I sometimes like to convince myself that I have many years left to save for my retirement. I probably do -- 35 years or so at least. So, that's the excuse I give myself to just wing it when it comes to money; No penny pinching, no fiscal discipline, no keeping track of every single dollar I spent.
Yet, I have only 2 debts:
1) Mortgage (15 yr fixed rate at 4.5%)
2) Auto Loan (3 yr fixed rate at 5.0%)
I really don't consider my mortgage a real debt since I have about $40K equity in my home. But realistically I pay $400/mo in interest and $400/mo in taxes and insurance, which is really comparable to paying rent. So really I only have my car loan, which I hope to pay off in 12 months.
I do have a little bit of savings. I am still a bit skittish when it comes to stocks, so I never hold stocks very long, and so far, knock on wood, I haven't sold any stock at a loss, and only my mutual funds have lost money since I bought it but they're in my roth, so I won't sell those for a long time.
Cash: 51.7%
Stocks: 36.3%
Mutual Funds: 7.9%
CDs: 4.1%
Back, and winging it.
February 23rd, 2010 at 04:30 pm
February 23rd, 2010 at 04:56 pm 1266944173
I don't understand why you do not consider the mortgage to be debt. You pay $400 in interest on the debt, $400 on tax and insurance, and then I presume something is going to the principal of the loan. Do you mean just that you spend no more for housing than you would spend if you were renting, so the expense is unavoidable, one way or the other?
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:51 pm 1266965470