Gotta love Iron Mike, he really summed it up on that one.
About a year after the great recession hit hard in 08 I lost my job with the firm I’d been with for most of my career & thought I’d be with until the end of time. Not long after that the wife showed her true colors, the 401k & IRAs I had contributed to for my entire career were lost in the resultant divorce, I had to start over at 45. It was worth every penny but that’s another thread.
A few takeaways, don’t hold too hard & fast to these ideas you have about where you’re going as life has a way of kicking your head right off your neck when you least expect it.
Two, when I cashed all that in (early 2012, the market had returned to general pre-recession numbers) to buy my way out I couldn’t help but notice the overall crappy return all these things had, nowhere near what the so called ‘experts’ tell you you’ll get. By the way that matched my experience in the market before that and so far back into it again it appears to be going the same way.
Three, I’m not advocating
not maxing these things out as there are advantages, after all regardless of the return it’s still savings which you’ll need plus it has tax benefits, and if your employer kicks in some that’s even better… but I’d still (and always have) make that strategy subordinate to debt elimination first and foremost. This flies directly in the face of the banking and brokerage professional’s opinions that debt and maxing out market investment are good things, shocking from two groups that benefit so directly from you being in debt up to your eyeballs & having all your cash in their market as they churn it for their own gain…
Pay off your house then enjoy as a return its fair market rental value minus expenses each month, every month, for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. No investment in the market can
guarantee a good, steady and specific automatic return like this that also enjoys the added bonus of not only retaining your initial investment at your death but most likely a greatly increased value, not a single one.