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Retirement Saving.....do you ever just say "forget it"?

T

TheNinja

Lifer
I am one who saves for retirement. I put a certain percentage away in 401K. Sure, I'd love to have that money now and some months it's tough to meet the bills but I know I can't count on the government to support me.

However I see so many of the 20s generation right now that saves nothing. They are lazy and spending everything on toys. They have to have the nicest vehicles, boats, food, drink, parties, vacations, etc and don't save a dime. Even a lot of 40s-50s don't have much saved up.

What's going to happen when everyone gets old and no one has money?? The government will probably support and bail them out. My kids will have to pay 60% of their income as taxes to care for everyone. I might as well spend my money and join them. If I have anything saved up I'll probably forfeit my government handouts anyway. It's like you get rewarded for being an idiot and spending all your money and you get rewarded for being lazy and not finding a job.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it feels pointless to spend smartly on only stuff you can afford and save money when the government bails everyone who does stupid $hit out anyway. Why not enjoy what I have too and just be in the same boat as everyone else?
 
when the government bails everyone who does stupid $hit out anyway
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What? No they don't.
Poor people get welfare and access to free food, but it's definitely not a good lifestyle.
 
Fear No Evil said:
The responsible people get screwed. The rich get blamed. The screwups get the perks.
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I guess you summed it up better 🙂 - It really doesn't pay to be responsible nowadays. Except that in your heart you know you have/had integrity and played your life "the right way" for whatever that is worth.
 
I was a damn fool in my 20s and didn't save much for retirement. So I had to start playing catch up in my late 20s and on. To the folks that didn't? Well, they'll be working when they're 65 and you won't.
 
Psh... screw retirement savings. I'm saving to use my block of saved money to earn me more play money.
 
Read the Grasshopper and the Ant again and be inspired..

Being smart with your money is the way to go. Late boomers and GenX are going to have a lot of people struggling to even think about retirement, they better hope Social Security is around when they retire cause if not they are done for and when you look at the numbers it's not like it pays out that much.
 
Retirement? Are you freaking kidding me? The latest generation isn't overtly concerned if they're employable. Look at their facetube, myface, tattoos, saggy pants and various piercings on their faces. That should tell you something.
 
edro said:
Put all retirement in gold. If the US crashes, move elsewhere and take your gold with you.
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I'm seriously thinking about stuff like that. I don't trust the market. I certainly don't trust where the US economy will be in 20 years. I don't want to be a gigantic downer, but I want to be realistic. I honestly don't see how the working folks can provide for everything anymore. Between welfare, unemployee, illegals, people who don't save, larger older population, etc. there is not way our current system can support it. LIke I said, I feel horrible for my kids that they'll probably be lucky to take home and keep 10% of their money

50% off the top for federal and state taxes
various gas, property taxes
12% sales tax


Yes, I have a case of the Mondays
 
Also I think alot of them realize they will be living far beyond 100 and probably working far beyond 65.

Also people aren't going to continue to retire in the USA. They are going to take their nest egg to a country where they can't make it go the furthest for them.
 
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SSSnail said:
Retirement? Are you freaking kidding me? The latest generation isn't overtly concerned if they're employable. Look at their facetube, myface, tattoos, saggy pants and various piercings on their faces. That should tell you something.
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And they won't get off my lawn!
 
TheNinja said:
Between welfare, unemployee, illegals, people who don't save, larger older population, etc. there is not way our current system can support it.
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That's what our grandparents said when the hippies were taking over the country.
Everyone grows up eventually. The market and the country will be fine.
Remember, greed drives capitalism and everyone is greedy. It is human nature.
 
IceBergSLiM said:
Also people aren't going to continue to retire in the USA. They are going to take their nest egg to a country where they can't make it go the furthest for them.
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Good point. For those worrying that you won't have enough to retire with, lower your standards for retirement and move somewhere cheaper. There's a LOT of nice countries where you can live like a king.
I'm leaning that way, maybe move somewhere warm in central/south america or remote Europe.
 
