Roger this. That's what I'm doing, and I'll have over a million bucks by the time I retire in 697 days (but who's counting), plus pension and SS.
Of course, the fact that I've lived a fairly modest lifestyle while working at a good job with a pension and a 401k, and having a wife who did the same, will put me in a lot better position than many of my peers. I guess I should thank God that I never developed the taste for high-end "toys" that many of my friends have.
Most of the "Boomers" I talk to have done no planning; you can tell by the way they seem to fear the subject, and blame it on things beyond their control. I expect that too many people are going to find themselves hurting very badly in their senior years, and increasingly prey to a younger generation that will have no mercy when it comes to reducing what meager benefits that they will have.
So really, FRiends, go out and get a good financial planner and start putting it away now. The money you put away for the future will grow, and you will not miss it if you have it taken out of your pay directly. And the bottom line is, if you don't - well, you were warned, and will have nobody to blame but yourself if your retirement plan includes the phrase "would you like fries with that"...
Exactly. I'm on the same course as you are (sadly, with more than 697 days to retirement!). Take a look at my post #24 for a frightening look at the median family finances. They're not pretty, and they're light years away from the preparation my husband and I have done.
We also have not needed high-end everything; we decided to stay in our house and do some remodeling rather than just "move up" to something fancier. We've never lived up to our income.
You said, "you can tell by the way they seem to fear the subject, and blame it on things beyond their control." I've experienced this in conversation, and I've seen it right here on this thread with people claiming they can't save for retirement because they have to pay into Social Security! Talk about excuses.
Actually, it will be the seniors who hold the political power. Besides the fact that they vote in greater numbers than the young, by 2030, there will be 70 million Americans of retirement age--twice as many as today. There has been a significant wealth transfer to the old from the young over the past decades. The gray panthers are a formidable political force now and will become increasingly so in the future. Look for SS taxes to be increased and retirement ages raised on the younger generation to pay for us.
Social Security pays more than $450 billion in benefits each year. If nothing is done, by 2060, the combination of Social Security and Medicare will account for more than 71 percent of the federal budget
the fall of rome has already started.
job that don't absolutely require a college degree and the capacity to do something with it are outsourced, or given to masses of part-time imbeciles.
this is the economy we are building.