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Old 06-11-2012, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Baltimore, MD
5,306 posts, read 5,984,594 times
Reputation: 10851

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jenny1951 View Post
It isn't always possible to "prepare" for retirement. I found it impossible to save anything other than a meager $22k over a lifetime. Pensions are going the way of the dinosaur, not that I ever had a job that offered one. And how do you sock away 3% or more of your income into a 401k when you are a single mom raising a child with not a penny from the deadbeat ex? There were always more important things to spend the money on, such as health insurance, food and college tuition. Never went to Disney World or the Caribbean....vacations were the local water park. Remember, not everyone had the luxury of stashing away enough cash for retirement, and not everyone is physically able to work in their 60's, let alone find a job. It isn't always a matter of not being responsible enough to prepare for retirement, but often it is simply a matter of survival through the years. And so for people like me, SS is all I will ever have. Am I the only one?
Heck, no. Your experience is fairly typical. You will notice that most posters in these threads are married. Huge difference. In general, the never-married woman and/or those without children do o.k. The others, not so much.
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Old 06-11-2012, 12:21 PM
 
31,680 posts, read 40,970,152 times
Reputation: 14424
Quote:
Originally Posted by lenora View Post
Heck, no. Your experience is fairly typical. You will notice that most posters in these threads are married. Huge difference. In general, the never-married woman and/or those without children do o.k. The others, not so much.
As you say divorce and having never worked or minimal work along with divorce can be a disaster.
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:06 PM
 
Location: Florida -
10,213 posts, read 14,789,658 times
Reputation: 21845
There are a ton of anecdotal stories, like that of Ms. Keany, that illustrate what can happen in this economy, if one unexpectedly loses their job and is 'forced' to take reduced, early Social Security at 62. But, oddly(?), the media always seems to take the position that 'the government really needs to do something to deal with every possible unfortunate situation.'

I'm certainly not unsympathetic to Ms. Keany's plight, but, it would appear that she was already 'flying without a safety net' ... given that she was already 60-62 and hoping to work until she was 70 ... to fund her retirement. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in a society that encourages glutinous consumerism paid for by plastic or HELOC debt ... and leaving the future to take care of itself. Perhaps that was not Ms. Keany's situation and perhaps she did everything 'right' and has simply fallen through the cracks. But, the real message of the story remains: "Don't put off actually taking steps to prepare for an uncertain future ... until that uncertain future actually arrives." A better approach in life is to "Plan for the worst ... and hope for the best."

The days of expecting "They/Them/The Government/etc" to take care of a large segment of American Society's failure to plan and prepare to take care of themselves ... are about over! -- The national debt, high umemployment, high oil prices, high taxes and profligate spending by an uncontrollable congress/government .... did not just happen. We've been moving toward's today's 'consequences' for the past generation. (Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:10 PM
 
31,680 posts, read 40,970,152 times
Reputation: 14424
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
There are a ton of anecdotal stories, like that of Ms. Keany, that illustrate what can happen in this economy, if one unexpectedly loses their job and is 'forced' to take reduced, early Social Security at 62. But, oddly(?), the media always seems to take the position that 'the government really needs to do something to deal with every possible unfortunate situation.'

I'm certainly not unsympathetic to Ms. Keany's plight, but, it would appear that she was already 'flying without a safety net' ... given that she was already 60-62 and hoping to work until she was 70 ... to fund her retirement. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in a society that encourages glutinous consumerism paid for by plastic or HELOC debt ... and leaving the future to take care of itself. Perhaps that was not Ms. Keany's situation and perhaps she did everything 'right' and has simply fallen through the cracks. But, the real message of the story remains: "Don't put off actually taking steps to prepare for an uncertain future ... until that uncertain future actually arrives." A better approach in life is to "Plan for the worst ... and hope for the best."

The days of expecting "They/Them/The Government/etc" to take care of a large segment of American Society's failure to plan and prepare to take care of themselves ... are about over! -- The national debt, high umemployment, high oil prices, high taxes and profligate spending by an uncontrollable congress/government .... did not just happen. We've been moving toward's today's 'consequences' for the past generation. (Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
Not wanting to pick a fight but I wouldn't bet the mortgage that all those could have been children would have grown up to be tax payers providing more than they consumed.
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Florida -
10,213 posts, read 14,789,658 times
Reputation: 21845
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
Not wanting to pick a fight but I wouldn't bet the mortgage that all those could have been children would have grown up to be tax payers providing more than they consumed.
No fight picked ... and you are probably right --- As indicated, it was only a side issue. However, there is a huge actuarial imbalance in medicare for the 'boomers' vs available taxpayers. I personally believe "we are reaping the whirlwhind", but, I'll hold that for the Christian forum.
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Baltimore, MD
5,306 posts, read 5,984,594 times
Reputation: 10851
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
There are a ton of anecdotal stories, like that of Ms. Keany, that illustrate what can happen in this economy, if one unexpectedly loses their job and is 'forced' to take reduced, early Social Security at 62. But, oddly(?), the media always seems to take the position that 'the government really needs to do something to deal with every possible unfortunate situation.'