Retirement as we know it is a recent invention (very few hunter/gatherers had a chance to "retire", neither could farmers in the middle ages). And this recent invention won't last long. Humans went through a golden age: industrial and technological revolution right at the time when there was a large and growing percent of people in the 16 to 65 age group. That won't happen again. The people in that age group as a percent are predicted to drop for the entire forseeable future.

The only reason the retirement idea worked was because it was essentially a pyramid scheme. Get more people in to feed the pentions or social security programs than leave and you are fine. But as soon as you can't get enough new people in, the whole thing fails. Japan felt it first, their population is quite old and their economy has been in the dumps for ~20 years. The US is feeling it now, the percent of people in the 16-65 age group peaked in the year 2007. From now on, each year there will be more and more elderly people per working person.

Demographically the "solution" is to have a baby boom. But that means 20-30 years of having people in the other end of the spectrum (too young to work). That will reduce the percent in the 16-65 age group even further temporarilly. And long term, then they'll be an even bigger problem of a new large group of old people. That can't be an ultimate solution.

The real solution is that the retirement idea will collapse. People won't be able to retire at 65 and live to be 80, 90, 100+ years old. As life expectancy gets worse, so will the problem. You can't work 50 years (age 16 to 65, less if you go to college) and expect to live a total of 100+ years. Most of people's live won't be spent working if that was the case! The only real long term solution is to retire much, much later that people thought they would. The 75 year old Walmart greeter won't be the exception, he'll be the rule.

At least until robots do all the work and no one has to work or has any need for money.
 
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To answer your question though, no I don't ever say "forget it".

I'm one of those people who hate shopping and cringe when spending money. I'm the opposite of so many people who get their thrills by buying more and more crap. Instead, I get my kicks adding zeros to my retirement / investment account balance. Each opportunity I get to invest more, I am thrilled.
 
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dullard said:
To answer your questino though, no I don't ever say "forget it".

I'm one of those people who hate shopping and cringe when spending money. I'm the opposite of so many people who get their thrills by buying more and more crap. Instead, I get my kicks adding zeros to my retirement / investment account balance. Each opportunity I get to invest more, I am thrilled.
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2010-05-22-scrooge_mcduck-150x150.jpg
 
spidey07 said:
2010-05-22-scrooge_mcduck-150x150.jpg
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Yep. That's me.

Although, I do let myself loose on occasion. Already in 2011 I've been on a safari in South Africa, elephant back riding in Zimbabwe, hiking mountains in Sweden, crusing fjords and climbing glaciers in Norway, staring over the grand canyon, eating 5/6 course dinners/wine tastings on weekend getaways, etc. I can do that because I'm a scrooge elsewhere. I didn't have cable internet until 2009, I drive a 10 year old Civic, I have never had an HDTV nor a flat screen TV, etc.

I can buy anything I want, whenever I want - because I don't.
 
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spidey07 said:
I was a damn fool in my 20s and didn't save much for retirement. So I had to start playing catch up in my late 20s and on. To the folks that didn't? Well, they'll be working when they're 65 and you won't.
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At least until the government decides that anyone who saved is rich and earned their money unfairly and starts taxing 401k's, IRA's, Roth's etc.. This is the problem with retirement savings.. you do it well, and you've suddenly become the target for everyone who hasn't. Unfortunately its coming.. there's just too much money sitting out there in retirement accounts for the government to wait until you start collecting.

What also sucks is when the person who saved all their lives and worked hard drops dead and the government thinks they deserve 40% of it because you never got a chance to spend it.

It does make me say screw it sometimes. Life has to be a balance between the now and the future. You can't swing too far in either direction.
 
People can take money, retirement, material wealth (cars, houses), etc. from you via divorce / lawsuits, but they cannot take your memories!
 
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