Question on semi-retirement
Ok I just found out I can possibly get a 'real' job doing what I dream. Theres several openings a year as a forensic specialist and to me it pays well enough to me to stop dancing full time.
What can I do financially with in 3 years time to prepare for semi-retirement? I would go down to working maybe once a week at most - maybe every other week. The reason for this is to get much needed experience, to keep affording school and how much its going to cost me after junior college.
Re: Question on semi-retirement
Quote:
Originally Posted by TigersMilk
to keep affording school and how much its going to cost me after junior college.
So can you clarify here? Are you planning on going to a 4-year? And if so, are you asking how to plan for those costs? Or am I misunderstanding?
Re: Question on semi-retirement
Oops sorry. I plan to go to a 4 year afterwards - which is only 2 years really because of how many units I'll be leaving JC with. The job itself is good income plus if I work 1 day a week then I think Im going to be ok.
Re: Question on semi-retirement
^^^ as much as I want to help you fulfill your dream, it must also be pointed out that the road to actually achieving it is paved with risks ... rapidly rising tuition and student loan interest rates, the distinct possibility of gov't hiring cutbacks which could affect the availability and/or 'starting' pay rate of new 'forensic specialist' jobs several years from now etc. As always, I would advise you to take full advantage of 'a bird in the hand' ! Earn as much dancing money as you can while it's still possible to do so, and save/invest as much as you can ! Two or three years from now you will have (hopefully) built up enough of a nest egg to cover your tuition and living expenses so that you can pursue your degree without incurring any additional debt.
Re: Question on semi-retirement
Doing some research awhile back I see that the openings for FS are much smaller than anticipated thus making it very competitive already. Im pretty sure my job will be around except only more competitive by then. I really dont want to take out loans - only for emergencies.
At any result I can save up for tution costs if I choose to leave or not. Right now its about 25K a year to attend the school I want. At least I'd still have some money for school. Would it be wise to find a investment plan for the remaining time then?
Re: Question on semi-retirement
I think when anyone gets an education it should be with a dipolma that could work in many fields. I am not sure what classes you would take for this. Could you take a minor or even parlay them into the medical field? The medical field is always desperate for people in any area. That way if your dream job doesn't open up you have something else to fall back on until it does.
As far as investments I always advocate doing your research. I would suggest a Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA after five years you can make withdraws for education with no penalities and no taxes. You can also choose which investment vechile you want to invest in. You can have a Roth IRA with mutal funds or CDs. It all depends on what level of risk you want to take. The interest rates for Roth IRA CDs are higher than regular CDs.
Do your research before embarking on any investment. Even before you even see a financial advisor though. Many of them are paid based on commision and have their own funds they push.
If you choose to invest in mutal funds look up all information you can find on them first. Roth IRA's generally do not have fees. CDs do not have fees. Mutal funds with fees are called load mutal funds. No load mutal funds have no or a very small fee. I judge the level of risk based on the percentage of the mutal fund that is in stocks. I have seen companies that say a mutal fund that is 90% in stock as moderate risk. They base their risk factor on pass performance. But to me if you wouldn't put 89% of your money in stock because you feel the risk is too high, why would you consider it a moderate risk. It always best to go in with some basic knowledge. Don't even take my word for it. There are alot of great sites with information and books that go over the basics.
It is good to see someone reaching for their dreams. Congratulations and Good Luck! :)
Re: Question on semi-retirement
It depends on what your goals are? Do you want to complete your studies as well as graduate free of student loan debt? Will your new career enable you to sustain your current lifestyle? If not, then do you want to sustain your current lifestyle? Do you have any other financial goals that you would like to accomplish before graduating?
I think that completing your education while dancing is a challenge and honorable goal in itself.
I second what Melonie suggests. Make as much as you can now. Save, invest, and take advantage of the opportunity of making the money as a dancer.
Good luck.
Re: Question on semi-retirement
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vamp
I have seen companies that say a mutal fund that is 90% in stock as moderate risk. They base their risk factor on pass performance. But to me if you wouldn't put 89% of your money in stock because you feel the risk is too high, why would you consider it a moderate risk.
One can mitigate a lot of risk associated with stocks or mutual funds containing stocks by investing equal sums of money over time (aka Dollar Cost Averaging). The counterpoint to this of course, is that should the markets go up from the time you buy your initial shares, you're also mitigating your returns.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vamp
Mutal funds with fees are called load mutal funds. No load mutal funds have no or a very small fee.
True, but it should be stated that load or no load, not all fees are not equal and mutual fund companies are notorious for concealing fees, so the fine print should always be read. While I feel a smart investor should always pick a no load fund over a load fund, the good no loads also tend to have higher initial investments ($2500-$3000 or more) making them more difficult to DCA equally, and may also have restrictive policies on redeeming shares, or reinvesting in a fund after you've sold shares in it.
In any respect, I think three years is an awful small time horizon to be playing the stock market, particularly during a time where there is a lot of uncertainty as to where the markets are heading, and when you can almost get an assured 5% interest with a good CD or money market.
Re: Question on semi-retirement
If we're talking general investments, I'll take Exchange Traded Funds over Mutual Funds any day. It cuts out the 'middle man', and a significant amount of fund management expenses (i.e. reduced rate of return).
Unless her future 'straight' job offers an employee match on 401k contributions, given that she doesn't know her specific medium term financial needs I would not recommend tying up any money into a retirement fund yet.