Many Americans Will Fall Short Of Current Standard Of Living After Retirement

[Purveyor]

Source: Phoenix Business Journal

A new report finds that a majority of American workers will not be able to maintain their current standard of living after they retire.

The Center for Retirement Research estimates 61 percent of households are "at risk" of being unable to live the way they would like and pay for their health care when they retire.

The group considers consumers to be "at risk" if their savings, Social Security and pension benefits combined will fall at least 10 percent short of the income needed to support the same standard of living they had while working.

--
Many workers do not have a realistic estimate of how much they will need to spend on health care when they retire, according to a 2007 study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The group found that 84 percent of employees estimated they and their spouses will need to accumulate less than $250,000 for retiree health costs, 32 percent of whom thought they would need less than $100,000.

But according to EBRI, couples need to save about $300,000 in retirement to cover health expenses, assuming they live to average life expectancy and Medicare benefits remain at current levels. For those who live to 95, that amount jumps to $550,000.



Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/02/18/daily9.html

[RC]

1. How many people will have to save more than they make in order to retire?

[Warpy]

10. I keep getting told I needed to start putting $2000/year aside

when I was 20. Well, when I was 20, my gross was barely over that. I don't know what they expected me to have lived on for all these years. That's the problem with much financial advice. They ASSume you have a high income and low living expenses.

The truth is that most couples will find themselves in a macabre race at some point. The first spouse who gets sick will cost them everything, including their home. When s/he dies, the second spouse will be left with a reduced social security check and nothing else.

This is what Medicare was supposed to stop, but Medicare doesn't cover long term care or even much rehabilitation. The system has needed reform for a very long time, but conservatives will never do it.

The truth is that even people who are savers, like me, were never able to put aside enough for retirement. Most of us don't have 401K plans or pensions, and the pensions we do have are fixed and won't be enough for a cat to live on after the next round of inflation.

I don't know what people my age are going to do. I do know that people my age, usually the lowest risk suicide group, are starting to off themselves at a faster rate, most likely due to economic issues.

The country has become appallingly cruel to its people.

[The Croquist]

26. I completely disagree

I have saved enough to retire on. I am 51 and have never owned a new car. If fact my current car, a 2000 Toyota Celica, that I bought for 10,000 about 4 years ago cost more then every other car I ever owned combined. My friends all called me cheap but they're not laughing anymore.
Enjoy your toys folks because you will be paying for them the rest of your lives.

[Wcross]

29. You are so right.

There are people where I work who drive vehicles that cost more than they make in a year. Instant gratification & a lifetime of poverty.

[pitohui]

33. i've never owned a new car either

and yet i'm aware that there is no honest way for me to save 2 million dollars

i doubt there is any honest way for you to save such a sum either, not buying a new toyota instead buying a used car every ten years at best saves a only few tens of thousands of dollars over the decades-- a whole lifetime of not ever once in my life having that "new car smell" means only one extra year of life in retirement -- and not even that if some emergency arises between now and retirement

enjoy your lack of toys because you too will be paying the rest of your life and considering you're 51 you'll soon find out that just saving money is not enough -- no one can save more money than it is legally possible to earn

[sergeiAK]

49. How is it impossible to legally earn money?

Let's run some numbers here. Most companies have a 401k plan. Heck, many even match up to 5% of your salary that you contribute. Assuming a 4% (matched) contribution, on a $50k average salary over a productive life of 40 years (age 25-65), that means you will have saved roughly $4k/year. At 8% annual return (possible in well managed funds, like the types offered in many 401k plans), the initial $4k will be approximately $87k. The second year of contributions will be worth approximately $80k. The third will be approximately $75k. All said, investing $4k/year, you will end up with just over $1m. While saving 4% of your gross salary is not an easy thing to do, it is certainly possible for anyone not in the poorhouse already.

That is counting on an average income of $50k/year, with no raises. I used this number because the average US household income in 2006 was 48k. I rounded up for the ease of calculation.

Compound interest is a wonderful thing.

