5 takeaways I have taken from reading SA forums

[bigdaddybus]

Here are my big takeaways from reading this forum. I have found that when taking these all into consideration I have matured my views towards investing and retirement lately.

1. My wife and I have 100% funded pensions. I realize that 10% of Americans have pensions, but having have a fully funded pension is rare. I appricate this benifit my employer provides (they say it is to retain talent) alot more after reading what others have posted. I dont have the highest pay in my field, but the benifits and work/life balance here are top notch.

2. Holy Crap, this place is packed with low cost mutual fund fans! And when I consider that if I didnt have #1 above, I would likely be as well. But since I do have #1, I take alot more risk and have seen significant reward being an individual stock investor as well. I am also buying more mutual funds (low cost funds I have identified on bogleheads) after reading advice on this forum.

3. I havent been saving near as much for college as I should have, and I am working on that. I think it is smart that my wife and I have been focusing on retirement first, and that has been my excuse for not focusing on college savings. The truth is we should have been doing both, and we are doing that now....actually I feel like I am making college savings "catch up" contributions now.

4. Reading others financial challenges, makes me realize that keeping that fully funded emergency fund filled is Extremely important. (Its not fun, but it is wise) And being a more fun take risk kinda person I didnt value the EF that much in the past. With 4 kids and a spouse, they need me to prioritize the EF even if they dont know what an EF is.

5. When families and money come in contact (estates, wills, etc) its just not always a great time, peoples true colors are shown, and relationships are far more important to me than competing with relatives for a "piece of grandmas estate".

and another one. I got my will updated and have increased my term life insurance since joining as well.


So Thank You to all for sharing your thoughts, experiences, advice. Though I dont agree with alot of it at times, I really enjoying this site and being able to hear different perspectives.

Take care all, BigDaddyBus (a nickname my 4 yr old daughter named our Excursion since it sounds like a school bus)

[disneysteve]

Great post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[bjl584]

Thank you for sharing.

I've learned a ton during my time here as well. There is always something new to learn or discover when it comes to finances.

[Tabs]

I owe a great deal to this site, and I haven't forgotten.

As for low cost index funds, I am glad that people here generally advocate this method of investing. For the amount of effort you have to put forth (which is next to none really), they are hard to beat.

I frequent elsewhere where many there are not as keen on low cost index funds, but they lack the knowledge and savvy to be able to take on higher, more speculative risks. For example, if you have to ask what an asset allocation is, that is not the time to debate individual stock picks (pointing my finger at that the other site).

I guess I don't mind that part seeing as how it's ultimate their life and their money. It's when they recommend the same kind of risky speculation to others who are asking for general investment advice, that's when it bothers me.

[Retired To Win]

One big takeaway for me from reading the Saving Advice blogs is that being able to journal about financial problems, goals and progress really does seem to help a lot of people get and stay on paths to fiscal discipline and financial progress.

[ladonnarosso]

This is a great post and I would agree that I have taken many of those same sentiments awat from reading forums and blog posts on this site. My husband and I also have pensions that we are extremely grateful for (and that I hope are still around when we retire )