Running Scared?
I have a motivation problem. I’m not ‘running scared’ anymore. In the past, I’ve paid off all my consumer debt and lived within my means. I wasn’t saving anything though. I felt like the world was going to crash down all around me if I missed a payment.
Right now, because I am making a great salary doing something I like doing, I am too comfy. Savings is going into the bank. The bills are getting paid on time. Life is great!
The problem is life is great. I am not being squished by my debt. I know I could just cut off my 401k contributions this year and hack away at my credit cards pretty solidly.
At the suggestion of NCN, and I’m really sorry if I’m repeating myself here, I did some calculations about it. I really think that the dental payment plan and my credit cards are best served if I cut back on my retirement contributions for the moment.
I can’t let myself get too comfortable. I’m starting to feel like Lyndsey. I don’t want to be a Lyndsey. This stuff has got to freakin’ go.
I gotta keep giving myself these damned pep talks.
Mrs. Micah wrote:
Peptalks are good. Mr. Micah gave me one when I didn’t want to go to work this morning. Though that was less about comfort and more about paralysis.
Hope you find motivation!
Posted on 26-Sep-07 at 9:16 am | Permalink
thisisbeth wrote:
Pep talks are good. You are smart and capable and you can accomplish what you need. And repeating things is very good–it reinforces the lesson/goal.
Posted on 26-Sep-07 at 12:49 pm | Permalink
Asset Gatherer wrote:
Mapgirl, you can so do this! It could be a LOOOOTTTT worse, but you’re not even going to go there. Just keep looking forward and don’t worry about what’s behind you.
Posted on 26-Sep-07 at 5:13 pm | Permalink
Andrew Stevens wrote:
Try not to get too complacent. I’m right with you on cutting back on retirement saving in order to get rid of your debts. In the long run, that’s probably a very smart choice. Just make sure to roll that money back into retirement saving once the debts are gone. Never consider cutting back on retirement saving (other than to get rid of debt or avoid going into it) until you have at least twice your current income saved up for retirement. Then you can think about it, at least if you’re not yet 40 at that point.
Also, make sure you get the full employer matching contribution to your 401(k) no matter what you do. There is no return, even very high-interest credit card debt, that beats employer match.
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 4:05 am | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Dear Andrew,
I have a true-up so I am getting the full match from my company though my last 7 paychecks have zero % contributions for the rest of the year. Trust me. I’ve done the math here.
“And then I remembered that my company does a 401k true-up. So I called my benefits department to confirm this and they said yes, they do.”
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 7:28 am | Permalink
Sistah Ant wrote:
What’s a “true-up”?
And good for you for giving yourself a pep talk! As long as you remember what’s important to you and prioritize it in your actions, you’ll be making progress!
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 9:29 am | Permalink
Andrew Stevens wrote:
I hadn’t remembered your true-up post. My company doesn’t offer that so you have to be careful if you frontload your contributions beyond the maximum allowed. In that case, you should be in good shape.
For what it’s worth, my retirement priorities are:
1) 401(k) to full company match
2) maximize Roth IRA
3) anything additional goes into 401(k) without match
I feel pretty strongly that the Roth is a better bet than 401(k) without match as long as you’re reasonably young (younger than 50, say), unless you expect to be paying significantly less taxes in retirement.
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 11:23 am | Permalink
Msminiducky wrote:
Hey, if pep talks are what it takes, pep talk away! Thank goodness for the true-up, you won’t be *hurt* by the lost savings.
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 12:46 pm | Permalink