Don't Blame "Baby Boomers" For Not Retiring - They Can't Afford To!

ZeroHedge ^ | 9/27/16 | Tyler Durden

[Be Careful]

In business, the 80/20 rule states that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. In an economy where more than 2/3rds of the growth rate is driven by consumption, an even bigger imbalance of the “have” and “have not’s” presents a major headwind.

[gunsequalfreedom]

In business, the 80/20 rule states that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers.

And usually when you look at your margins, you will find the 20% is your best, most profitable business. The 80% keeps the doors open.

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Excellent advice!
God Bless!

[Billthedrill]

I retire at the end of December, about five years later than planned, but proof that a little savings discipline applied early is a lot easier than a whole lot crippling you when you haven't. The classic advice turned out to be pretty sound: save steadily, diversify your portfolio, stay employed (probably the hardest one of these variables and I feel for anyone whose life plans have been shattered by prolonged unemployment), and don't close the deal until you're retiring to something, not from something. Heard all of these a hundred times and found out they're true.

For me the big one was getting the house and the car paid off, and banking the money I used to dedicate to those purposes to savings. Mortgages being what they are, that doesn't usually happen until a little later in life, so pontificating to the twenty-somethings about it is not really all that useful. Two years into a thirty-year mortgage and the pit looks bottomless, but it really isn't.

The biggest problem people planning retirement at the moment have is the churn in healthcare costs caused by politicians more eager for votes than for benefiting the public and who are exempt from the consequences of their meddling. Coverage that cost $200 a month ten years ago now runs $900 and the deductibles are higher. Could be more a year from now, could be less, and nobody can tell you. That's an awfully nebulous target to try to hit with planning. And no, Medicare won't cover it any more than Social Security will cover retirement.

Even with the best of planning, the government can still screw it up by "haircutting" savings, converting private 401(K)'s to government bonds, or over- or under-regulating pension funds. Anyone retired is in danger of being forced into dependency even despite the best of planning by fools with an ulterior motive. Welcome to old age.

[jim_trent]

Anyone not able to afford retirement is stupid. You have an entire lifetime to save. It isn’t like growing old is unexpected. (My wife and I are comfortably retired)

[justlurking]

Now, do you have any suggestions for that impulse to get back in the work day hunt?

Are you serious?

I've never had any desire at all to return to employment.

If you are bored, find something to do. I do at least one chore every day I'm at home -- one that would have had to be crammed into a weekend.

We are usually away from home at least one week per month.

[mware]

I retired at 61 just short of my 62 birthday. I opted to take my SS at 62. I have a pension that gets me $3250 a month, along with $1538 a month from SS.

I was able to save $110,0000 in one TSA, and another one at $30,000

To be honest I bring home more now than I did when I worked.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Yea, you are correct. I actually thought about that the other day. I used to have to do this stuff crammed into a weekend. Some days I’m not sure when the weekend is.

[RWB Patriot]

I’ve been chuckled at by folks younger than I (gonna be thirty on the seventh) for putting money towards my retirement.

[jersey117]

Baby boomers have been carrying three generations for four decades.