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how old are you, and how much do you have saved toward retirement?

How old are you and how much do you have saved for retirement?

  • Over 20 0-20k

    Votes: 20 36.4%
  • Over 20 20-50k

    Votes: 5 9.1%
  • Over 20 50k+

    Votes: 4 7.3%
  • Over 40 0-20k

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Over 40 20-50k

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Over 40 50k+

    Votes: 21 38.2%
  • Over 60 0-20k

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Over 60 20-50k

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • Over 60 50k+

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • Total voters
    55
Nope. You need enough wealth to generate the income you need. You can spend a little of your wealth, but not much. I expect to live to 80, my wife to 90. Do your calculations and you’ll be surprised.

Also, let me state how I rate the reliability of our income sources: My pension has the highest risk in ‘failing’ since it’s dependent on a private company. Social Security is much more a sure thing than the pension, but it may not keep up with inflation. Our wealth is the most reliable and it generates the most income.

Well then maybe planning on being unemployed for 20 - 30 years is a bad idea.

Aim for 'retirement' if something bad happens in your life and you CAN'T work anymore . . 'retirement' should be avoided and any funds for such a thing should be considered a safety net *only*

It's a personal preference - I think things go terribly wrong when people actually look at it as a right and as a government responsibility to ensure.
 
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Well then maybe planning on being unemployed for 20 - 30 years is a bad idea.
What do you mean?

Aim for 'retirement' if something bad happens in your life and you CAN'T work anymore . . 'retirement' should be avoided and any funds for such a thing should be considered a safety net *only*.
A safety net when you're 55 and RIFed because you are paid too much, have the wrong religion, etc.?

It's a personal preference - I think things go terribly wrong when people actually look at it as a right and as a government responsibility to ensure.
Retireing on SS is poverty income for most and you only get it if you have paid in. So who is looking at it as a right? No one I know.
 
I am 21 and I invested $2500 for the first time back in march and am working on saving more after this summer, if my truck would stop breaking down... I will be getting my undergrad in the spring so I am planning on being able to save more then.
 
What do you mean?

I thought it was self-explanatory. Maybe planning on not working for the last 20-30 years of your life is a *bad* idea. . . an impractical or a poorly conceived idea might be better wording?

A safety net when you're 55 and RIFed because you are paid too much, have the wrong religion, etc.?

Isn't it wise to have a safety net if - heaven's forbid - you are rendered unable to work at any age?
For example: I'm in college - 31 - ergo: I don't have one.

Retireing on SS is poverty income for most and you only get it if you have paid in. So who is looking at it as a right? No one I know.

Anyone paying in right now will expect to get a return in the future - but I don't feel things will happen that way for me and others of my age.
 
do you consider social security a part of your retirement income?

:lamo :lamo :lamo


yes :D and at 55 I slay a giant and sell his oversize incisors to the Tooth Fairy for $1 million which I will use to purchase my retirement home in Florida.


....all part of the plan....
 
I am 21 and I invested $2500 for the first time back in march and am working on saving more after this summer, if my truck would stop breaking down... I will be getting my undergrad in the spring so I am planning on being able to save more then.

you are being very wise - I wish I had started at 21. I was stupid and waited a full 3 years later. I think I will have some kind of a match program for my kids when they start their teenage jobs to get them into it early.


I am 28, and have about 30K. I say about because I had 30K... before this debt crises thing. I max out my IRA every year now, and am thinking of starting one for my wife.



Bluntly Put: SS will not be there for me. Medicare will be radically different assuming I qualify for it. Plan on no SS if you are under 45, and if anything is left, you get to be surprised in a good way rather than the bad.
 
I'm 21. I haven't saved anything for retirement (aside from SS deductions from my paychecks). I'm still a college student though.

that is not a savings. that money was immediately sent to a current retiree.
 
I consider the FICA benefits to be income.....even if PA does not...but they are vague about this.; the other money, a 401K...a great deal...even with a huge tax at cash in time.
Thank God and the Democrats for Social Security. Insurance companies cannot be trusted.
 
I am 54 and I do not count on SS being there when I retire. It would be nice if it was but I am not counting on it. I figure, after I retire, according to wonderful jewish accountant, with my pensions, mutuals, business residuals and natural gas royalties, coupled with the sale of my home, I should have around 2.25 - 3.0 million to get me through my twilight years, (assuming we don't go into depression or the people the GOP tends to protect gets at my money again, like they did a few years ago.) Truly, spread out over a period of 20 years or so, that really isn't a helluva lot of money to have on hand. But I'm a man of simple means. I plan to retire in a simple beach house near the Gulf of Mexico and as long as I can pay my utility bills and the other daily nickle and dime bills that come along day to day, and still afford fishing tackle and bait, I'll do just fine.

