LAT: Many Forced to Retire Early (nearly half leave sooner than they plan)

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON — American workers, who face growing financial pressure to stay in the workforce, are far more likely to be forced into an early retirement than many expect, according to a study being released today.

Four out of 10 retired workers left their jobs sooner than they had planned, usually because of health problems or the loss of employment, according to the report by McKinsey & Co., which was based on a national survey of 3,086 people.

The survey also found that 45% of people who are currently employed planned to keep working past age 65. But among the retirees polled, only 13% said they had done so.

The findings raise fresh concerns about Americans' ability to afford a comfortable retirement. With more companies abandoning or freezing their pensions, many people say they plan to work longer to build up their nest eggs.

The reality "is quite sobering," said David Hunt, a senior partner at McKinsey. "Our research clearly shows that many people — and more than a few public policymakers — who are betting on simply working longer to compensate for a lack of current savings are setting themselves up for a rude awakening and a significantly poorer standard of living in retirement than they had expected."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-forcedout15may15,0,7334343.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[mcscajun]

1. No news here.

I've been "early retired" for three years now. My work went off to India, and I left a high-paying tech position (so I could keep my medical benefits until I'm 65 when Medicare kicks in) to come home to NJ for good (no more commuting to NYC for me) and work part-time. I've downscaled my life, I've downscaled my expectations for my "retirement", and I'm hoping my money lasts as long as I do. I'm paying my mortgage out of my savings; that'll work for a couple of years more, that's all.

Not what I had planned before the bust of 2000, I can tell you that. I'm not quite 55 today.

So, what am I doing to compensate? In addition to my part-time job in a medical office, I freelance doing the occasional PC support job in people's homes, and I'm going to start short-term trading in my IRA in hopes of building it up some more before I can start drawing on it at 59 1/2. At $12 a hour, I sure as hell can't add to it myself. I'll be working part-time until I can't work anymore.

[brook]

2. "early retired" as well.

Used up everything during the gap time until I hit 65 and qualified for Medicare, etc. Working at the only kind of job one can get at 73.(P/T, low pay/no benefits). No more assets to sell
off. Scary, yes. Too many of us in the same boat though.

[kineneb]

3. WorldCom + renal failure = poverty

Hubby was in one of the first round of lay-offs from WorldCom (May 2002). He never found a tech job after that...went on state disability...sold house, moved to rural area...renal failure approaches, discovery of kidney cancer...surgery, dialysis...full disability (ESRD)...Medicare, Medicaid. No assets left for "retirement", even though he is only 59. Expect that he will be permanently on dialysis, as he is not a good transplant candidate. Now we live in what Dickens called "genteel poverty". Hope nothing breaks.

Off to trustee hearing for Ch. 7 tomorrow. Wish us luck.

[KT2000]

8. Almost there myself

I wish you luck.
You are so right - I hope nothing breaks!
This is going to happen to so many more people.

[InkAddict]

11. 15 days and one paycheck away from total

annihilation - See ya'll at the camp!

[DBoon]

4. so we don't even have the pleasure of working ourselves to death

nt

[Rose Siding]

5. Sure we do! -Just not with any dignity

May I take your order, please?

[Der Blaue Engel]

6. Who are they kidding with this "retire" word?

This is called "being laid off," "being fired," "unemployment," and "agism."

[heidler1]

7. When the day comes that those who successfully squirreled away

enough to retire comfortably get recognized as the brighter of the herd, then and only then will there be any change in the way things are. I hear people bragg about how they enjoyed life with the inference that planning retirement sucks the fun out of living which is face saving bs. Most of the heroes of today actually set very bad examples. One guy that I know even brags about his five trophy wives that were useless except in bed and seems to expect me to react with envy which I don't.

[Boomer]

9. Comeuppance is on order

Trophy wives have a nasty way of disappearing when hubby gets old and sick. For some strange reason, wiping his brow and holding his hand while he's throwing up just doesn't hold their interest.

[pitohui]

14. boy you are not living in the real world

trophy wives do not disappear when hubby gets old and sick, that's just what they are waiting for

that's when the neglectful kids come around too

i take it you have no idea what you're talking abt

nobody is more popular than an old, sick rich dude who is abt to hit the bucket!

a rich man who can afford 5 trophy wives will always have someone by his side to grasp at the insurance policies and the estate

this topic of discussion ain't abt that

[MockSwede]

10. Amen

To the learning curve of sucking it up and saving NOW, if not yesterday. Not the trophy-wife stuff. Ants versus crickets? But then, those who saved will wind up paying (via increased taxes on those savings) for all those spend-thrift crickets, too. That laidoff, fired, downsized, mergered out of work crap that corporations lay on the, otherwise thrifty, worker ants sucks the 'happy' out of retirement. And many times causes the 'barely' to be added to 'making a living'. (Bankrupt)Social Security here we come!

[Le Taz Hot]

12. Um, all it takes is for one of you to

1) have a catastrophic illness,

2) have your income disappear or, at the very least, cut in half or more or,

3) any number of unforseen emergencies

and your life savings can be wiped out in a matter of a few months. Most of the time it has NOTHING to do with being lazy, enjoying living for the moment, trophy wives or any other inanities you two just suggested.

I had several retirement accounts and lots of monies socked away. All ready to retire comfortably. Then, I got hit with a three-year chronic illness and couldn't work. Immediately followed by my husband getting downsized right out of a job. Poof! There goes the retirement accounts. Poof! There goes the savings. We've managed to hang on to the house but that's about it.

[pitohui]

15. you are correct, talk about some clueless

i get the impression that they are speculating abt matters they know nothing abt

[Der Blaue Engel]

16. I have no idea what that has to do with my post or this thread

:shrug:

[pitohui]

13. of course, been telling younger people this for years

i'm always flat-footed when i hear younger people blithely say they will work until they die

they have no idea what happens to the mind and the body, nor do they realize the huge barrier of age discrimination

most early retirees i know have a disability, they did not retire because they made a million dollars in real estate

a few retired early because their company was bought out and they were never able to get an equivalent job again

this idea that people can chose when they retire is so unrealistic, fate makes that decision most of the time

it's preaching to the choir to mention it here, but this is why i always hammer on the topic of we've GOT to protect and defend social security, it is all most of us can realistically expect to have, a lifetime of savings might be only be a few hundred thousand dollars -- which is quickly wiped out during an extended health crisis or unemployment crisis in one's late 50s or 60s, leaving nothing extra for the so-called golden years

we need a cap on what medical providers are allowed to charge people or socialized medicine or else we need to stop crapping on people for being unable to save the huge sums needed to cover a medical emergency during the gap years, christ, i found it almost impossible to buy private health insurance in my mid 40s in my state, and i am at the right weight, don't smoke, all that good happy crap, most people in my state if they lose their good job they lose their insurance and once they're older but not old enough for medicare -- that's all she wrote, no one wants them any more

people from abt 55 to 64, they're just plain screwed if everything doesn't work out perfectly for them, your $300 thousand dollars in savings won't carry you for 9 years if you or your spouse has a serious health issue