I’ve been debt free 3 times and working on 4th.

By Daniel at 29 May, 2009, 1:28 am

Having a little debt is not bad so long you can make your monthly payments and pay it back in the shortest time possible. This does help your credit ratings, believe it or not. I spent the last year of my military career planning my retirement (actually a bit longer than this). Part of that was being debt free, minus of course, my mortgage. I actually accomplished this by the second month of my retirement. My retirement covers the P&I (Principal and Interest) and Escrow (Property taxes and Homeowner’s Insurance). I worked hard at reducing my P&I to get my payments as low as possible, in which I succeeded. Now, my retirement check covers the entire mortgage and all the necessary house bills and I still have just over $100.00 per month left over. Not quite enough to cover the food, clothing, and gas for the car, so I work part-time and I know the lowest pay rate that I must have to continue. I have a 12 y/O that I take care of too, as I’m a single parent. I put a lot of hard work into my retirement and we get along just fine. If I can accomplish all of this, I know that others can do it too. It takes a lot of self-discipline and control. There are a lot of sacrifices that must be made as well.

Look at your situation, cut back where you HAVE to and pay off your debts. Think positive about your life, that’s also very important. One last note - Retirement must be planned. If you don’t plan for it early in life then you will having nothing but heartache and struggle in your later years. My suggestion to all young people just starting out in the workforce - put away at least $100/month into savings, CDs, etc. Roll them over when the time comes on the CDs. Bonds are another good thing to get into. Use the short time CDs to allow flexibility when you may NEED the cash and I emphasize the word NEED. If you are going to have kids, start early on saving for the college funds.

–An individual investor, recently retired from the U.S. Army, who has just recently gotten into the trading arena last year. Additionally, going back to school.