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I once heard/read this and I might be a little off but here goes. If someone was to contribute X amount of dollars each year and stop at age 30 they will be further ahead than someone who starts at 30. I don't recall dollar amounts or if it is even true.
it can be very true .. the longer the term the more you can do well with just average outcomes . the shorter the time frame you have , the more you need to depend on above average outcomes .
Saw that story on the news tonight, fellow worked for Lockheed Martin for 29 years. A couple of months before his retirement at 30 years the company abruptly closed down the plant & he lost his pension & the couple's dream for retirement. His wife has needed several heart procedures in the following years & they have had to refinance their mortgage several times, he admits they will never be able to pay off the home.
He is in his 80's now & works at Walmart as a greeter although he would prefer to be home with his ailing wife but they need his income. I suspect she was a homemaker & doesn't have much SS. A very sad & I think what will be an increasingly large problem as our generation ages: older people without pensions who didn't really understand investing in IRAs/401ks, or couldn't because of family issues, until too late & the skyrocketing costs of healthcare are pummeling them.
There is a lot unsaid in that story.
29 years and the dude hasn't paid off his (modest) house. How does that happen ? No savings ? Why is his SS + Pension not sufficient for his modest lifestyle ? Not to mention Lockheed stock which has boomed.
CBS played the sympathetic angle but there should be more to the full story than their simple calculus.
this is like those pbs shows about the retirement crisis .
what a sorry lot of people they featured . they all had the same can't find work story . there was not one on the show i would have hired as an employer .
Even $3100 per month doesn't sound like it's too out of step with averages.
And I'd still like to know what his monthly pension was at 29 years vs. what it would be been "fully vested" at 30 years. I know it certainly isn't 0 at 29 years, but just how significant of a difference was it?
I'm not saying I don't have sympathy for someone losing their job unexpectedly, esp. someone who was in his mid or late 50s, but only had an 8th grade education. Even in the 1990s, that wasn't common and yes, he was going to have very limited job opportunities.
And there is also no explanation about why he would still be paying a mortgage now, 24 years after losing his job, after having a good job for 29 years.
It's kind of a perfect storm of bad luck, but at least he does recognize that he isn't completely blameless here.
My dad kept his job was forced to “retire†from one employer at 29 years where he had a pension. The difference was quite significant- something like $9K a year between the full 30 years and @29 years and 7 months. I think he was able to work it out, but some of these pension schemes are set up to really take away quite a bit of your money if you retire even a few months early. Luckily he still had a job and significant investments (he just had to switch to an employer without a pension) but if he were in a situation where he didn’t have a job, it would make a huge difference.
this is like those pbs shows about the retirement crisis .
what a sorry lot of people they featured . they all had the same can't find work story . there was not one on the show i would have hired as an employer .
these things are so skewed to "badness"
Many of these are supposed to draw attention because the stories are so pathetic. Maybe there is some value in these pathetic stories. We all make plenty of mistakes in life, but there are some simple behaviors that can be rewarding in the long term:
Save and invest from an early age. That way you have an emergency fund and also benefit from the power of compounding.
Invest in your education, skills, knowledge and career growth. Realize you are likely to lose several jobs throughout your working life and may also need to change careers. Companies go out of business and jobs become obsolete.
Maintain your health. That is not always within our control but the next best step is to always be in a situation where you have health insurance.
Be careful about picking a spouse. The wrong choice can be very painful. Take some time and do not be in a hurry.
it can be very true .. the longer the term the more you can do well with just average outcomes . the shorter the time frame you have , the more you need to depend on above average outcomes .
I would think you would have to hit it right. By that I mean if you started investing at 18 and quit at 30, you would have to hit a bull market and get some fairly good growth. Now the person that starts at 30 and goes into a down market for a while, he might never catch up.
Point being, I think the cards have to play out just right and how often does that happen?
this is like those pbs shows about the retirement crisis .
what a sorry lot of people they featured . they all had the same can't find work story . there was not one on the show i would have hired as an employer .
these things are so skewed to "badness"
It's not that they can't find work, more like they don't want to work or want to start at the top.
or are just plain unemployable for loads of reasons . can't pass a drug test , a back ground check , poor work history , speak english poorly (thug speak ) , poor work skills , poor work ethics , etc .
there may be lots of good jobs only they miss the boat .
rarely does the timing work out just right . that is why we need time on our side .
Yes, I keep wanting to pump some money into the market. If only I knew when this slide will bottom out. Time to call the psychic hotline or talk to that poster with the bad back that is carrying all the gold and silver in a knapsack that is prepared for the Mad Max apocalypse to happen.
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