Been paying attention to the stock market again.....

[YY1]

This is state sponsored?

IRA in an Individual Retirement Account.

Not state sponsored but the same pre-tax deduction from income, and taxed at withdrawal.

There is an optional "Roth IRA" that is a post tax deduction but carries no tax at withdrawal.

I have neither, but I do have what remains of a 403b plan, which is a state worker's version of a 401K.
I have not contributed anything to that since 2017, but the fund managers seem to be doing well as it has more than doubled, again with zero contributions from me.

I take that back, I did open an IRA with my brokerage because we owed quite a bit in taxes after the IRS screwed our additional withholding pretty bad around 2020.
Don't get me started on that. It's fixed now, but The choice was pay $xx,*** in taxes or contribute $xx,*** to an IRA.
DUH, easy decision.

Instead, I chose to put "my retirement" savings in the stock market and real estate.
Both have done WAY better for me than what returns from a typical fund based IRA generally do.

 

[Hey-O]

LOL, you'd have to explain what an IRA is if you expect me to explain what a RIF is..

RSP... we get to put funds into one yearly. I believe the max amount is based on 18% of your previous years pay, but when I was putting funds in it was capped at $7500, then $8500 and I think the last year I had a pay check (18 years ago) the max was $13,500. I started putting any bit of extra income that I could into one when I was 22 years old.

The general idea, you put $10,000 into an RSP and it reduces your taxable income by that amount. For most of my years of inputting I was in the 38 to 52% tax bracket. Call it 40% and each $10,000 put into the RSP saved me $4000 in income tax payable. The government hoping all along that at some point your going to trip in life and have to withdraw while you're still working and then they not only get your 40% back... they get 40% on the increase that your RSP has made as well. If you do happen to keep your RSP intact, when you reach 71 years old you have to convert it to a RIF. At that point the government mandates what percentage of your fund you have to withdraw every year and pay them tax on it. Of course by this age you are also getting CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and Old age payments that are also taxable that when combined with your RIF withdrawals probably puts you in a higher tax bracket = more funds for the government.

I'm working on depleting my RSP, or should I say repositioning it, before I hit 71. I have zero employment income, so by pulling the max amount out of the RSP that I can, while staying in the minimum tax bracket, I'm only coughing over about 12% tax vs 50/52% if I leave it there and croak. If I croak it comes out as a single years income and the government will take over 1/2 of it. Bin there, lost that, with my Mother.

Now once the funds are withdrawn out of the RSP, we now have a tax free savings (TFSA) program in Canada. I've never put a dime into one as of yet, as interest rates were so low it didn't really matter. Now that they're on the rise I may have to put the Tax Free program to work as it's cumulative. You're allowed to only put so much into one every year and I never have since it started in 2009. As of this year I could put $88,000 into a TFSA and it can be a simple bank account, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), bonds, stocks and mutual funds. For now I'll just keep using the withdrawals to pay bills and probably buy another car or two, as cars transfer to family up here for free. If they go to the Wife they don't even need a safety check. My cars can be passed to any of the following without paying tax. They may get nailed for capital gains when selling, as they got it for nothing, but I know of nobody that's ever been chased for that in Ontario.
You can transfer ownership of your vehicle to the following family members without requiring them to pay the retail sales tax (RST):

• spouse (including a common law spouse)
• parent or step-parent
• grandparent or step-grandparent
• son or step-son
• daughter or step-daughter
• grandson or step-grandson
• granddaughter or step-granddaughter
• son-in-law
• daughter-in-law
• father-in-law
• mother-in-law
• sibling
• half siblings (siblings with a common parent)
• adopted siblings (siblings with a common parent through adoption)

Every country has it own way of getting you to bleed what you have worked for, but, you have done very well doing damage control. Mine is a yearly adjustment to keep them at bay and it can be done. What bothers me is working so hard to be who I am, only to give it to those that were sleeping while I was out before the sun came up breaking my back. Again, well played.........

 

[Cranky]

This is state sponsored?

IRA in an Individual Retirement Account.

Not state sponsored but the same pre-tax deduction from income, and taxed at withdrawal.

There is an optional "Roth IRA" that is a post tax deduction but carries no tax at withdrawal.

I have neither, but I do have what remains of a 403b plan, which is a state worker's version of a 401K.
I have not contributed anything to that since 2017, but the fund managers seem to be doing well as it has more than doubled, again with zero contributions from me.

I take that back, I did open an IRA with my brokerage because we owed quite a bit in taxes after the IRS screwed our additional withholding pretty bad around 2020.
Don't get me started on that. It's fixed now, but The choice was pay $xx,*** in taxes or contribute $xx,*** to an IRA.
DUH, easy decision.

Instead, I chose to put "my retirement" savings in the stock market and real estate.
Both have done WAY better for me that what return from a typical fund based IRA generally do.

And anything you make (interest or investment income in it) isn't taxed either. Might have a ceiling....I don't know.

 

[Hey-O]

I have not contributed to my IRA in many years and hate the thought of pulling out the minimum yearly amount to take the tax hit and then reinvent it because I don't need it. I would always recommend a good tax man when you achieve a certain level of success.

