Comments on: Reader Poll – How Far Out Are You Planning?

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:29:21 +0000

Nice goals, I don’t really have any set in stone right now, I think that will come after I graduate and land a job for myself. Until then, I’m just trying to get by the best I can while limiting my debt and keeping my GPA up.

By: Amber Weinberg

Amber Weinberg — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:59:46 +0000

I have set goals for each year up to 5 years and then basic 10 and 20 year goals.

By: Matt @ SF

Matt @ SF — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:51:14 +0000

I’m planning for 6 months and beyond. In this environment, I think it’s wise to have multiple plans just in case one plan fails. I raised enough cash to have a 6 month emergency fund when investment banks began failing, and any investments I make today are because I think they are extremely oversold or undervalued from historical lows.

By: No Debt Plan

No Debt Plan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:24:07 +0000

Our primary planning revolves around the next 5 years. However, we are also saving for retirement regularly in IRAs. But I didn’t pick 20+ years out because we aren’t planning (right now) much between years 6-19 out from today.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:38:50 +0000

We are in our early 40’s and we plan our finances out all the way through our death: retirement years, possible medical needs, insurance needs, housing (final home + nursing home, etc.), being a widow/widower (women are expected to live longer than men, gotta plan for that), funerals, wills/estates. Of course the plans are constantly evolving, but we find it very helpful to take the very long view.

By: thisisbeth

thisisbeth — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:37:59 +0000

I picked the 20+ years. It’s at least 20 years until retirement age (but if I can retire before then…..I’ll jump at the chance!), but I’m still putting a decent portion of my salary into 401(k) and Roth 401(k). I could reach many of my shorter-term goals (buy a house in the next five years, etc.) if I would drop back my retirement contributions back to just the company match, but I’m not willing to do that.

By: John Hunter

John Hunter — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:07:37 +0000

I plan for over 20 years out though those plans are fairly rough. Ok, something like 8-16% saving should be able to set me up to retire. I’ll try to save about 10% for that and check in every few years to see how things are looking…

By: NCN

NCN — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:36:30 +0000

Hey, I want to thank all who have commented so far…

Please note the edit to the post…

Edit: To clarify – If you are planning for 5 years out, then I’ll assume that you are ALSO planning for next month and next year. What I’d like to know is, how far out do your plans go, at their maximum. For the purposes of the poll, let’s assume that, if you are thinking long-term, you are also thinking short-term.

NCN

By: Kacie

Kacie — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:32:59 +0000

I’m like many of the above commenters — I’m planning for the near term, mid-term and long-term.

We plan a month at a time for our regular expenses, since my husband gets paid monthly and our bills generally are due once per month.

We have a plan for where we want to be financially in a year’s time (debt free!) and how we’re going to try to tackle that.

After that, we hope to start saving for a down payment on a house. We hope to move into a house in 3-5 years.

Lastly, we’re always thinking about retirement and are making contributions to retirement accounts so we’re able to do that.

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:54:32 +0000

I’m with the other commenters… I need an “all of the above” category here. In my case, it’s my marital status (single) that makes it more difficult to plan rather than the economic crisis.

For example, I’m planning for my own savings and retirement, but how can I account for the eventual arrival of a husband and kids? Should I be planning now for a wedding, or for my children’s educations? I’ve only got one income — not two — to work with here so some financial goals like buying a house are that much more difficult.

I’d be very interested in ready more about long term planning for singles.