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money saving tip

When I go to local dollar store,which is over 25 miles away, i purchase the scratch pads with the sponge included, so save on buying them seperate, then when i get home, i cut them in half, so that they will go last longer. And it means less trips to the store as well, so saving on gas also. I keep a spray bottle of peroxide under kitchen cabinet, so once  a day, i spray them, to clean, so they are germ free for next use. This is one of the many tips I've found helpful over the years.

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Conversationalist

Well, if you are satisfied that is what counts. I could not have retired at even 60. If I did I would need to rely on SS. As it is, my wife and I make as much on investments as our taxable income. In another year we ought to make as much as our gross income. I am almost 69 and ready to retire. We will have the money to actually have golden years after decades of scrimping.

 

I am sure they will shore SS up for a few more years but the cost is too great to handle. 1/3 of our population will be retired. Most of them will contribute nothing to taxes or SS but will be collecting SS and Medicare. Although the average IRA/401k is 170k, 1% of the population owns 90% of the savings. The most common savings is only 17k. Their out of pocket medical expense will be about 250k. Our society is overwhelmingly spenders not savers. We are in big trouble. Our way of life is not sustainable.

 

Stick to your CDs now is the wrong time to enter the market!  As I stated, I am slowly cashing out.  I made my money,  I am slowly getting defensive. 

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Super Contributor

It sounds like you have done what is right for you. I do like the idea of getting SS, but I intend to save it or use it to do a few household projects. It is not a must and never was. I am younger than you, but I do work part time. I went from 7 days a week to just part time by splitting my job in half with someone that worked for me 10 years ago. I have been so much happier. The money has kept me from touching my principal and most of the income from it. I have a separate account for medical and I do have 250k in that. Most of my lifestyle is very modest. I travel a little, enjoy cooking but eat out once a week, enjoy shopping and am careful about my spending. Life is good. I am happy that your choices are good for you.
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I am surprised that there isn't more discussion about finances and investment management. I would sure welcome an opportunity to learn from you or others with more experience. I am concerned about the bubble and losing hard earned savings and investments. Any pointers would be appreciated.
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Conversationalist

@ch44683397, That is what we all should be thinking about.  I have been keeping my ear to the ground.  The crash is at least a year away and maybe as far off as 4 years.

 

The wise thing to do is sell off half your stock in maybe a year from now for bonds.  Bonds are a very bad investment right now.  As interest rates rise, bonds become more attractive.

 

Be VERY wary it the market starts to surge again.  That may be the beginning of the crash.  A few months before any crash the market goes crazy.  Other safer stocks are called defensive stocks.  These make staples.  High dividend stocks might be safer.  They are more like a bond than a stock.  ATT is one of these.  Their value is in the dividend not growth.  These stocks are the first to recover after a crash. 

 

I suggest getting a subscription for a financial magazine. Money isn't the best advice but is readable.  For non experts this is a good tradeoff.  What good is the best advice if you can't understand it. 

 

Money claims we still have years left in the bull market.  They claim it is coming to an end.  Keeping your wealth is more important than making more.  They preached diversification and selling off some bull stock for defensive stock.  This is very brief, the last Money mag I read devoted the entire mag on what I stated in this little paragraph. All of this is commonly held beliefs.

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Honored Social Butterfly


"....surprised that there isn't more discussion about finances and investment management...... I am concerned about the bubble and losing hard earned savings and investments. Any pointers would be appreciated.....".

We do talk about that in the 'Invest, Diversify....' thread. But to address your posting, whether there is a 'bubble' right now is strictly a matter of opinion. And not to be facetious, but anyone in the stock market, at any point in time, can lose. That's why people like Suze Orman tell people not to invest in stocks unless you have a 10-year horizon.

   I've been investing for 40+ years, so have been through all the ups-and-downs as several other posters have. Is there some specific advice you're looking for? How to invest advice requires analysis of a great many factors such as time horizon, current assets and debt, income, age and health, how much risk you want to take, whether you have an emergency fund, are you supporting other people, your budget (income and expense predictions), what you are investing for, how well insured you are, how much understanding of the markets you have, etc.....

