One-third of Americans only have $1,000 saved for retirement

[etrigan420]

Waaah, poor Americans have no self-control and believe every commercial they see.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Weren't you the one crying in another thread about how fathers are treated and about how much taxes you pay?

Physician, heal thyself.

 

[BoberFett]

Weren't you the one crying in another thread about how fathers are treated and about how much taxes you pay?

Physician, heal thyself.

Are you really that stupid?

Government is forced on us down the barrel of a gun. How is that in any way comparable to being so weak minded that you can't say no to a commercial?

I would certainly be able to save more money toward retirement if taxes and child support didn't cost me $55K/yr, not to mention the attorney's fees those fuckers have forced me to take on to defend myself.

 

[Mai72]

Obama will take care of you.

He will? 🙂

I can rest now. Now this is a future I like!

 

[ultimatebob]

ROFLMAO.

Not to be sardonic, but if SS is around in 40 years I will be SHOCKED!

I figured that by the time I'm eligible to retire, the social security retirement age will be up to 72 and it will pay less than $1,000 (inflation adjusted) a month.

 

[OutHouse]

one reason of not saving as much is the cost of living is a lot higher, i just opened my mail and have a letter from the gas company that basic service is increasing from 57.40 to 61.53 a month. Its all the little nickle and dimeing that takes a huge chunk out of what we can save.

but on yea, this is ATOT where everybody is rich and if you don't have a 150K job and retire with 1 million in your accounts and at 40 you are a bum.

 

[JEDI]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ameri...ved-for-retirement-ebri-report-134741117.html

What happens if your old, you have $100 dollars to your name, and you can't work anymore?

Will the people who saved diligently, have to pay for the people who didn't or weren't able to save for retirement?

D:

its a retirement strategy.
spend it all then when u get old, get on Medicaid and food stamps since you're no longer enjoying life because your old.

let the govt foot the bill

 

[JEDI]

one reason of not saving as much is the cost of living is a lot higher, i just opened my mail and have a letter from the gas company that basic service is increasing from 57.40 to 61.53 a month. Its all the little nickle and dimeing that takes a huge chunk out of what we can save.

but on yea, this is ATOT where everybody is rich and if you don't have a 150K job and retire with 1 million in your accounts and retire at 40 you are a bum.

$1M in retirement? who let the poor person into this thread?

 

[HOSED]

What I do not understand is why SS is mandatory for many workers ... I could probably have another $100K easily if I did not pay in. I did fairly well in Tech Stocks in the late 1990's - 2000 and could have made that much more if I had the SS "contributions". BUT I was very fortunate to come from a 2 parent home where both were very savvy and taught me investing well.
~ Outhouse I have to complement you on your signature!

 

[Mai72]

one reason of not saving as much is the cost of living is a lot higher, i just opened my mail and have a letter from the gas company that basic service is increasing from 57.40 to 61.53 a month. the only gas appliances i have is my water heater and my stove. Its all the little nickle and dimeing that takes a huge chunk out of what we can save.

but on yea, this is ATOT where everybody is rich and if you don't have a 150K job you are a bum.

This is definitely one reason. It's hard to save for retirement when over 50% of your paycheck is going to bills. Add in children and it's nearly impossible to save. This is the dilemma we are in. There are many people in America who don't make a lot of money, so they don't even think about retirement. How can they when they are living pay check to paycheck.

Let's look at the millennial generation. These are young people who are carrying around a lot of student loan debt. These loans are keeping them from putting money away for retirement. It's going to be 15-20 years before most can even afford to pay back their student loan debt. By this time, they are in their late 30's or early 40's and they are just beginning to save for retirement. It's a recipe for disaster. They don't see it yet because they are still very young.

In "The Millionaire Next Door" the author states that the longer you stay out of the work force the longer you have to postpone retirement. Now imagine if you can't find employment because of the economy, or you're working for $10 an hour. The chance that you're going to retire at 62 is probably going to only be a dream.

 

[OutHouse]

Honestly, it starts at home. If your parents weren't savers/investors then the chance that you are going save and invest is going to be very small.

I will give an example of my parents.

My parents were spenders. They spent money as fast as they got it. For somebody who only had a 4th grade education my father has made awesome money in the past. How would you like to make $15k for 2 weeks of work. How would you like to make $3k for 3 days of work? My father was a contractor for the state of NJ. In one year he could make over $100k. This was in the 90's and early 2000's. When the economy went south, those jobs dried up. He doesn't have them anymore.

My parents also owned a few businesses. Most were bombs, but they had one that lasted 12 years. When my mom passed away 3 years ago my dad sold it for a small fee. When my sister took over the books she found out that my mom had mismanaged the finances, and they weren't making as much money as initially thought.

Then there are the purchases. Buying a $250,000 home w/ a 2,000 monthly mortgage at the age of 60. Purchasing new cars every 2-3 years. Not investing and not saving a dime. My mom was purchasing shoes, clothes, coats, jackets, cosmetics, etc. Eating out all the time.