Formula used: money invested* (1 + interest rate)^years invested

[pitohui]

62. it's impossible to legally earn the amount of money claimed here

first of all, "most" companies don't have (401)ks, neither my husband nor i have ever worked at a company that has one, so there's your problem right there, that pesky reality thing

the majority of people are not the lucky few who get the great jobs with benefits at big corporations that provide all these trimmings -- huge numbers of people are trapped in jobs with small companies with restricted benefits or even the ultimate screw, they're contractors/self-employed with zero benefits

an 8 percent annual return over 40 years is completely ridiculous, because you are comparing a growing economy that we had in the 20th century with a mature economy that has little room for further expansion -- unfortunately i don't have the ability to go back in time and be born a few decades earlier so that i can enjoy the returns that retirees saw in the late 20th century

i got a letter from t. rowe price around 2000 for example suggesting that returns in this century in american markets will be more like an annual return of 4 percent over the next few decades

really the DOW has basically gone nowhere (very loudly) over the last 8 years so i have no real reason to doubt it -- a mature economy doesn't grow as fast as you project, and the developing economies (such as latin america or china) put at a risk of high swings and/or currency exchange risks that we don't get when investing in our home market

so your projections based on a completely different economy just make assumptions that make am ass out of you and me, as they say about what happens when we "assume"

if we could all go back in time, we could project results based on the past, but READ YOUR PROSPECTUS, we can't

[AnneD]

69. What your formula neglects to figure in....

is life......
Laid off (25K/yr which was high salary in 1986)unable to find ANY work for almost 2 years-even part time

Went through unemployment and retirement saving in order to survive(food rent) and retool into a different profession.

Start over in other profession at age 38. with debt, with child.

Paid most of debt except student loan.
Paid for divorce. Relocated.
Started saving for retirement again investing in 403K approx. 10% of earning.

Lost between 3/8th of retirement in 2000 dot com bust.

Remarried-relocated-now making 2x my last salary. Saving $500 per month (out of 50K)

Custody fight. Court cost 10k, lost case child, support reduces salary to 25K unable to afford but $50 per pay period in retirement.

It all sounds nice on paper but I have had to rebuild my life twice and had to go to court twice and have lost a big chunk of retirement in an economic down turn. Even if you are responsible and DO make a plan and stick with it-things happen and no formula can account for that. If I hadn't been a saver-things would have been even worse at this. point.

[Pastiche423]

34. Toys?

How very rude of you!

I was like you, a saver and lived my life simply until an injury paralyzed me for life. From that point on I've been unable to work. Toys? I can hardly afford to eat and pay rent, muchless spend money on "toys".

You best hope your health remains good.

[The Croquist]

51. I am sorry to hear about your injury but you are an exception not the rule

And you should thank yourself that you were smart enough to save. You would be in even a worse position now then if you hadn't saved.

I wasn't trying to be rude just to point out that saving money is better then spending money. That's something that the average American hasn't seemed to grasp.

[AnneD]

70. Not as big a exception...

as you think. All kinds of things happen-beyond your control most times.

[Pastiche423]

72. No, I am not an exception

There are 54 million disabled Americans. The majority of those disabled Americans live below the poverty level, as do I. Have you ever lived below the poverty level. If you did, how did you save any money?

Must be nice living in that bubble of yours.

[raccoon]

56. Something similar happened to me and in the early 90's I had to

leave a well-paying job. Have been underemployed ever since. I haven't had group medical since I lost that job.

[xxqqqzme]

71. That was an insult to me as well.

I don't even own a car much less an older one. My last auto was a '79 Volkswagon super beetle convertible which I stopped driving in '95 when I was disabled in an accident(not in the VW) Because I had a good job then, I get max SSI. But it does not cover expenses. I'm fortunate to have some money to supplement my disability but last month I lost $15,000 in the market tumble. That equals about 5 years of dipping for me. People automatically think because they're OK today, it will always be so. Sorry - life happens.

[bronxiteforever]

36. Totally Bogus Assumption-But good GOP talking points

[Warpy]

38. I drove tuna wagons

I got rid of credit cards in 1991. I dressed myself and furnished my shabby fixer in a poor neighborhood out of thrift shops.

I saved.

However, there is only so much you can save on women's wages and with a health condition that disqualifies you from getting insurance at any price.

Face it, you got lucky. You took advantage of that luck and lived prudently and well within your means, but you still got lucky.

Some of us were unlucky enough to get sick. Others were lucky but pissed it away on toys because that's what all their neighbors were doing.