 

[YY1]

Stacks of cash under the mattress not an option?

 

[Hey-O]

Stacks of cash under the mattress not an option?

I never let to much money seat idle.

 

[TT from NH]

Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Second best time is now. Best financial advice I ever received.

 

[Hey-O]

The best time is as early as possible, compound interest is your best friend. More chances to double in your life time.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Every country has it own way of getting you to bleed what you have worked for, but, you have done very well doing damage control. Mine is a yearly adjustment to keep them at bay and it can be done. What bothers me is working so hard to be who I am, only to give it to those that were sleeping while I was out before the sun came up breaking my back. Again, well played.........

Ulli, your words remind me of an experience I had shortly after I ditched the law practice, and went back on the truck in 1984. I was renting a modest house (having sold my first one to try to keep the practice going,) for $450 a month. The next door neighbor was paying a low interest mortgage payment of $110, under a state subsidy program originally designed to help farmers with modest housing. I didn't qualify, because my annual wage as a driver was nearly twice the qualifying amount. When I told the neighbor I didn't qualify, he laughed in my face, and told me he couldn't believe a lawyer could be so stupid, added that he had once driven a truck, but quit because the work was too hard, and the hours too long. He than reiterated his statement that I was chump, with even more laughter.

I walked away, about as infuriated as I've been in my adult life. My wife calmed me down, with words that were prophetic. She told me that he would be stuck there for life, but we would be moving up in time. Twenty years later, after I bought the big house on the hill in a high end neighborhood on the opposite side of the tracks, I drove back to our old residence. That dude was still there, but this time I didn't waste time talking to him.

Yes, I resented the crap out of that sponging slug, but I harnessed my rage for economic gain in the end.

 

[68BabyBlue]

The best time is as early as possible, compound interest is your best friend. More chances to double in your life time.

At 10%, it doubles every seven years. Ask me how I know.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I have not contributed to my IRA in many years and hate the thought of pulling out the minimum yearly amount to take the tax hit and then reinvent it because I don't need it. I would always recommend a good tax man when you achieve a certain level of success.

I good one early on helps too. I had a negative net worth when I first saw my guy 40 years ago, he was a major factor in getting me where I am today.

 

[Cranky]

Ulli, your words remind me of an experience I had shortly after I ditched the law practice, and went back on the truck in 1984. I was renting a modest house (having sold my first one to try to keep the practice going,) for $450 a month. The next door neighbor was paying a low interest mortgage payment of $110, under a state subsidy program originally designed to help farmers with modest housing. I didn't qualify, because my annual wage as a driver was nearly twice the qualifying amount. When I told the neighbor I didn't qualify, he laughed in my face, and told me he couldn't believe a lawyer could be so stupid, added that he had once driven a truck, but quit because the work was too hard, and the hours too long. He than reiterated his statement that I was chump, with even more laughter.

I walked away, about as infuriated as I've been in my adult life. My wife calmed me down, with words that were prophetic. She told me that he would be stuck there for life, but we would be moving up in time. Twenty years later, after I bought the big house on the hill in a high end neighborhood on the opposite side of the tracks, I drove back to our old residence. That dude was still there, but this time I didn't waste time talking to him.

Yes, I resented the crap out of that sponging slug, but I harnessed my rage for economic gain in the end.

I would have invited that guy to come to the new place for burgers and beer and then would have had the cheapest, nastiest beer on hand just in case he showed up

 

[Ron H]

When I told the neighbor I didn't qualify, he laughed in my face,

Some people have a work problem – they’re too friggin lazy to - WORK. How did that POS remain qualified to receive the benefit? Disabled, to any degree where he couldn’t work at all?

I knew a couple of people who were on disability and other benefits, being disabled. One was a younger woman who lived next door to my mother who was always loaning money from my mother having a problem paying it back. Granted, she had some serious injuries; but they were several years earlier and never saw her so ‘disabled’ as she still ran around for her recreation and could never hold a job for two-weeks since she didn’t want to work. (My mother had gotten her one job through someone she knew and was told she came in late, left early, on the days she actually showed up.) Similar thing with another guy in my mother’s apartment building. I get that certain jobs some can’t do anymore post injury, but then there are other jobs I’d think they could do..

 

[68BabyBlue]

Some people have a work problem – they’re too friggin lazy to - WORK. How did that POS remain qualified to receive the benefit? Disabled, to any degree where he couldn’t work at all?

I knew a couple of people who were on disability and other benefits, being disabled. One was a younger woman who lived next door to my mother who was always loaning money from my mother having a problem paying it back. Granted, she had some serious injuries; but they were several years earlier and never saw her so ‘disabled’ as she still ran around for her recreation and could never hold a job for two-weeks since she didn’t want to work. (My mother had gotten her one job through someone she knew and was told she came in late, left early, on the days she actually showed up.) Similar thing with another guy in my mother’s apartment building. I get that certain jobs some can’t do anymore post injury, but then there are other jobs I’d think they could do..

