We need a new way to fully fund retirements (cities, government, average)
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That doesn't solve the problem of the next decade or two; lots of people will be getting too old to hold jobs (retirement isn't always a chosen option) without having means. The programs that they can likely get by on are not funded for the likely demand. I don't have the answer for that; not sure there is an easy one. Asking those people to start saving now isn't it; it's too late and many of them are stretched too thin.
One does have to wonder about saving vs investing...
With inflation it is hard to imagine making lots of headway simply saving... of course living below one's means is saving and lowers the cost of living.
In my city... homes have nearly tripled in 6 years... rents doubled.
One does have to wonder about saving vs investing...
With inflation it is hard to imagine making lots of headway simply saving... of course living below one's means is saving and lowers the cost of living.
In my city... homes have nearly tripled in 6 years... rents doubled.
Hard to save enough when this is the reality...
People are entitled to make their own decisions but there are consequences for things like early retirements, extravagant lifestyles, insufficient savings, single income families (conscious decision for potential dual earner families), etc.
This one died after that one started but someone brought it back. Different fronts, same war. Even I am growing weary of it. Most of us are pretty entrenched in our opinions.
One does have to wonder about saving vs investing...
With inflation it is hard to imagine making lots of headway simply saving... of course living below one's means is saving and lowers the cost of living.
In my city... homes have nearly tripled in 6 years... rents doubled.
Hard to save enough when this is the reality...
But that's only the reality for your locale.
In the majority of locales, housing and rents have either kept pace with Inflation or are flat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReachTheBeach
That doesn't solve the problem of the next decade or two; lots of people will be getting too old to hold jobs (retirement isn't always a chosen option) without having means.
It's not a problem.
Only 9.3% of people over 60 years are in "poverty" -- which means 90.7% are not and that's an "A-" in my grade-book -- which is 3.4% less than the federal average, and that number will not change appreciably over the next 20 years.
People always have the option of living with their children, which is something people did before more than 30 States enacted a social security program, and before FDR nationalized those State programs into one federal program.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MinivanDriver
The average life expectancy for Social Security when it began in 1935 was 61 years. Today, the average life expectancy in the United States is 78.7 years. That is 16.7 additional years added to life expectancy.
That's not true. Social Security has never based any of its calculations, estimates or findings on Life Expectancy. All of Social Security's calculations, findings and estimates have always been and continue to be Life-Expectancy at Age 65, which was 72 years for men and 78 years for women at the time the program was implemented, increasing to 83 years for men and 85 years for women as of 2016.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MinivanDriver
Further, the ratio of workers paying into the system versus those receiving benefits is shrinking dramatically. The same is true for public employee pensions.
It is not shrinking dramatically.
There were 46 workers per beneficiary at program start, but there were only 3.2 workers per beneficiary in 1980, and that number has only decreased over the last 38 years to about 2.5 workers today, and will flat-line at about 2.0 workers per beneficiary in the next decade.
you know better than to let facts get in the way of a good story line !
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