However, your superior attitude to both groups won't make you a single friend.

[conflictgirl]

40. Nice attitude

In our household we're driving a 7 year old compact Saturn sedan and a 10 year old Chevy Monte Carlo - hardly going into debt for "toys". At the same time I'm 34 and have nothing at all saved for retirement. You know why? Because I can't find a job. I graduated with my BA, magna cum laude, last August, and so far no one's hired me. It's going to be pretty hard to save enough money to retire at this rate.

[sergeiAK]

50. What's your degree in? NT

[lutefisk]

45. Well good for you. That works for you, but why be so smug?

Every situation is different. For example, I choose to put my children in a vehicle with with a high safety rating and side curtain airbags. I couldn't live with myself if I did anything less. So my vehicle is a toy? gmafb

[Xenotime]

53. So true.

These "financial experts" don't even tell you how to get a better credit rating to get low insurance or qualify for a loan. It sickens me to no end that these people have millions and nice suits and look at you thinking you do to.

[raccoon]

55. I agree with you about the financial advice. lots of times, they'll

come up with a scenario, such as Joe Blow starts saving at age 20, assume he gets a 3% raise each year, saves 10% per year, his investments earn 7% per year, yadda, yadda, yadda...then in 40 years he will have a brazillion dollars.

I guess this kind of thing is well-intentioned, trying to show the need to start early and save. But this assumes some very unrealistic things.

--That Joe will get an annual raise every year.
--That he won't go through periods of un/underemployment when he can't save 10% and has to go into his savings.
--That investments will earn 7% per year for 40 years--yeah, right....
--That he won't have some extreme medical or other expenses.

Ah, well, as I've said, I guess this sort of thing is well-intentioned.

[pitohui]

63. i actually don't think it is well intentioned

the point of these projections is to sell something and what it's selling is these various investment vehicles

a lot of people get a completely unrealistic idea, i know i did, based on what i was told, just by investing a couple grand a year in index funds over two decades, i should have had a million dollars by now, needless to say, i'm nowhere near that -- raygun's idea that we could all have millions by investing 2K a year in our IRAs was just another of his lies

the numbers are just plain bogus, they assume a rate of return, usually 10-11%, the annual rate of return of the stock market in the period 1929-1999 and pretend that the rate of return we saw during the fastest growing economy in the fastest growing century of all time, was going to be the rate of return now in the 21st century, when the economy is mature and the market has been stalled for many years

actually, going back, you can see that the market was pretty stalled for the 30 years between 1930 and 1960 and didn't really seriously take off until the early 1980s so...if you were depending on these high "annual" rates of return, you didn't actually get them unless you were lucky enough to invest and then cash out at just the right point

the psychic who bought in during the 1987 crash and then sold prior to the dot com bubble bursting in spring 2000 no doubt actually did enjoy an 11% annual return and no doubt did become a multi millionaire

unfortunately we're not psychics nor are financial advisors psychics, they are sales people and most of them don't have millions either, they just have flash (the clothes, watch, jewelry, and car) to pose as millionaires to sell to the naive

[raccoon]

67. You may be right--look who benefits. nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I didn't expect to maintain my standard of living

that's one reason I "retired" early from teaching and moved to the mountains where I could have a garden and be able to survive.

[HeraldSquare212]

3. I agree - I think that's an attempt to get us all to oversave

so they can play with more of our money. I don't expect to have the same lifestyle.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. Oversave?

With what?

[ixion]

4. that's my plan, too

autonomy, and a simpler lifestyle. I've already bought the land, and am working on putting a Yurt with a solar system on it, and will have a garden and fish pond.

[Radio_Lady]

7. A tip of the hat to all of you! We're retired, and waiting for the right time

to scale down from 2500 ft. to maybe 1500 ft. and a common yard, tended by other people. I've looked at everything from actual communes to shared living space. We need a smaller property than the one we currently own.

I get cold feet every time we try to look for another place.

We just love our home, but our natural gas bill for one month (January) was $236. Frightful -- makes those of us on a fixed income really feel out of control.

