inflation being 2-8% for your entire lifetime do to your wealth when it applies to every penny you ever see, for 70+ years? For similar reasons, I don't think the traditional 60 / 40 split of stocks and bonds is a good idea, so I stopped bothering with bonds, which has been a good option (gold and bitcoin are possibly both better options). Oh, and never get investment and retirement advice from anyone who sells investment and retirement products to you, especially if they make commission on them (so steer clear of high-street banks who invariably want to recommend products that hold their own banks stock). Also, look at how much investments actually grow vs the balance just going up because you're contributing regularly. Banks are keen to focus on the increase to keep you paying in, to take their fees. I'm not a professional investor but I've done significantly better than what the "professionals" at the bank managed.
What else? Obviously, spend carefully - especially when it comes to subscriptions. Do you really need all those streaming service and such an expensive phone data plan? Is there anything going out of your account each month that you just forgot about, for services you rarely use? Surprising how they can creep up on you and cost so much over time.
The absolute best thing to do overall is to track your net-worth. Every account, every asset, every debt - keep a track of the balances. You don't need to track every cent of every transaction or budget for every penny you spend, that's too time-consuming and soul destroying, just record the balances on a regular basis whether that's weekly, monthly, or yearly, make it a habit and it does two things:
It (hopefully) shows that you are making progress, because long-time-duration changes are often difficult for us to notice. When you see progress it encourages you to keep to the plan and do more, especially if you really do need to do more to hit your targets.
It gives you early warning if things are going off track. Maybe your investments aren't growing as much as they should, or your credit card debts is trending upwards, whatever it is an early alert will make it an easier problem to solve.
Share any tips you can think of and experiences you've had with investing!
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
To receive the full state pension in the UK you need to have paid thirty years worth of National Insurance contributions (a specific, earnings related tax).
People often go out of their way to cheat on taxes or avoid paying them in someway but forget about the future implications where their lack of record of earnings and contributions can come back to bite them.
Not that anyone should really rely on government promises when it comes to pensions, as most are really complete Ponzi schemes and largely unsustainable. Which of course makes doing your own planning for your own future all the more critical.
I posted about Retirement Planning for ex-JWs
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
does he hope it will carry on until he retires?
He appears to put zero thought and no planning into his immediate future, let alone the long-term. If money comes in, he spends it on toys, trips, hookers, and drugs. Whatever experience makes him happy right now, with no thought to saving or investing - he doesn't pay his own way now, why would he consider doing it in future?
I don't think he has the concept of the increased reward from "delayed gratification" which is something linked to poor impulse control and lack of social competence (sound like someone?). Read this article and all the way through it's describing Lloyd: "As adults, the high delayers were less likely to have drug problems or other addictive behaviors, get divorced, or be overweight". He ticks all the boxes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_gratification
He'll be one of those types that bemoans how poor he is when he's older because he didn't work and plan for that future.
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
Remember when he was so *not* after a relationship, and only interested in sex, that he went out of his way to educate his wife on the correct spelling and pronunciation of the name of the woman he was seeing?
He tells whatever lie he thinks will negate the current thing he's been caught out on. Nothing more.
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
Yeah, "consenting?" ... not really.
"taking advantage of?" absolutely.
Anyone using prostitutes is a rapist because there is always some form of coercion involved somewhere along the line.
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
When you leave a cult and are all sorts of emotional (angry, confused, sad etc) Lloyd seemed like a “great place to repair”.
That's exactly why he hangs around exJWs - the vulnerable people leaving the WTS are easy picking for a predator to take advantage of.
People both want to help but also need help from others, what they don't need is to be fleeced.
No one should feel bad for being trusting and wanting to help "the cause".
Everyone who leaves feels like they want to destroy the WatchTower. It's understandable due to the hurt they cause. But after some number of years out everyone realizes that it's simply unrealistic. What is inexcusable is to know that and be making promises that you'll bring it about, if people donate money to you. He must know it's impossible and isn't going to happen, otherwise he's even dumber than we think, so the only explanation for taking people's money is that it is a grift.
-
5
In Defense of the Crusades
by aqwsed12345 inchristians in the eleventh century were not paranoid fanatics.
muslims really were gunning for them.
by the time the crusades started, muslims had already captured two-thirds of the christian world.
-
-
Simon
I find history, including that of the Crusades, fascinating. Thanks for the post.
-
10
Redding Drama
by Bill Covert inif any one was so inclined to go back to 2013 on the site and locate the posts on the note takers reporting on the 2013 convention [the release of the rnwt and gb demanding obedience] there were two note takers who reported on the main talk "human apostates" that there was a new tactic being used, letter writing to the publishers homes.
the main subject of those letters was a elder joe moore.
on 12-26-2007 i taped court case #149893 to kh doors.
-
-
Simon
You seem like a grade A certifiable loon.
You are no longer welcome on this site.
-
3121
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
Simon
Something to think about:
Patreon is 'great' for hooking up with donors, but they do take a cut. Anyone with half a brain will try to divert people into sending money directly (PayPal, or whatever) so they get more of it, especially if Patreon isn't really being used to provide people with any actual rewards, it's just a begging bowl.
So don't limit Lloyd's potential income to calculations based purely on Patreon numbers. He's likely tapping some people for money directly.