Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future does a good job of debunking the 70-80% of income replacement figure.
Of course, I'm reluctant to plug this line, since most Americans save far to little and are praying for a miracle to bail them out. But for WiseBread readers who are already good savers but scared about those numbers, this book should be reassuring.
Gas prices will keep rising for geological reasons and these vehicles can be as little as 1-2mpg more than the "old" one and still get our taxpayer money.
Very very stupid.
There are better ways to fund sustainable development. This ain't it!
I can't say much for gas mileage (which appears to be the "heart" behind this legislation), but in my opinion, this goes counter to how I was raised. Getting rid of a perfectly good car that gets 2 MPG less than a new one is not green. (My 95 Saturn 4-door gets way more gas mileage than these new cars they are putting on the market.. seriously.) Using what you have, modifying to make it better, and using it only when you need to? That's greener living. Trashing the old to make way for the new ends up with just that... more trash.
What ever happened to "be happy with what you have?" Especially when you are talking 2 MPG... geez.
I applaud and value many of the comments on this blog, and thank you Nora for sharing. I wish to add to the conversation an important aspect, though.
The cultural capital accrued by an readily-employable-in-the-mainstream, educated, English-speaking, (white?), North American, young, able-bodied, (cisgender?) [etc] person is an important underlying ingredient here that needs to be made visible. Although there is some animosity and danger out there in the world, there is also a lot of privilege to fall back upon.
I just offer this as a reminder, since I know all the intelligent folks on this site easily adapt advice to their own situations.
this is not going to help anything! THE GOVERNMENT NNEDS TO THINK EARTHWISE! the thing that should be happening is money being spent on alternative fuel and a way to incorperate that into the cars we already drive. Giving incentives for ppl to switch, Like vouchers, tax rebates, affordable conversion options, and the alt. fuel to be affordable as well as available.
Great post. I find myself fretting too much about how much income that I will need in retirement. This instills the hope in me that I can pull it off with determination and maybe a little luck. Thanks.
Thank you for posting this! I came to this realization from the other direction. After many long years of graduate school, living on $3000/yr each (late 70s-mid 80s), my husband and I finally got jobs--in different states. We continued to live as we had done, because we were very busy--I did not have a car and my husband bought a clunker for $200--and we saved more than half our combined salaries. Without even trying. This was not a life of deprivation. Eventually, we bought a house, car, had kids, etc--and we always took expensive vacations--but our financial security began with that first year of work.
Sorry, but this is too basic. Where's the advice for those of us who've purchased less home than we could afford, who have paid cash for our car, and forgo magazine subscriptions and Netflix?
Yes! Yes! Yes! My husband's job (very stressful) was eliminated and when he found a new on it is paying almost half of what he was making. Two good things have happened. He is happy and finding time to garden and cook and enjoy life (no, there is not more time but more energy) and we are paying all our bills and eating well and enjoying our life. Money isn't the only answer!
I don't qualify because my car already gets good gas mileage. My dad swears by the car buying process here: http://excarsalesman.typepad.com/. It is kind of similar.
I haven't tried it yet, but I might because it looks good.
I have a feeling dealers are going to automatically increase prices because of the increased demand (artificial) for lower MPG cars. So the thousands of savings from this bill for consumers is not entirely accurate. The demand will increase prices and you'll get a voucher from increased prices. I'm certain some markets you'll come out even as if they never offered this voucher. It is poorly written legislation.
I know this is a Wisebread article, but a point seems to be missed. Everyone is focused on the cash, but this program will get poorly running and gas-guzzling cars off the road.
The problem is that people have a paid-for old clunker that makes sense financially, but pollutes and drains fuel. It has been calculated (I can't find the article but here is http://www.detnews.com/article/20090327/AUTO01/903270399/1148/rss25) that if every car in America increased their fuel efficiency by 8% on average, then the US would not be dependent on foreign oil. (I'm sure we'd still import, but we wouldn't be forced to). This program provides an incentive to recycle their guzzlers to help meet this goal.
Is the economy so bad that we forget what was important 1 or 2 years ago? This program is part of a much larger goal than just trying to distribute wealth.