   You have to be very specific to get reasonable advice or you just get offhand opinions from people who have no knowledge of your entire financial position.      


"...Why is everyone a victim? Take personal responsibility for your life..."
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Good post!

 

Yes we need to take ownership for what we do.  Yes, if we are in a bubble is easy to say but are we in a 'dangerous' bubble is pure speculation.  My broker stated the best time to make money is in a bubble! I looked into that and it is true as long as you get off before the crash. Often you want to sell after record profits so you can pocket from your investments.  Until you sell, your investing is not real.  That is even more true as the market is sliding.  When you sell because you are fearful, you make your losses permanent. We know someone who sold all her stocks for bonds when the DOW lost 25%.  She feels great that she sold before it went down another 5-8% lower.  The rub is she lost 25% of her savings within a year of retirement. She will NEVER make back that money she lost and she will not have the money she needs to live the retirement she planned.  Her broker should have tried to warn her but she has fired brokers for giving her good advice she didn't like.  

 

On the radio I hear adds for a broker that "wants to keep you safe" by selling your stock at a low.  He is screwing fools! Then fools are easily parted from their money. 

 

DON'T BE A FOOL!

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Bronze Conversationalist

@RonMesnard It has been studied and documented that  people will act based on their view of loss aversion. Some folks fear a loss twice as much as they are likely to welcome an equivalent gain. So, folks will react differently to a market correction even though initially they may have a long term horizon such as retirement (i.e., 10 or 20 or more years, etc.). Some will panic and sell, whereas others will stay the course and may buy. This aspect of behavioral economics was documented by Professors Kahneman and Tversky as far back as the 1970s. Kahneman who was a Professor of Psychology was awarded the Nobel Prize of Economics in 2002. 

The woman that sold after a 25% correction is a good example of loss aversion. Everyone has their price. For a person with a short term horizon, that is a large margin. For example, William O'Neil, Investors Business Daily fame, sells after a 8% correction. The concept is to cut your losses and live another day to reinvest. However, for a person with a long term horizon such as retirement, that is a buying opportunity inasmuch as one is dollar cost averaging over their accumulation period. Historically, the stock market (tracked by the S & P 500) fluctuates from year to year. However, over long periods of time such as 10 years or more, the "annualized return" or Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) has always been positive. In my experience which covers about 45 years, the worst recent period of time was 2000 through 2002 (3 years) where the S & P 500 fell by 9.11%, 11.98, and 22.27%, respectively. However, the next five years (2003 through 2007) were positive far exceeding the losses from 2000 through 2002. 

Be careful with folks that claim to manage your money (i.e., stock brokers, financial advisors, etc.). Some are good and many are not so good. In fact, only a small number of money managers (maybe 15%) outperform the market (S&P 500) returns in any given year. So, about 85% fail. To add some humor to this statistic, your chances of rolling a seven with two die in a dice game is one of six or 16.667%. 

Lastly, unless you know the woman you referenced cost basis, she may have had a positive return. For example, if her cost basis was $10,000 and that investment appreciated to $20,000 and she sold after a 25% correction, she would still have a $5,000 gain ( $20,000 - $5,000 = $15,000). Her cost basis was $10,000. Some folks count unrealized appreciation as a gain even though, as you pointed out, they have not sold that investment to realize such appreciation. It is only a change in value. Good Luck.

 

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Conversationalist

@retiredtraveler, your advice sounded sage unless you you are very well informed.  The terible performance of bonds this century has modified the commonly held beliefs.  Bonds have not kept up with inflation any year this century.  This year, wise investors sold off ALL their open ended bonds and bought closed ended bonds like T-Bills.  Closed ended means you will get a specified cash at a specified time.  Open ended bonds lose value as interest rates rise like they did. They lost SIGINIFICANT value.  You may have taken a bath.  That isn't risky because the problem is predictable is is just terrible investing.

 

The new commonly held belief is a retired person has 50% in stocks otherwise you will run out of money.

