Owner Operators Savings & Retirement

Going against the grain here but a Roth IRA, IRA, 401k, Roth 401k can be seized by the government at any time they wish therefore I don't participate in the scam. That's not crazy talk. In the 1930's they decided to seize gold from private individuals and that's what they did. It's a shame to have that kind of capital tied up and out of reach because of tax penalties. I understand most people can't manage money and need that to protect themselves from themselves. Otherwise they will end up in old age penniless. But personally the only IRA or 401k i'll ever need will be funded and managed by Rollin Coal and will be accessible to me whenever I choose with no penalties. I understand tax wise it's not the best way but at least I can get to my cash quickly and never suffer any consequences for using it. I'mean a big fan of the principles Dave Ramsey teaches and used to listen to and follow his advice (still do) since the late 90's. However he is wrong about investing in sham manipulated stock markets and has also been wrong about precious metals.

 

OP: You can pull as much principal out of a Roth IRA as you want, at any time, for any reason, without penalty or tax. There are only penalties on withdrawing gains unless you are older than 59.5 years old.

rollin coal: You think the govt can seize your retirement accounts, but not normal bank accounts? Anything that's "on the grid" can be seized at any time. The only thing that's "safe" would be something buried in your back yard that the govt doesn't know about. And even that's debatable because as you mentioned with FDR's gold seizures, govt cronies went house to house collecting physical gold from people.

 

Thought O/O could not retire. You had to truck till you are dead!

 

They didn't seize gold from individuals, they made it impossible to use gold as currency, many banks had exchange programs setup. They seized it from banks and other places where they stored it. Can you imagine the rioting that would have taken place if they went door to door trying to confiscate someone's gold?

 

I've read the book and I listen to his radio show everyday and gold is highly volatile and useless in every situation.

Buying gold does nothing for someone if an economy crashes because then someone who takes charge will get their face printed on new currency (Iraq) and gold will "decrease in value", and thus it's usefulness and someone will be stuck like chuck with a huge stockpile of a worthless "currency" trying to sell off to the next "sucker".

I'll stick to the Roth IRA and 401k than put my trust in a degrading, let's change what got us this far government anyday and I mean from all sides of government. It's the truth. I'd rather put my future in my hands rather than another man's hand and thought pattern trying to make everything equal for everyone.

Hard work and common sense goes further than what's going around today.

op I'd invest and listen to what he is saying, he is a multi millionaire. His teaching goes against the grain of, I'm sorry, the entitlement message and I'd rather have that than depend on a debt ridden message.

my motive is not to be critical.

 

This country isn't really a country that encourages savings despite vehicles like IRAs etc, and so far the comments illustrate the fact there is a great distrust of the Govt. I don't trust the Govt either and quite frankly, I'm not a fan of Ramsey and his ilk. But whatever floats your boat. Unfortunately in order to retire in such a way where you don't have to worry about cash, and that you can be deemed independently wealthy, you have to start investing really early in life, as in your early 20s. Because compound interest is a very powerful thing. The longer you leave it, the more difficult it gets to accumulate.
One of the biggest mistakes I made in life was selling my home in the UK instead of keeping it and renting it out. I bought it in '82 so by now, it would've been paid off and be able to create a solid base of a nest egg for the future.

I think owning real estate if bought correctly is an excellent way to create wealth. But it's like anything else. It takes time. I don't need the Ramsey's of this world to figure out the value of $$, and how to save. If he wants to rag on folks about debt, let him first bang on the doors of Washington DC. They're the biggest culprits.
If you don't understand the stock market, how to invest in it, then you're going to have a negative attitude towards it. Gold is only good as a hedge against currency fluctuations but I wouldn't call it a classic investment. Better to invest in a few great companies and let your money grow. The trick is to choose which companies.
Investing takes time, knowledge and I certainly don't listen to the mainstream media and those radio Hawks that love to fuel their own egos. There are plenty of avenues on the Internet etc to gain knowledge of investing, from people who know their stuff.
good luck.

 

I disagree regarding investments. What I have found works well for me is index funds. Instead of having to research companies and invest in their stocks, you just buy the entire market. I'm invested mostly in VTSMX which is an index of 3800 stocks. It has averaged about 10% per year since its inception. Then I have a bond index fund and an international index fund for even more diversity. I just add money to them every year and never have to worry about buying and selling individual stocks. And it's been shown that index funds actually outperform actively managed funds, and picking stocks: http://www.businessinsider.com/index-funds-beat-actively-managed-funds-2013-6

Everything else you said about starting early, and real estate being a good option, I absolutely agree with. I have a co worker who just started his first 401k and he's in his 50s. I'm not sure what he hopes to accomplish but I wish him the best.

 

It's the great history lesson, people who depend on others, government, families, etc etc etc if that entity fails they are unprepared and destroyed because of that dependence. Taking matters into your own hands, with proper research if far better than to follow a crowd off a cliff.

Yes it is ideal to start retirement young due to compound interest but that does not excuse a person who is older from being without and still in financial woes. Many older people who make far more in more cases can still sock away a hefty amount of money for their retirement. They just have to start instead of saying "woe is me."

Your home issue you have to include risk into that. What happens if you had to fix whatever. Risk has to be included in your plans.

He does "rag" against Washington. But just because people in Washington are making horrible decisions doesn't mean citizens have to follow that path. By the way he loves real estate that is where the majority of his assets are. And he doesn't owe anyone a dime on it. That's how you own real estate. Not trying to do this leverage use other people's money hype stuff. That left him broke when he was 27ish.

I understand stocks pretty well, and I know risk with proper understanding of it is better than risking your whole ideals on one commodity like gold or silver. It's not what people assume it is and it's not a safe investment to base ones future lively hood on.

Sure if one doesn't understand something they should research before doing so. Also if there is someone willing to help and he has been there done that, just like in trucking, I'd follow his advice, rather than disregarding it and thinking I know better.

Planning and preparation leads to people's perception of "luck". So thank you, same to you.