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My dad consciously planned to live a long life. When he retired at age 65, he had other things to do that required physical labor. He exercised and did not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Fortunately, he remained in good health and lived to be 97. As it happens, my mother did have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and she also lived to age 97. So, the way I look at it, you pays your money and you takes your chances. LOL
I'm a saver and would be very unhappy with myself if I had no savings. I've never tried to keep up with anyone, but I've always been able to do whatever I choose to do.
While I enjoy work to some extent, I do not want to do it for the rest of my life. We are working as hard as possible to retire early. I never want to have to rely on a job for income (only if I want to, not have to). My parents raised me well with finances, I have always been a saver, sometimes a bit extreme as some say but its what I like to do. My husband, his upbringing was a bit different and though always paid his bills he never saved. Thankfully after getting married he has really changed his thinking.
We have saved up a very good emergency fund and invested the rest. It amazes me how many adults nearing retirement age has little to no savings.. I understand some may be circumstances but not all. I know I sleep better at night having a savings and we never argue about money.
I know of people that is in their 60's and have no savings and will have too work the rest of their life.
Short on savings? You're not alone.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans have nothing in their savings accounts and another 21 percent don't even have a savings account, according to a new survey from GOBankingRates. 49% of Americans Have Nothing Saved
Dude I swear I read stories like this all the time with a significant CHUNK of people with no savings at all, and people sh*t on me about my goal of saving $1 million for retirement at minimum.
They keep telling me that my $1 million won't be anything in 30 years and I will be sleeping on the street, but if that's the case, what in the hell are the 80% of the rest of the country going to be doing who didn't save at least the $1 million I target? That's what I want to know .
Because if I'm going to be sleeping on the street as they say with my little "$1 million saved", then damn, would the other 80% of the country just die off then? Because we can't ALL sleep on the damn street!
Maybe those with $1 million will have the luxury of sleeping on the street while everybody else (the other 80%) are dead because there's no where for them to go? So if that's the case, don't I still come out ahead of that other 80%, at least I will still be alive .
Dude I swear I read stories like this all the time with a significant CHUNK of people with no savings at all, and people sh*t on me about my goal of saving $1 million for retirement at minimum.
They keep telling me that my $1 million won't be anything in 30 years and I will be sleeping on the street, but if that's the case, what in the hell are the 80% of the rest of the country going to be doing who didn't save at least the $1 million I target? That's what I want to know .
Because if I'm going to be sleeping on the street as they say with my little "$1 million saved", then damn, would the other 80% of the country just die off then? Because we can't ALL sleep on the damn street!
Maybe those with $1 million will have the luxury of sleeping on the street while everybody else (the other 80%) are dead because there's no where for them to go? So if that's the case, don't I still come out ahead of that other 80%, at least I will still be alive .
They either die before retiring, work forever or live in or near poverty
Let these stats sink in
Quote:
Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly.
Nine out of ten individuals age 65 and older receive Social Security benefits.
Social Security benefits represent about 38% of the income of the elderly.
Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 52% of married couples and 74% of unmarried persons receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security.
Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 22% of married couples and about 47% of unmarried persons rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income.
you don't need much to survive . a tent in a camp ground in some areas are all you need . once we get above basic needs it is all about the lifestyle and the want list for retirement you have .
i always planned around a better retirement life then i did when working .
i have a whole bucket list of wants and things we want to do and see .
all those wants are what cost money and that budget can be endless as we are seeing now with so much time to do things daily. it all depends on what you hope to get out of retirement and where you are located .
The article linked in the original post was one of the stupidest articles I have ever read. First, it didn't bother to define its terms. As poster jw2 pointed out on page two of this thread, the article spoke only about "savings accounts" and it is unclear whether that was meant to encompass 401(k) accounts or not. If not, and if it only meant traditional savings accounts at banks and credit unions, then the entire article is meaningless, because in the modern world most people's retirement assets are in 401(k) accounts.
Second, the article didn't bother to mention that people with zero or close to zero in "savings" can still have a secure retirement if they have a secure pension. Yes, I am aware that defined benefit pensions are much less common than 30 or 40 years ago, especially in the private sector, but they are by no means dead.
It is easy for me to believe that a disturbing number of Americans have too little savings, but this article did not make a credible case.
Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly.
Nine out of ten individuals age 65 and older receive Social Security benefits.
Social Security benefits represent about 38% of the income of the elderly.
Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 52% of married couples and 74% of unmarried persons receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security.
Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 22% of married couples and about 47% of unmarried persons rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income.
That is a very crappy way to express the data.
Given that 52% of married couples and 74% of unmarried retirees receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security, a relatively small number of very high income retirees totally skew the data. No different from any other income or wealth data that talks about "average".
I'm planning to defer collecting Social Security until age 70. I'll be collecting an inflation-protected $41,664. I'm 57. By the time I get to age 70, if we have average inflation (3.22% is the historical average), the numbers will be more like $63K. Even if we only have 2% inflation, in 13 years, my Social Security check would be $53K.
For a $1.5 million IRA balance, at age 71, the required minimum distribution is $56K. Unless there is a stock market miracle, my Social Security check is going to be bigger than my IRA/401(k) distribution.
Given that 52% of married couples and 74% of unmarried retirees receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security, a relatively small number of very high income retirees totally skew the data. No different from any other income or wealth data that talks about "average".
I'm planning to defer collecting Social Security until age 70. I'll be collecting an inflation-protected $41,664. I'm 57. By the time I get to age 70, if we have average inflation (3.22% is the historical average), the numbers will be more like $63K. Even if we only have 2% inflation, in 13 years, my Social Security check would be $53K.
For a $1.5 million IRA balance, at age 71, the required minimum distribution is $56K. Unless there is a stock market miracle, my Social Security check is going to be bigger than my IRA/401(k) distribution.
Well you go dig up the data to tell me how many people wait until 70 to collect, otherwise your personal data is just that and pretty worthless for a broad based discussion. Average persons or incomes aren't discussed in those stats
Well you go dig up the data to tell me how many people wait until 70 to collect, otherwise your personal data is just that and pretty worthless for a broad based discussion. Average persons or incomes aren't discussed in those stats
Nice. You must have a lot of friends with that demeanor.
It's less than 5%.
My point is that if you can delay collecting until age 70, you'd need an enormous portfolio to have a larger retirement portfolio distribution than Social Security check. The inflation protection feature of Social Security is a huge win.
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