CQME

CQME t1_j6p9rxg wrote

>Long story short, why was EJ such a headache?

Fidelity doesn't have agents who make commissions off sales. Edward Jones, Merrill, etc, all the full service firms do. The experience is noticeable, as you've noted.

My agent at Merrill keeps asking about whether or not I have funds to move into Merrill. Fidelity hasn't contacted me since I opened an account with them. I prefer the latter experience.

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CQME t1_j6ouvg2 wrote

>FZROX: 80%

>FZILX: 20%

This will work. The main ingredient in the success stories you've been hearing is time. With time and this allotment, you should achieve similar results. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the stability necessary for this to work, caveat emptor, i.e. the results are not guaranteed if you have extreme life-altering events between now and retirement.

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CQME t1_j6kptxi wrote

>Considering I currently use public transport a lot for non-work purposes, is this worth taking a portion off my paycheck to put onto a pre-taxed commuter card/transit pass? How much would I be saving by doing this?

You add a lot of irrelevant detail to a very simple question.

You don't have a commute because you work remotely and don't report to an office.

You use public transportation whenever you need transportation.

You seem to believe that because you don't have a commute, you don't qualify for a "commuter card". This is false. You can use public transportation for whatever transportation needs you have and public transport can fulfill. All a "commuter card" is is a discount card for frequent users, many of whom have a commute.

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CQME t1_iuf3tuq wrote

You can open up a brokerage account with this one deposit going into an index fund, and just leave it alone. You can check now and then to ensure there's nothing untoward.

My goal once I am back in the workforce (in school right now) is to open up a taxable putting $500/mo into FZROX and just leave it on auto pilot, check back in after 30 years. This on top of the regular suite of retirement advice. I figure it would be a nice gift for a deserving relative.

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CQME t1_iudn1v3 wrote

> Fidelity and others say that I should have saved over 1 million by now. OTOH, the average American only has roughly $100k saved for retirement.

What do you expect to be your spend during retirement? If your spend is lower, that target would also be lower, yes?

Also, the average American family is probably not average 50 years of age, so that may be misleading.

I saved this article a while back from the WSJ describing some successful retirements, some with fewer (projected) assets than you have.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-what-a-2-million-retirement-looks-like-in-america-11661702455?mod=hp_listb_pos5

If you hit a paywall, I can DM you the contents of the article.

>My spouse has some relatives who belong to a vacation club and basically live in resorts in the Caribbean for much of the year. My spouse would like us to sign up as well. To do that, I would need to cut our retirement savings rate in half at least.

>My parents will leave me and my sister $500k each when they pass on in a few years.

I would factor this into post retirement, or at least after the estate situation is a done deal. Right now you have far too many moving parts.

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