Wow that really hurts. And what we don't consider are all the new people needed to administer the program. How much of our tax dollars actually goes towards cars? The way I figure it each of us rents half a bureaucrat, and they're answerable to none of us.
My husband and I are certified organic producers of witch hazel and witch hazel hydrosol. We are working on some videos about harvesting and processing certified organic witch hazel and I will send you the link when they are posted.
Great post and thank you. We will link to it from our page.
Penny and George
A Wild Crops Farm
I have a late-90's SUV that qualifies. The car has been paid-off since 2002, and is starting to have some major issues (13 years old). I already expected to have to buy a car by the end of 2009 (hate spending $$ on cars), so this bill is perfect for me.
I make 6 figs. and I dumpster dive on occasion. It has nothing to do with money, though free food is of course fun. I don't need the mony - I can afford food.
But it's fun to dive! It's like a treasure hunt. It also makes me feel a lot better about my environmental impact knowing that not only did I save food from being wasted, but I also properly recycled the containers that food came in, keeping them out of the landfill. I avoided new food having to be grown, packaged, and shipped to the store for me.
My respect to those who do it out of need.
Really, I can only recomend that you try it ONCE. You will almost certainly be VERY nervous about being caught. But the first time you find something, it really will feel like you found a prize. It's like coming on a patch of raspberries growing wild in the woods.
Sanitation has never been an issue. Like others have said, just use common sense. You wash your food after brining it home from the grocery store don't you? I know I do. Same thing applies. I have never seen a rat in a dumpster.
Love this advise - It's helpful to priortize savings opportunities. My home is my single, largest expenditure and while I'm not willing to give up my home (yet), I found a few web sites that help reduce home related expenses - my favortie is whitefence.com. It helped me save money on my internet and phone by bundling - I had these services through seperate companies. You can compare other services too like cable, satellite TV, and electricity. A couple of other sites that I have found helpful are mint.com for budgeting and billshrink - I recently renewed my cell service and checked here to make sure I was getting the best deal.
I have definitely benefited greatly by keeping some of my bigger expenses much lower than average.
(Taxes are not one of them. I'd rather have a high income than my mediocre income, though not enough to work at a high-hour or high-stress job. I do keep my donation receipts and itemize my deductions and occasionally save taxes by buying online or on tax-free holidays, but those aren't big savings.)
My biggest savings are on housing, which eats only 21% of my budget. My main strategy is to always have a housemate. I've never had a bad one (destroying my stuff, not paying rent). I spend more time at home with my favorites, less with my less favorites, but mostly I love having some handy socialization that doesn't require making an appointment.
Currently I also live in a house that cost me only 60% of the median house price when I bought it. I gave up square footage and live in a marginal neighborhood, but the house is well built and in a convenient location. I got a fixed mortgage, and refinanced to a 15-year fixed mortgage. I try to maintain the house before small problems become expensive problems. It is not cheaper than an apartment now, but it will be in four years when it's paid off and I have only taxes, insurance and repairs to pay for.
I could save more money by living on the street, living out of a car, or living in a trailer, but I have a lot of stuff and space-consuming hobbies, so I'm happy with my current compromise except that actually I want to spend more on a renovation to get a real laundry room, a dishwasher, a walk-in closet, and covered off-street parking (I'm currently saving an additional 6% of my income toward that). I could save more by marrying this housemate and making him pay for half the repairs, too, but there are more important issues to resolve first.
I also spend less than the average for my area (where virtually everyone has a car) on transportation (9%). I pay cash for reliable low-mileage models ten years old and keep them ten years or so. I don't drive them much (free bus to work). I don't buy collision insurance--if I crash my car and it's my fault, I'll just have to eat it! I could do without a car (and did for four years), but I really love the freedom, especially now that very few of my friends live on a busline, and I love that I can lend my car to others when theirs is in the shop (I regularly lend to both my boyfriend and my sister). I am happy with this compromise.
And I spend much less than others on clothing (by shopping mostly at thrift stores), movies (using mostly Netflix), books (using mostly the library and checking addall.com for the rest), and make-up (I wear it only a few times a year). Oh, and glasses (online sellers! woo hoo!)
