Retirement: A third have less than $1,000 put away

Freerepublic....USAToday links cannot be posted in header ^

[Red in Blue PA]

In this economy, the ones with jobs are the lucky ones.

[USCG SimTech]

I must be in the evil 5% being I am pretty sure I have a bit more than $1000.00 sitting around.

I carry twice that because I have children that all drive. They don't know I'm their safety net if they need a tow or emergency anything, but I'm there and ready for it.

[Red in Blue PA]

Look at what they used as a number to base that on.....probably $5 or $10 Million.

[Mouton]

I'm in the other camp. I have money put aside, not enough to keep up a nice life style, but enough to not starve unless inflation goes ballistic. How did that happen? Well, simply put: I denied myself a lot of things like: new cars, most kept for 10+ years; just replaced our 10yo TV; don't own more than a flip phone; vacation domestically at moderate inns and the like; shop the sales and refuse to succumb to my wife's demand to have a pool built. My answer is usually this: half a mile from here we have a 3000 mile wide pool which doubles as an aquarium.

[albie]

My answer is usually this: half a mile from here we have a 3000 mile wide pool which doubles as an aquarium. “

…I’d love to live so close to the ocean! I could do without a lot of things if I lived that close.

[God luvs America]

yup...

i was 24YO and entering the second year of the job I’ve now been with for 27years...one of the old timers says to me “did you sign up for the 401K plan yet?” I reply “no” thinking, what the hell do i need that for???

he says, “i’m going to get the form- we’ll sign you up now”...so he helps me fill out the form and says “put 10% here in the contribution box”....i think to my self 10%!!! What??? I’ll change it to 3% next week!!

never changed it, in fact i increased it and never stopped contributing...

singularly it was the greatest piece of financial advice anyone ever gave me.

[from occupied ga]

In this economy, the ones with jobs are the lucky ones.

I disagree. It isn't luck. Those with jobs are those who persevere in either keeping a job or looking for one, and by looking for one I mean willing to take what's offered even if it isn't the ideal job.

I've seen this before when the steel industy went overseas due to lower (non-union) labor rates. Big flap about people losing "their jobs." So the government went in to assess "transferable skills" of the unemployed. Problem was that they had no transferable skills. Typical job description "when the wire reached the red mark I pushed the green button."

Now those today who have "no transferable skills" have a bit of a problem. They'll have to start over at a lower rung. Something most are unwilling to do.

[Cold Heat]

Yup......I resemble that opinion which is why I have a safe house away from any metro area. I could rent it, but I don't, I just go piddle with it, building it and making it better in case I have to bug out..

BTW, it's not far from the Georgia border with Alabama..

About 30 miles south and East from Eufalla. In the lake Eufalla area..

[RWB Patriot]

I’ve all but given up on retirement unless I win the lottery. I’m twenty-seven, and by the time I hit sixty-five, I’ll probably need government permission to retire (and will only get it if I flat-out can’t work anymore) and I’ll have to fork over fifty percent or more of my savings as a tax for “no longer contributing to the public good”...among other things.

[from occupied ga]

I’d love to live so close to the ocean! I could do without a lot of things if I lived that close.

Pay really high property insurance for one :-)

[SampleMan]

On LIFETIME WELFARE most likely....why should they save when they know they have FREE MONEY coming in to pay for EVERYTHING!

Exactly! Just what I was going to point out. Why would anyone who lived their entire life on the dole worry about retirement? Its just another 20-30 years of being on the dole for them.

[ilovesarah2012]

I’m counting on my children to support me.

[expat_panama]

Looks like USAToday is rehashing the WSJ article from this thread: 36% of Workers Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings

[skinkinthegrass]

why stop there?..the federal gov't. leeches; takes so much from the honest taxpayers/25±% GDP.
Too few can save in their working years; even changing jobs/professions may not be workable.
The federal leech must be reversed..shutdown all redundant fed. agencies, "sundown them all",
within two years/an automatic limit spending to 10/12% of GDP (Constitutional defense $$$$ only,
no mandates to states, repeal the 16th & 17th Admts.."free the states!"..anything else, is pandering.

[old and tired]

I don’t think things are all that dire. A lot of people with nothing in retirement own homes. They’ll be able to sell their home and downsize significantly. They’ll live with their children. Or they’ll live on their own with assistance from their children. Most of these folks will be just fine.

[Alas Babylon!]

It's an age-old story. Human nature never changes, does it? Consider the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper. Written by Aesop over 2500 years ago.

[old and tired]

Oh, Social Security will be cut. It’ll be means tested within the next five years. It will become just another welfare program.

[SampleMan]

and 80% have less than 3 days of food in their house.

That's a number I have a hard time believing, simply because people are too lazy to go grocery shopping that often. A standard stocked pantry that is half depleted has about 2 weeks worth of food in it.

When I'm in the checkout at the grocery store, people have a lot more than 6 days worth of food in their carts, so they are well above the 3 day average. Personally, I only do a big grocery run every 2-3 weeks, and the pantry is far from empty at that point.

You might not like the meal selection on day 21 at my house, but you wouldn't go hungry.

I think a lot of these surveys that state "the average person" really should read, "the average Manhattan resident".

[listenhillary]

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/11/the-2013-index-of-dependence-on-government

[cripplecreek]

I’ve got my house for as long as I can pay taxes but not much else.