I'm currently staying with my father now and I'm worried. He doesn't learn. He sold a perfectly fine Volvo with zero payments and upgraded to a new one with $500 a month payments. He's bought $200 jeans and expensive shoes. He was delivering government commodities to the schools for $3,000 a week. He only worked for 3 days a month. Anyway, the state wanted to do it themselves so they almost eliminated his job. He has a few schools left and makes a only fraction of what he made in the beginning. He only has his job in the summer which pays well. He has SS and VA benefits from the 4 years he spent in the army. That's it. His attitude is I'm going to die soon so why not party it up. But yet, I believe he's scared.

I had to teach myself about finances. I had to condition myself to save money. The 2 years that I spent in South Korea were amazing. I didn't need a car. My place was paid for, and the cost of living is cheaper then it is in New Jersey. But, I'm late to the savings/investing game. I'm nearing 40. I have just recently put money into an IRA. I"m looking for ways to make passive income, while I apply for another teaching position in South Korea.

It starts at home.

not to sound crass or insensitive but your it sounds like your mom had a good life and was not dirt poor. Or am I way off base.

 

[OutHouse]

What I do not understand is why SS is mandatory for many workers ... I could probably have another $100K easily if I did not pay in. I did fairly well in Tech Stocks in the late 1990's - 2000 and could have made that much more if I had the SS "contributions". BUT I was very fortunate to come from a 2 parent home where both were very savvy and taught me investing well.
~ Outhouse I have to complement you on your signature!

simple, the government does not want a repeat of the great depression soup lines. we all pay into the social system to keep the poor fed and out of the streets begging.

thanks for the complement.

 

[Mai72]

not to sound crass or insensitive but your it sounds like your mom had a good life and was not dirt poor. Or am I way off base.

My mother was far from wealthy. My mom immigrated to America from France when she was 6 years old. We were middle class.

She was a hard worker who didn't take sh*t from nobody. She just mismanaged money. That was her downfall. My dad made the money and gave it to my mom to manage. 🙁

 

[OutHouse]

My mother was far from wealthy. My mom immigrated to America from France when she was 6 years old. We were middle class.

She was a hard worker who didn't take sh*t from nobody. She just mismanaged money. That was her downfall. My dad made the money and gave it to my mom to manage. 🙁

gotcha

 

[Jeff7]

Americans are being marketed to nearly the entire time they are awake. It is no wonder. If companies could figure out a way to market to you in their sleep they'd do it.

I figure that that's why Google is doing self-driving cars.
If your car is driving for you, you can be on the Internet.
Google-delivered Internet, on a Google device.
Looking at Google-delivered ads.
Or creating content, hosted on Google servers, which they can then datamine, or use in more ads.


Many millions of drivers * hundreds of hours per year = billions of hours a year that are not being spent looking at Google ads.
Lots of money to be made there.





And marketing works. People are easy to fool and manipulate, especially if you can play on ancient instincts, such as "Do whatever it takes to belong to the group. Your survival depends on it."
It's why stage magicians have jobs: Play on assumptions, or use simple distraction, and suddenly a Porsche appears out of thin air, and then turns into a thousand rose petals.

Then discover that you have to pay for the roses, because viewing the performance automatically bound you to the terms and conditions, which were sitting on the Porsche's front seat.

 

[boomhower]

I don't save a ton but I should have a decent little egg when I retire, at least comparatively to my low paying govt job. I put in around 6% to my 401k, employer puts in around 5%. Combined with the pension, assuming it's there in 25 years, I should be alright depending on what the healthcare situation looks like. Heading to the house at 55.5. I'll do something on the side but full time thats it.

 

[Brovane]

That article had 4 very good points on why a traditional vehicle might be better than a Roth but you just dismissed it by saying that the "consensus" is that a Roth is better. Not very persuasive, IMO.

Tax rates might be higher in the future. But no one knows.

What about a VAT? Right now, that doesn't look likely but if a VAT would be devastating to a Roth since the Roth monies would still be taxed.

I think it's best to have a mixture of both. How to allocate between them is a matter of personal preference.

Yup - At least with the VAT you don't pay anything until you consume. But still I feel at some point a VAT tax will be implemented in the US. The Roth is still a good vehicle because you are exempting yourself from future Income tax. Also you don't have to take withdrawals starting at 70 1/2 if you don't need the money.

 

[Attic]

5 million for retirement if you're 30-40 now and want to retire at or before 55 or bust. Completely cereal.

There's only one way to pay a continually rising the national debt and the folks who haven't saved for retirement. More government handouts and devaluation of the dollar to keep the thing going.

The GFC did more damage to a lot of folks savings than I think many realize.

 

[Exterous]

With all due respect I think you are misleading yourself. At least 30% of people in this country don't have a dime to retire on and will likely be entirely dependent on SS to get by, and you think its not a large problem? Forgive me but I do not follow your logic.

