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one ,they only asked one thousand workers and apply it to hundreds of millions of americans
And 2 they make it sound like all preretirees are in bad shape and with liitle money. Actual data from actual accounts at brokerages show millions of preretirees have six figure accounts.
There is a disconnect somewhere.
the answer is i wasn't asked ,you werent asked and a few hundred million others were not asked about their condition. So all in all what does that study do for you?
Nothing, it may make those with little feel better but aside from that we know nothing that helps us plan better or is even useful in any way and in fact is disputed in other studies.
A study doesn't need to include every single possible subject to be statistically valid. If they performed the study properly they don't need to ask me or you, because they included a large enough sample size for their findings to be statistically relevant. There is a scientific method behind sampling, and I have no reason to believe they did not apply it.
Their findings actually show that 42% of pre-retirees have six figure accounts. That sounds about right to me, and given there are 350 million people in the US, it is almost certain that numbers in the millions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
But there results they spewed are misleading.
one they only asked one thousand workers and apply it to hundreds of millions of americans
And 2 they make it sound like all preretirees are in bad shape and with liitle money. Actual data from actual accounts at brokerages show millions of preretirees have six figure accounts.
There is a disconnect somewhere.
But the real issue i wasn't asked ,you werent asked and a few hundred million others were not asked about their condition. So all in all what does that study do for you?
A study doesn't need to include every single possible subject to be statistically valid. If they performed the study properly they don't need to ask me or you, because they included a large enough sample size for their findings to be statistically relevant. There is a scientific method behind sampling, and I have no reason to believe they did not apply it.
Their findings actually show that 42% of pre-retirees have six figure accounts. That sounds about right to me, and given there are 350 million people in the US, it is almost certain that numbers in the millions.
If 42% of preretirees in their survey have 6 figure accounts and i would bet it is even higher then that and 50% of the country pays no income tax at all because their income is to low all the time and they never did nor ever will have a substaintial savings then what is the big deal and hoopla about retirees having little savings.
That leaves only 8% of americans with these horrible low balances we hear about that should and could have had more.
The rest of the population never had any savings to speak of retirement wise or any other.
In fact instead of constantly bringing up how little retirees have saved like these 50k numbers we hear ,with 50% or so of the preretirees having many more times what these supposed average account balances are i would say they are doing quite well.
But google anything pertaining to retiree savings and you will be met with low account balances that give the impression just about all preretirees are just about broke.
The reality is we are going to find out retirees are doing a whole lot better then these studies show. Those that always had low savings and low income issues will always have them regardless if retiring or not.
Last edited by mathjak107; 07-04-2014 at 01:10 PM..
For a multi-millionaire like yourself, I'm sure it's a rosy picture indeed. For others 55 years and over, hold the phone. 18% with $100-250k, and an additional 24% with $250k or more. I would wager the majority of that latter group fall closer to the $250k side of that line than the one mil or even $500k. And for the former, I would be pretty concerned about the prospect of facing 20-30 years with just $100-250k saved up. The only thing this group has going for them is that they are the pensioner dinosaurs--some of them, anyway. Even so, a significant number of them carry debt.
The alarm bells you hear are for the younger age groups. No pensions for them, and their savings are minimal--40% of 45-54 year olds have less than $10k in savings? The 'average' balances you so like to point out are meaningless for this kind of analysis. We are looking at a significant number of people who are utterly unprepared for their remaining years. People will muddle through; I suppose that's what they get for having incomes too low to pay income tax, as you suggest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
If 42% of preretirees in their survey have 6 figure accounts and i would bet it is even higher then that and 50% of the country pays no income tax at all because their income is to low all the time and they never did nor ever will have a substaintial savings then what is the big deal and hoopla about retirees having little savings.
That leaves only 8% of americans with these horrible low balances we hear about that should and could have had more.
The rest of the population never had any savings to speak of retirement wise or any other.
In fact instead of constantly bringing up how little retirees have saved like these 50k numbers we hear ,with 50% or so of the preretirees having many more times what these supposed average account balances are i would say they are doing quite well.
But google anything pertaining to retiree savings and you will be met with low account balances that give the impression just about all preretirees are just about broke.
The reality is we are going to find out retirees are doing a whole lot better then these studies show. Those that always had low savings and low income issues will always have them regardless if retiring or not.