Also, I finally paid off my student loans and don't have credit card debt, so I pay much less consumer credit interest than others (0% of my income).
I also have no dependents and am very lucky to be healthy, collect very few injuries, and like my reasonably priced location just fine (I haven't fallen in love with New York, Boston, or even San Francisco partly because they're too cold!).
These savings allow me to spend much more than average in other categories: retirement savings (20%), charity (10%), and what I call "long-term fun" (8%) - stuff I have to save up for, usually vacations, sometimes electronics, furniture, or this year, a really big baby shower gift.
I have an old car that could be traded in, but I won't even be trying.
When the government pays for something, they have to get the money from somewhere. That means they take it from me or my neighbors, or worse, they'll take it from my children.
I wouldn't be willing to go around to each of my neighbors and say "Will you give me money so I can buy a new car?" So I'm not willing to ask the government.
I'm living in a city with readily available public transportation but am planning to move to a city without it. So I have to buy a car. But I just graduated from grad school, so I don't really have the cash -- $3500 would be a huge help toward a car for me. Except I don't have one to trade in, because I was already poor and using public transportation, which already helps the environment. Damn. Think I could get a $300 clunker from a scrapyard and trade *that* in?
Buying less house than you can afford (unthinkable just a few years back) is a great way to save money and provide yourself some freedom. This, of course, may not be possible (or may even be dangerous) in expensive housing markets. My husband and I bought a house that we could afford on one salary, if necessary. When my child entered middle school and we all thought it would be best if one parent was at home with her, I was able to quit my day job without being overly concerned (I freelance a bit, and plan to return to the daily grind when she is in high school). The only downside is that my friends (who have much bigger, nicer houses) are jealous.
Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future does a good job of debunking the 70-80% of income replacement figure.
Of course, I'm reluctant to plug this line, since most Americans save far to little and are praying for a miracle to bail them out. But for WiseBread readers who are already good savers but scared about those numbers, this book should be reassuring.
the converter box sucks you cant realy even find good channels you like SO DONT BUY IT IT SUCKS
This program is terrible.
Gas prices will keep rising for geological reasons and these vehicles can be as little as 1-2mpg more than the "old" one and still get our taxpayer money.
Very very stupid.
There are better ways to fund sustainable development. This ain't it!
I can't say much for gas mileage (which appears to be the "heart" behind this legislation), but in my opinion, this goes counter to how I was raised. Getting rid of a perfectly good car that gets 2 MPG less than a new one is not green. (My 95 Saturn 4-door gets way more gas mileage than these new cars they are putting on the market.. seriously.) Using what you have, modifying to make it better, and using it only when you need to? That's greener living. Trashing the old to make way for the new ends up with just that... more trash.
What ever happened to "be happy with what you have?" Especially when you are talking 2 MPG... geez.
Great topic, Xin!
Linsey Knerl
I applaud and value many of the comments on this blog, and thank you Nora for sharing. I wish to add to the conversation an important aspect, though.
The cultural capital accrued by an readily-employable-in-the-mainstream, educated, English-speaking, (white?), North American, young, able-bodied, (cisgender?) [etc] person is an important underlying ingredient here that needs to be made visible. Although there is some animosity and danger out there in the world, there is also a lot of privilege to fall back upon.
I just offer this as a reminder, since I know all the intelligent folks on this site easily adapt advice to their own situations.
Peace.
this is not going to help anything! THE GOVERNMENT NNEDS TO THINK EARTHWISE! the thing that should be happening is money being spent on alternative fuel and a way to incorperate that into the cars we already drive. Giving incentives for ppl to switch, Like vouchers, tax rebates, affordable conversion options, and the alt. fuel to be affordable as well as available.
Great post. I find myself fretting too much about how much income that I will need in retirement. This instills the hope in me that I can pull it off with determination and maybe a little luck. Thanks.
Great post! It's so true. People often wonder how in the world we get by on our limited income and your post explains it better than I ever have.
