Retirement: Slow-Lane Methods, or Fastlane Big Time?

[Peta of JamRock]

For those who are currently Slowlaners like myself and working towards your Fastlane goals, what approach have you taken regarding retirement?

I'm currently working as an illustrator/graphic designer and looking to pick up some side work to earn some extra USD (tl;dr on the Jamaican dollar - it's WEAK!). Retirement has been on my mind since before I left college in 2012 and entered a comatose job market. As a self-employed person, I could go the traditional route and invest in a Government-backed pension plan where I can contribute up to a certain percentage of my annual income AND/OR set money aside in what amount.

Of course I'm building my Fastlane vehicle and learning whatever I can to put it together, but it might be a while before I reach success with it. Question: should I invest in the traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going, or should I just focus on the Fastlane as my retirement plan?

What would you do, or have you done? Either way, I feel like I need to make a move ASAP since I have my mother to support in less than 10 years.

 

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[BigBrianC]

Use those "retirement savings" as "startup funds".

 

[Peta of JamRock]

Use those "retirement savings" as "startup funds".

Ok, cool. I understand why that method makes sense in terms of Fastlane goals. Especially given the slippety-slide of the dollar, inflation would knock me on my tush before I'm eligible to draw from it in my 'retired' years.

I should also keep adding money into an emergency fund, though, right?

 

[BigBrianC]

If you want to, I'd say go ahead.

Of course, if your business doesn't need many startup funds, you will have extra $ anyway. Take a look at this thread, I feel like you may be struggling with the same kind of ordeal I was :
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/wait-for-big-idea-or-peck-with-small-ones.59240/

 

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[BruceWayne]

Question: should I invest in the traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going, or should I just focus on the Fastlane as my retirement plan?

IMHO, if you were me, I'd do the " traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going." What exactly is the downside of this? I'm not seeing it, and the upside is, you're in a much better place if things do not work out right (anyone who says that's not possibly is lying or scamming).

That said, go nuts on the Fastlane plan at the same time. Go nuts!

 

[Peta of JamRock]

IMHO, if you were me, I'd do the " traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going." What exactly is the downside of this? I'm not seeing it, and the upside is, you're in a much better place if things do not work out right (anyone who says that's not possibly is lying or scamming).

Yea, I can see with this too. I see both the ups and downs, but I guess I can't shut the Girl Guides training off. "Be prepared".

That said, go nuts on the Fastlane plan at the same time. Go nuts!

Aye-aye, Captain!

 

[Peta of JamRock]

If you want to, I'd say go ahead.

Of course, if your business doesn't need many startup funds, you will have extra $ anyway. Take a look at this thread, I feel like you may be struggling with the same kind of ordeal I was :
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/wait-for-big-idea-or-peck-with-small-ones.59240/

It's so tiny, I barely have any overhead apart from utilities. I'm still shoring up the Day Job/Money Feeder situation, so things are rocky at the moment. Rocky, but I'm chugging along.

Just that i found myself mentally looking at how my mother's life turned out retirement-wise and, I'm not going to lie, I am terrified. I wish to avoid that fate, hence posting this thread for advice. Sometimes it helps to here another opinion, y'know?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Question: should I invest in the traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going, or should I just focus on the Fastlane as my retirement plan?

Depends if those funds are accessible and if you might need them in the near future.

IMO, there is never any wrong in saving money. Slowlane prognosticators will tell you that the best investment out there is probably a low-fee, indexed fund with someone like Vanguard.

 

[Peta of JamRock]

Slowlane prognosticators will tell you that the best investment out there is probably a low-fee, indexed fund with someone like Vanguard.

Hmm. Either way, I'd have to do research at what's available locally before I just throw money at a broker. Thanks, MJ.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

before I just throw money at a broker.

You technically wouldn't be throwing money at a broker... you just tell them WHERE to put it, and they put it there. If its actively managed, then yea, they would have their hands in it, if its an index, there really is no management.

 

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[H. Palmer]

For those who are currently Slowlaners like myself and working towards your Fastlane goals, what approach have you taken regarding retirement?

I'm currently working as an illustrator/graphic designer and looking to pick up some side work to earn some extra USD (tl;dr on the Jamaican dollar - it's WEAK!). Retirement has been on my mind since before I left college in 2012 and entered a comatose job market. As a self-employed person, I could go the traditional route and invest in a Government-backed pension plan where I can contribute up to a certain percentage of my annual income AND/OR set money aside in what amount.

Of course I'm building my Fastlane vehicle and learning whatever I can to put it together, but it might be a while before I reach success with it. Question: should I invest in the traditional Slowlane retirement options for back-up while I get the Fastlane venture going, or should I just focus on the Fastlane as my retirement plan?

