If you are between 30-50 .. how do you feel about your nest egg?

[srican69]

I am beginning to freak out .. I just cant save enough to have a half decent existance ... how do you think you will be living post 65

22 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I will be cruising on Holland America
	4 (18%)
	Will have a roof over my head and enough money for most of my needs
	4 (18%)
	unsure
	7 (32%)
	I will be eating Ramen noodles
	7 (32%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[liberal_at_heart]

1. it's not looking good

[jberryhill]

2. Are they discontinuing the PowerBall lottery?

[smirkymonkey]

5. I hope not, because that's basically my retirement plan.

Pathetic, I know. With all this student loan debt hanging over my head, I don't think I can ever save enough for retirement.

[redqueen]

3. lol, what nest egg? nt

[Marrah_G]

4. 42 and I have no nest egg

I'm lucky to make it from month to month.

I'll work until I'm dead.

[X_Digger]

7. Right there with ya. n/t

[Initech]

6. I'm 33 and I fear retirement will no longer be an option by the time I turn 65.

[KansDem]

8. Nest egg?

[jberryhill]

9. Mine was poached

[libtodeath]

10. Lets just say the word retirement is probably not in my future.

[pa28]

11. Just over 40 and I'm starting to worry.

I'd planned on a traditional "golf and travel" retirement. Now I'm starting to think a "palliative care" kind of retirement is most likely.

[CTyankee]

15. That's about the size of it! I thought my nest egg was just great until I got the bill for my

medicare supplementary policy! ACK!

And that's just for the 20% that Medicare doesn't pay for....there is also for my drug insurance costs...and all this is on top of my monthly Medicare payment taken out of my SS check...Moochers, indeed!

[Broken_Hero]

12. I didn't vote

because our nest egg is a measley 200 bucks, but hey...you have to start somewhere. Our biggest issue is "life", things break down, well needs a new pump, new belt for the car, inlaws that are on SS need new tires on their car, kid breaks neighbors window...I swear to god every time I save any amount of money its gone in a heartbeat because of life.

I'm hoping to save around 300 a month, and we are in 30s, with a mortgage, and student loans....

[alarimer]

13. I'm screwed.

I'll be eating cat food when I'm old.

I'm a state employee and, contrary to popular belief, not living high on the hog. I will, if I'm lucky, have a real pension, which makes me more fortunate than many and I do recognize that. BUT I get paid shit wages. So I can't afford to buy a house and will likely always have to rent and be at the mercy of the market.

Plus I am single and probably doomed to be so forever.

I took a pay cut to move to another state. Paradoxically, the job was more advanced than the one I had, but the pay was lower because North Carolina sucks. So I'm moving away from here as soon as I can.

[JanMichael]

16. Where in NC are you?

Some towns here suck less; Charlotte, Chapel Hill/ Carrboro/ Asheville areas are the only way to go. Trust me. Lots of DUers here-

[politicat]

14. Other: working on it.

DH and I both came out of school debt-free (in the SL sense) but I'm his second marriage. His ex ended up with much student loan debt, which meant that they ended up with living expenses debt that he assumed (along with the marital assets) when they divorced. We've spent the last 12 years paying it off. (As well as our house. It's complicated, but really, truly, their split was fair and amicable and reasonable.)

We will be entirely debt free in 6 months, including no mortgage. We have been putting aside rainy day funds, but when interest on debt is 5-12% or higher, and interest on an IRA or other savings is in the 1-2% range, it is stupid to save more than 6 months' expenses.

We will be putting most of our salaries for the next few years into savings of some sort. Most of our "savings" right now is in our house's equity, and we're lucky enough to live in a place that only got Great Recession brushed, and to have skills and educations that make us semi-recession proof. We're sort of planning on selling this house and downsizing early, but that's vague.

We won't be living on a cruise ship, but we have a plan.

[FreeJoe]

17. Things are good here

I'm in my late 40's. My plan is to retire around age 59. I just did my annual financial review last weekend. Based on my current projections, my wife and I should have enough money to live to 100 and die leaving a sizable inheritance. Of course, that assumes a great many things - no employment gaps, no substantial income reduction, no large, unexpected expenses, etc. I'll rest easy when I'm in my late 90's and I have 10 times my annual expenses still socked away. Until then, I keep planning, saving, and hoping.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. are you joking?

[FreeJoe]

21. No

Things really have worked out well for us. I've been very fortunate. I've lucked into being almost the poster child for how the system claims to work. Since my mid 20's, I haven't been out of work for more than a weekend. I've been paid well and live a relatively simple lifestyle, so I've saved about 30% of my income most years. I'm a financial geek, so I've managed my money well (and relatively conservatively). Honestly, if everything continues to go well, I could retire as early as 55 (with retiree medical from my company). I just don't think I'll be mentally ready for retirement at that point.

Life has been good...so far.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. Ok, I thought maybe this statement: I'll rest easy when I'm in my late 90's and I have 10 times my

annual expenses still socked away" was a joke.