This guy was completely able bodied. The income cutoff for the program was $22K per household, he made $21K, slightly above average pay in the area at the time. With my wife working, we made twice that. We were renting because we had no money for a down payment after the practice went south. The neighbor behind us was on the program, but wasn't obnoxious about it. He was an interior decorator with his own business, and with $13K annual he qualified easily, and his wife was able to stay home.

From personal experience, I find it interesting how people play the disability card. My friend Deb, who I introduced on the Suicide Skies thread, has used crutches and a leg brace since she was 16, but still works full time physical jobs at the age of 76. Our fellow FBBO member who sold me my Hemi GTX has used a wheelchair for 30 years, and still built a career where he could afford toys of that level.

The last year I drove a truck, I started using mobility aids when off duty, but I wouldn't use them on the job for fear of putting my CDL status in jeopardy. So I basically faked able bodied status, to maintain my earning capacity. Polio survivors posess a unique ability to pass as "normal" because of the extremely specific nature of the physical deficit. On a bad day, I'd have to alternate left and right feet on the throttle to make it in. Wife initially accused me of being a fraud when I propossed the idea of using the crutches and chair (our daughter set the stage by being diagnosed with a half dozen "invisible" disabilities in an attempt to scam Social Security Disability. After finally processing the information, wife had a different fit, and wouldn't let me drive the GTX until I got hand controls installed.

 

[Ron H]

last year I drove a truck, I started using mobility aids when off duty, but I wouldn't use them on the job for fear of putting my CDL status in jeopardy.

That sounds incredibly tough; there are those like you, who want to work for their money. Off the topic, but after mentioning a couple of slugs, on the other hand, a good buddy’s older brother I got to know well over the decades, talented mechanically and drove truck for years, tankers mostly, from milk to God awful stuff. He had Crohn’s Disease eventually having internal organs removed, wearing a crap-bag, and on to needing dialysis. How he suffered and never quit working. He seldom complained. One day he met us for breakfast and we joked around as we always did. Then he makes an announcement just so matter-of-factly: “Letting you know, I’m done guys, I’m stopping the dialysis and should be dead in four or five days.” By then I think he weighed a 100lbs. His arms had these huge bumps on them, looking like little volcanos from the dialysis. No tears, as his two brothers were at the table staring down at it. When we dropped him off at his house, I stayed in the car letting his brothers say their farewells in the driveway, then he looked back at me with a salute and small grin. Following week, we looked at him in his casket. He could have gone on disability 10 years earlier, but when he couldn’t work that was it for him.

 

[Michael_]

Report: Leakers sell inside trading tips on dark web

Two new forums provide customers with insider information.

thehill.com

As i said there IS definitely money to be made but for the average joe sticking to an S&P 500 ETF is probably as good as it gets.
I really wish i had access to that kind of information (money printer) aswell.

 

[Hey-O]

At 10%, it doubles every seven years. Ask me how I know.

I have one IRA that I put 2 thousand dollars in, in 1979, and never added any more money to it. I used it as an example for the kids and their friends as they were growing up. Most all their close friends followed the 10 percent rule, which is more today, early on.They spent a lot of time with us, vacation, lake houses, our dinner table or working on cars. They learned early on that it cost to have a few extras in life. A few are into investing now and live a very good life. Over the years they have told me that the exsamples they learned from us set them on a course that not all families live up to and schools don't teach. You can teach someone, but it's a lifestyle, that's engrained early on. You don't get a grade, but you know you're there when you have a hundred dollars and you think you only have ninety. One of them even sat at our round table for a few years. I don't do the round table anymore, life moved on and we all got older. One of them died in June. One couple, Bob and Hope, I still get a kick out of their names. Hope is dying and Bob is busy with more important things in life and the rest are done with the rat race. It's been fun and it served us well. I always told the kids, all of them, life is very short when you're happy, but it will drag on and on if you miserable, pick your poison.

I've had a few years that it doubled in three to five and a few over twenty percent years. As for that IRA, today it's worth around 68 thousand dollars..... That's just one deposit, now think about how many have been made over the years. Some make sacrifices when they're young, some people would rather suffer when they're old............ Oh, by the way, I've had years when it was in the toilet and I may have wondered. It's a long haul game and it's an average that we look for at the end, I never worried about the beginning or the middle.

 

[old guys rule]

After thinking I didn't want to anymore but man, sure looks like there's some money to be made.....especially in options....? Just need to shake off the rust. And I kinda miss the 'Money Honey'

Be careful. Big **** coming down the tubes pretty soon.

 

[Cranky]

Be careful. Big **** coming down the tubes pretty soon.

Heard that soooo many times over the course of the 40 years I've been paying attention to the markets....

 

[Hey-O]

Heard that soooo many times over the course of the 40 years I've been paying attention to the markets....

Well said!!

I had a friend that years ago, sold out one day when it dropped about 500 points. I asked him what he was doing and told him, that's money you'll never get back. He just shrugged his shoulders and said I need my money........ I guess it could happen, but it hasn't in the hundred years or so since this game started. You never know, I play like I may die tomorrow and I saved like I'd live to be a hundred.