[solar1]

Since I am in my late 30s and won't be able to draw from any of these accounts until >2030, should I immediately STOP making investments into these accounts?

[newbie1234]

i would like to know the answer to this as well

[RonMN]

I hate to give financial advice...so i wont tell you what to do with your money...but i'll tell you what i did.

I stopped adding money to my roth IRA...and i lowered my contribution to my 401K (at work) to 1 percent (just so i could stay in the plan). This gives me more money right now & i haven't burned any bridges (i can always change things back the way they used to be).

You need to make your own descisions about your future.

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('solar1', 'S')ince I am in my late 30s and won't be able to draw from any of these accounts until >2030, should I immediately STOP making investments into these accounts?

[Tyler_JC]

Considering the fact that I'm only in highschool, I don't think I'm going to bother with a 401k or Roth IRA. I'm rather bitter about the fact that I'm paying into Social Security knowing that I'm not going to get a damn penny out of it.

I don't see the stock market surviving PO. It's all about growth on Wall Street. Any company that stays flat for years is called a bad investment. A stock that falls year after year is a terrible investment. How is General Motors going to increase it's yearly revenue with a decline in net energy?? It's just not possible. I personally think anyone who won't be able to collect anything till past 2035 should bother with a retirement account.

Instead, pay off debt and buy useful tools. Land is also a nice investment. Physical silver and gold might also be nice (silver more so than gold, how do you buy a chicken with gold?).

[MaterialExcess]

I'm in my mid thirties and I continue to invest in my 401K and that money is all in stock funds. I think of this as a hedge just in case peak oil doesn't happen, doesn't happen in my lifetime, or doesn't result in a collaspe of the stock market. Preparing for the worst is good, but you should always consider the possibility that the worst might not happen.

[solar1]

tax rates now are probably at the lowest that we will see them. taxes will HAVE to be raised in order to pay off the incredible debt that we have amassed. Couple that with the likelihood that the market is going to move sideways or downward for the next decade or so and maybe it is best to take the tax hit now and invest the money in real estate or gold/silver or solar panels for my house. Another issue is the fact that you cannot get at your money (without a significant penalty) in such accounts until retirement age, which for me, is a LONG way off.

[Ludi]

Isn't the penalty on withdrawing IRA funds only 10%, plus income taxes?

[cube]

I stopped contributing to 401k's because frankly I think there's no real future in them. But that's just my humble opinion. That and frankly I think it's coporate welfare and social engineering/ manipulation.

But getting back to 401k's I have a theory as to why the price of stocks are ridiculously overpriced right now. Basically the baby boomers have finally come to the realization that SS (social security) isn't going to save their rear ends. It used to be people in their 20's who'd joke about SS not being there when they get older. Considering where this country is heading right now if you're in your 40's you can consider yourself in the same boat. And if you're in your 50's cross your fingers and hope the US doesn't try to "liberate" another middle eastern nation. That's one reason why people are "investing" their money.

In theory a corporation should be able to survive without stock. The money generated from selling goods and services should be enough to pay their expenses and make a profit. Stock therefore is very good for having extra money to expand...in theory. Now ask yourself this question, "How many companies would be alive today if everybody stopped buying stock?"

EXACTLY. There is one other type of financial scheme that can only survive if people continue to feed it....a pyramid scheme. But anyways don't take my opinion as the bible truth...everybody needs to choose their own road in life for better or worse.

good luck

[basketballjones]

listen to this weeks 'the big picture' on the financial sense newshour.

Jim puplavav has a question via email in which he answers this very question -

http://www.netcastdaily.com/fsnewshour.htm it's the 3rd hour you want to get. Emails are at the end, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to listen to the whole thing since he talks about social security early on too.

[van64]

You guys crack me up--totally. Let's examine this like the intelligent people behind us: those who will take your place in the 401-k and Roth IRA contributions line and take advantage of the depressed equity prices that your for-gone purchases are creating.

Since 1802, US stocks have returned an average of 8.5% annually. Year in and year out. Put that in your compound pipe and smoke it. This was 60 years before crude oil was even DISCOVERED and commercialized in PA, folks. Sure, there have been good years and bad years: wars and famine and global pestilence. Gold and silver do not come close to returning what stocks return; neither have bonds or treasuries or any other interest-bearing instrument. Land? Well, it's the closest at about 8% annually.