[FreeJoe]

24. I can see how you'd take it that way

I was just making a point about my personal insanity. I went through some personally financially difficult times in my early twenties. As a consequence, I've always been afraid that I'm going to be broke again someday. I have more money saved today that I ever dreamed possible but I still worry about scenarios where it runs out for some reason. I worry less each year, but I will probably still worry about it until I'm literally too old to care.

I see some of the same insanity in my parents. Here's a good example. They stopped by my house while on an eight week vacation that included six weeks of touring in Europe. They aren't multi-millionaires, but they have a great pension and good savings, so they can afford to live well. Anyway, my dad stopped to get gas in a little town about 20 miles from my house because it was cheaper there the last time he visited. When he got near my house, he saw that gas was now a few cents cheaper where I lived. So here is this guy on a $10,000 vacation, driving a new Lexus, and his whole day is ruined because he spent $1 more gas by getting it at the wrong station. It seriously ruined his day. Why? Because he lived cheap for so many years that the habits and psychology are deeply ingrained in him. Any time he thinks he's overpaid for something, it drives him crazy.

I'm not that bad. We still live below our means, but we don't live nearly as frugally as we did when my wife and I were kids. Heck, when I was a kid, we were a family of six living in Texas and our family car was a VW Beetle with no AC. As the youngest, I used to sit in the luggage space behind the back seat. And yes, an upholstered seat over an engine and below a window is an uncomfortable place to be on a 100 degree day. Even as well as we live, I still get reflexively cheap about things. We go to the theater for the Sunday matinee and sneak in grocery store candy rather than buy theater candy. I think I had a net worth over $1,000,000 and was still buying base model cars with manual transmissions and no power doors or windows. Even with a low six figure income, my wife and I used to sleep in the car at rest stops sometimes while we were traveling because we didn't want to pay the $20 for a campground. When you've gotten used to being a miser and worrying about money, it can be hard to break the habit.

[laundry_queen]

18. I got screwed

basically I ASSumed my loving husband was saving for our wonderful retirement. He told me so.

Then he cheated and left me with 4 kids, and SURPRISE! No savings, only a multitude of debt.

So, at age 34 I went back to school. I should graduate in a year or 2 (at 38 or 39). In my field, I can almost be guaranteed a good job. The first year I work full time I should be able to put away 1/2 my salary because I will still get full child-support. After that it will be harder, but I plan to stick to a strict budget, and I plan to be pretty ambitious. After 5 years or so I should expect a 5 figure base salary with profit sharing and bonuses (industry norm, I live in a booming area as well). IF (and that's a HUGE IF, if I don't get sick, if nothing happens to my ex or my kids, if jobs stay stable around here....etc) everything goes to plan, I will STILL have to work until I'm 65.

I have managed to save up a bit of money for an emergency account, but all my money put together is still only 2 months of living expenses. Being a poor single mom/student really sucks when trying to plan for retirement.

[FreeJoe]

25. I should have my wife read this!

She lets me manage ALL of the finances. For years, I always assumed that it must bother her not to know, but she's intimidated by all the complexity. I finally sat down and put together a really nice presentation. I showed her all of the accounts we have and how much money was in each one. I showed her how much money we needed for college and retirement savings and where we stood on achieving those goals. I showed her how much money was coming in and from what sources and how much money we were spending and on what stuff. As I went through it with her, it quickly became obvious that she didn't really care at all. She just assumes that we'll continue to live well in retirement, that we'll pay for the kid's college, and that I'll take care of everything financial. It's flattering that she's so trusting of me, but it still irritates me a little because I hate the thought of anyone being that willfully blind.

[laundry_queen]

40. Yes, please tell her

how much I regret not being involved in EVERYTHING. Although, in my case, my ex MADE things complex by starting up multiple businesses and mixing a lot of personal with business and if I questioned him, it became a huge argument about how HE was the one who took business, management and accounting courses and how I knew nothing about what he was doing. Now that I am nearing the end of my training to BE an accountant, I realize that was also a load of excrement. I would've understood - and I DID understand what little I did see - and that was exactly what he didn't want.

Now, I'm sure you, unlike my ex, are a trustworthy person, but it is still in your wife's best interest to know everything. I commend you for trying. Truly, money can be a dry subject for some people. Also, and this was true for me, when my ex would 'sit me down' and have a 'money talk' it was often about how *I* (but never him) had to cut my spending. Maybe she assumes you are using the 'budget talk' as a means of trying to control how she spends every penny. I often felt my ex was talking AT me, but not involving me in any decisions, just "this is how it's going to be, you don't spend anything except for groceries, and I'll make the rest of the decisions..." So I tuned him out.

Honestly, as broke as I currently am, I feel much more free than when I had all kinds of money to spend when I was with my ex (before he bankrupted us), because *I* get to make the decisions. I think involving your wife in decisions would probably be a good way to introduce her to it. Or you could just tell her that you could be spending all your money on your new girlfriend and gambling habit (yep, BTDT) and she would never know. Ask her what she would do if everything went *POOF* tomorrow. That may help her change her mind.

