Posted on 06/15/2016 8:50:24 AM PDT by Lorianne
When American companies began switching from traditional pensions to self-directed 401(k)-like plans in the 1980s and 1990s, it was supposed to lead to a golden age of retirement security. No longer would workers be at the mercy of the company’s generosity or of Social Security’s solvency; workers themselves would be responsible for saving enough for a comfortable retirement.
Some 30 years later, the results are in: The median working-age couple has saved only $5,000 for their retirement, according to an analysis of the Federal Reserve’s 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances by economist Monique Morrissey of the Economic Policy Institute.
chart at source
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
And they will cash that in as soon as possible because “an emergency”.
Hah, because they know the rest of us will bail them out.
Who are the suckers, after all?
This is more of Rex “Nutter” Leftwing BS.
If $5,000 is the median, that means the majority have zero.
It also says “working age couple”, which could include even those in their low 20s, so may not be a good indicator of “typical”.
I read until I reached the comment about “perverse” federal policies that make it easy for the rich to save while penalizing the rest of us, blah, blah, blah.
My late father never made more than $40K a year, but he paid cash for a house and socked away enough to leave a $500K nest egg, even after raising two sons, spending 30 years in retirement (he lived to the age of 100) and living in a nursing home for the last year of his life—paid for out of his own pocket; as an “achiever” he received no help from government programs. Dad always put away 15% of his income, and it paid off. It’s a lesson my brother and I learned first hand, and we’re both on track for a secure retirement.
Compare that to my brother-in-law who passed away last week. High school grad, but never tried to get any additional education. Got fired from two jobs for theft and then bounced from one dead-end factory job to another until retirement, and lived off his social security check. When his health began to fail, he was placed in a nursing home, with Medicaid paying most of the bill. If my wife and her sister hadn’t taken out a burial policy, it would have been “pass the hat” time at his funeral.
Most of us don’t plan to fail at retirement, we fail to plan—and too many are more concerned about having it all now, with no concern for what lies ahead.
“And they will cash that in as soon as possible because “an emergency”.”
Yup. I was planning to retire. Bought a place down in Texas, got my fishing gear refreshed and was going to contract for a couple of years until my wife’s business took off.
I was let go in October 2008. My 401k was over 500k. It went down to under 200k. In early 2009, my cash on hand dwindled and I could no longer afford COBRA. Two days after my COBRA expired and I was waiting on a new policy, my daughter gets sick. In a facility for a year, wipes out the remainder of my 401k.
Over time I built it back up, but it isn’t a tenth what it was. Instead of retiring at 55, I won’t be able to retire for another 15 years. I am hoping between that, my Disability VA benefit and Social Security, with my wife’s income, we could winter in Texas, summer in Jersey. I prefer Costa Rica, but the wife is against it.
Little did we know that they would use their control over government education to make their own prophecy come true...
Thanks Democrats & Republicans for the wonderful economy you've created and all of those terrific taxes and fees and regulations you've imposed on Americans while you secretly become multi-millionaires while "serving" the public in Congress and the government.
I know people the same as our father. It is more about personal discipline than anything.
However, for people lacking that in degree or totally, incentives and disincentives do matter. Low interest rates have had a devastating effect on savings.
I have family members who saved a great deal on modest salaries ... but it helped that they could get 8% on CDs etc. Granted you should save anyway, but when there is less incentive to do so it makes a huge difference.
Sounds similar to my situation. I had a pretty good plan. The wife and I both had pretty good retirement accounts and I had my AF retirement. The economy took a nose dive. The ex took out a bunch of loans on her retirement to pay of credit cards that she just ran back up again. She and I both got laid off and she took out more loans that she defaulted on and then we got divorced. I had planned on being retired by now, but it will be at least another two or three years. It might be even longer than that if my truck keeps breaking down and I need a new one.
That is why conservatives have been trying to privatize SS for decades.
So your saying that I am atypical?
That’s cash on hand. What about the Social Security they’ve paid into and might have saved, or the average value of their pensions?
The article doesn’t seem to factor in the value of houses for homeowners - I think a lot of people are counting on the appreciation of their house values for retirement.
I am lucky that I have some savings but it can disappear quickly.
If I keep my job and retire at 67 and get I think $1,691 for social security then the savings I have will add more to that and I will have close to what I bring home from my job. If I work to 70 then I get $2,242 but I gotta keep working till I am 70. Better make some youtube videos for extra income...........
BTW if you make $100,000 you get $2,339 at 67 and at 70 you get $3,043
(I do not....)
Quick calculator:
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/index.html
Excellent post.
Just a week or so ago Drudge had a headline about “record tax collections” for the last quarter or year. And then a link about Congress spending beyond that number.
A nice chunk of my earnings were in that “record tax collection” and as always, it set me back. We are being taxed, inflated and regulated to death and all the happy talk about “living below your means” begins to crumble when your means are confiscated through taxation and devalued through inflation. You can only limbo so low before you find yourself flat on your back.
I think that is a pretty risky strategy, unless you are planning to take in boarders to make ends meet or planning to move to a less expensive country with the proceeds. There is no guarantee house prices will rise and even if they did, you have to live somewhere and would be affected by that same inflation.
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