Cordially,

Radio Lady Ellen

[bpeale]

28. i am fortunate enough to live in southern New Mexico

i do not have heat in my house in the winter. i buy about 1/2 a cord of wood annually in case i need it. this year we used up all the wood. but i have never made enough to have anything to save. my husband just this year, after being on our jobs for over 17 yrs, had reached the landmark of $42,000 annually. we have lived in our 1600 sq.ft. house for 17 years. we paid $59,900 for it. we currently have our daughter & her husband living with us because they cannot afford on student money (both are students) to pay rent anywhere. it's seriously pathetic. we are fortunate to have a mortgage of only $24,000 but do not want to touch the equity in our house. believe me, with 4 adults in 1600 sqft, it's pretty cramped. my daughter has 3 cats. i have 5 cats. our property taxes are $467 per year.

we have two cars, neither of which are new, that we still make payments on. the last NEW car we got was in 1987 & that car is still on the road although not in our possession any longer. we currently own a 1969 chevy truck, a 2002 ford taurus, a 1992 toyota camry, and a 2004 subaru forrester. my sister drives my truck, my daughter drives the taurus, my son in law drives the camry, and hubby & i drive the subaru. we do not use gas just simply to drive around. we combine trips as necessary. all our vehicles have full coverage insurance (with a zero deductible).

we shop as economically as possibly, buying things from the meat cutout bins in the supermarkets and only things that are on sale. we have a stash built up of things we got on sale. we invested in a full size freezer in order to store more frozen food.

we have two woodburning stoves in our house. we use space heaters so we only heat rooms we are actually living in or occupying at the time. all the beds have electric blankets for the winter. when we cook we leave the over door so we don't waste the heat until the oven cools. we wash dishes by hand. even with all the preventive measures, our electric bill is about $185-240 per month. our gas/water bill is $85-100 per month. our biggest splurge is for cable. we have the highest grade package with all the premium channels and cable internet. our cable bill is $185-225 per month. this includes two DVR's (so the kids have their privacy as well as us). i suppose we could do without some cable stuff, but it is our entertainment for the month. we don't go to movies. we don't go party at night spots. we eat out twice per month, but all other meals are eaten at home. i don't know how many people can say they cook & eat at home that much. my guess is not many.

the two kids don't have medical insurance. my son in law is a disabled vet (Iraq). my daughter uses the clinic locally that has a sliding scale. she has type 1 diabetes. hubby & i have insurance but most times don't have the money to use it. i have a flexible spending account every year for $2000 which takes care of about 80% of our medical bills (to date we have used $1550 & we're only in the 2nd month of the year!).

there you have it. there isn't much left after all that. and my sister may lose her job & we will probably end up moving her into the house too. we all gotta do what we gotta do.

peace to all.

[Wcross]

30. Have you got a south facing wall or roof?

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Air-Heating/Your-Solar-Home-Solarsheat-Products/Solarsheat-Recirculating-Air-Heating-Sys/c672/

You might consider a solar air heater.

[bpeale]

37. i have not had heat for so long that it doesn't bother me

the least little amount of heat makes me feel like i'm burning up.

[trogdor]

15. Old people just spend less.

They don't usually have kids to take care of, for one thing. If you can unload your big family-sized house and get something smaller, you'll be doing good. I suspect mortgage payments on that big-ass house is part of the equation for computing "standard of living," but I'd bet if you got something more manageable to live in, your quality of life would improve. Who needs to dust and vacuum six rooms you no longer use?

[Radio_Lady]

5. Radio Lady: Call me now at 503-293-1902. It's Oregon Public Broadcasting's telephone.

We can talk about anything. It won't be recorded or broadcast. I'll be here until 1:30 PM PT/4:30 PM ET.

Just an simple inquiry for a possible survey as to whether we could develop a HD radio following from DU posts.

Anybody game for this? I promise you I won't bite.

Cheers.

Radio Lady in Oregon

[CTyankee]

6. I find that I need a hell of a lot less now that I am retired than when I was working.

I buy fewer clothes, use my car less, don't color my hair (hell, half the time I don't even wear makeup). I take advantage of lots of discounted stuff. I eat out less.

I think it depends on your expectations upon retiring. I don't expect to need a winter home or a cruise and I don't have an expensive hobby. I pretty much knew what I was spending before I retired, so I had a reasonable idea of what I would face. That's the only way to do it, IMO.

