Given the figures in the recent Federal Reserve report on how Americans provide for their own savings and retirement (or, more accurately, DO NOT), I'd say SocSec is the only hope way too many of them have. If they had that 6% a lot of them would just get a big ol' plasma TV or some other immediate gratification.
LOL... do you know my brother-in-law?
He's got a summer lake house, a time share in Myrtle Beach, 3 cars, a motorcycle, a snowmobile, an ATV, a boat, a large firearms collection, and a pair of jet skis.
And now they're struggling because their first kid just went off to college and they didn't plan for it...
Meanwhile, I've paid off about $35,000 in credit card debt in the past 6 months and will retire debt free in 2 years.
And from Mineral Man: Silly boy (or girl)! Like many childless folks, I have already arranged to have plenty of funds and insurance to take care of those needs. Indeed, my wife and I are less likely to be sucking off the public nipple in our old age than most folks with kids.
Yep, same here. I've been laboring under the impression that SS just wouldn't be there when I retired, and without kids, I knew I'd have to provide for myself and my wife.
She retired at 58 two years ago, and I'll retire in 2 years, and I've been working with a good financial advisor since my wife retired to make sure I am on track. And when I do, we will officially be "rich".
We're the lucky ones, I guess. Sounds like there will be lots of our peers that will be super-sizing our Happy Meals until the day they die... and lots of whiney, ungrateful Gen-X neo-libertarians hoping all those inconvenient old people will die early to save them money...