What is a liberal doing with all those assets? You turn that over to Uncle Sam, at once!
 
that is not a savings. that money was immediately sent to a current retiree.

Of course it is "savings"....of a sort...
We have accounts with social security; simply request a statement.
 
What is a liberal doing with all those assets? You turn that over to Uncle Sam, at once!

indeed, it would seem that Captain America is one of the evil "Millionaires And Billionaires" that haven't been paying their fair share.
 
Of course it is "savings"....of a sort...
We have accounts with social security; simply request a statement.


no, it is not "savings" of a sort. you have no assets, no money, no paper, no claim to anything. The FDR Administration and the Supreme Court have both been clear on this - however much you pay into the system, you do not have any right whatsoever to draw a single penny from Social Security. The US Congress could pass a measure tomorrow saying "BTW, Screw Earthworm" and you would be stuck paying in with no benefit for the rest of your life and there wouldn't be a thing you can do about it. It is "savings" in the sense that a Ponzi scheme is an "investment".

you don't have "accounts", what you have are estimations due to the fact that Social Security benefits are calculated off of your high-earning years. when you put in your current income, historical income, and age, they assume a set percentage of continued growth in your wage, take out the proper number of high-paying years, and calculate a benefit from that.
 
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you are being very wise - I wish I had started at 21. I was stupid and waited a full 3 years later. I think I will have some kind of a match program for my kids when they start their teenage jobs to get them into it early.


I am 28, and have about 30K. I say about because I had 30K... before this debt crises thing. I max out my IRA every year now, and am thinking of starting one for my wife.



Bluntly Put: SS will not be there for me. Medicare will be radically different assuming I qualify for it. Plan on no SS if you are under 45, and if anything is left, you get to be surprised in a good way rather than the bad.
All opinion, based on conservative radio, probably....
No trust in government = no trust in our people....not good, IMO.
 
you are being very wise - I wish I had started at 21. I was stupid and waited a full 3 years later. I think I will have some kind of a match program for my kids when they start their teenage jobs to get them into it early.


I am 28, and have about 30K. I say about because I had 30K... before this debt crises thing. I max out my IRA every year now, and am thinking of starting one for my wife.



Bluntly Put: SS will not be there for me. Medicare will be radically different assuming I qualify for it. Plan on no SS if you are under 45, and if anything is left, you get to be surprised in a good way rather than the bad.

you are being financially conservative, a good thing.....something that even liberals can do....
 
Of course it is "savings"....of a sort...
We have accounts with social security; simply request a statement.

I'll give ya a statement.
 
that is not a savings. that money was immediately sent to a current retiree.

as a current SS recipient, I thank you. Much of that money has already gone into education savings for our grandchildren so they will have a better chance at being gainfully employed. Assuming there are jobs to be had, of course....
 
indeed, it would seem that Captain America is one of the evil "Millionaires And Billionaires" that haven't been paying their fair share.

Hey, lay off the millionaires.....some of us are them....
Anyone with a brain, useful education, and a good job can accumulate a million....it really isn't that much anymore.
SS needs to be slowly reduced til it provides only a bare bones existence. That should be incentive enough for the able bodied and average intellect to save for the future.
Of course, the rich have to provide jobs here in the USA.....
 
To add, I started about 3 1/2 years ago, I'm 28 and have over $10k put back.
About to move, my expenses are expected to go down, allowing me to put more towards my general savings/retirement fund.

Thinks you are doing great .. remember the 10% rule and you will have no worries when you reach retirement age ..
 
Just turned 60 , well above the top listing in retirement programs.

The worst part with me is, I love what I do .. and have no plans to retire until forced out, or should something health related force me to retire.

But even then I will have an income, I'm one of the few small players in the commodity markets that does okay, sadly today with all the volatility in the markets today, it's much harder for people with smaller bankrolls to even try and get started. When I began over 15 years ago .. I was able to start with just $2,500 and had returned that money to my savings account in just over 4 months.

