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what's under your mattress?

Mailer

Mailer

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
This is a taboo subject.....savings, that is. What will you have at the end of the day after all those years of driving and expediting.

We spent countless days, months and years busting our rears to put foods on the table for our family and pay bills.

Along the way, many of us failed to pay ourselves first. And that's taboo because we do have tons of excuses not to pay ourselves first and we don't want to touch the subject.

It's never too late to start the retirement savings.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-charts-show-amazing-power-172800593.html

So, when you're done with all the driving, what's is under your mattress?

By the way I hope that mattress is at the bank, not in your bedroom, lol.
 
M

mjmsprt40

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
A giant, fire-breathing monster with lots of sharp teeth. I don't look under the bed much.

bed.jpg
 
Mailer

Mailer

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Lol, that's what I thought. No one wants to touch the subject and all responses are stealthy.

Ok, let me figure it out what are these stealthy words means.

GrassHopperr: "box spring, bed frame" = Retirement foundation is set up but want to contribute more. Right?

xmudman: "Dust and cat hair" = Savings given to significant others and now you are dusted :( Consult GrassHopperr on how to set up the new retirement foundation, lol.

mjmsprt40: "A giant, fire-breathing monster with lots of sharp teeth. I don't look under the bed much" = Started savings at an early age and now have monstrous retirement. Good for you, you can quit working tomorrow :)

tknight: " 2deep cell gel battery's and a bunch of tools straps and a few mismatched socks" = You need another retirement counseling, hahaha :)


Ok guys, it just a humor, so don't take me too seriously, lol.
 
ATeam

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Mailer said:
Lol, that's what I thought. No one wants to touch the subject and all responses are stealthy.
Click to expand...

It is possible to build a nest egg as an expediter but, as with any job or profession, it requires a basic understanding of how money actually works, and a certain amount of financial planning and discipline to do it.

A far-back reading of this open forum will uncover talk of the good old days when expediters made far more money than they do today. Of the group that made that money, I once asked, where are the millionaire expediters? If the money was that good (and it was), why did expediters not become rich?

The answer was simple. Most did not manager their time, money and opportunities well. Some used the big money to take a lot of time off. They'd have a fantastic month or quarter and then take the same amount of time off if not longer because they could afford to, and they remained confident that the same money would be there to make again.

Others spent the money they made. They spent it by buying a new truck every two or three years, making their big-sleeper venders and truck dealers happy while keeping themselves in perpetual debt. Or they'd spent it on consumer items, gifts for others, vacations or gambling that were rewarding to have or enjoy at the time but did not build net worth.

About the opportunity, they simply did not appreciate the good thing they had. While they were known to boast about the freedom, time-off and spending they could afford, and certainly appreciated those things, the opportunity to become a millionaire expediter was lost on them, or they simply did not care.

Expediters today would be thrilled to have such opportunities again. However, if that happened, I doubt that a crop of millionaire expediters would rise. Human nature being what it is, money gets squandared and opportinities get passed by more often than not.
 
Greg

Greg

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I would like to have a thicker mattress(wouldn't we all), however, it is not very thin. Been trucking 25+ years and stuffing the mattress for 15.
Like most everyone else, in the beginning, we start making some money, we want some rewards.
The best reward was planning ahead. Save a little each time, have some for later.
We started by paying off "toys", when paid off, kept making the payments, but into our savings.
 
Dynamite 1

Dynamite 1

Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
An IRA we pay into monthly for the last 20 years. One investment that will provide a return when we are ready and a couple of savings accounts. A business we are building for additional retirement income plus some assets we could liquidate. We do not intend on working forever !!!!!!!!
 
paullud

paullud

Veteran Expediter
ATeam said:
Human nature being what it is, money gets squandared and opportinities get passed by more often than not.
Click to expand...

A failure to save seems to be an issue in America regardless of the chosen profession. I think people get convinced that their jobs are too hard and they deserve more or that they should reward themselves for dealing with the stress of their job.

I would say physical irresponsibility is more common in the trucking industry because the money is still good, the job can be stressful, and for the most part drivers aren't educated. The last part seems to be changing as people like Kevin Rutherford are pushing the industry to treat trucking as a business instead of a job.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app
 
paullud

paullud

Veteran Expediter
Roamin said:
I would like to have a thicker mattress(wouldn't we all), however, it is not very thin. Been trucking 25+ years and stuffing the mattress for 15.
Like most everyone else, in the beginning, we start making some money, we want some rewards.
The best reward was planning ahead. Save a little each time, have some for later.
We started by paying off "toys", when paid off, kept making the payments, but into our savings.
Click to expand...

Paying off debt really doesn't take as long as you think it would. My wife and I started working on it and we cut about $1k/month of bills. When April came around this year we even had the cash to pay our taxes rather than having to setup a payment plan like the previous year. We still have a few more things to get paid off but the feeling of having that financial pressure come off our back is great.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Some things never change. Still to this day we constantly preach "Cash is King".
I always liked the simple Dave Ramsey approach to finances, and it has served us quite well. We have over the years became more sophisticated in investing, but the core ideas remain unchanged.
 
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