The new ‘retirement’ plan: Just keep working

[groovedaddy]

With nest eggs crushed, retirees rely on a paycheck — if they can find one

When Kathy Corrigan, 64, was let go last September from her job with a trade association, she already had begun to think about retiring after a 25-year career as a meeting planner.

But when she sat down and looked over her savings, she realized the 30 percent hit she took from the market meltdown meant her shrunken nest egg wouldn’t go far enough.

“The numbers just were not crunching right,” she said. “I don’t think I ever intended to fully retire. But it’s definitely not an option now — at least not for the immediate future. I’m still hoping that it will be no more than 5 years, but you have to continually reassess.”

Even before the collapse of the housing and financial markets last year, Americans were woefully unprepared to pay retirement in the traditional sense of a post-career period of leisure and personal pursuits supported by a pension, well-managed nest egg and Social Security.

Now, trillions of dollars of housing equity have been destroyed, retirement savings have vaporized and pension funds are being squeezed. The old-fashioned notion that when you hit age 65 your lifelong employer will give you a warm sendoff, a gold watch and a pension that guarantees your financial security for life is very much in the past.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32086450/ns/business-personal_finance

[Wapsie B]

1. And repugs are wetting themselves with glee.

Can't have a viable middle class in this country. Gotta shift that money upwards to reward those at the top. So what if granny has to work at McDonald's and gramps has to take up a paper route?

[tinkerbell41]

2. Article about this in Newsweek??

Or Time about a month or so ago. Called it the new retirement. Basically preparing the sheep for accepting that they will never retire. You know making it a normal thing, a fact of life. I was pissed because even though the idea of being fed bullshit, brainwashing, whatever was always at the back of my mind, that article sealed the deal. It was on the cover.

[vincna]

3. The roots of this problem go much further back

Financial advisers have been saying for many, many years that the savings rate in this country was deplorably low and that many retirees would find themselves in this position. It sounds heartless, but if you lived your adult life without saving enough and planning for retirement, why would you be surprised if you can't afford to retire? Whose responsibility is it to plan your retirement?

[groovedaddy]

4. True to an extent, but many people did save but saw their savings/ pension plans assaulted

by the down turn in the economy. Many people whom I know to have pension plans have had to put off retiring because of this.
For many working people, saving anything is a difficult proposition. Then there's the healthcare emergency that can wipe out your savings in the blink of an eye.

[vincna]

5. I agree with that, particularly the health care part.

What gets me is people I have known that had the opportunity to invest in a 401k (with company match) and didn't avail themselves of it. Even if you make only a little, that is foolish - pay yourself first.

I like the Australian approach. They don't have government run social security, but you are required to put about 9% of your wages in a qualified investment vehicle (like a mutual fund) which you control. It wouldn't completely insulate you from a downturn like we've seen, but investing 9% of wages your entire working life should leave you in pretty good financial shape, even in a bad economy. I've done well in the saving department, but I didn't start until my mid to late thirties. Looking back, I wish I'd began in my early twenties.