Posted on 08/13/2024 6:55:12 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
Labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci says work is the new retirement. She blames "policymakers who experimented with our retirement system 40 years ago, and they are not saying the experiment failed."
That experiment is what is known today as the 401K, named after part of a 1978 law that offered companies an alternative to the traditional pension plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
*But in fact, many of today’s older workers were never taught enough about saving and investing for retirement.*
And your point is?
*Like many working Americans, the Gesicks were more doers than savers, and they drained their 401ks.*
Then keep doing it.
*Now, they have a mortgage, a car loan and they are paying down about $12,000 in other debt. But even with Social Security, some old pension funds and their paychecks, money is tight.
Choices.
To take advantage of the roaring economy? 🤔.
I agree that work or physical activity in your progressing years is probably a very good idea for health reasons, but having a job should be a choice, not a necessity.
Necessity? They both have had 50 years to prepare.
Too many people believe the government will take care of them and they can “live” on social security. To plan for retirement the #1 thing you should do is become debt free before you retire, that is empowering.
401(k)s have been very good to those white collar workers who could afford to sock away 10-15% of their income every year and invest it into a good mutual fund family.
401(k)s have not been very good for workers who live paycheck-to-paycheck and can't afford to invest much. For them Social Security will be their main retirement income source.
And with putting so many non-retirees on Social Security, that fund is drying up.
I disagree with the “forced” comment too. I think most seniors I know work a little in retirement. They don’t view it as a negative. Its not like they are working 40 hours a week at a physically demanding job. They do it to supplement their income. The reality is that no one ever promised anyone that they would be able to live 20 or 30 years in retirement at the same living standard with no work. That’s just a fact.
Blaming 401k’s or the end of pensions or SSI or anything else is ignoring that we all have responsibility for our own destinies. Work hard and smart as a youngster, save and invest wisely rather than spend and run up debt, and regardless of your path you will amass that nest egg for a comfortable retirement.
Believe that the government will take care of you in your old age? You will die poor and uncomfortably.
The benefit of those kinds of jobs is that you don't need it and you can quit if you get pissed off at the boss....
I’m waiting for society to step back and really take a hard look at where we are:
Wages have been stagnant since 1971.
Many young people are stuck in dead-end jobs and don’t make enough to afford rent or a mortgage. No American Dream for them. They know it. They don’t feel like working hard because they know that (in many cases) working hard will leave them exactly where they are today when they don’t work hard. So what’s the point?
Retired folks find that they don’t have enough income. They are still working. Some, because they want to. Many, because they need to. The dream of a comfortable retirement eludes many people who worked hard all their lives. Now they are old, and still working.
That’s the young, and the old. Are people in the middle happy and thriving? I haven’t seen that many of those lately.
We have a broken, miserable society. And a lot of people are blind to it and just expect individuals to “work hard” and “be smart” so that everyone can grab the golden apple. I say our society has deep systemic problems (just one of which is that $35T debt) and we need to really re-think a lot of stuff.
Note: They spent more than their income. That was a choice.
“They both have had 50 years to prepare.”
Some folks could not prepare if you gave them a thousand years to do it.
Dave Ramsey has made a fortune because there are so many people who can’t figure this stuff out for themselves.
I don’t know about “forced to work”, but if you keep the water running or the planes flying, the kids just can’t do the work.
You quit, people die.
Geeeeee I wonder why? Can you say BidenHarrisomics!
All true—but being thrifty = spending less than you earn, whatever that number is—is a life skill.
Or you can prepare for retirement. I have a pension, I delayed social security. I put money into a 401k. All of those things enabled me to retire and I can choose to go back to work which I will probably do. Retirement is boring.
Great point. And what I love about Dave is that I have been able to point people in his direction and say ‘follow what this guy says’ when they don’t even have a clue about what to do.
A big part of the problem is that these financial basics aren’t taught in school. Public, private, homeschool it doesn’t matter- an education that doesn’t equip someone with understanding and knowing how to apply the financial basics is a poor one incompetently administered regardless of what else the child learns.
Without reading the article, let me guess... Trump’s fault!!
100%
One of my general thoughts is that public schools used to teach practical skills in Shop or Home Economics. And math class talked about real world problems with bank loans and business problems. At least some of the students were able to pick up on financial information that helped them save more and spend less.
But I think schools stopped practical knowledge a long time ago. It seems like they have also stopped general knowledge now too (”Who did we fight in the American Revolution?” “I dunno — the Russians?”) Now students know about the 56 genders and how evil white people have ruined everything. But not much else. That’s not going to help anyone grow up and be successful. They need life skills and they aren’t getting them.
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