 

You need to keep current!  BTW I have been in the market almost 50 years.  I have experianced every horror in those 50 years. Now I am doing my best to avoid losing it all.  For the last 18 years I started to really educate my self.  I still got creamed in 2000 and 2008.  In 2008 I didn't make any of the mistakes I made in 2000.  Still I got creamed.  I now use a broker who has managed to keep their clients from getting killed in a crash.  I let him make all the decisions.  He is probably the most expert person I have ever talked with. The problem with getting a financial person is, you need to know a good deal to spot the sharks. Most are sharks.  When we were looking for a different broker, for diversification.  We interviewed 10 brokers with good references.  Only 1 was honest.  My wife got quite the education.  She did all the talking until after the broker gave her his plan of action. The brokers were not as careful as they should have been, trying to make a killing on my wife.  She didn't follow the conversation but she realized the guy was going to rip her off.They all wanted to sell off solid investments to buy others of dubious worth.  Obviously, they were getting a cut on the sale.  SEC has been trying to prevent this for decades.  The last Wall St reform was supposed to have those protections but were removed in the final version.

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Super Contributor

Your advice is good and has worked for you. Since I could and can out save any attractive rate of return, I am sticking with what I know and do best.
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There is a point where the average stock price compaired to that stock's earnings where the market is concidered 'in a bubble'.  The market has been in one for years.  It is so inflated right now, that the P/E we have now has only been exceeded once before in 1930.  Yes, we are in an extreme bubble.  It is far more likely to go seriously down than seriously up.  You ought to have more high dividend stocks and I would buy bonds after the fed raises interest rates agian.  Research 'defensive stocks' then invest more heavily in them.  Better yet find a protfolio manager that will do that for you.  The problem with that is brokers tend to be excellent sales persons.  I would query your freinds for a brokers who has done well by them in previous stock crashes. 

 

You really need a broker who monitors the market for bull market sell offs and the rise of defensive stocks.  Insitutions such and insurance companies, banks and colleges spend vast resorces to monitor the echonomies of the US and other nations.  They start the market trends.

 

This is a very dangerous time to be dabbling in the market.

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That was good advice when I wrote it but that was 5 years ago and things are different.  I still avoid open-ended bonds until the fed stops increasing interest rates.  Then I might buy some open-ended bonds hoping interest rates will lower making the bonds more valuable.   Biden put an end to the market bubble.  Now stocks may be attractive since we are 20-25% down from the high a year ago. We are likely to see the recession get worse but I think the market prices have taken that into consideration.  Now is probably a safe time to buy. 

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Bronze Conversationalist

@RonMesnard For long term investors, dollar cost averaging over one's accumulation period (i.e., 10 years, 20 years, etc.) is a viable approach. It beats trying to time the market which is impossible to do consistently. So, folks buying at current market prices are OK if dollar cost averaging. Think of all the folks contributing via payroll deduction to 401 K, 403 B, and 457 Plans as well as monthly contributions to IRAs. Time is on their side. However, I am guessing that most folks reading these posts are retired or close to retirement and are thinking about retirement income streams (i.e., decumulation, if there is such a word) and principal protection. There is an expression, " Never fight the FED," which is pertinent today as it was decades ago. Inflation is hovering around 7%. The BLS will release the December 2022 numbers next week. I do not expect the numbers to decrease to the 2% goal that the FED has disclosed. So, I suspect more increases with the Federal Funds Rate going forward in 2023. That means less money available for Loans since financial institutions will receive greater risk free interest from the FED. Without getting "deep in the weeds", I suspect the stock market will correct again, maybe another 10% or so. Even with the 2022 correction, the S&P 500 is still fairly valued at 21.6 PE. The modern day 10 year average PE is less than 20. I am including a link that indicates a PE of 19.6. https://www.currentmarketvaluation.com/models/price-earnings.php#:~:text=The%20current%20S%26P500%20.... Since we will always be students of the stock market, Choose Wisely, Grasshopper. Good Luck!

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Regular Social Butterfly

Yikes; came into this topic thinking "nice; great topic", then found the issue to be pretty nasty (well, it does evolve into cleaning, so there you go)...