[Radio_Lady]

14. Sounds a lot like what we're doing. I have more than enough clothes for the rest of my life.

If purchasing anything, I get it from consignment or thrift stores. I do buy new bras at Macy's and once in a while, a bit of makeup which I have used for a long time.

Otherwise, we do travel during the winter, but we were able to buy into the Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare program in 2001, when travel was really depressed after the attacks on the World Trade Towers. The money we spent in their system holds the prices of our villas at a reasonable level. We do have a couple of yearly maintenance fees. (It's a point system, so we can travel to many places very economically.) We rarely eat out, and if we do, it's at some inexpensive place that serves good food and has a good atmosphere.

Our biggest expense is medical and dental. We do have an HMO, but no dental plan. Last year, we got hit bigtime. We spent more than $15,000 for the medical plan we do have.

Take care.

Radio Lady Ellen

[CTyankee]

21. Hubby is still working. City job with union, AFSCME.

So his medical coverage is better for me than Medicare Part B and cheaper (even covers dental). However, that'll change when he retires (don't know when).

Due to surgery I had last spring, I have lost weight and now need new clothes but nothing like what I used to buy.

Your travel deal sounds cool. I am going to Europe as often as I can. My next trip is in May to Northern Italy, places most American tourists don't go except for my last stop, Venice. Hoping to take my granddaughter to Rome when she is 13 (June 09).

Good luck to you, as always!

[lovuian]

8. we get universal health and all of our lives will be

improved
Its coming Why
cause in this atmosphere people are not going to be able to save

[antigop]

9. The big problem is healthcare. Medicare is in terrible financial shape and ...

very few companies are offering decent retiree medical programs.

[Thothmes]

46. In addition,

a lot of physicians in the area where I live will not take any new medicare patients.

[izquierdista]

11. Realistic??

"...being unable to live the way they would like and pay for their health care..."

Oh tell us, wise business journal oracles, how one can pay for health care, when the price of it is "whatever you have, we'll take it"?

[spinbaby]

12. Oh, great

20 years of saving for retirement and now we're told that what we've saved isn't even enough to cover our health care:mad:

[flashl]

13. Just posted in GD

Pension cut could prompt judges’ flight, Bucci warns

PROVIDENCE — About a third of the state’s judges will retire all at once if the legislature adopts Governor Carcieri’s proposal to slash judicial pensions by the amount of Social Security benefits they’re due to receive, the head of a state judges’ association predicts.

By the end of the current fiscal year, 23 of the state’s 59 judges will be eligible to retire with pensions equal to either 75 percent or 100 percent of full pay, a courts spokesman said.

And the “vast majority, if not all,” of those 23 judges will retire rather than lose annual Social Security payments estimated to be at least $20,000 per year, said District Court Judge Elaine T. Bucci, president of the Rhode Island Trial Judges Association. She said she hasn’t spoken to each judge, but she said, “Why wouldn’t they retire? That’s a big number.”

Bucci warned that such a large exodus would have a devastating effect on the courts. “I think we would have to come to a dead stop — it would be that significant,” she said. “That would affect everyone: litigants, lawyers, defendants and the criminal justice system where people are entitled to speedy trials.”

Providence Journal

It is not always how we prepare or whether we prepared for retirement. There are millions of American workers who prepared and received pensions but their companies filed bankruptcy. Their pensions were transferred to PBGC where their monthly checks were halved or worst.

[raccoon]

57. What about the poor working stiffs who won't even get that, because they didn't have a pension

because their employer didn't offer one?


"Their pensions were transferred to PBGC where their monthly checks were halved or worst."

[yellowcanine]

16. I think I will move to a developing country and live on my Social Security.

That way I can save my other retirement money for travel.

[pitohui]

64. you can't because medicare doesn't go to another country with you

only the social security itself, you can't take your health care with you and how are you going to buy health insurance when you're over 65 at a price you can pay?

considering the rising price of health care worldwide, it is not realistic any more to think we'll be able to get care forevermore in the third world for a price we can pay, i project this loophole to close in the next 10 years (hope i'm wrong)

i've heard of travelers over age 72 complain that there is no traveler's health insurance for them at any price, because of pre-conditions i guess, well, when you're 72, guess what, you've got preconditions!

[Buns_of_Fire]

17. My standard of living won't change much.

It sucks now. In 1,809 days (but who's counting?) when I can start drawing on my meager pension and Social Security, it'll still suck.

