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I have a simple test when deciding whether or not to post a comment in the Retirement forum. I ask myself if it's possible I wrote the comment in order to make other people feel bad. I have deleted many things I've written on C-D because I couldn't be sure.
Then if someone decides they are depressed or angry as a result of what I said, that's on them. I can't be responsible for anyone's emotional health other than my own.
One thing about this retirement forum is that it basically serves as a catch-all for "all things senior," and is not really a technical investment/personal finance board. There is a lot of lifestyle discussion that will attract people from a wide range of backgrounds, and those of lesser means probably feel inadequate.
There's a thread on the personal finance forum about "where do you live, your age, income, net worth." Virtually everyone there, including singles, are making six figures. Many people in their early/mid 30s have over $500k NW. In my local area, a $100,000 HHI is about top 5%. There's probably no way I'm topping six figures short of moving to a major metropolitan area.
I started in the professional workforce eight years ago. Let's say I maxed my 401k at $18,000 every year from the time I was 24 to now. Assume an 8% CAGR. You're still looking at around $250,000 in the 401k. Real property values here basically wobble around the inflation rate - you're not going to get rich off equity from appreciation. In order to hit those higher numbers, several things have to align.
1) You get a great job directly out of college and can pretty much immediately max out your 401k. The vast majority of people do not get such an offer. The higher income people that do get the great job offers are likely in high COL areas and may have student loan debt that gobble up income and crowd out retirement savings.
2) Good market returns. A lost decade can kneecap you out of the gate.
3) "Life can't happen." I graduated into the Great Recession. It was four years before I got my first career track job. I made as low as $11/hr at points. I've been laid off once and fired once. Illness. Divorce. Job loss.
I don't really pay much attention to those types of threads. Those people operate in rarefied air I don't and probably never will occupy.
Why is it questions about living off of social security alone and making ends meet are acceptable?
Except that it's not. The "hate" seems to go both ways here. While what you wrote is correct about all the negative comments and accusations of humblebragging if you're even just relatively well off, there seems to be an equal amount of disparaging comments if you don't have enough money; e.g., people who don't have enough retirement savings obviously spent all of their money on fancy cars, clothes and iPhones. I love that last one by the way; it's as if Steve Jobs is responsible for creating all the poor people in the country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eliza61nyc
...but God forbid say you have a pension (no matter what the amount)….
Now that one is almost universal. Especially if the pension came from working in the public sector.
But isn't that how you learn?? One of the things that is interesting is we all at one time or another have bemoaned the fact that Americans (generally) are not well educated about finance.
You know that, and I know that, but there are a lot of people who are quite satisfied with their ignorance. "Don't confuse me with facts; my mind is made up."
I always thought everyone here had something to teach me. That has been pretty much true. Probably human nature to be a bit envious of those who have more and happy we are better off than some. I come here to read every day hoping to come across something new. And I have read a lot of people's posts for so long they feel like old friends. I started reading here more than 10 years ago.
I would be better off today if I had started reading 50 years ago but that would mean I would have saved all my money and never traveled! In some ways I would be better off and in some ways poorer! I like knowing a lot of 30yo's read and learn here.
Are you referring to a recent post from someone asking if a certain amount of money and a certain situation (decent pension, no bills, etc.) was good enough to retire on? If so, it was obviously a good enough situation to retire on, and so someone accused them of bragging. That kind of post does seem like bragging because the only apparent reason for them to ask if it is "good enough" is to point out what a good job they did in planning their retirement.
I wasn't involved in that post, but it did appear to me that the OP was bragging. I see that kind of post around here once in a while. (BTW, I do have a decent pension and no bills, am not living on my SS check; I don't ask for advice about my good pension and lack of bills because no advice is needed, obviously.)
Some of those posts are simply chest thumping, not actually asking for advice.
I don't post a lot here but do enjoy reading the diverse posts that go from "Preachiness" to just plain boasting, sanity to silliness! After a while, you can easily identify which posters show a particular characteristic. I don't enjoy those posts that ramble, using short, terse sentences that seemingly have no point. For those, I use the ignore function......and that works really, really well!
This is an interesting forum with a lot of good information but if someone thinks they are getting top-notch financial or investment advice from anonymous posters on the Retirement Forum they are going to be foolishly disappointed. This is a very diverse group on several different spectrums -- economic, political, social, you name it. There also seems to be a bitterness spectrum with a few folks eager to take unwarranted pot-shots at other posters. It's not anyone's job to correct people or set them straight on every little detail or diminish their worth or their values. It seems that there is an occasional episode of responders who want to question someone's intention or motivation in starting a new thread. Nobody is being forced to read these threads at gunpoint nor is there someone forcing people to respond. It is OK to scroll past a thread that you question or have no interest in.
To me, if I want an answer to a question about how to do something, the best person to ask is someone who's done it successfully. Thus I think it's perfectly normal for someone who's unsure to come here and ask "Is this enough to retire?" That is as long as they are actually asking and not just being snarky. There was a post a few weeks ago by some guy who had a six figure pension, around a mil in invested assets, multiple homes, etc, etc, etc. I, for one, honestly thought it was troll because no one on earth who managed to accumulate all that could think that they were not able to retire. Just getting to that point required considerable financial acumen, so I did feel that one was a purposeful humble-brag. And if that is his lifestyle, how would anyone here know what level of diminishment of that lifestyle would be acceptable to him? Obviously it's POSSIBLE to retire on SS alone. People do it everyday. But what is most important is to determine your own lifestyle requirements, location preferences, assets, predicted longevity, etc before attempting to figure out if you have enough. No one on C-D has that info about you.
I know I have probably instigated some comments along that line, even though my assets are a fraction of that. It's just a matter of your personal frame of reference. This is probably the MOST diverse forum of retirees ever.
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