Thank you for posting this! I came to this realization from the other direction. After many long years of graduate school, living on $3000/yr each (late 70s-mid 80s), my husband and I finally got jobs--in different states. We continued to live as we had done, because we were very busy--I did not have a car and my husband bought a clunker for $200--and we saved more than half our combined salaries. Without even trying. This was not a life of deprivation. Eventually, we bought a house, car, had kids, etc--and we always took expensive vacations--but our financial security began with that first year of work.
Knowing that makes me less fearful of the future.
Again, this is truly inspirational.
Sorry, but this is too basic. Where's the advice for those of us who've purchased less home than we could afford, who have paid cash for our car, and forgo magazine subscriptions and Netflix?
If you choose "Credit" when you check-out, you can not get cash back. Only if you choose "Debit" is when you can get cash back.
Yes! Yes! Yes! My husband's job (very stressful) was eliminated and when he found a new on it is paying almost half of what he was making. Two good things have happened. He is happy and finding time to garden and cook and enjoy life (no, there is not more time but more energy) and we are paying all our bills and eating well and enjoying our life. Money isn't the only answer!
you'll definitely find ways to live less expensively.. been there and still doin' that :(
I don't qualify because my car already gets good gas mileage. My dad swears by the car buying process here: http://excarsalesman.typepad.com/. It is kind of similar.
I haven't tried it yet, but I might because it looks good.
I have a feeling dealers are going to automatically increase prices because of the increased demand (artificial) for lower MPG cars. So the thousands of savings from this bill for consumers is not entirely accurate. The demand will increase prices and you'll get a voucher from increased prices. I'm certain some markets you'll come out even as if they never offered this voucher. It is poorly written legislation.
I know this is a Wisebread article, but a point seems to be missed. Everyone is focused on the cash, but this program will get poorly running and gas-guzzling cars off the road.
The problem is that people have a paid-for old clunker that makes sense financially, but pollutes and drains fuel. It has been calculated (I can't find the article but here is http://www.detnews.com/article/20090327/AUTO01/903270399/1148/rss25) that if every car in America increased their fuel efficiency by 8% on average, then the US would not be dependent on foreign oil. (I'm sure we'd still import, but we wouldn't be forced to). This program provides an incentive to recycle their guzzlers to help meet this goal.
Is the economy so bad that we forget what was important 1 or 2 years ago? This program is part of a much larger goal than just trying to distribute wealth.
Wow that really hurts. And what we don't consider are all the new people needed to administer the program. How much of our tax dollars actually goes towards cars? The way I figure it each of us rents half a bureaucrat, and they're answerable to none of us.
My husband and I are certified organic producers of witch hazel and witch hazel hydrosol. We are working on some videos about harvesting and processing certified organic witch hazel and I will send you the link when they are posted.
Great post and thank you. We will link to it from our page.
Penny and George
A Wild Crops Farm
I have a late-90's SUV that qualifies. The car has been paid-off since 2002, and is starting to have some major issues (13 years old). I already expected to have to buy a car by the end of 2009 (hate spending $$ on cars), so this bill is perfect for me.
I make 6 figs. and I dumpster dive on occasion. It has nothing to do with money, though free food is of course fun. I don't need the mony - I can afford food.
But it's fun to dive! It's like a treasure hunt. It also makes me feel a lot better about my environmental impact knowing that not only did I save food from being wasted, but I also properly recycled the containers that food came in, keeping them out of the landfill. I avoided new food having to be grown, packaged, and shipped to the store for me.
My respect to those who do it out of need.
Really, I can only recomend that you try it ONCE. You will almost certainly be VERY nervous about being caught. But the first time you find something, it really will feel like you found a prize. It's like coming on a patch of raspberries growing wild in the woods.
Sanitation has never been an issue. Like others have said, just use common sense. You wash your food after brining it home from the grocery store don't you? I know I do. Same thing applies. I have never seen a rat in a dumpster.
Clearly you have never been starving.
