Question... Are you working for your boat???

[BandB]

Saving judiciously is great, but investing judiciously is a whole other world. Since I got out of school, I never saved "for" anything except to have money to invest. And I never invested "for" anything other than to have what I expected to be a great investment. Those investments dodn't always work out, but they don't all have to.

We're conservative investors. Always been more conservative than the allocation charts for our ages. With the market being strong the last few years we've had a stronger return, but we are content and comfortable with a 5% return. If it's more, we are fine, but we recognize that the market giveth and taketh away.

I think the key is saving enough to invest and not using it all to buy things. What gave us discipline and protected us was always making our maximum contributions to 401k's and 403's.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
friv·o·lous

/ˈfrivələs/


adjective

1. not having any serious purpose or value: "rules to stop frivolous lawsuits" synonyms: flippant, glib, facetious, joking, jokey, ... more

Boat ownership could be considered frivolous by some. Replacing that old sofa that only has one comfortable spot left to sit could be considered frivolous by others.

What I'm reading in this thread thus far is value placed on one's comfort and enjoyment. Fiscal, physical and emotional. We bought our first larger boat some 35 years ago while we were both still working and the kids were still in primary school. She wasn't all that expensive nor in the best of shape but we saved up over the winter in order to do one major repair/upgrade every spring and had wonderful adventures.

Looking back, was it worth the time and investment-Yes. Looking forward, are we willing to continue putting money into our current vessel-Yes.

 

[dhays]

I think the key is saving enough to invest and not using it all to buy things. What gave us discipline and protected us was always making our maximum contributions to 401k's and 403's.

That is huge. My wife and I contributed to IRAs until it now longer was 100% deductible since she had a retirement plan. Then all our money went into kids, house, education, and back into my practice. I didn't have a 401k option until I was 49 years old. So other than that first year, I have been making catch-up contributions.

Since I am the business owner, I get to chose the 401k for my business. The age of my employees has recently gotten a lot younger, so I added a Roth 401k option to our plan. I wish the Roth option had been available 30 years ago when my wife and I started. I am too old and earn too much now for it to be a good choice, but I try and convince all of my staff to start contributing to their 401ks. I match what they contribute up to 4% of their income. Even with that, it is sometimes hard to convince these kids to take advantage of it.

 

[koliver]

No. Never have. We bought our first cruising sailboat before kids and have never been without since then. The kids are on their own, two of them have their own cruising boats, ( they are not working just for the boat either, as they are still in their 30s).
5 years retired now, I wouldn't dream of reducing costs by giving up the boat. The value of the boating lifestyle far, far exceeds the ongoing cost.

 

[BandB]

I am too old and earn too much now for it to be a good choice, but I try and convince all of my staff to start contributing to their 401ks. I match what they contribute up to 4% of their income. Even with that, it is sometimes hard to convince these kids to take advantage of it.

Some of the kids really can't afford to contribute. However, something we do just so they all have a 401k account is we contribute a small amount whether they contribute or not. Even if it's just 1% (we do 2%) it's enough to create some awareness on their part, enough for them to start balancing investment options and choices.