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Letter to the editor

Time, discipline are nest egg keys

By HELEN HUNTLEY, Personal Finance Editor
Published December 2, 2007

We asked

How are you saving for retirement? Do you have a goal and do you expect to reach it?

Twenty years ago we had $9 in our checking account, but now we're close to our goal of a seven-figure nest egg. We did it by following the old adage of "live below your means." Both our cars have more than 100,000 miles, but we're in no hurry to trade them in. We paid off the mortgage nine years ago, but continued to save the monthly payment. Always max out your IRA or 401k every year, avoid credit card debt, and you can retire comfortably - without a pension.

Peter J. Ford, Tierra Verde

I contribute the maximum allowed to a simple IRA through my business. That money goes into mutual funds, so I do not have to watch constantly. In addition, we bought our office building and pay a mortgage for the rent. We plan to hold the property for at least 15 years and hope, by then, the equity along with the IRA will be adequate to fund our retirement.

April Hill, Gulfport

Saving for retirement is simple and easy: We max our 401(k), Roth and SEP-IRA contributions, use low-fee Vanguard funds whenever possible, and diversify risk with a balanced mix of indexed funds, insurance products, real estate and cash.

Billy Ball, Pinellas Park

I take advantage of my employer's 401(k) plan, which includes a company match provision. Currently, I am channeling about 8 percent of my gross pay into it. I will be upping that to at least 12 percent in 2008. My goal is to reach $1-million by 2015. A significant portion of my retirement assets are in stocks, thus I'm putting a lot of confidence in the stock market.

Chas. Lehnert, Riverview

Set your goals beyond your expected realm of reach and be disciplined about getting there. If your company pension and Social Security remain intact, it will be icing on the cake. If not, hopefully you will not have to sustain on three square meals of oatmeal daily if you have prepared accordingly.

Marv Bachman, Clearwater

You asked

What are potential employers looking for when they look at an applicant's credit report? What do they want to see and not see?

Employers who use credit reports as a screening tool are checking for problems such as collections, judgments, tax liens and maxed-out credit cards. An employer might see credit problems as a potential distraction from your focus on your job, a temptation to steal if you handle cash or a vulnerability to bribery or extortion if you have access to sensitive information. By the way, employer inquiries do not hurt your credit score the way that lender inquiries do.

Next week's question

How do you handle charitable giving? Do you give a set percentage of income or a dollar amount to charity?

To ask a question, make a comment or answer the Money Question of Week, e-mail hhuntley@sptimes.com or write Helen Huntley, PO Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Visit her MoneyTalk blog (blogs.tampabay.com/money) for more money information.

[Last modified November 30, 2007, 17:40:46]