4 ms·

The idea that most people just have an extra $7k a year sitting around to put into a retirement account they won't be able to access for decades seems pretty ou

The idea that most people just have an extra $7k a year sitting around to put into a retirement account they won't be able to access for decades seems pretty out of touch. A lot of people are just getting by. Additionally, if you live in a high CoL area, you might be prevented from contributing to a Roth even though most of your income goes to living expenses.

CharlieDigital 2y ago
Some of the advice thrown around in this thread is so out of touch. "Just get a high paying job". "I never worry about healthcare because of my employer". "Just put $7,000 away into a retirement account and $10,000 into a 529 every year. What's the problem?" And even if I'm in a position to do that, the problem is that there are millions of fellow Americans (the majority) that don't have these "luxuries".
- ApolloFortyNine 2y ago
  Your on hackernews, maybe you confused this place with Reddit? This site's guidelines include "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. " Generally speaking, that points to software devs, which points to a high paying job. So when op said they don't know how their kids will save money, most commenters are replying with the assumption they're talking to a software dev. Also please by all means toss out your own solutions.
  - CharlieDigital 2y ago
    I like a quote from Stephen Dubner when he closes his episodes of Freakonomics podcast: > "Take care of yourself, and if you can, someone else, too." I'm on HN. I work at a Series-C YC startup. I previously worked at another VC-back SV startup. I've even tried numerous startups of my own. But I'm also a part of a broader community of Americans and I want all Americans (and all people, if possible) to do well. It's really simple; I'm human first.
    - ra0x3 2y ago
      > It's really simple; I'm human first. Thanks for that. It seems as if over the past 5 years or so, the tech industry in particular has completely lost the thread on this.
neonarray 2y ago
Also the "buy another property". Like, this is part of the damn problem.
ryandrake 2y ago
Not only that, but even if you could put $7K every year into an IRA, and even if the investment returned a steady 7% per year risk free (HAHA!), in 30 years, it's grown to ~$660K, which, sure, is a nice chunk of change, but at a 3% draw down rate, you'll need to live on less than $20K/year. You'll need to be really frugal. Move to a super low cost of living area and go back to eating ramen. And don't get seriously sick or injured. And don't have dependents to house, feed, and educate...
_ea1k 2y ago
That's probably why he suggested a roth. $7k might be too much, but you can withdraw your own contributions from a roth without penalty. This makes it a great way to save for people early in their career, especially if they are in lower tax brackets that wouldn't benefit greatly from traditional ira deductions anyway. TB
_ea1k 2y ago
That's probably why he suggested a roth. $7k might be too much, but you can withdraw your own contributions from a roth without penalty. This makes it a great way to save for people early in their career, especially if they are in lower tax brackets that wouldn't benefit greatly from traditional ira deductions anyway.
huhkerrf 2y ago
The person you're replying to wasn't making a general point, but was specifically replying to someone who said their income was in the top percentiles. So probably not someone just getting by.

CharlieDigital 2y ago

Some of the advice thrown around in this thread is so out of touch. "Just get a high paying job". "I never worry about healthcare because of my employer". "Just put $7,000 away into a retirement account and $10,000 into a 529 every year. What's the problem?" And even if I'm in a position to do that, the problem is that there are millions of fellow Americans (the majority) that don't have these "luxuries".

ApolloFortyNine 2y ago
Your on hackernews, maybe you confused this place with Reddit? This site's guidelines include "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. " Generally speaking, that points to software devs, which points to a high paying job. So when op said they don't know how their kids will save money, most commenters are replying with the assumption they're talking to a software dev. Also please by all means toss out your own solutions.
- CharlieDigital 2y ago
  I like a quote from Stephen Dubner when he closes his episodes of Freakonomics podcast: > "Take care of yourself, and if you can, someone else, too." I'm on HN. I work at a Series-C YC startup. I previously worked at another VC-back SV startup. I've even tried numerous startups of my own. But I'm also a part of a broader community of Americans and I want all Americans (and all people, if possible) to do well. It's really simple; I'm human first.
  - ra0x3 2y ago
    > It's really simple; I'm human first. Thanks for that. It seems as if over the past 5 years or so, the tech industry in particular has completely lost the thread on this.

neonarray 2y ago

Also the "buy another property". Like, this is part of the damn problem.

ryandrake 2y ago

Not only that, but even if you could put $7K every year into an IRA, and even if the investment returned a steady 7% per year risk free (HAHA!), in 30 years, it's grown to ~$660K, which, sure, is a nice chunk of change, but at a 3% draw down rate, you'll need to live on less than $20K/year. You'll need to be really frugal. Move to a super low cost of living area and go back to eating ramen. And don't get seriously sick or injured. And don't have dependents to house, feed, and educate...

_ea1k 2y ago

That's probably why he suggested a roth. $7k might be too much, but you can withdraw your own contributions from a roth without penalty. This makes it a great way to save for people early in their career, especially if they are in lower tax brackets that wouldn't benefit greatly from traditional ira deductions anyway. TB

_ea1k 2y ago

huhkerrf 2y ago

The person you're replying to wasn't making a general point, but was specifically replying to someone who said their income was in the top percentiles. So probably not someone just getting by.