I also a small time coin collector and sell a bit on e-bay to a tune of making 300 to 500 a month there. My problem right now .. is trying to figure out when gold and silver are going to top out … of my gold coins .. I have 30 or so that are duplicates and should be gotten rid of … -chuckles- but I guess I'm a bit of a hoarder … I just find it hard to get rid of things that I've collected.... Both of these things I do as a home based business, and needless to say if done right there are tax advantages

so all and all … I feel comfortable in being able to live out my life in a comfortable manner.

I guess if I was to give a youngster advice it would only be two things .. to me both are equally important .. first it was drilled into me at a very early age to pay yourself 10% of whatever you make .. no matter how tough it is to do … I don't care if you only make 25 dollars a week cutting grass when you are in your early teens … 2.50 of that has to go into savings … the earlier in life you learn to do that .. the easier it gets as you grow older to keep doing. Pay yourself first and foremost and do what you have to do to live off of 90% of your earnings.

Next would be to find something that you are truly passionate about if you can't make a living doing it then do it as a side line or part time, you will get as much satisfaction from making even 50 or 100 a month, as you will from your full time job …. and eventually you will reap even more rewards from it …. because when a person is passionate about something, they usually end up being very good at it
 
Hey, lay off the millionaires.....some of us are them....
Anyone with a brain, useful education, and a good job can accumulate a million....it really isn't that much anymore.
SS needs to be slowly reduced til it provides only a bare bones existence. That should be incentive enough for the able bodied and average intellect to save for the future.
Of course, the rich have to provide jobs here in the USA.....
You are making some points that I agree with. I'm wondering how much bare bones existence is. I get $1704 a month. If I had earned more or was employed for another year I would have paid more SS tax I'd get a bit more and be maxed out. So given COL today what would a bare bones amount for me be?
 
Which is just absurd - if retirement costs more than your average income ot manage then something's seriously WRONG with the whole picture.

No, I think you're not factoring in investing. Yes, what you sock away each year is smaller than what you have at retirement, it's had decades to compound and presumably earn you a much larger nest egg.

Then, if it remains invested (less aggressively), you continue to make money while you're drawing that nest egg down, so even at retirement, it's still working for you.
 
To get to the rich level I didn’t create jobs. As an employee I created jobs, but after being RIFed I worked on our investments, real-estate and stock. Bought low sold high when my peers were selling low and buying high. Effectively I transferred money from my peers’ pockets to my pockets. I don’t think this is unusual.

(I probably have to explain this in some other threads since my experience doesn’t match what is assumed in most cases. It gives me a POV that may not match others.)
 
do you consider social security a part of your retirement income?

I took a different approach to retirement. Being in a profession that doesn't pay as well as most requiring similar education, I decided to buy a house and accumulate equity over 13 years before selling it just before the bottom dropped out of the market in 08. I then moved to a state where home and property values provide greater value. I put down 20% on a new home to avoid PMI insurance and make payments on a fairly low interest loan. I invested the rest. It did take me some time to find new employment, however. I took a leap of faith by resigning from a position I had with the same organization for over 20 years. It's working out well so far though, as long as the government doesn't bankrupt us all.

And yes, I consider SS part of my retirement. I paid into it. It's my money.
 
My backup plan has been to get Canadian citizenship, which is what I'm working on. If our government can't give me a pension then I'll just move here. It's colder but at least I won't be broke.

Incidentally, I have already saved a lot for my age. I'm just worried about the financial system going bottom up with my savings in there. Trying to decide if I should put the money into non-liquid assets instead.
 
Μολὼν λαβέ;1059692850 said:
I took a different approach to retirement. Being in a profession that doesn't pay as well as most requiring similar education, I decided to buy a house and accumulate equity over 13 years before selling it just before the bottom dropped out of the market in 08. I then moved to a state where home and property values provide greater value. I put down 20% on a new home to avoid PMI insurance and make payments on a fairly low interest loan. I invested the rest. It did take me some time to find new employment, however. I took a leap of faith by resigning from a position I had with the same organization for over 20 years. It's working out well so far though, as long as the government doesn't bankrupt us all.

And yes, I consider SS part of my retirement. I paid into it. It's my money.

You did part of what we did. We were concerned with the housing bubble in Scottsdale AZ. (I can explain why in another post if people are interested.) I was RIFed occasionally looking for a new job. I went to a job fair w/ my wife. She found the new higher paying job in MI. MI housing never bubbled much and was going down some already. We moved. We have less invested in homes and the current value is more than when we bought. We are way ahead as a result. But we didn’t generate any jobs doing this.
 
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