Retirement savings ....Yikes !

[PsRumors]

There are too many people who don't realize that SS was never meant to be "your retirement", but only a supplement to it, and you have to save towards your retirement yourself (or win the lotto/find a rich aunt/uncle )

You are correct, SS was never designed to be one's main source of income during retirement but it was also never designed to take 12+ % of your income either, nor fund people that never paid in, etc, etc, etc.

 

[J F]

You are correct.

 

[newbury]

I fear for the future. I'm not sure how the younger generation will be able to save. A new car today costs 10x what they did when I first got my license yet wages in that time may have gone up 2x. Housing, utilities, food, etc. Saving for the future is always the fist to get cut as it's impact is always years (or decades) away. As you age you realize just how much that decision cost you.

If your talking about the "younger generation" as those not in the workforce yet then don't waste your time worrying about them. As an overall generation they are probably SUNK. Entry level jobs are getting difficult to get and may become impossible.

When I started in the workforce the general pattern for us moderate and low income people was to start during high school or earlier as a clerk, a stockboy, a burger flipper or some other task where the employer could find out if you had a work ethic. Then you went on to college, usually working part time to pay your way thru.

By the time I'd been out of 4 yrs of college (about 21 yrs old) and worked a year I was qualified for Social Security (40 quarters/10 years).

That option is starting to go away. The robots are coming. Just "google" robot workforce. If a company like IBM can hire a robot to do an entry level job such as stock clerk why hire a person?

New robots in the workplace: Job creators or job terminators? - Washington Post

I'm positive that at least half of my 10 qualifying years of employment could easily have been done by a robot. Stock clerk, chip manufacturing, even janitor, all can be done cheaper by a robot.

Management makes the same profit without having to worry about a "workforce".

 

[Ken]

Having been retired now 19 years. every one has ideas as to what will work. For myself as a child remember my grand father and my father talking about the depression and how the banks and lawyers with government leaders used this to gain others wealth. My father borrowed against his farm to help his father from losing his farm for taxes. And amount of about $1000 and both lost there farms to the bank. All they could take was what was loaded in there car.
So when ever subject of money came up there was a caution never put a dollar where the bank or lawyer could get it. Cash payment and if had no cash you didn't need it.
So first when received a check 10% to church as tithe. Then 10% to credit union (owned by investors )to not be used. pay the bills and buy groceries . what left over use as needed.
Was able to retire at age 59 and retirement check goes into credit union. ss. check goes into account to pay utilities and medical needs.
side line work kept the available money for daily use.
Wife never had to work and we seldom went short of money. new car around each 6 years. Now having to send checks to state and Fed. on Est. taxes.
If you are willing to work there is jobs available. but my have to take the neck tie off and get rid of the nose and ear rings.
The youth growing up now have no ability to do repair work. cannot stand to get hands dirty. and have to hold a cell phone and look at it every 10 seconds.
Was talking to a garage shop owner he cannot get a employee to help with his business.
ken

 

[Redneck in training]

Having been retired now 19 years. every one has ideas as to what will work. For myself as a child remember my grand father and my father talking about the depression and how the banks and lawyers with government leaders used this to gain others wealth. My father borrowed against his farm to help his father from losing his farm for taxes. And amount of about $1000 and both lost there farms to the bank. All they could take was what was loaded in there car.
So when ever subject of money came up there was a caution never put a dollar where the bank or lawyer could get it. Cash payment and if had no cash you didn't need it.
So first when received a check 10% to church as tithe. Then 10% to credit union (owned by investors )to not be used. pay the bills and buy groceries . what left over use as needed.
Was able to retire at age 59 and retirement check goes into credit union. ss. check goes into account to pay utilities and medical needs.
side line work kept the available money for daily use.
Wife never had to work and we seldom went short of money. new car around each 6 years. Now having to send checks to state and Fed. on Est. taxes.
If you are willing to work there is jobs available. but my have to take the neck tie off and get rid of the nose and ear rings.
The youth growing up now have no ability to do repair work. cannot stand to get hands dirty. and have to hold a cell phone and look at it every 10 seconds.
Was talking to a garage shop owner he cannot get a employee to help with his business.
ken

That is my plan too. Keep working at some job as long as I can. Fortunately earning money is not my primary motivation. I think working a job makes you healthier and more motivated for life. I has several coworkers that were counting years, then months, days and hours till retirement. They were telling us what they will do and how enjoyable it will be. We heard stories about playing tennis, golf, gardening, fishing traveling etc. Those who actually did that lived way past retirement and those who didn't were dead few years later.
I plan on retiring from my current job that requires many days (about 200) of work out of home sometime next year. Have been doing it (with two short interruptions) 37 years. I will be 66 next year so I decided to quit and find another job that doesn't require overnight travel. We bought piece of land few years back and built a house there in preparation for retirement. In the worst case we could live from the land like our grandparents did.