I'm certainly not unsympathetic to Ms. Keany's plight, but, it would appear that she was already 'flying without a safety net' ... given that she was already 60-62 and hoping to work until she was 70 ... to fund her retirement. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in a society that encourages glutinous consumerism paid for by plastic or HELOC debt ... and leaving the future to take care of itself. Perhaps that was not Ms. Keany's situation and perhaps she did everything 'right' and has simply fallen through the cracks. But, the real message of the story remains: "Don't put off actually taking steps to prepare for an uncertain future ... until that uncertain future actually arrives." A better approach in life is to "Plan for the worst ... and hope for the best."

The days of expecting "They/Them/The Government/etc" to take care of a large segment of American Society's failure to plan and prepare to take care of themselves ... are about over! -- The national debt, high umemployment, high oil prices, high taxes and profligate spending by an uncontrollable congress/government .... did not just happen. We've been moving toward's today's 'consequences' for the past generation. (Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
Seriously, as long as women make less than men AND are the de facto caregivers for both young and old, they will always need a helping hand.
Abortion? Please...How old are you? Boomers, both married and unmarried, were thrilled to have access to The Pill. Thank you, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965).
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Old 06-11-2012, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach FL
14,617 posts, read 21,434,279 times
Reputation: 6794
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
There are a ton of anecdotal stories, like that of Ms. Keany, that illustrate what can happen in this economy, if one unexpectedly loses their job and is 'forced' to take reduced, early Social Security at 62. But, oddly(?), the media always seems to take the position that 'the government really needs to do something to deal with every possible unfortunate situation.'

I'm certainly not unsympathetic to Ms. Keany's plight, but, it would appear that she was already 'flying without a safety net' ... given that she was already 60-62 and hoping to work until she was 70 ... to fund her retirement. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in a society that encourages glutinous consumerism paid for by plastic or HELOC debt ... and leaving the future to take care of itself. Perhaps that was not Ms. Keany's situation and perhaps she did everything 'right' and has simply fallen through the cracks. But, the real message of the story remains: "Don't put off actually taking steps to prepare for an uncertain future ... until that uncertain future actually arrives." A better approach in life is to "Plan for the worst ... and hope for the best."

The days of expecting "They/Them/The Government/etc" to take care of a large segment of American Society's failure to plan and prepare to take care of themselves ... are about over! -- The national debt, high umemployment, high oil prices, high taxes and profligate spending by an uncontrollable congress/government .... did not just happen. We've been moving toward's today's 'consequences' for the past generation. (Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
I am more or less in your camp - but not convinced that she did everything right. E.g.,

Finally, in January, she gave in and filed for Social Security. Her monthly check covers the $336 mobile home park fee plus utilities, her cellphone bill, insurance and a satellite dish. She is also paying $100 a month in credit card debt. To save money, she has canceled the data plan on her BlackBerry and cut back on fresh fruits and vegetables.

How and why did she run up the credit card debt? Why did she need a Blackberry with a data plan? My husband and I consider ourselves fortunate in terms of our financial situation (although it wasn't entirely a matter of luck - there was an element of luck involved). But we still don't buy stuff simply because we can afford it if we don't have at least some use for it (although I will admit to owning some $5 kitchen gadgets I have never used - I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets ). And we have always saved money - and are still saving money. Robyn
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Old 06-11-2012, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
(Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
Fact: The boomer generation as a whole had fewer children than previous generations.

Unsupported generalization: The above was due to the availability of abortions.

Much more likely explanation: Modern birth control methods (i.e., the pill) explain most of the difference in birth rates.
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Old 06-11-2012, 02:54 PM
 
Location: Florida and the Rockies
1,970 posts, read 2,222,163 times
Reputation: 3318
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
I read the article and couldn't help thinking that 4 more years wouldn't have put her in much better of a spot. I'm assuming she has no wealth, no savings, and maybe didn't have any retirement plan.

How many other Americans are in that same spot ..dependent on SS and nothing else except whatever job they can find ?

It's just very hard for me to get my mind around the thought of working for 40+ years and not have retirement money stashed away.
This is the problem.

She did not save enough during her working years, spent her 401(k) already (in 3 years apparently), and now she's essentially out of the working world.

However, she has one huge advantage unmentioned in the article: she has UK citizenship. She could go back to the UK and collect a potentially much higher benefit there than she can in Palm Springs.
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Old 06-11-2012, 03:09 PM
 
144 posts, read 318,353 times
Reputation: 163
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
(Consider also; perhaps as a side topic, that 'abortion rights' have taken about 40+ million contributing taxpayers out of the equation for a top-heavy boomer generation that is now entering retirement).
I don't condone abortion but if we are already having such a high unemployment then where do these 40 million jobs come from?
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