What would you do, or have you done? Either way, I feel like I need to make a move ASAP since I have my mother to support in less than 10 years.

Invest in your financial education. This works both ways.

First it makes it easier for you to discover moderate to high yielding investments that yield better returns than a savings account and/or an investment fund. For example, from the end of 2013 the interest on savings became so low that I started to select real estate stocks on the stock market that yielded between 6 and 7 percent dividend. Now 16 months later these stocks have risen 40 percent. I expect them to rise another 20 percent before the market tops and I will transfer almost the whole amount in US tax lien certificates that yield between 12 and 18 percent.

I can do this because I have invested several decades into my financial education, starting at age 15.

Second it enables you to manage your business better from the financial side. Relating to for example sales margins, cost factoring, doing your taxes saving thousands a year and even negotiations with banks if you need a loan and ultimately purchasing a business or selling your business.

So don't go with the government backed pension.

First someone else will decide what your pension will be. Second, you learn nothing about money. You need to learn everything you can about money in order to make your business successful. Third I can guarantee you that once you opt in to the pension plan, you will totally lose track of what's happening with your pension. I know several people that are in a gov backed pension plan and no matter what I tell them, no matter how many times I prod them, they are unable to find out HOW BIG their pension will be once they reach pension day.

They don't know what the numbers on their yearly pension report mean and they don't know where to start to find out.

If you are serious about business, never go with a pension plan.

Build up your wealth by yourself. Put all your assets and liabilities in a spreadsheet and make sure that you see your net worth in your face each and every day.

This becomes your dashboard for life.

 

[Peta of JamRock]

Invest in your financial education. This works both ways.

First it makes it easier for you to discover moderate to high yielding investments that yield better returns than a savings account and/or an investment fund. For example, from the end of 2013 the interest on savings became so low that I started to select real estate stocks on the stock market that yielded between 6 and 7 percent dividend. Now 16 months later these stocks have risen 50 percent. I expect them to rise another 20 percent before the market tops and I will transfer almost the whole amount in US tax lien certificates that yield between 12 and 18 percent.

I can do this because I have invested several decades into my financial education, starting at age 15.

Second it enables you to manage your business better from the financial side. Relating to for example sales margins, cost factoring, doing your taxes saving thousands a year and even negotiations with banks if you need a loan and ultimately purchasing a business or selling your business.

So don't go with the government backed pension.

First someone else will decide what your pension will be. Second, you learn nothing about money. You need to learn everything you can about money in order to make your business successful. Third I can guarantee you that once you opt in to the pension plan, you will totally lose track of what's happening with your pension. I know several people that are in a gov backed pension plan and no matter what I tell them, no matter how many times I prod them, they are unable to find out HOW BIG their pension will be once they reach pension day.

They don't know what the numbers on their yearly pension report mean and they don't know where to start to find out.

If you are serious about business, never go with a pension plan.

Build up your wealth by yourself. Put all your assets and liabilities in a spreadsheet and make sure that you see your net worth in your face each and every day.

This becomes your dashboard for life.

Wow, a lot of gold in this comment. Thanks a ton! Speaking of 'financial education', are there any particular learning resources that you'd recommend?

 

[H. Palmer]

Wow, a lot of gold in this comment. Thanks a ton! Speaking of 'financial education', are there any particular learning resources that you'd recommend?

I can only tell you what I did and still do.

Read entry level books about investing in the stock market. One of these books I read when I was 15 advised me never to entrust my money to a money manager.

Read the financial pages of a quality newspaper.

Select an industry you like and make a Word document with sections on every company in this industry that is reported about in the papers. Note down facts and figures about these companies. Do this for months or years in a row and this will slowly raise your insight level to that of a professional market analyst. (In fact this is one of the things I did professionally after having it done for myself for several years).

Read actual financial reports of the stock market listed companies in an industry that you like. For example in 2013 I read about 15 annual reports of real estate investment companies. Some were stock market listed, some were not.

Look up financial jargon that you don't understand.

Read entry level and then advanced level books about taxes. Taxes are your highest expenses over the course of your life.
The tax code can be complicated, but the complexity is finite. I started reading about company tax law at age 17. After starting my first company at 24, I've had 2 consults with an expert and did everything myself from that point onward. From about 2001 and onward I could do adjustments in my business financial accounts that magically made me thousands more every year.

Simple example. Creating a reserve amount of money for a future investment lowers your profits, which then lowers your taxes. Just like that.
And then there's all kinds of special deductions, exceptions, shuffling money between various legal entities, etc. It's limitless.

So get a financial education.

But the most important thing is not to do this half-heartedly. Make a habit of it and never stop.

 

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[Peta of JamRock]

I feel like I ought to be passing the collection plate, @H. Palmer. Thanks again! I got more than I expected from starting this thread.