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Let's face it, it's getting harder to retire, pensions are becoming a relic of a bygone day (except for the CEO's and the public sector). Social Security and Medicare are in trouble. Do you think we should plan on working till we die?
And, if you do agree that this is more likely, what career paths would be the most viable for this?
not at all. People just need to realize they need to save for their own retirement and not count on things like social security. Social security was never meant to be anyone's sole income in retirement anyway. Working longer will probably continue as people are living longer anyway. Retirement is really on everyone's on list of "to do's" - either you save and plan to retire at an age you want; or you chance it and hope you can scrape by.
I think people have grander and grander ideas of what retirement "should" be - fueled by investment companies who want to get rich from the fees they charge. You can figure out your own low expense retirement investments and by living wisely and frugally do pretty well on relatively little money, especially if you're willing to relocate to a low COLA.
Geez, if you don't have one, at least plan to retire without one. For someone who complains so much, you put very little effort into improving your own situation
I don't know the answer, and I'm sure that there even is one. Working until we die would be tough in a nation that does NOT like to employ older workers. And setting money aside from paychecks is damn near impossible for people and families on lower incomes.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Neither of my wife's parents (now deceased) had pensions, my parents are managing on only SS and savings now, and were able to buy a house at age 68 & 70, still managing 13 years later. It's matter of managing your money while working, and living in an affordable place. While my wife and I will both have pensions and SS, plus 401k, we still plan to move to a lower cost area when we retire and take advantage of the equity in our home to pay cash for a smaller one.
I don't know how old you are or what your background is but yes, a good strategy would be building a solid career in the public sector. LE (police) has entry requirements but if you have a clean background, 60 college credits and are physically fit (and have the right temperament, don't mind night shifts, etc.) that's an option with 25 year service and out in some places, and good officers are wanted pretty much anywhere. Also the pay is solid middle class, but if that's all worth the enormous stress, that's your call.
Other public sector jobs are potentially iffy. Some may be phasing out pensions or expecting employees to pay more in, etc. Budgets are getting crunched and with no guarantees as to what the economy will do, I would expect this to be one of the first benefits to get sliced if things get rough.
Outside of those kinds of jobs, I don't think there's any distinct career path that will give you an advantage. It's going to depend on what companies offer, and hopefully you can get in somewhere that offers at least to match some of what you put in. That's a good deal nowadays and pretty common at least in my area. (typically match 3-5%)
Many people retired without pensions before today. My father ran his own business as a self-employed blue-collar job.
He never had a pension. He had his own home and retirement savings, when he retired and handed off his old customers to another relative in the same trade.
Last edited by move4ward; 04-07-2016 at 09:44 PM..
Let's face it, it's getting harder to retire, pensions are becoming a relic of a bygone day (except for the CEO's and the public sector). Social Security and Medicare are in trouble. Do you think we should plan on working till we die?
Pension are not all that common in the first place... and plenty retired without one.
The only people I know who worked until they died are the ones who died young.
Learn to sell and then you have the potential of unlimited income or high income.
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