How far ahead do you plan for the future?

[SMC]

I'm not even engaged yet, but we've already started planning for the future. I've done zero wedding planning as I don't think that I'll have a big wedding, but we've started the following:
- 529 plan: college savings for my yet-to-be conceived children. I calculated the cost of college in 2033 and it's scary
- term life insurance: in case we die before we're 80
- whole life insurance: in case we die after 80
- long term disability insurance: my company provides 60%, extra LT disability to cover me as close to 80-90% as possible
- 401K: contributing to the yearly limit

Is anyone else as paranoid as me? For the LIWs in your 20s on this forum: If you can afford it, you should try to lock in your term and whole life insurance rates now, while they're still low.

 

[MBKRH]

We brought up the subject a while back when we both turned thirty. He was like "Do we, like.... need wills? And what about life insurance?" And I shrugged, 'cause I have no idea! I mean, I figure once you're married you worry about that, because it seems silly to do all those things, and then change it around because of your new last name/marital status, etc....

Recently our discussion has been getting a joint checking account.... but for some reason, we never make it over to the bank. And I'm really not itching to do that, because again.... one less hassle after you're married, IMO. I don't want to jump the gun and open an account before marriage.

I'm not eligible for my 401(k) until August I think (you have to be with the company for two years). I'm embarrassed to say that I don't really know what a 401(k) is, or how it works, or even if it's worth getting. M's work doesn't offer one.
I need a job that provides dental and vision (M's does) so I'm kind of hoping if I'm stuck at this place for a while, hopefully when M and I marry, I'll just hop on his insurance, because they have dental and vision (and medical, obviously).
I have the better end of medical (BC/BS, and our company pays 100% for us) but it's for employees only, no spouses or kids, so it won't do him any good.
Besides that, neither of our jobs offer any other "perks."

I wouldn't say I'm paranoid, but just trying to "find" ourselves and do what adults are supposed to "do," if that makes sense.

 

[SMC]

We brought up the subject a while back when we both turned thirty. He was like "Do we, like.... need wills? And what about life insurance?" And I shrugged, 'cause I have no idea! I mean, I figure once you're married you worry about that, because it seems silly to do all those things, and then change it around because of your new last name/marital status, etc....

Recently our discussion has been getting a joint checking account.... but for some reason, we never make it over to the bank. And I'm really not itching to do that, because again.... one less hassle after you're married, IMO. I don't want to jump the gun and open an account before marriage.

I'm not eligible for my 401(k) until August I think (you have to be with the company for two years). I'm embarrassed to say that I don't really know what a 401(k) is, or how it works, or even if it's worth getting. M's work doesn't offer one.
I need a job that provides dental and vision (M's does) so I'm kind of hoping if I'm stuck at this place for a while, hopefully when M and I marry, I'll just hop on his insurance, because they have dental and vision (and medical, obviously).
I have the better end of medical (BC/BS, and our company pays 100% for us) but it's for employees only, no spouses or kids, so it won't do him any good.
Besides that, neither of our jobs offer any other "perks."

I wouldn't say I'm paranoid, but just trying to "find" ourselves and do what adults are supposed to "do," if that makes sense.

I completely agree with you. At some point, you realize that you're an adult and Social Security is not a safe bet for later! I'm just a little worried that I'm overdoing it but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

401K allows you to put pre-tax dollars away, tax deferred, for retirement. It's a "good deal" in a sense because the impact on your paycheck isn't as much as the dollars that you put away (for example, you can put $600 away and only see a $400 hit on your paycheck) and your money can grow untaxed. It's a "bad deal" because you can't touch those dollars until retirement without a penalty. In general, if your company has any matching 401K policy (my company only matches 2%), you need to put that amount away at a minimum because your company is basically giving you free money. If not, then you should put away an amount that you are comfortable not seeing for a very long time.

 

[MBKRH]

Thanks for the explanation, sortmon!I'm not sure what my company matches, if at all... M told me that when the time comes, I need to take it. However, my gross income is laughable and I don't feel that I will be doing myself any favors by getting a 401k. Sorry, I don't mean to be debbie downer, here.... just honest.

I'm in total agreement with you as far as social security goes. There won't be anything by the time I'm able to retire. M and I were discussing this a few nights ago. It's scary to think how (and what) we'll survive on, 30+ years from now.

 

[Chewbacca]

Well aren't you organised!

We don't have any of that! However we aren't in America, so some of it doesn't apply. We do have retirement funds, but I'm not ready for the life insurance shtick just yet! I assume once the baby thing looms we won't be able to ignore it much longer.

 

[SMC]

Well aren't you organised!

We don't have any of that! However we aren't in America, so some of it doesn't apply. We do have retirement funds, but I'm not ready for the life insurance shtick just yet! I assume once the baby thing looms we won't be able to ignore it much longer.

If you looked at my home, you wouldn't say I'm organized! I'm older than you, and wish I had gotten insurance earlier when rates were lower in my 20s. One of my bf's coworkers is in her 20s, had a baby, got diagnosed with MS, and now she can't get life insurance. I think that was a catalyst in our decision to get insurance now. We had actually talked about it for the past year, but we finally got off our behinds to do it.

I guess it's safe to say that I'm risk adverse.