It's so nice to have something to look forward to.

[leftcoastie]

18. Not quite ready

to retire, but my wife and I have no pensions, have worked all our lives and worked in alternative and non-profit fields and we've been trying to play catchup over the past decade. We attempted to sell our home to downsize right at the time of the northern SF bay area real estate market crash thus rendering our home's value downward close to $140K in a short couple of years. We weren't relying on that but without healthcare (pre-existing conditions) the cross country move would be far more dicey. I lost my job, she lost hers and we're looking for positive employment while draining our retirement. It shouldn't be this way. We've been victims of this economy and don't have too many more years to work it out. I am glad for what we do have and what we have accomplished, for there are many folks in more dire straits, but this country needs to repair its "commons" and deal with healthcare and retirement.

:think:

[mike_c]

20. I fully expect to be homeless when I retire....

If you see me begging on a street corner in your neighborhood, please take my years of service in higher education into consideration and check for spare change in your pockets.

[knitter4democracy]

23. Heck, let's do better than that and get you a home.

:hug:

[knitter4democracy]

22. Well, duh. Where's the news in this?

We were told once that we'd have to save over two million dollars to have the same level of living with our health profiles and such. Hubba-wha?! How in the heck is that supposed to happen? Combined, we have maybe $10K in retirement accounts so far, but that's it, and we're now almost 34. We have med school loans to pay off, credit card debt to pay off, two kids to put through college, and my constant health problems.

Our plan is to pay off our debts and get our kids through college and do our darndest to pay off the house. That way, we'll have that to fall back on. We're also hoping the entire state economy doesn't go down the drain so we can stay here. Living's fairly cheap here, and Hubby has no lack for patients, and it's a good life here for us. Still, we would never think that we'd have the same standard of living. No one we know does.

[dysfunctional press]

24. i'll start thinking about saving for the future on 12-22-12...

just in case those mayans were on to something BIG.

[depakid]

25. "how much they will need to spend on health care..."

In other words- how much will be drained off by the parasites that infest the US healthcare "system," brought to you by K street and the Republicrats.

[alfredo]

27. ham hocks instead of steak. Goodwill instead of LL Bean. Yes I am

retired.

[Thothmes]

47. I prefer

ham hocks with navy or pinto beans to steaks any day.

[alfredo]

59. The steak lasts one meal. Beans not only last several days, it gives

reminders of what a fine meal it was.

Ham hocks, green beans, potatoes, onions, corn bread, and a cold glass of milk.

For you people who have never cooked ham hocks, here is the simple, easy instructions.

First clean them under the faucet. put in pan cover with water, bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Cook the living shit out of it. Let it simmer several hours. change the water a couple times. Drain. Without the long cooking, the meat will be tough.

Look out for smaller bones the look like meat.

[AlienGirl]

31. I have a 75-yr-old co-worker with a Ph.D

He, like me, is in an entry-level social service job making under $40K/year. He used to be the director of a care provider.

There is no longer such a thing as retirement. There are no "golden years" any more; just (as in the pre-FDR era) the greying and crymbling years of working until you die.

I wish I had been born long enough ago to be old now. These are the waning days of the time when things were good.

Tucker

[Warpy]

39. I had a 76 year old coworker RN at my last job

He retired at 65 and just couldn't make it on his lousy nursing pension and Social Security. Inflation had rendered his pension nearly worthless.

He took a refresher course, relicensed, and went back to work.

This is obscene. We tried to keep things easy for him, but there was only so much we could do.

[sakabatou]

41. Hell yes, it's obscene.

[primavera]

54. Gosh, good thing we don't live in one of those commie pinko countries...

... where the elderly are guaranteed pensions and health care. :eyes:

[pitohui]

32. there's no way for an honest person to save enough money

we're consistently told we need to save 2 to 4 million for my husband to ever retire, he could not earn such a sum in an entire lifetime of work even if he didn't spend a penny of it and saved it all

look at your social security statement sometime and the lifetime earnings part -- we can't project an earnings level of 2 million dollars even if we work 50 years yet we are supposed to magically have that amount saved to "deserve" retirement!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

35. What retirement?

Ain't going to happen here.

