A couple of months ago I solicited opinions on paying off my mortgage. I decided to do it, and now have no debt at all, plus some money in the bank.
But… now what should I do?
I’m only 40 years old, but I don’t really have enough saved to fully retire. Yet, my expenses are so low that I can see getting a much lower stress job. Hell, I could make a living flipping burgers at this point. I sometimes think of think of this scene from American Beauty: I’m looking for the least possible amount of responsibility.
What would you do in my situation? I’d love to hear suggestions for working at home, fun jobs that wouldn’t normally support a person but might work for me, weird ways of making money that a normal person would not typically consider, anything. Thanks!
Keep your present job until you do have enough to retire. Then work a little longer so you have a little extra. Then retire and don’t hit a lick at a snake for the rest of your life.
You know, part of the appeal of the temp jobs I take is that I have virtually zero responsibility at work (I’m a temp - I’m just here to help out. You want to yell at someone for not doing a job, go find someone who cares), and I know there is an end date. My duties are usually easy and I’m able to do them while listening to my iPod with my brain turned off. I get to work in all kinds of industries, I get to go behind the scenes and see how things actually are, I meet all kinds of great people, and then I just wave bye bye and ride off into the sunset.
Take the amount of money that you were paying each month into your mortgage, and put it into savings. You could open a Roth IRA or just put it into a separate bank account. Do that for as long as you can stand your current job.
I don’t quite get how having no debt equals being able to retire, assuming you have the hobby of eating and stuff. We do have a mortgage, but we also have savings far in excess of the mortgage and, since I plan to live a long time yet, we keep on saving.
So, some real suggestions. Put the money you used to pay into the mortgage into some liquid savings account for an emergency fund, and/or for improvements. We did this with the tuition money we used to be paying, and are going to be using it for some long delayed house renovation. It is quite amazing how cheap new windows are compared to college tuition.
I assume you have a 401K maxed out. If not, do it.
Find yourself a financial planner and ask about retirement planning. The level of service you get with a lot of money is much better than what you get with a little bit of money. You may also find some investment vehicles that are very good which you need a good bit of money to get into. If you want to do this as a hobby you may not need an advisor, but if you are like me and way to busy to pay attention to it, it pays off.
Take some saved-up cash and put a down payment on an investment property. Even if it’s just a local townhome or something, put your money to work for you. Interest rates are at historic lows right now, and when you do decide to retire, sell the investment and [snaps fingers] instant windfall.
Sponsor a poor, cash-strapped grad student, working on research that may, possibly, perhaps through some unforeseen set of circumstance could save your life while trying to raise a family?
I, uh, may be able to put you in touch with one of those…
Until I had enough money to retire, I’d keep socking money away. So I’d stay in my higher paying job for the time being. If a sabbatical is possible, I might look into taking 6 months off and traveling.
Basically, this. I would keep the job, max out my Roth, and make continual monthly or biweekly investments to a broad index fund or to a Vanguard retirement fund (which would actually be fairly similar to what I have in my IRA accounts.) I guess I’m boring that way. Then again, I already put in my years satisfying my wunderlust, living abroad, having adventures, etc., so perhaps my attitude would be different if I had more fiscal forethought in my 20s.
I pretty much can’t stand it now, and I’m looking for a change. Like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, I have the luxury of being able to work at a low paying job if I want to. But rather than flipping burgers, I’d like something a bit more stimulating.
If you’ve got savings now, get tenants into your house to pay into your retirement fund, quit your job, and travel round the world for a year. It’s much cheaper than you think, and it will change your outlook on pretty much everything (this is assuming you haven’t done it already).
Our situation was quite different. We paid off our mortgage…and promptly started saving for college for our two kids. There is no “quit the job and flip burgers” in our future until the kids college is paid off. (Though travel around the world sure sounds nice).
I really value financial security - so I’d hang onto your job as long as you can stand it and save as much as you can. But I also know that not everyone is me.
I have consulted and temped and with no responsibilities and no one depending on me for a regular paycheck - it is quite freeing. But keep in mind that the work is not always reliable, nor is it always pleasant. And when it isn’t reliable, you don’t qualify for unemployment because it was ‘just temp work.’ Make sure you have a nice cushion before you go there. You’ll have a roof over your head, but you still need to eat, pay for health insurance, pay property taxes, and buy hookers and blow once in a while.