Posted on 11/10/2004 6:17:26 PM PST by LouAvul
Hey boomers, if you're close to retirement run to Wal-Mart now and put in your application. And if you still have time before retirement, be forewarned. Keep that application handy.
Why? Because you have no choice but to work right up to the day the kids put you in long-term care or a mausoleum.
Seriously: Professional financial planners tell us we need a million bucks to retire today, multimillions in the near future. Unfortunately, the average American has a paltry net worth of $15,000 exclusive of home equity.
And things are going from bad to worse. A few years ago I ran across a study by the American Savings Council and the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Was anybody saving for retirement? Not many: Only 35 percent were 'Planners,' folks saving enough to retire comfortably.
The rest? Bad news: 13 percent were 'Deniers,' saving nothing; 15 percent were 'Impulsives,' consumers who save if there's anything left over after they buy that hot new toy; 20 percent were 'Strugglers,' who don't trust the market so they won't save much; and 18 percent were in the 'Cautious' category who know they're grossly unprepared.
Get it? Two out of three Americans had some kind of lame excuse for not planning their retirement: "I'm cautious, I'm struggling, I'm too impulsive, I'm in denial and can't save." Excuses, excuses, excuses. No wonder America's savings rate dropped from eight percent just 20 years ago to one percent today.
.......snip..........
And do not count on, privatization of Social Security to help you. That's another joke. If you're lucky playing the market with your dinky 2.4 percent Social Security account, you might make an extra couple hundred bucks a month. But don't count on it. Market risks may make things worse than the current system of guaranteed payments.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Well, hoot. How many years is that $350k gonna stretch. I expect to retire at 55 (in 5 years). My finance guy sez I need $750k for a life expectancy of just 75.
But my plan is to touch as little of the principle as possible. My FIL, on the other hand, plans to use his retirement funds up and bounce the check to the undertaker.
Paine Webber. Baseline; my case.
Okay, and if your life savings investments were destroyed in a flood caused by the local county commissioners diverting flood control funds to their pet projects (as mine were) you should do what?
Sue?
Yea, did that, got about 8¢ on the dollar of my losses, lawyers took about 40%.
Turning 50 next May, and will be scraping by until I drop.
SS promises me about $500 Mo., in the unlikely event I live long enough to collect!
I knew SS was a Ponzi scheme, that's why I had invested for retirement.
"S" happens, I know, but it appears that you think anyone who has not "made it" is solely responsible for their predicament. Some may be, but not all. The real world is not that simple.
These "millionaires" aren't the "rich" we all keep hearing about, they're just regulaar everyday folks that have saved here and there their whole lives.
1 million sounds like a lot but for a 20 yr old today if thats all they have in the bank 40 years from now they will be far from rich.
Not saying don't save instead saying SAVE MORE !!!
Not forcibly take my money, or anyone else's. How about that?
When I bought my house 12 years ago, my homeowners insurance and property taxes that were rolled into my mortgage payments were just under $78 a month. Now, 12 years later, they're just a few cents short of $209 a month! I should have the house paid off in about another 8 or 9 years, as I've got a 30 year mortgage and pay extra principal every month, but I'm wondering what will happen: Will my property taxes and insurance tripple again in another 12 or 15 years? That will mean that I'll be paying what I'm paying right now (including that extra principal) just to be able to keep my house!
Something to think about...
Mark
Wow... I just has the same thought and posted it a while back... In 12 years, my homeowners insurance and property taxes nearly trippled.
Mark
bump for later reading
Oh yeah, great idea. That way, people will have to be totally dependent upon government for their very survival, which is probably what this pinhead had in mind in the first place.
I hope I'm heading in your direction regarding early retirement. I've always believed in living slightly below ones means and save the remainder. May I ask what your rule of thumb was for retirement savings? Did you set out to save xx% of your earnings? If yes, was it 10%, 15% etc? Did you invest in stocks that were volatile, chancy, stable, etc? Do you think the 90's tech bubble stock market allowed you to retire so early? Have you reduced your spending significantly in order to retire so early? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
You have mail.
Older people who would want to make their money work for them could buy something like this bungalow duplex. Its taxes are $1057 per year and with the other side rented, an elderly couple could live pretty well.
No, these aren't my relatives' houses I'm trying to unload - I went to realtor.com and just picked some of the first cute looking bungalows I could find. In St. Louis, at least, there are *tons* of properties like this out there.
Thanks, I feel so much better now.
I ahve run the numbers. One million is the bottom.
My parents and grandparents started preaching that to me when I was still in the cradle.
You're right. It does work.
Cardinal rule for doing this is to work for yourself. You cannot amass any wealth working for someone else; all you do is make them rich.....
LOL ;)
Rich Dad Poor Dad 101 ... true assets yield cash flow in a more or less continuous manner, or, at very least, continously appreciate to such a degree that they can later be converted to procure true assets. Everything else is a liability.
That seems about right. That's my plan.
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