[IcyPeas]

19. Here is the AARP Retirement Calculator...

see what you come up with. It's scary.

http://www.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/retirement_calculator/

[nobodyspecial]

23. My house will be paid for

but I will definitely be living small.

[bunnies]

26. Nest egg? I haz none.

Hell. Im lucky if I have 4 figures in the bank!

[hrmjustin]

27. I like Ramen Noodles anyway.

[Ed Suspicious]

28. I'm counting on my ramen noodle perpetuated diabetes to take me out before I

encounter a problem.

[Kalidurga]

29. I'm on the I will be working til I am dead plan...

I am not currently working at the time because I just finished getting my Associates degree. I am going to return to school in the fall to start earning my bachelors degree. In the meantime I will have to take some stupid job that I will hate most days. But, after I am done with school I am going to have a ton of debt. Lucky for me I have learned to live on less than 600 dollars a month, but that is only because my SO has paid off the house and I just pay half the other household bills.

[HooptieWagon]

30. OK, I'm a little older than your group...56.

I won't retire in luxury, but at least in relative comfort. I live a modest lifestyle, and will be able to continue that. I am fortunate, many friends have little or no nest-egg, and will be relying on SS in retirement.

[kelly1mm]

31. Curently 42 and plan to retire in 2014 (thanks to Obamacare making HI afordable). So, looking good!

We won't have a lot of income but our expenses are very low (less that $18k per year). Paid off house, 28 acres, heat with wood from our woodlot, garden, well, chicken, pigs and goats. 3.5 kw of solar panels. Low RE taxes due to low income (MD has RE tax credit based on income). Money in the bank for decades of expenses and small pension kicking in at 59.

[MissB]

32. Multiple retirement streams are likely.

Dh has a 401k, to which he contributes the max each year. He is in his early 50s and has worked for the same employer as an engineer for 25 years. He has a small pension with them, but they switched to the 401k after he'd worked there for 5 years. We jokingly call the pension one our future beer money. Assuming SS is still around, he will get a fair chunk.

I'm in my early 40s and work as an engineer in the public sector. I have a pension and three other retirement accounts, only one of which I contribute to. The other two are set up by my employer (and aren't part of the defined benefit and I can't contribute to them - my employer did or does, depending on which one). I will get a decent amount of SS.

The house will be paid off when I'm in my early 50s. If dh were to lose his job before then, we could pay the bills strictly on my salary.

I know we are fortunate. Part of our fortune is that dh has worked for the same employer. Part of it is that we've always put the max into his 401k each year, even when the market sucked and even when we really could've used the money. I'm grateful for where we are. I don't expect to be taking European vacations when I retire. But I do think we will have a retirement similar to what our grandparents (regular working class folks, not technical/white collar) had. And that's fine with me.

[trublu992]

33. In my thirties have to get a new career, one that pays. Retirement what's that!

[hughee99]

37. Putting money into a down-market can work out well for younger workers.

I've been at my company for 15 years and I'm under 40. When the market dropped, the existing investments I had got hammered, but I'm also "buying low" at a young age. Since I can't touch the money for a long time anyway (at least 25 years), I'm not as concerned about current fluctuations as someone nearing retirement would be.

[donco]

34. I’m thinking about writing a cook book

titled 100 ways of cooking with Ramon noodles.

[LostinRed]

35. All I have is a 401k

I have been investing in it the last 10 years however I'm about five years behind. I've been averaging a 14% return the last few years thanks to that socialist Obama. The problem is according to the retirement calculator on Fidelity's site I need 2 million dollars to retire and continue my current lifestyle and I'm no where near that and my calculations of my current rate of return and investment I won't meet that unless I work well beyond the normal retirement age. Fortunately, I don't and never will have kids so I don't have to worry about paying for college.

[MADem]

36. I am too old for your poll...! nt

[u4ic]

38. It will be eaten in my omelette tomorrow

[bigwillq]

39. I'll have to work until I am 102.

I am hope I am dead long before that.

[Apophis]

41. I'll be working until I'm dead, then 40 years after.

[PETRUS]

42. kick

[PD Turk]

43. Ha!

Most of my nest egg was stolen and eaten by the fox that was guarding the henhouse

[HappyMe]

44. What nest egg?

[Javaman]

45. Somewhere between options 2 and 3.

I have no idea what the future holds. I hope to be okay and living on a tight budget, but like most Americans, all it takes is one minor tragedy, and all hope is out the window.

[seabeyond]

46. ha. i cant answer. if it was me, piece of cake. my hubby has higher expectations and

we are not even close, lol. i wonder... when the time comes, if he will settle for much less. then we would be totally comfortable and self supporting.

[DCBob]

47. Im mid 50's and not feeling good at all.

Recession, divorce and company bankruptcy have put me in a hole. Trying to dig out but its not easy at my age. I have a decent job and a few investments that might work out but I think my golden years may not be too golden. Hanging in there though.