Fastest way to play catch up with investing at an older age

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#1

Hello,

I feel like you mention investing for 30-40 years time frame a lot. I think you do have an older generation that also follows you. For someone that is a little older & wants to retire in like 12-15 yrs, what do you suggest for them to do to catch up? I have a money I am ready to invest in & also want to start investing about 40-50k a year for the next 12 yrs so I can retire at a decent younger age. Which Target Index fund would you suggest for this scenario? I am open to any feedback or suggestions.

I would love for you to show more on PFC & Instagram about investing at an older age for shorter time period.

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#2

Hey there!

In my opinion at least, I don’t think age has a whole lot to do with your investments—it’s more about your time horizon to retirement.

What I mean by that is if you’re 30 years old and want to retire at 40, your investment strategy isn’t necessarily different than if you’re 50 and want to retire at 60.

Now, SSA and medicare could throw a wrench in things but that’s a different topic.

So far as retiring in 12-15 years, you need only achieve perfectly average returns that mirror the S&P 500 (or the total US stock market such as VTSAX or VTI for example) to do so along with your seemingly healthy investment level (40-50k).

But most importantly, will that support the spending you desire in retirement? That’s the key question.

I’d recommend checking out this calculator and plugging in your numbers to see how it comes out:
https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=50000&initialBalance=0&expenses=20000&annualPct=5&withdrawalRate=4

That calculator is a great tool to play with.

We write a lot about early retirement (with somewhere around a 10 year time horizon) and general consensus is to aim to have 25x your desired spending, invested, to retire and live off the proceeds. Those investments tend to be in well-diversified index funds.

Cheers!

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#3

Hey Plantlady,
I’m in the same boat as you - thanks for speaking up!

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#4

I’ll cover this in tonight’s office hours (11/18/2020) with the recording available afterwards on the course site!

If you’re not signed up for office hours, you can sign up here.

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#5

Hi, I am new to this. 61 yo. Retired teacher. Pension. Rental income. I just learned that I can contribute a max of $6,000 each year to a Roth IRA (extra $1,000 for 55 and older). Is this true?

Can I contribute THIS MONTH December the $6,000 – $3,000 in VTSAX and $3,000 in VTI – AND another $6,000 in January?

Are VTSAX and VTI my two best mutual funds to invest?

My goal is to have around $200,000 in 10 years. Is this possible? I will try to keep on moving forward, but it will also be nice to have $200,000 in 10 years to pull out some $ and add to my emergency fund, etc.

By the way, what will the taxes be to whatever amount I withdraw in 10 years?

Thank you for your help.

#7

I’m right there with you! I wish I had a Jeremy when I was in my 20’s. But would I have listened? :wink:
I’m looking to retire in about 5 years, and have only seriously looked at my investments this year. I will have a pension, and probably a part time job for a bit.
Playing catch up too.

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