Posted on 08/27/2018 12:25:53 PM PDT by TangledUpInBlue
The vast majority of Americans, 78 percent, say they're "extremely" or "somewhat" concerned about not having enough money for retirement, according to Northwestern Mutual's 2018 Planning & Progress Study.
And for good reason: A shocking 21 percent of Americans have nothing at all saved for the future, and another 10 percent have less than $5,000 tucked away, the study finds.
That means about a third of Americans have only a few thousand dollars, or less, put away for their golden years.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
It depends on what you think your family needs.
Then they’re with the wrong investment advisors. Mine gets paid a small percentage of the value of my funds under management. The more I make, the more he makes.
$1M isn’t hard to come by when you factor in real estate. But that doesn’t matter either really. The question is, can you retain your current standard of living when you no longer work?
How much do you need for retirement? Answer: How much do you spend?
That seems very low. My 17 year old son made $4K last year as a waiter in a restaurant.
Those are valid. Especially in your case. Hope things are going well for you now. On all fronts.
Man, people must not be tipping the way they used to. Or it was a crummy restaurant.
Some of those people bring in two incomes, have a small house or rent they can afford, use public transportation when they can, only buy things within their means. Back in my substituting days, a low of fellow substitutes, Aides, secretarial/custodial and Security Guards were in that spot. I was impressed by how well they knew their limits and lived within them.
Just part time work. Small family owned restaurant and tips are pooled.
The headline should read “Americans Could Only Save $5,000 From the Taxman.” Government has looted the people through taxation.
I’m 65, my wife is 63. She’s retired for health issues and I have a part-time hobby that pays
Out monthly after tax income is over $5,000 and we have no debt. Add in what I make with my hobby and we are netting over $6,000/month. We have over $350,000 in IRA/401K that we never touch. I can’t imagine either of us not having at least $10,000 each in our regular checking/savings account at all times.
We aren’t rich, but we know how to not spend money on a bunch of “stuff”.
I’m in my 6th year in my full time job.
During the time of the wun, I was almost wiped out but I persevered.
My 401k has a little over 60k in it now.
Going into next year, I hope to bump my contribution up a few more percent.
My first thought as well - but then I look at my mom and dad. He worked HARD for years doing construction and maintenance stuff. Then he was diagnosed with MS in his late 40s, 2 years later he couldn’t drive due to related vertigo, and had a quad bypass at 54.
Why didn’t they have savings? 5 kids spaced across 22 years on an income of under 60k/year. Now in the 80s - 50k was living like kings to us, but wage growth didn’t keep with inflation so by the time he couldn’t work there was nothing saved. They live now on SS and some odd jobs my mom does....plus what us kids can spare.
Well, it seems like everyone has been touting for the past few decades that most jobs are created by small businesses.
That seems to explain it. Most jobs are with small businesses. Most small businesses do not automatically have 401K’s (much less company matches) or other generous benefits.
I believe these are the forgotten men and women that DJT has been talking about for many years.
A lot of people are so bored by retirement that they want something to do. Many just can’t entertain themselves.
They haven’t run across the Free Republic.
$5,000 per month is a ton if you’re not touching your 401Ks. Good for you.
I need a hobby. What is it?? :-)
30k is very modest life for a single person, good luck trying to raise a family on that.
Wages have been declining for 2 generations due to mass immigration and outsourcing.
Better yet, let’s all guess what you net $6000 a month doing!
I agree on the match, but otherwise it’s not really an answer. Anyone can open an IRA or a Roth IRA or a Keough/SEP.
There are ways to save and as TJ said, no force is greater than compound interest. It works. But you have to do it. Or get the help you need to get started.
You are mistaken.
The Median Household income is 60,000 thus half have incomes MORE that the median, half are less than 60gs. No ways statistically that that half has only 30g in income.
Until a few years ago, I was definitely in the under 30k club.
Most of that was as a state employee.
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