Retireee Median Net Worth

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

...
Just ask corporate America which is fleeing to inversions and getting the heck out with their money.
...

Actually this has the potential to be much better for the US economy than the current setup since without double taxation more capital from overseas can and will be deployed back here.

(I know this is off the thread subject but it was brought up)

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

I am not sure where folks expect this Medicaid money to come from in 10-20 years to pay their nursing home costs and provide health care to the poor at the same time.

I've asked myself the same question but added SS as well.
With more off shored workers the FICA revenue stream is drying up.
And here in the US people are working for less pay. Less pay = lower FICA revenue to the government.

[hartford_renter]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

We agree. So why does virtually every investment firm scare the crap out of people? Obviously to get them to invest more, with their firm. They have scared so many that some of those folks have pretty much given up on retirement, some have stopped saving altogether with a "what's the point, I'll have to work 'til I'm dead anyway" mentality and that's just wrong.

The answer is simple, they want you to listen to their advice.

How do they get clients to listen to their advice? They say that people are doomed unless you listen to their spin.

I would ignore what they say.

If you want to learn how much to save for retirement determine the spending level you want and then figure out a lump sum that will fund that stream of payments.

You can model this and find out what withdrawal rate will work %of the time, then based on your risk tolerance pick a certain withdrawal %. It might make sense to model some contingencies like a random health expense.

If a 4% withdrawal rate from a 60/40 equity/bond portfolio works 90% of the time and you are OK with that risk then you have the answer right there. You don't need a financial planner unless you can't understand your own risk tolerance.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

I've asked myself the same question but added SS as well.
With more off shored workers the FICA revenue stream is drying up.
And here in the US people are working for less pay. Less pay = lower FICA revenue to the government.

I read an interesting article the other day. It argued that dramatically increasing woman's wages across the board would increase FICA revenue. Didn't mention what it would do to SS benefit costs.