Posted on 07/30/2007 7:31:07 PM PDT by traumer
Study Says Nearly One-Third of Older Baby Boomers Haven't Saved Enough for Retirement
NEW YORK (AP) -- Nearly one-third of baby boomers ages 51 to 61 are at risk of not having enough in savings to finance a comfortable retirement, according to a study being released Tuesday by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
With its analysis, the center has joined the national debate over how much savings is enough -- and has done so on the side that says there's a shortfall.
"We just don't believe people are saving too much," Alicia H. Munnell, a professor of management sciences at Boston College and director of the retirement research center, told The Associated Press.
A recently published academic study looked at the retirement preparedness of Americans who were in their 50s in 1992 and concluded that at least 80 percent had more than enough assets for retirement. Other scientists have argued that Americans may be saving too much.
The new Boston College study evaluated the same 51-61 age group, but looked at their finances in 2004, and found 32 percent to be "at risk" for not being able to maintain their preretirement standing of living in retirement.
The difference between the results, the center said, has to do with changes in the financial environment. For one thing, Americans now must wait until they're older than 65 to collect full Social Security benefits; meanwhile, lower interest rates mean they'll probably collect less on annuities and other investments. And many of today's workers do not have pensions like the earlier generation but must rely on worker-funded 401(k) retirement accounts, the center said.
Munnell said Americans have two choices -- to save more or to work longer.
For older people, "working just two years more ... can make a substantial difference" to retirement preparedness, she said.
"Working longer has a powerful effect because it shortens the period over which you have to support yourself and ... lets you put off tapping your 401(k) and collect higher Social Security benefits," she said.
The study was done using the center's National Retirement Risk Index, developed with funding from Nationwide Financial, the long-term savings and retirement product division of the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
Keith Millner, senior vice president and head of Nationwide Financial's in-retirement division, said "there is a retirement crisis" because people are living longer, health care costs are escalating and workers aren't saving enough.
"The No. 1 issue is inertia -- people aren't doing anything," he said. "They need to get educated, get engaged."
Young workers especially can benefit from saving more because of the impact of compounding, he said.
Center for Retirement Research: http://www.bc.edu/crr
Nationwide Financial: http://www.nationwidefinancial.com
I do wonder if in ten years there might be a "Booming" market for condos and patio homes?
How is the Grand Rapids area doing? I used to go out there a few times a year for business (this was 3 or 4 years ago) and it seemed to be growing quite a bit.
Actually, our founding fathers were very anti establishment too, and were considered rebels, non-conformist etc.
You cannot deny that most of the modern problems today have their root in the boomer dominated 60s and early 70s.
I do, And I could not disagree with you more here. It's my position that it's the every growing, expanding, intrusive government that is the problem, going back to the early 60s, and fast forwarding to what we have today. Starting at about LBJs time.
Starting around FDR’s time, I’d say
Does anyone realize the implications of the current SS benefits stated below?
Ex Spouse’s Social Security:
IF you do not remarry before age 60, you will be eligible to receive full Social Security survivor benefit (as early as age 60). This survivor benefit is equal to the full amount of your former spouse’s Social Security they were receiving at the time of their death. THe current spouse will also receive the same amount if they were married for at least 10 years.
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So, as many times as “we” marry and divorce, our EX’s can and may receive full survivor benefits. FULL is the key word. 3 spouses, three FULL benefits. Who is paying for that? Surely not the dead person. The dead person pays in, marries a few times, and if one, two or three of them do not marry again?????
And if I'm not mistake, LBJ was born in the early 1900s.
FDR and LBJ were certainly not baby boomers.
If the illegal aliens will be purchasing all he boomers homes, where will all the boomers be living?”
The boomers will have all been murdered by the illegals.
HA!
What are you talking about? There is Social Security isn’t there?
Some people were raised during the Carter years where they learned to buy it today because tomorrow it would cost more. They learned what you wanted was worth more than the money it took to buy it tomorrow. Why save?
I'm a retired Boomer and I know what my generation did with dope and free love. I didn't like the disintegration of the family, but I was in the minority BIG time. I still am. But my parents were the ones brought up believing that taking money from Warren Buffet would somehow help thousands of "the little people". Only in the last few years since Reagan and Gingrich have people started to realize if you take a dollar, 66 cents stays in Washington to be flushed down some alphabet sink hole.
I'm 56, been retired since 50, my wife didn't work, we have one daughter in college, and I have NO pension. I took a buyout from SBC and trade options and stocks for about a 16% annual return, so far. I have no inheritance and have never won anything. I saved and invested since Nixon was president and the DOW was 500. The last few years I was working, I saved $800 a month in my 401k and separate IRA. I lost about 30% of my money in the Tech bubble, but still retired at 50. I'm not doing as well as I wanted, but it beats working. I have tachycardia, high blood pressure and degenerative disk disease. I can't seem to get disability, but I'm to boinked up to work a full day. If I didn't trade options or stock and relied on just the interest on my money, I could last around 15 years or so as long as inflation wasn't as bad as the Carter years.
It can be done, but you can't always buy that new truck,( mine's a '91 GMC), you can't always go on vacations to exotic places( a hunting trip to Colorado every other year or so and maybe a weekend here and there), and you certainly can't buy a Mc Mansion and feed the AC,( I have a 2700 sq ft house on 1.16 acres with a 3 car garage and my house note is $515 for about 7 more years.)
I would love to have a diesel pusher and the fuel to go in it, but that just isn't going to be after the crash in 2001.
What I'm saying is that it can be done, but most don't have the willpower to say no to themselves. My last new car was a '91 GMC truck. Every car I own is a used car. I haven't bought a boat, only 2 motorcycles, and no ATV's IN MY LIFE! I do have about $10 grand in a gun collection. I do hunt when I get the chance, but it usually costs less than a grand a year for that.
The government can't stop you from saving, no one can stop you from retiring but you. The world sucks, America is pretty much lost, and it won't be easy in the future, but it never was. Blaming Boomers or the government won't put one extra dime in your pocket. We all should vote, but I doubt it will change a thing. When Bush passed the tax cuts and tried to get Social Security to be about 5% privatized, I wonder if any Dems have figured how much money they cost the people when they blocked it? I remember the SOTU speech when Bush mentioned this and the Dems stood up and cheered. Since then the market has gone from around 8k to 14k. But at least SS has gone up about 3%. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! And by all means LEARN about the stock market and real estate. The stock market isn't rolling dice in Vegas. There are ways of "beating the house". Never buy a stock and throw it in a drawer. Learn puts and calls and how to read a chart.
If you want to indulge yourself in a very depressing exercise, add up all of thetaxes you pay, starting with the roughly 15% Social Security tax (direct from you and the equal amount from your employer). By the time you are done, you will have a solid case of the blues.
As far as their children are concerned?
Two words; Terry Schiavo.
Well that is a little light even as to the Federal, since 15% of your pay goes to Social Security alone. Now add in state, local, real estate, sales and assorted other taxes and see what you get.
Sheeite, that's nothing, wait until those ofus younger than you get astuck paying for our senior prescription coverage and health care, with a housing market all shot to hell because you are all in retirement homes.
Yeah well...we told ya’ so.
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A friend is 62 this year. He has worked since he was 21 (college grad - paid his own way). He has had only three employers in thirty years. He bought his house @ 1976 for less than $50k. His wife always worked part time. He can't afford to retire before 70. Why? Simple, like thousands and thousands of other boomers he mortgaged his assets to pay for his three daughters' educations (each of which cost more than he paid for his house)...selfish bastard.
You children are really boring.
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