Love this advise - It's helpful to priortize savings opportunities. My home is my single, largest expenditure and while I'm not willing to give up my home (yet), I found a few web sites that help reduce home related expenses - my favortie is whitefence.com. It helped me save money on my internet and phone by bundling - I had these services through seperate companies. You can compare other services too like cable, satellite TV, and electricity. A couple of other sites that I have found helpful are mint.com for budgeting and billshrink - I recently renewed my cell service and checked here to make sure I was getting the best deal.
I have definitely benefited greatly by keeping some of my bigger expenses much lower than average.
(Taxes are not one of them. I'd rather have a high income than my mediocre income, though not enough to work at a high-hour or high-stress job. I do keep my donation receipts and itemize my deductions and occasionally save taxes by buying online or on tax-free holidays, but those aren't big savings.)
My biggest savings are on housing, which eats only 21% of my budget. My main strategy is to always have a housemate. I've never had a bad one (destroying my stuff, not paying rent). I spend more time at home with my favorites, less with my less favorites, but mostly I love having some handy socialization that doesn't require making an appointment.
Currently I also live in a house that cost me only 60% of the median house price when I bought it. I gave up square footage and live in a marginal neighborhood, but the house is well built and in a convenient location. I got a fixed mortgage, and refinanced to a 15-year fixed mortgage. I try to maintain the house before small problems become expensive problems. It is not cheaper than an apartment now, but it will be in four years when it's paid off and I have only taxes, insurance and repairs to pay for.
I could save more money by living on the street, living out of a car, or living in a trailer, but I have a lot of stuff and space-consuming hobbies, so I'm happy with my current compromise except that actually I want to spend more on a renovation to get a real laundry room, a dishwasher, a walk-in closet, and covered off-street parking (I'm currently saving an additional 6% of my income toward that). I could save more by marrying this housemate and making him pay for half the repairs, too, but there are more important issues to resolve first.
I also spend less than the average for my area (where virtually everyone has a car) on transportation (9%). I pay cash for reliable low-mileage models ten years old and keep them ten years or so. I don't drive them much (free bus to work). I don't buy collision insurance--if I crash my car and it's my fault, I'll just have to eat it! I could do without a car (and did for four years), but I really love the freedom, especially now that very few of my friends live on a busline, and I love that I can lend my car to others when theirs is in the shop (I regularly lend to both my boyfriend and my sister). I am happy with this compromise.
And I spend much less than others on clothing (by shopping mostly at thrift stores), movies (using mostly Netflix), books (using mostly the library and checking addall.com for the rest), and make-up (I wear it only a few times a year). Oh, and glasses (online sellers! woo hoo!)
Also, I finally paid off my student loans and don't have credit card debt, so I pay much less consumer credit interest than others (0% of my income).
I also have no dependents and am very lucky to be healthy, collect very few injuries, and like my reasonably priced location just fine (I haven't fallen in love with New York, Boston, or even San Francisco partly because they're too cold!).
These savings allow me to spend much more than average in other categories: retirement savings (20%), charity (10%), and what I call "long-term fun" (8%) - stuff I have to save up for, usually vacations, sometimes electronics, furniture, or this year, a really big baby shower gift.
I have an old car that could be traded in, but I won't even be trying.
When the government pays for something, they have to get the money from somewhere. That means they take it from me or my neighbors, or worse, they'll take it from my children.
I wouldn't be willing to go around to each of my neighbors and say "Will you give me money so I can buy a new car?" So I'm not willing to ask the government.
I'm living in a city with readily available public transportation but am planning to move to a city without it. So I have to buy a car. But I just graduated from grad school, so I don't really have the cash -- $3500 would be a huge help toward a car for me. Except I don't have one to trade in, because I was already poor and using public transportation, which already helps the environment. Damn. Think I could get a $300 clunker from a scrapyard and trade *that* in?
Buying less house than you can afford (unthinkable just a few years back) is a great way to save money and provide yourself some freedom. This, of course, may not be possible (or may even be dangerous) in expensive housing markets. My husband and I bought a house that we could afford on one salary, if necessary. When my child entered middle school and we all thought it would be best if one parent was at home with her, I was able to quit my day job without being overly concerned (I freelance a bit, and plan to return to the daily grind when she is in high school). The only downside is that my friends (who have much bigger, nicer houses) are jealous.