Where do you get the 30% figure from? If its from this study then you don't actually have any proof of this because the study does not include a large array of retirement funds and they specifically state such

But who is going to vote for them? Or rather, who is going to vote for a senator/rep that wants to reduce SS benefits, make them unavailable for a longer period of time, and increase taxes?

Well, if they don't vote for it then people get 70-75% of promised benefits until 2087. Once we get close to the year of the decreased benefits I think you'll see a lot of pressure to 'do something'. There are several very easy ways to do this:
General increase in tax
Reduce COLA
Raise age slightly
Eliminate SS tax cap (has the benefit of targeting the evil wealthy)

There will be enough pressure to enact one of these

As often critiqued, schools at the high school level should have a required course on how to manage money and debt effectively....and watch the Suze Orman Show on CNBC, 😀

There are plenty of studies that show a finance course has little to no impact (in one case the correlation was actually negative). What you need is a constantly reinforced message - the sort of things parents would be best able to provide. Brazil has had some success with a continuing financial education with successive classes over many years but given the pressure the core studies have already put on electives good luck trying to get a multi-year course wedged into the american education system

 

[etrigan420]

Are you really that stupid?

Government is forced on us down the barrel of a gun. How is that in any way comparable to being so weak minded that you can't say no to a commercial?

I would certainly be able to save more money toward retirement if taxes and child support didn't cost me $55K/yr, not to mention the attorney's fees those fuckers have forced me to take on to defend myself.

Oh, I get it...*your* problems need to be addressed as evils done against you which were beyond your control, *you* were wronged and demand satisfaction...*You* have "legitimate" reasons for not being able to save more...

But those who are unable to save money for different reasons? What about them?

Suck it up, buttercup.

I figured as much. Just another Me First and the Gimme Gimme Republican Fuckwit...

Why don't you pull yourself up by the bootstraps or something?

 

[Jeff7]

...
Sure, the problem can be fixed by the measures you specify. But who is going to vote for them? Or rather, who is going to vote for a senator/rep that wants to reduce SS benefits, make them unavailable for a longer period of time, and increase taxes?
...

It'd just take someone who's already in office to push it through. Re-election rates in Congress are now around 90%, despite record-low approval ratings.
"Everyone in Congress sucks! All of them! Except for my representatives. They're awesome."



"What do we want?"
"Everything!"

"Who's going to pay for it?"
"Someone else!"

Oh, I get it...*your* problems need to be addressed as evils done against you which were beyond your control, *you* were wronged and demand satisfaction...*You* have "legitimate" reasons for not being able to save more...

But those who are unable to save money for different reasons? What about them?



I figured as much. Just another Me First and the Gimme Gimme Republican Fuckwit...

Why don't you pull yourself up by the bootstraps or something?

I think he pays more in taxes than quite a few people earn in a year.

I'd play a tiny violin, but musical instruments are expensive.


All you need to do is go out and get a six-figure job and stop complaining. (Well, complain about different things, like how your taxes have become such a horrible burden.)

Waaah, poor Americans have no self-control and believe every commercial they see.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Though, yes, people do take commercials and TV way too seriously.

(Wait, you mean that liberal arts dropout who was writing a script didn't take the time to depict a scientist in a realistic laboratory environment? Noooo...that wouldn't happen.)

 

[MongGrel]

Glad I'm not one of em.

 

[Slew Foot]

The stupid people are the ones that are saving. If you'rr dirt poor, the govt will just take money from those that have it and give it to you.

 

[etrigan420]

I think he pays more in taxes than quite a few people earn in a year. I'd play a tiny violin, but musical instruments are expensive. All you need to do is go out and get a six-figure job and stop complaining. (Well, complain about different things, like how your taxes have become such a horrible burden.)

If the $30k number he gave in the other thread is accurate, my family paid just a bit more than he did, but that's irrelevant. It was his "My problems are legitimate, and poor peoples problems are because they don't try hard enough" mantra that I took issue with.

 

[OverVolt]

If the $30k number he gave in the other thread is accurate, my family paid just a bit more than he did, but that's irrelevant. It was his "My problems are legitimate, and poor peoples problems are because they don't try hard enough" mantra that I took issue with.

Oh the middle class not realizing their poorness yet. They'll realize pretty soon they are hating on themselves hehe 😛

 

[HOSED]

The stupid people are the ones that are saving. If you'rr dirt poor, the govt will just take money from those that have it and give it to you.

I hear that! I have a few dollars and no job. At this point I do not want to take chances with what I have saved so the alternatives are horrible. EE savings bonds .1 % (for current purchases) , 1 Year bank CD's generally 1% or less, and it is becoming harder to get free checking let alone one that pays interest.

It is funny constant advertising has just the opposite of the desired effect on me. Thank God for the ability to record TV and skip the onslaught.