[pitohui]

65. unfortunately you don't get to decide that

look around you, a great many people are retired not because they can afford it or because they wished to be but because they are disabled

the reality of the physical plant is that it gets worn down and it ages, there is a soaring risk of injury and disease with each passing decade

[GoddessOfGuinness]

68. I still won't have that luxury.

For me it will always be work or die. I guess death is a kind of retirement... ;-)

[conflictgirl]

42. Once again its the Republican tactic of putting this all back on the individual

Notice that it's not about the need for adequate social programs for seniors in general or the need for universal health care. No, instead they put it back on us that we're not saving enough for our own health care in retirement! Unquestionably a lot of people are living frivolously and beyond their means, but when wages aren't even keeping up with inflation or the rising costs of gas, food, health care etc. how is anyone supposed to save that kind of money just for health care?

It's a distraction from the real problem. What we really need is a country that takes care of its people, helping the sickest and weakest and rewarding the oldest among us for their years of service. What they don't deserve is a kick in the ass and an admonishment that they should have saved more - gee too bad, if you need money you can go work at Wal-mart. What is this country coming to? It's a nation run by sadists.

[galledgoblin]

43. I'd sell pot if I were retired

ok, I'm not completely serious about that, but I'm not completely joking. if I had to retire today and couldn't make ends meet, I might consider it for supplemental income.

if you get caught and arrested, at least you'll receive 3 square meals and health care.

[Haole Girl]

44. D'uh. nt

[RebelOne]

48. That's the reason why at 69 years old, I am still working full time.

I'm also collecting social security, but I can't retire because I would not be able to live on that alone

[SoCalDem]

52. We do not plan to live like we do now..

We have "new-ish" cars we paid cash for, new-ish top of the line appliances we paid cash for..

My husband retires in about 5 years & we plan to move "down" into a modular place that we should be able to pay cash for also ..actually our sons will "buy" it, and we will "rent" it from them..

By not having to pay for housing, we can live very frugally..

Even if the market does not rebound a lot, we should net enough from our house to do that.. (we bought in '82)..

We have no pension ..(well I do, but it's only a little over $300 a month :eyes: ) so we will HAVE to live off SS, our savings and our 401-k & my puny IRA..

[sarcasmo]

58. Debt free minus the house in 36months and the house is done when I am 51.

Refinanced two years ago and made it a 15 year note instead of 30, pay twice a month instead of monthly. I am no finance guru, but pay off your debt and life is easier.

[Massachusetts]

60. Retirements Overrated!

Stay in the game and enjoy the ride.

1) Baby Boomers will "reintroduce" Communal Living out of necessity.

2) National Health Care Will be passed within the next (5) years, out of necessity.

3) Baby Boomers will realize that retirement is overrated and will continue to contribute to the work force as employees or new venture entrepreneurs. There will be a noticeable increase in new venture entrepreneurs, because of the convergence of the "ticking age clock" and "my" dream (need for self/life fulfillment). This will hasten the "new entrepreneurial boomer(s)" into action, again out of necessity (I think more self fulfillment).

4)Baby Boomers will redefine what retirement is (or is not). No need to freak out folks.

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
-Shakespeare

[pitohui]

66. very unrealistic fantasy but enjoy it while you can

i have a friend from high school who was permanently disabled in her 30s, and of course i know many, many, many folks who have picked up a permanent disability in their 50s, and in my own family there have been many folks with alzheimer's which means, guess what, they were completely disabled and unable to work for many years

the fantasy that you can just somehow choose to keep working is a fantasy based on denying the realities of the aging body and mind

the people who can physically and mentally work until they drop may well consider themselves the "lucky" ones because a great many people will not get a choice about the matter -- they will be forced to retire against their own desires

oh, and being an entrepreneur is a great way to risk all you have, and it's a stupid thing to do unless you have a lot of spare money -- you need it to make sure that your assets are secure against lawsuits, bankruptcies, etc. -- the average retiree can't get the money back so can't take the risk of being sued, being embroiled in a bankruptcy, and so on and so forth

i've passed on several "opportunities" because i judged the lawsuit/legal risk to be too high and frankly i haven't yet had occasion to be sorry

there is no magic wand, my friend, some of us have awakened from our sleep and these dreams look so sad now...

[Azazel]

61. I can't live "the way I would like" now! nt