Let's examine the oil industry itself. The oil and gas industry earned a profit margin of 8.5% in the first quarter of 2005, according to the API. This compares to 9.2% profit margins in all other industries during the same period.

Want more? OK: I know you doomsters are a glutton for punishment so try this: For all of 2004, the oil and gas industry earned 7.0% versus 7.2% on all other industries. The computer industry had the highest profit percentage at 15.6%. The oil industry is just an industry like any other. Period. Alternatives will be found and assimilated in the due course of time; such as when whale oil for lighting lamps was replaced by kerosene was replaced by electricity generated from coal, then nuclear. You get the idea.

If you truly believe in peak oil, put your money where your mouth is and purchase oil and gas equities.

[frankthetank]

I took my money out. I'm currently just letting my money go into a high yield (3.15apy) MMA. Its not great, but atleast its almost keeping up with inflation I'm still investigating other options (GOLD, OIL, etc)...I would like to buy some land, but damn they want a lot around here for it!

[arretium]

Our savings plans really sucks. We can only invest our 401K in a limited number of mutual funds. All of them suck. All except for one is entirely based on U.S. assets. Hence, if you believe the U.S. market is screwed, not exactly a place you want to put your money in. To make matters worse, no commodities are allowed. There is one international fund, but get this..most of the stocks are European and Japan. And the top stocks held by the international fund? Yup, Honda. Toyota. Phillips. Nokia. Not exactly companies that will fair well post oil when people stop buying autos and cell phones.

We can't even LOWER our percentage invested. We are locked in at the same 5%. In other words, we throw away 5% of our income every month and there ain't a damn thing we can do about it.

[RonMN]

Tyler...i been paying into soc. security for 20 friggin years and i wont see a penny out of it...don't gimme you're wining!

It sucks...yes! but there are more important things...like how to keep y'rself warm in the winter!

[DantesPeak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I')sn't the penalty on withdrawing IRA funds only 10%, plus income taxes?

[Tyler_JC]

I wasn't really comparing myself to the millions of other people who have put WAY more money in than I have. I was just coming to that realization again that SS is a joke and I'm being lied to by the all powerful, "They".

[savethehumans]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')onsidering the fact that I'm only in high school, I don't think I'm going to bother with a 401k or Roth IRA. I'm rather bitter about the fact that I'm paying into Social Security knowing that I'm not going to get a damn penny out of it.

[Yavicleus]

Well, I won't give advice, but I'll tell what I did.

I had about $16,000 in a 401k from my last job and a Roth IRA worth $8,000.

I learned about Peak Oil over a year ago. When I left my previous job back in November, I did not start up a new 401k at my new one because I think that the stock market will crash when our interest based economy finally crumbles.

I then I rolled my 401k into a rollover IRA account. This gives me more control of my money, because the investment choices in my 401k sucked.

My current IRA holdings are in Inflation Indexed Securities. These are basically US Government bonds that pay interest at a rate determined by the inflation rate. Unlike other bonds that have a fixed interest rate, the interest rate on these I bonds will fluctuate with the CPI.

I figure that this is the safest place I can put the money as long as the US government is still around to pay back its bills. When things start to look REALLY bad, that the US might default on its bonds, I will pull it all out, and take the tax hit on the money.

In the meantime, any long term savings that I'm doing involves buying gold & silver bullion.

[FatherOfTwo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('van64', ' ')Alternatives will be found and assimilated in the due course of time;

[Leanan]

Very interesting and useful thread.

I am still contributing to my Roth IRA and Deferred Comp plan, but I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do. I have not increased my contributions - yet. (Roth IRA goes up to $4,000 a year this year. I have until April 15 next year to decide if I want to put in the extra $1,000.)

I have a feeling the stock market will be a very bad place to be when TSHTF. But I still have one foot in it...just in case, I guess.

I like the idea of putting at least some of my Roth IRA into gold and silver. Right now it's in an index fund.

I really wish there were some certified P.O. financial planners out there.