 

[crazyal]

If your talking about the "younger generation" as those not in the workforce yet then don't waste your time worrying about them. As an overall generation they are probably SUNK. Entry level jobs are getting difficult to get and may become impossible.

When I started in the workforce the general pattern for us moderate and low income people was to start during high school or earlier as a clerk, a stockboy, a burger flipper or some other task where the employer could find out if you had a work ethic. Then you went on to college, usually working part time to pay your way thru.

By the time I'd been out of 4 yrs of college (about 21 yrs old) and worked a year I was qualified for Social Security (40 quarters/10 years).

That option is starting to go away. The robots are coming. Just "google" robot workforce. If a company like IBM can hire a robot to do an entry level job such as stock clerk why hire a person?

New robots in the workplace: Job creators or job terminators? - Washington Post

I'm positive that at least half of my 10 qualifying years of employment could easily have been done by a robot. Stock clerk, chip manufacturing, even janitor, all can be done cheaper by a robot.

Management makes the same profit without having to worry about a "workforce".

Funny you mention Chip manufacturing. The older fabs still have operators load the wafers onto each tool during production. The new fabs are all automated. The wafers go from tool to tool on a track and move from the tract and onto each tool automatically. There is a move just starting that will measure each wafer on the fly and make adjustments before the next wafer starts to be processed. The only labor needed is people to watch the charts of wafer measurements and repair people to fix them when needed. I'm not sure if you would call it good but robots don't care who's job they replace so China with a higher population will suffer more than the US.

 

[crazyal]

Having been retired now 19 years. every one has ideas as to what will work. For myself as a child remember my grand father and my father talking about the depression and how the banks and lawyers with government leaders used this to gain others wealth. My father borrowed against his farm to help his father from losing his farm for taxes. And amount of about $1000 and both lost there farms to the bank. All they could take was what was loaded in there car.
So when ever subject of money came up there was a caution never put a dollar where the bank or lawyer could get it. Cash payment and if had no cash you didn't need it.
So first when received a check 10% to church as tithe. Then 10% to credit union (owned by investors )to not be used. pay the bills and buy groceries . what left over use as needed.
Was able to retire at age 59 and retirement check goes into credit union. ss. check goes into account to pay utilities and medical needs.
side line work kept the available money for daily use.
Wife never had to work and we seldom went short of money. new car around each 6 years. Now having to send checks to state and Fed. on Est. taxes.
If you are willing to work there is jobs available. but my have to take the neck tie off and get rid of the nose and ear rings.
The youth growing up now have no ability to do repair work. cannot stand to get hands dirty. and have to hold a cell phone and look at it every 10 seconds.
Was talking to a garage shop owner he cannot get a employee to help with his business.
ken

So many of our leaders made money by sucking up real estate for cheap. FDR's money, for example, came from buying up anything they could on long island. In lots of cases for pennies on the dollar. It's rumored that they had connections with the banks so they knew who was in trouble and how much in trouble so they knew what to offer.

 

[keegs]

So many of our leaders made money by sucking up real estate for cheap. FDR's money, for example, came from buying up anything they could on long island. In lots of cases for pennies on the dollar. It's rumored that they had connections with the banks so they knew who was in trouble and how much in trouble so they knew what to offer.

Didn't know this... I guess it suggests like WB, FDR was a good capitalist.

I know cash was king when the DOW was at 6000 a few short years ago....too bad I didn't have more to invest with back then.

Market timing can be a tricky game though..

 

[Furu]

Maybe less fancy $5+ coffee and HBO premium and things that suck you dry would let these folks save a little. Calculate the frivolous waste and add it up over 30 years and see what you have even if you forget compounding interest.

 

[JDgreen227]

Maybe less fancy $5+ coffee and HBO premium and things that suck you dry would let these folks save a little. Calculate the frivolous waste and add it up over 30 years and see what you have even if you forget compounding interest.

I agree with you that many people blow money on overpriced c**p they don't need...grab a fancy coffee and bagel at a store and it costs you $7...as for me I don't mind fixing myself a cup of instant and making toast instead. Costs me maybe fifty cents at most. There have been three Tim Hortons constructed within 6 miles of my house during the past few years...I have never been to one and probably never will. Amazes me how many people are willing to p*** away money because they are too lazy to devote a few minutes at home to preparing a meal. About three weeks ago I met someone at a local restaurant for lunch, cost me SEVENTEEN BUCKS for a wet burrito and soft drink with tax and tip. BLEEP !!!! I can prepare dinner for a WEEK for seventeen bucks. About two months ago my brother was telling me he and his wife were trying to begin keeping a budget on paper, he said they totaled up the first month and realized they had spent something like $700 on fast food and dining out for that period. And that was just for the two of them.