Well, how much do you have in your 401K and how old are you?

Discussion in 'Industry Veterans' started by Anonymous, Nov 5, 2009 at 5:50 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No. 76, we are the same age. If you were born within a very narrow time range, 1946-1954 (early baby boomers, as some will call it) your chances of retiring and living well (assuming proper saving and investment) are pretty good. Being born in 1949, I didn't start saving for retirement until 1990 at age 41. Most of my financial rewards again came over a very narrow time frame, 1990-2000, when the Dow went from 3000-11,000 with annualized returns of about 18%. If I had begun investing one decade later I would be SOL like so many middle and late boomers are, not to mention Gen X and Gen Y. I would, by necessity have to become a market timer rather than a buy and holder, make riskier investment decisions, and probably wind up on food astamps.
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    #81, you make some outstanding points. I wish I would have exercised more judgement when I was 25-30 than I did. The variable that makes your 401K great is time. When you start late, time does not have the same impact. your right, I am fine financially because I "maxed out" every savings program I could when I was 36-37. we did not even have a 401K offered until I was in my 30's. I also had the opportunity to stay with the same company 35 years (we were not sold or merged with any other company during that time). That is just luck. They matched 5% of my income and never deviated from that number. I went ahead and put 15% for the last 15 years of my service. I had reps, however, that I knew wexactly what they made and they put in 3-4% of their income (a few did not take advantage of the 401K plan at all). I also had many that borrowed against their 401K which is crazy, but they did it to get into a bigger house or swimming pool, new car, etc.

    Being raised by parents that were in the depression, taught me differently about money. With all of the layoffs, mergers, downsizing, and loss of jobs in general, I think this generation will not retire when the Baby Boomers do and may not retire at all. I hope I'm wrong.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    47K is average because some people are only 20 years old and have $981 in there.
    I know a guy that is 50 and has under $5k and a loan that he is paying back at $4.98 per pay and not adding any more or taking the company match. How cool is that?
    You know why? Because he can't afford to put any more in there. Just think if he were unemployed, how much would the average unemployed person have in their 401K?
    Most people cash out when they change jobs (or loose them).
    I think a 401k in the $400k range is fine...then put money into an Roth IRA, emergency savings, pay off your home, get out of debt, and enjoy your life...there is no guarantee of being around to collect at age 65 or needing it at age 92. People live off only SS checks (not well, but they live). There is your no BS answer.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    How did you build up some much equity so fast? Do you have a working spouse who also contributes heavily? Did you start with any kind of inheritance or big cash gift from parents?

    To have over 600k at your age is phenomenal and makes me wonder what I've been doing wrong. I thought I was always doing the right things -- living well under my means and always saving/investing much to my long term goals.

    I'm 38 and have about $220k in net worth. How do you have so much?
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you are saying $220K in net worth,-maybe you are already deducting outstanding mortgage/auto loans/HELOCs. etc into your calculation and still $220K ahead. I suppose some of the others posting might not be. Possibly they have three or four hundred grand of debt which lowers the net worth they show. But you don't always see it in their posts. I am only guessing as none of us really know all the particulars of the people who post here. When I figure my own net worth I deduct all outstanding debt.

    I know people who have made just as much as me but have less to show (not that I am doing great by any means). Its just that they spent the last 20 years jumping from one job to another never staying long enough at any one place to keep prior company's 401K match. Over a 20 year span it really can be costly. After tax salary increases to jump jobs don't cancel out thousands of $ in tax deferred matches left on the table where dividends and interest could have been re-invested and continued to grow. Plus, they stepped into a $350 to 500K mortgage which always scared me. I'm a chicken my nature. I have always banked 90% of any bonuses earned. Some don't. And you mention something in your post above that is very important,-having a working spouse who also invests/saves. Can make a big, big difference over time. Maybe some other posts are including spouse $'s and some are not. Again-I'm only guessing.
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I can’t speak for anyone else but the way I made it was taking a risk 17 years ago. I was at a “big big big pharma” right out of college when they were hiring like crazy. I did one year and absolutely hated it and starting looking into the “biotech” companies. When I left the big comapny my colleagues thought I was crazy for taking such a risk and leaving the “security” of the big company. Oddly enough many of them have been laid off from various different Big Pharma’s and very few have created any wealth. I accumulated shares of stock via ESPP, sign on options, and merit options and grants. For 15 years I did this and recently the company was sold and anyone who was there for more than 8 years made over $1M. The only way to create wealth in the biopharma space is through the stock. Now a big part of that team have moved on post buyout to a new opportunity and what I have found is that there are groups of people on the BD side that follow each other especially in the Boston and SF Bay biotech communities. They are all chasing and looking to create the next Gilead or Genentech.