 

I have been self-supporting for 20+ years; I did become homeless for a while (within the last 5 years), but recovered.

 

The only money saving tip I have is BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET, and within that budget give yourself the "me" money (e.g. $10/month for drive thru or CiCi's).

 

I seriously appreciate the $10 I give to me...

 

 


#VegasStrong
Phil Harris, actor and showman, to John Fogerty of CCR: “If I’d known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
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Contributor

the best way to save ,is before you purchase anything ask yourself is this a want or a need, if it is a need and you have the money buy it, if it is a want ,that means you really don't need it so don't buy it even if you have the money. Take the money and put it in savings, make savings fun and you will be surprised how fast this will add up. The only thing is you have to be completely honest with yourself when determining wants versus needs.
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Honored Social Butterfly


@WebWiseWoman wrote:

 

 

The only money saving tip I have is BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET, and within that budget give yourself the "me" money (e.g. $10/month for drive thru or CiCi's).

 

I seriously appreciate the $10 I give to me...

 

 


@WebWiseWoman Hey, happy Friday. 🙂

 

Good tip about giving yourself some fun money each month.

 

We don't do that, exactly, but we do head off to Dairy Queen for a small dipped cone once in a while --perhaps 8 times a year. The ingredients are pretty sane (read: real food) so it's a treat we feel good about. 😉 Also the local Dairy Queen usually sells small dipped cones for a buck on Wednedays in the summer, so we try to go then. 🙂

 

 

"The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical." Julius Erving
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Silver Conversationalist

Hey Epster - Next time you go to DQ - jump outside your comfort zone and get a Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard® Treat. And - Smile with every bite!! It will do you good!! 🙂

Don't think about it - Just Do it. Noooo thoughts of "But - afterwards, I will...."

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Honored Social Butterfly


@wilful wrote:
Hey Epster - Next time you go to DQ - jump outside your comfort zone and get a Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard® Treat. And - Smile with every bite!! It will do you good!! 🙂

Don't think about it - Just Do it. Noooo thoughts of "But - afterwards, I will...."


@wilful Nothin' doin'! Here's one reason: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/02/caramel-color-and-your-health/index.htm .  Another reason is that they don't offer the discount on anything but the small dipped cone. Yet another reason is that I don't want to consume that many empty calories. 🙂

 

We usually go to the drive through in a vehicle with the top down. The wind in our hair does us good. 🙂 Add that to the happiness of getting treat for a great price, well you have emotional gold. 🙂

 

 

 

"The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical." Julius Erving
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Contributor

The DQ we go to gives a senior discount of 10% in northern 

Mn.

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Honored Social Butterfly

I don't see hydrogen peroxide as saving money. It is several times more expensive than vinegar. One can purchase cleaning vinegar, which is 6% acidity, for about $3.25 a gallon.


"...Why is everyone a victim? Take personal responsibility for your life..."
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Super Contributor

It is saving money over expensive cleaners. It also is a good way to cut down on bacteria and germs. Md's highly recommend it.
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Honored Social Butterfly


@retiredtraveler wrote:

I don't see hydrogen peroxide as saving money. It is several times more expensive than vinegar. One can purchase cleaning vinegar, which is 6% acidity, for about $3.25 a gallon.


@retiredtraveler and @pt21427831 I use peroxide to help keep my hair white. Without occasional peroxide rinses, it tends to yellow on the ends.

 

Can't speak for prices in your area --prices are sometimes regional-- however I purchase peroxide from Walmart for .79 per quart, which makes it less expensive than their white vinegar which sellsl fro $3.30. That said, I'd rather use vinegar on a sponge and in the kitchen, because it kills 99% of all pathogens on contact, and because it is actually a food item. But that's me. Peroxide poisoning does happen, though I understand it requires ingesting a fairly large amount. 

 

 

 

"The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical." Julius Erving
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Gold Conversationalist

Or you can save money & time by just putting them in the microwave oven for 10-15 sec.

http://voiceyouropinion.proboards.com/
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Super Contributor

Well aren't you just a treasure!
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