Ok, I know I harp on this subject, but you have to admit it is entertaining … retirement and paying for it that is. On one hand I get comments from people already retired and struggling on Social Security alone, claiming they paid for all they get and blaming Congress for stealing their cost of living increase. On the other hand, there are those with the ability and opportunity to save and don’t and who one day will end up among the first group of commenters complaining about what they are entitled to.
If you read some of the comments on this blog you will see I have, on occasion, been labeled an insensitive, uncaring, uninformed right-wing ideologue. Not true; I’m just overly practical, I think life choices and individual responsibility are important, and I’m an obsessive planner trying to think of every possible contingency and how to deal with it.
Part of why I am like this is recalling how my parents lived, but the big reason is that I spent nearly fifty-years managing retirement plans, conducting retirement planning seminars and helping people deal with the problems they got themselves into. I never forget the calls from new widows I had to tell their late husband failed to provide a survivor annuity on his pension and she would get nothing. Or the retiree who suddenly “discovered” his surviving spouse would have to pay $500 a month for health insurance when he thought it would be free. Some workers failed to participate in the 401k because they didn’t want the company using their money. Others said Social Security would be enough.
Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s sure costly. The liberal left tends to view the great American citizenry as victims; of the system, the one percent, capitalism or whatever. The politically incorrect truth is, with notable exceptions, that most Americans are victims of themselves.
What about those who have not saved at all? They make up around 25% of the U.S. population, and they are not necessarily the youngest among us. These days, the average balance in a typical 50-year-old’s retirement savings account is a measly $43,797 – despite the fact that many baby boomers believe that they need approximately $800,000 in order to retire…
Educating yourself about financial issues is an absolute must for retirement planning, and a major reason many people can’t save is because they simply don’t understand how to manage money. According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the primary reason clients sought their help was not due to a lack of income, but problems managing debt, and maintaining a budget…
Be prepared to cut back in order to save more
A recent Merrill Edge survey found that, although 61% of upscale baby boomers are worried about not having enough money to last through their retirement, very few are willing to sacrifice on expenses like dining out, entertainment or vacations in order to save more.
Even if these affluent Americans won $1 million, only 19% said they would put the funds toward retirement, and a mere 32% said they would opt to save or invest the windfall.
via How to Start Saving for Retirement at Age 50 – DailyFinance.
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