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Millions of old folks won't have pensions nor can they expect their 401k plans to be at market highs when they retire. Some only have home equity as their retirement plan and still may have student loans. Young folks in their 20-30s may be who the 70 yr retirement applies to most.
Lol which is still weird to me because I'm encouraging my 20 somethings to invest and buy rentals so they can build wealth and won't have to work to 70
The problem with charts and life expectancy is that it's a chart. It's not your life and it doesn't tell you how long you as an individual will live a healthy life, not with the last 2-5 years in a nursing home. For every person you can tell me you know that lived until 85, I could probably tell you at least 2-3 that died in their late 60s or 70s. One of my best friends dropped dead at 70 just last year and one of my coworkers didn't even make it to 60 and died a couple of months ago. One day he was at work, and the next he was dead.
I'd rather retire at 62, live a little frugally and enjoy my few last years as best I can than be stuck at work waiting for my shift to end almost every day until I drop dead at 68 or 70. If I live to be 85, all the better unless I'm bed ridden or incompetent, and both are a good possibility at age 85.
we only have two outcomes in life . it is us who die or it isn't .
it can really suck being old and poor but old,poor and unhealthy really takes the cake .
all i know is i worked and strived my entire life not to be poor . i grew up in a low income housing project in nyc and it has been a life long goal to stay out of one .
my goal has always been to live better in retirement than we did while working and raising a family . so far we have met that goal and are having a great time in retirement doing all the things we feel like doing.
if anyone here thinks working at 62 is tough , try finding a job and working at 75- 80 if you end up having to .
Last edited by mathjak107; 10-26-2017 at 12:05 PM..
According to this calculator - https://www.death-clock.org/ , I'll be checking out at 71 so I'm going to enjoy my last 10 years trying to burn off my retirement savings.
And no, I'm not waiting until FRA to collect SSN either. You can't take it with you, just ask Steve Jobs.
She's NUTS! No way would I want to be "responsible" for a job until age 70: driving in traffic every day, living by the clock, a bunch of crap from child bosses who "put up" with me. I see no dignity in that at all. She can HAVE IT! I'll take my minimal SS at 62-64 and try to live the rest of my life in a peaceful setting, walking my dogs and planning & planting beautiful flower and vegetable gardens. I'll write for myself - about anything and everything that strikes me. If I want to sit out all night looking at the stars, that's what I'll do INSTEAD of hearing the alarm go off at 5:30 in the morning.
Now all this might be idealistic - but I simply DON'T CARE. That's what I want. I don't have the travel bug; don't care about "fine dining"; don't need a Broadway show or evening-wear or a country club. I want to be "schedule-free" with the exception of volunteering for an animal shelter and/or teens at risk. Sure, I'll lose money. So what? The comparison between money and freedom is, iMO, incomparable.
Love this response! Great attitude. Especially the animal shelter reference
that sounds like the life we would have had if we retired to the pocono's where we had a house .
we realized we could never see ourselves living a life like that in retirement , so we sold the house and stayed right here in queens in nyc . every day is something different and we don't regret giving up that quiet rural life for a second .
So true. One never knows! My spouse and I have had friends and co-workers die already and some where in their 50's, one in early 60's. Yet, my mother-in-law had a stroke in her 20's--was told she wouldn't make it. She has had cancer twice since then and is now 90. She even out-lived her husband. The woman is sharp as a tack too---gotten hand it to her. Life is just so unpredictable!
What was your MIL's attitude towards life after getting a stroke in her 20's? Was she a saver or did she adopt the approach about dying at any age and spent without thinking of the future?
The calculator says I will live to 76 but hasn't factored in my present medical issues. L.T.C. is not something I would want. If I am bed ridden or unable to care for myself (give myself a bath, feed myself, wipe my own butt) I'd rather be dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hokiepoke
According to this calculator - https://www.death-clock.org/ , I'll be checking out at 71 so I'm going to enjoy my last 10 years trying to burn off my retirement savings.
And no, I'm not waiting until FRA to collect SSN either. You can't take it with you, just ask Steve Jobs.
She is wrong, but only because she says that applies to everyone, and it doesn't.
DH retires at 51, his pension is the same as his take home pay, so we make the same money. Who wouldn't do that? He could work longer (70) and make more, but that's sacrificing quality of life....
He has disability pay too, and will get military retirement at whatever age.... plus my pensions kick in a decade, social security and a nice 401(k) all around 60.
But we should work until 70? Heck no.
If that's what she said I stand corrected, she is flat wrong.
The problem with charts and life expectancy is that it's a chart. It's not your life and it doesn't tell you how long you as an individual will live a healthy life, not with the last 2-5 years in a nursing home. For every person you can tell me you know that lived until 85, I could probably tell you at least 2-3 that died in their late 60s or 70s.
What's the adage... "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the warriors, but time and chance overtake them all." This is why I keep advocating, that our savings need to be sufficiently large as to be perpetual, and not merely lasting for this or that duration, or covering this or that exigency.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hokiepoke
According to this calculator - https://www.death-clock.org/ , I'll be checking out at 71 so I'm going to enjoy my last 10 years trying to burn off my retirement savings.
And no, I'm not waiting until FRA to collect SSN either. You can't take it with you, just ask Steve Jobs.
According to that calculator, I'm going to die before I even reach FRA! And that site asks nothing about family history. On my father's side, not many made it out of their 50s.
According to this calculator - https://www.death-clock.org/ , I'll be checking out at 71 so I'm going to enjoy my last 10 years trying to burn off my retirement savings.
And no, I'm not waiting until FRA to collect SSN either. You can't take it with you, just ask Steve Jobs.
That death clock is hilarious. LOL
Mine is 84.
Silly but what the heck right?
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