What a fine time for a Prescription Drug Program for seniors.
How many of you know Gen Xers who drive $35K to $40K cars and SUVS because they are the cool car to have. Have all the newest and latest expensive electrical gadgets. Have giant TVs and stereos. Like to take exotic and expensive vacations. And then bitch that they don't have any money and their bills are too much.
No wonder that personal bankruptcy is at record highs the past 5 years.
BUMP
I am steering my sons towards technical schools. These are generally 12-18 month schools that teach you a trade where you can go out and make a good living. Such as computer programming or network administration. But it doesn't have to be high tech either. Plumbers, electricians, mechanics and other tradesmen can command salaries that put most corporate cubicle workers to shame.
My wife and I never went to college. I went to a technical institute to learn electronics and my wife went to a technical institute to learn computer programming. Both schools lasted about a year. We've never had issues making a decent living.
At 32 years old? WTH? How?
I'm 27 and I make fairly good money for my age... barring some windfall, there's no earthly way I could have $100,000 by age 32 without living on bread & water... even then it seems iffy.
Essentially, they observed generations in American history and showed patterns in their essential nature and the way they are perceived by their contemporaries. They demonstrated that generational "types" repeated in 4 generation cycles.
Their prediction for "Gen-X" was that it would have to bear the brunt of cleaning up the mess left by the baby boomers, and take the lions share of the blame for the mess they didn't create (Incidentally, this harsh depiction isn't mine. It was an image Strauss and Howe repeatedly emphasized, and they're boomers themselves). They would tend to be survivers and pragmatists, rather than idealists. Early disillusionment would lead them to the opinion that they had to take care of themselves, because their society wouldn't do it for them.
Fascinating to see their predictions being borne out as the generation ages.
Yep. LOL!
Really? Let's see:
-Out of college at age 22, can't get a job in your field (accounting), so you work a telemarketing job for 6 months ($6.25 an hour), then a warehouse job for 3 months ($7.00 an hour), then do a 5 month stint as a waiter (around $300 a week). Money saved: $0, and this is living with a roommate and driving a 12 year old car.
-Student Loans start coming due at 23, lucky you get a job as a clerk in an insurance company ($9.50 an hour), and can start saving money. After taxes, FICA and insurance, you take home just under $1200 a month, after 5 years on the job you have have scrimped and saved $12,000.
-You are now 28, and you get a job at H&R Block giving you a starting salary of $32,000 a year. You now have to save and invest another $88,000 in 4 years on this salary to make the "idealized" amount that you should have stashed away. Right.
Not every "Gen-Xer" was a software tycoon, or a dotcom businessman, most followed the path I described above. Karen seems to be a bit low in funds, but I know a lot of 50 year olds who are in the same boat as her. My advise to her: start putting away an extra $20 a week into your 401(k). At 7% annually, you will gain an extra $90,000 in your retirement fund in 28 years. That could make the difference between "surviving" and "living" in retirement.
Not far from the truth - Congressmen funded by corporate donations.Everything the dot-com boom delivered has been taken away--and then some. Real wages are falling, wealth continues to shift from younger to older, and education costs are surging.
Yes, the greatest generation and baby boomers reminded us who is really in control here.Halfway to pension age, she has just $5,000 in a 401(k) and $20,000 in home equity. Ideally, someone her age should have at least $100,000 stashed away.
That sounds a little high unless they are talking about the top of the bubble. Some of us were there, but now are off 50-75%. Part of the problem is that people refuse to live within their means. If you simply max out your 401k for the rest of your life, and live modestly on the rest of your income, you will retire comfortably. It's really that simple. Of course we should not be forced to put off marriage, kids, and house to pay for the greatest generation's drugs, social security, cheap imports, etc. while we hop from job to job the rest of our lives trying to avoid layoffs, but that is no excuse for not saving and investing for the future.
As for the dotcom bust, can you name any entreprenuers who were sucessful the first time out? Anyone who is a risk taker fails. The reason for the failure on such a grand scale was the sheer number of people who started their own businesses while in their 20s and early 30s. IMHO, this colossal failure will serve Gen X well in their late 30s and early 40's.
Now, if we can just stop drinking microbrews, smoking cigars and whining, we'll be 3/4 of the way home.
There is no lockbox. What really matters is the size of the economy in relation to Social Security obligations. Our economy isn't growing and the politicians are either twiddling their thumbs or dunking CEO's in water to see if they'll float.
Oh, I have got to see the economic model that predicts that a large principal placed into competently chosen low-risk investments will yield an annual return of only 1.37%*. My bank pays almost double that rate on my checking account.
An overestimate, acutally, since it presumes that you need $100,000/year forever and ever, amen.