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Comment by TIPSIO | Hacker News Reader

Just FYI, you should definitely do your own research and your own planning for what's right for you / what your trusted financial advisor says. For example, this comment is completely wild financially to me to read for advice.

- You will live to see tomorrow.

- If you are high enough income, maxing 401k, an IRA, and an HSA every year is sadly still not enough.

- Location variance makes it really hard to find comparable intel online for a right path. Cost of living, job market / income levels, family situation and size, etc...

- Although sometimes extreme, the Bogglehead and FI/RE communities are great.

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I agree you do need to do your own research about what is right for you. However I still think that my advice is right for most people - it gives a comfortable retirement without sacrificing too much of the now. If you are starting to save at 50 it doesn't work of course, starting young is continuous savings is key.

> You will live to see tomorrow.

statistically yes, but there are outliers who won't.

> If you are high enough income, maxing 401k, an IRA, and an HSA every year is sadly still not enough.

Sure, but few people are that high. Even of those who are, 22k (adjusting upward every year) from 25-65 is a lot of money. You can save a little more if you want to retire early, but you are only young once and your time is better spent enjoying youth while you have it.

Paradoxically, if you max your 401k/IRA/HSA every year, the higher your income, the less that money is going to be enough in retirement. If you earn 400k/yr and only save ~30k/yr, then that implies you spend 370k (incl taxes, so ... say, 250k) per year. You need MUCH more retirement savings than 30k/yr to manage that, unless you want to take a drastic lifestyle cut when you retire.

Unless most of that is going to pay down a huge mortgage, pay for childcare, and pay off student loans?

Paying off incurred debt is saving, especially if you pay it off early. If you retire without a mortgage but own a house, then you effectively have reduced your expenses by that much.

The only thing to keep in mind is that debts like that contribute to negative net worth/retirement savings. If you have 200k in student loan debt, you have a -200k net worth (even if it costs ~250-300k to pay off due to interest...)

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