    There are still plenty of opportunities out there to do this but you have to get out of the mindscape of playing it safe at big pharma and you have to do your homework and not rely on calls from recruiters or job boards. The good companies do not need either to attract talent.

    First step is to look for bio’s that are a year or two away from having a commercial drug and start following them and do your research. Become an expert. If you are not willing to put the time and effort in the you should prepare for a career muddled in big pharma with very little chance of creating wealth. It’s not going to be easy and there is no guarantee
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I think you definitely did the right thing. Going with a smaller company is better for potential earnings, even though it does carry some risk. I started with a comapny that was initially very small but grew to a top 20 company. If I could do things over again, I might have tried a smaller biotech company. However, I stayed my entire career with one company. It made my retirement easier, but I sure did not have much fun during those final years.
     
  8. cruzinman

    cruzinman Guest

    No. 86, I did the same thing about the same time. Cashed out stock options at 8-10X purchase price when went public. The problem is that today is that the multiples are MUCH smaller. In fact when I went with my start-up I actually took a pay cut to get in on the ground floor with the options. Don't think that's a winning strategy these days. People may be taking pay cuts these days, but for entirely different reasons.
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I retired this year and had 475,000 in 401k plus took lump sum pension. Think it's enough? Think again! Yes, my former employer claimed to provide medical (not dental) in retirement, they capped it at 1994 rates! The monthly cost to me is $560 plus big deductibles and out of pocket max for 2011 and it will only go up from there. In addition, the only medical insurance offered is out of network and I'll have to drive 1 1/2 hours to find in network care. Don't even think about trying to buy your own insurance in your 60s - you'll be denied. Changes I'd have made - put money in a Roth every year, made more independent investments. Don't count on your employers for anything.
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Sorry, #89, you're dead wrong. I'm 61.5 years old and have a good individual policy with BC/BS for which I pay $560/month. Plus in my state insurance companies are prohibited by law from raising rates by more than 15% in any given 4 year period.
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    I'm married, but I don't count my wife's savings or 401k. We keep it separate, she has a small savings and about 100k in 401k.

    I was in pharma, then went over to device for about 5 years, that's where I made some good money. In pharma, I never made more than 100k, in device I made about 200k a year (some years 250k, some 175k, but on avg, 200k). I guess that's where I've gained most of my worth.

    I pretty much made everything on my own (no gifts, etc).

    I live in a high cost of living area, so my income (plus my wife's) doesn't make me feel as secure as I'd like. We do extremely well, but I never feel like I have enough.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    Poster #86 here. Funny I work in oncology and I never once took a pay cut and I received more options than ever at my latest endeavor. I think it is very specialty dependant. The folks at Dendreon are making crazy money and they were front loaded with stock so there are still opportunities out there if you are in the right therapeutic specialty. The oncology reference labs are making a lot of dough as well.
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    It is that attitude that will keep you ahead financially. Most people don't think about potential problems until they are faced with one.

    I operate the same way you do. Keep putting money away and lowering our debt load. Fortunately I'm almost there. House will be paid off this summer and no other debt. It takes the stress out of pharma.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No. 86, I think that that, aside from the money, working for a small startup is plain more fun than big pharma. What's the #1 complaint on these boards besides job secuity? BOREDOM.
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Hummm, I don't know what to think. I'm 55. Have about 589,000 in my 401K. House worth about $340 and owe 110 on it. No other debt. About 80K in other savings.
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Hope you have a great pension plan..
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No pension plan.
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I just retired and I do have a pension from the company (they have since discarded the pension plan for people coming on board after 2004). This is a non-contributing pension fund so there is not "lump" sum. My financial advisor told me if you receive 5,000 dollar per month, it approximately the same as having another 1.2 million in the bank (based on receiving 4-5% distribution from a sum like that). To retire, you really need to have something like this in place (or an equivalent).
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I'm 48 and only have $165K in 401K, and about $160K in cash. I didn't realize how far behind I was until I read this post. I've never been married, no kids, so no excuse for me. I just never had a high salary.
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You can still catch up. Put the max away which is $16,500 and once you hit 50 you can do the catch up contributions for an additional $5,500 or $2500 depending on your 401k plan. Bang that out from now until you are 65 ½ and you will be surprised how much you can accumulate and grow over the next 17 years. You should be fine and if you have a couple of good market runs you could be doing better than fine. Good luck.