Million Dollar Day: July 5th, 2029
Meet Betty
Age: 41
Betty’s main concerns, in her own words:
I’m wondering how badly I’m screwing up my chances of getting financial aid for my 14 year old daughter. I got a very late start to saving for college for her and have only about $3k in a 529. I have $200K in my 401k and $23k in a Roth. I have about $65k in an investment fund which I was able to save years and years ago. Will having that non-retirement investment fund hurt my daughter’s chances of getting financial aid? I make about $90k a year. This sounds like a lot but I am saddled with an overpriced house I can’t sell and get almost no financial support from my ex as he is unemployed. I’m not sure if I should transfer $5k per year into the Roth and transfer money into the 529 to reduce the investment fund since I intend for some of that money to be used to help her with college or should I just leave it? I have about $20k in checking and savings but am reluctant to tie that money up bc the house has some problems I’ll have to deal with soon whether I want to or not.
What we cover in this episode:
- Divorced mom trying to save for college for her kid
- Preparing for her own retirement, despite other priorities
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Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.
Pete,
Can you help demystify your math on this podcast?
Any calculator I run with 230K in retirement savings + 14K / year comes up a lot lower than 3 million. More like 1.5-2.5 million. What avg rates of return do you recommend and what do you peg average inflation at?
Thanks again!
Hey Jim
I used 8% and showed her retiring at 67. Inflation isn’t in the calculation, not because it’s not important, but because it doesn’t affect future value calculations. Yes, it will affect the buying power of $3 million, but she’ll still have $3 million. Fwiw, I peg inflation at 3%.
Thanks, I had 7% and 67. Understood Inflation only impacts buying power, thanks for your inflation number! Do you put an annual increase on the 14k/ year contribution so it increases yearly?
Thanks again, and switching to “Your Millionaire Day” is Genius. When does the “Getting to 1 Million” book come out, or is the content in one of your existing books?