According to this study, 36% of Americans aged 55+ have less than $10k saved for retirement (see Figure 3). It lists data for various age groups, and none of the news is good. Check it out to see how you stack up.
Which completely evades the question of WHY these people have little or no retirement savings. Did they spend too much or earn too little?
For a multi-millionaire like yourself, I'm sure it's a rosy picture indeed. For others 55 years and over, hold the phone. 18% with $100-250k, and an additional 24% with $250k or more. I would wager the majority of that latter group fall closer to the $250k side of that line than the one mil or even $500k. And for the former, I would be pretty concerned about the prospect of facing 20-30 years with just $100-250k saved up. The only thing this group has going for them is that they are the pensioner dinosaurs--some of them, anyway. Even so, a significant number of them carry debt.
The alarm bells you hear are for the younger age groups. No pensions for them, and their savings are minimal--40% of 45-54 year olds have less than $10k in savings? The 'average' balances you so like to point out are meaningless for this kind of analysis. We are looking at a significant number of people who are utterly unprepared for their remaining years. People will muddle through; I suppose that's what they get for having incomes too low to pay income tax, as you suggest.
i think americans do not really have enough saved to have a quality retirement in most cases. 250-300k and no pension would be a pretty restricted retirement coupled with taking early social security in most desireable areas. sure people live on SS alone but not a life many would want to live by choice .
many like our friends are forced to leave family and friends and go find cheaper areas to retire to and end up missing out on daily life with family and grandkids like my parents had to.
the less you have the less discretionary spending you can do and in my opinion it is that spending that puts the fun in life. walking along the beach or that walk in the woods wears thin awfully quick.
but what i challenge is these headlines and articles that come out with stuff such as "retirees only have 50k . or only have 10k or whatever the number is.
while i am not desputing that folks need to do a better job saving and a much, much better job investing ,i am just tired of the statistics thrown out there where the numbers are diluted and so off base with the picture they do present.
i don't think a day goes by there isn't another headline article about how littlepre- retirees have but 1/2 the group never had any money at any point in their life ever and never will.
it has nothing to do with being ill prepared for retirement ,as a group they were ill prepared for life ,period.
the accuracy of these guesstamates are questionable to. taking random samplings of things that require a yes or no or are in some tight range may be reflective of much larger groups.
but surveys about financial assets where the answer is infinite really needs exact numbers to be conclusive.
you couldn't even get close asking a sampling of us in the building we live in as to the financial resources each one of us have and then draw a conclusive dollar figure for all. we vary that much in this building... so what chance do you have in a country of hundreds of millions of getting it right with small random samplings of something with infinite answers to it..
in fact ask yourself what the accuracy is of the cpi price index vs your own personal inflation rate.
the answer for most of us is that small random sampling of goods and services bears little correlation to our actual cost of living. it is just a weighted price index that can apply to everyone or to no one..
what they need to do is make the financial survey part of every census , and until they do that the real answer is no one really knows overall what anyones real deal is. the only thing that counts is your own goals and whether you are on track.
Last edited by mathjak107; 07-05-2014 at 02:46 AM..
You need a high income 80-100k+ to really save anything decent for retirement. The average person income in the USA is like what? 28k? You can't save much for retirement on that.
well i think the real issue once you weed out those who will never have decent income is spending and lack of investing knowledge or ability.
you have many families today unlike decades ago with two incomes. today folks pay for tv ,they pay for water, they pay for cell phones, pay for credit card debt . there is all kinds of spending that takes away from money that could be saved if that expense was not there.
it is just so many expenses today that are really wants and not needs have become needs but they really aren't. i struggled early on in my career but we always made sure we saved something.
in fact i was an office boy at 19 and working part time for an investment company and i bought a 50 buck a month investment plan . i had no idea what i even bought but i continued to feed it. as it became more and more i took the money out ,learned to invest it on my own anmd never stopped.
as they say in dieting move more or eat less. well financial advice is spend less or earn more. they both can leave you with money to save.
we have folks i could name right here in this forum who do not earn a lot but have done excellent jobs saving money and investing what they do manage to get. mystical tiger to name just one.
That's the whole point of this kind of research: to figure out the financial situation of our citizens. The finding that the country is 'to [sic] diluted down with folks who have nothing all through life regardless' is very significant (or should be) if it is true, to policymakers.
The people retiring today have more disposable income than they did 30 years ago
We are in better shape today what is your point?
Your a chicken little look at me look at me or else you will all die! Not buying it
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