It’s been another great month in our retirement investments. My work 401k rate of return is currently at 34%, my Vanguard is currently at 43%, and Christy’s Betterment account is at 44%. But how long will the good times last? Christy recently read a Market Watch opinion piece on the roaring ’20s and it’s similarities…
Author: John
Saving for the future – September
This month in Savings, we had to pay out $3,875 toward our new roof. They allowed $2,500 to be put on a credit card, so we did that and will pay that out of Savings when our bill comes. We are still above $20,000, but not for long. That $6,375 for the roof really hurt….
Cover up your wood! Fire wood, that is.
Years ago, we had to have a large tree taken down. Two actually. Just not at the same time. When we had the first one cut down, I told the tree service to leave the trunk and all the large branches. I was gonna cut me some fire wood. I ran up to my local…
Working Toward Retirement – August
We didn’t have as much of a gain in my work 401k as we did last month, but it’s still a gain. And our rate of return for the fiscal year is currently at 29%. Our growth on our Roth IRAs is more than double what it was last month, so that’s a good thing….
When to start receiving Social Security benefits
There is always talk about Social Security not being sustainable. It would be concerning if it were not available for future generations that have already paid into it. Regardless of whether that is true, it is a good idea to not count on it and instead, consider it a bonus. I’ve recently had people tell…
Saving for the future – August
Oh, what a month it has been. Our Savings has been as fluid as the stock market. In Savings we saved our normal $500. We also transferred the $1,250 from our child tax credit and another $500. Unfortunately, we had to transfer $2,015 out to cover my annual life insurance premium and other bills. As…
Working Toward Retirement – July
This month our retirement savings is up $2,148. Not as good as last month, but at least its growth. Since my last retirement post, my work 401k peaked at 31%, but took a dramatic tumble to 29%. I’m kidding of course. These high rates of return are going to really help our average over the…
Saving for the future – July
This month in Savings we saved our normal $500 and earned $5.04 in interest. We recently bought our oldest daughter new bedroom furniture. We purchased it on a 6 month no interest / no payment plan to spread out the cost. We can only afford to pay $200 a month on it and the rest…
Sealing a deck and bringing it back to life
I am terrible when it comes to maintenance, which is why it has been about 12 years since I sealed our deck (or even cleaned it). Sealing a deck isn’t hard, I’m just really good at not maintaining things. As our two readers know, I am also not good at documenting home improvements. Luckily, this…
Working Toward Retirement – June
Hooray! We are back in the black this month – up $3,882. Anytime we have positive growth, it’s always a good feeling. One of these days I’ll get around to sharing my financial spreadsheet. More specifically, my compound interest calculator for retirement. Until I get the time to figure out how to record my screen…