Age fifty+: How well are you set for retirement?

[tinfoilinfor2005]

I could have asked this at the baby boomer forum, but they don't get a lot of traffic, and I am curious as to how well we as older DUers are prepared for the coming years.

[sce56]

1. That is If we still have SS after the Chimp bust's SS beyond repair.

Got Fascism Yet?

[razors edge]

2. beat me to it. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Chimpy is looking to give our SS monies to his Wall Street bidness buds!

And he will do it! Trust him on that!

[justgamma]

3. Union pension, SS

and a tiny bit of savings (had a lot more, but used it for SIL medical bills and to save their house)
Should do pretty well. (I hope)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

6. Oops...forgot pensions.

Guess I thought the pubs had made them a thing of the past!

[sam sarrha]

7. wife notified she cant qualify for full SS till she is 70.. but they cut

1/2 the budget deficet..lying bastards.. cut SS, medicare and the taxes for the rich

[AnneD]

10. We are in the same boat

Had to dip in at one point and the dot com crash took a toll but thank God for my tax based pension. Between that and SS and the extra I am saving, I should do ok. Feel sorry for others. It will get pretty ugly I fear.

[sam sarrha]

4. spent all our retirement having 4 good jobs sent to China an medical bills

we have chased jobs to 4 time zones..

[tinfoilinfor2005]

13. Fifteen years ago we were in a huge hole with no end in sight

and I just started praying for a way out. Within a year we both had great jobs and a decent financial future. I know that prayer isn't always fashionable these days and I abhor the kooks who use faith as a tool, but I highly recommend a good old fashioned prayer.

[mike_c]

5. I fully expect to be homeless when I retire....

eom

[sam sarrha]

9. if you are a Democrat, youll be in a camp waiting for your turn in an Oven

[tinfoilinfor2005]

11. The reason I asked this question was because I had a discussion

with an old friend yesterday who is going into retirement with nothing but the minimal amount from SS. He was in the military for eighteen years, several years in Nam, and now looks forward to living in his car. What the hell is wrong with this country lately?????

[question everything]

17. Doesn't he qualify for some kind of a military pension? (nt)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

23. No. He didn't serve twenty years because basically his nerves

were shot from his years in combat in Viet Nam.

Get this...My dad was conscripted into the German army in WWII because he was a citizen of one of the Baltic countries. Now in his eighties, even though he is an american citizen, he receives a monthly pension from Germany for his service. And he only served for less than a year before the war ended.

How screwed up is our system???????

[question everything]

37. It is hard to believe that a veteran cannot get any help

I wonder whether you can start a new thread on the Veterans forum and ask whether anything is available from the VA..

[tinfoilinfor2005]

43. Funny you should say that.

I did exactly that two nights ago. I got some good advice that I will give to my friend.

[Monk06]

22. The situation you descibe will change in ten years when............

when a tent city of 100,000 destitute seniors
camp out on the Whitehouse lawn.

The situation in 'socialist'Canada is even worse
as it stands now my CCP pension is worth $CDN 280
per month. If I can save up for three months I can
afford to buy a gun to shoot myself or OD on heroin
with my first check which would probably be less painful.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

27. Whoa. Didn't have any idea how bleak pensions were in

neighboring Canada. Is this because socialized programs such as medical suck up so much of the profits? I am ignorant on this subject, but I think it is an important issue since america is looking at providing health care to it's citizens somewhere down the road.

[Monk06]

32. No it's due to unenforced labor and tax laws.....

Legitimate companies have to file paperwork to
withhold GST, Income Tax, CCP payments and
Unemployment Insurance. To avoid having to do
that and obey fair employment practices they
hire employees as 'independent' contractors,

I've worked on jobs through the 1990's as
an 'independent' contractor at $CDN 7.00 per
hour which at the time was $US 4.00 per hour.

Since I couldn't afford to contribute to the
national pensions fund I didn't. Even if I could
it wouldn't have made any difference in terms
of a livable pension.

Canada is not a socialist paradise. That's just
one of our fondest national mythologies on both
the left and right.

The most progressive left province in Canada is
Quebec. It has the lowest welfare rates in the
country. British Columbia has one of the highest
which is why poor Quebecers come here to live.
That and the prospect of earning $20 an hour
harvesting pot.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

34. Acapulco Gold harvested in Canada?

Must be a global warming thing. :)

Thanks for the interesting information (other than the pot):).

[Monk06]

35. Acapulco Gold, that shit is shake up here. You can't give it away...

Our shake is better than AG and even the pickers
can't be bothered taking it home for free.

BC bud is Chemo. A serious BC smoker will use Mexican
pot for brownies and chase it with Chivas hoping to
get a mild buzz.

Hate to brag (and I haven't smoked for ten years) but
BC pot will send you under the covers mumbling to your
mummy to make it stop.

[demosincebirth]

12. I have a great union pension. and live very comfortably

[Daphne08]

14. How well am I set for retirement?

:rofl:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

15. So that would be a maybe?

Not looking so swell for the good guys here, statistically speaking...

[femmocrat]

16. Another union member here with a great retirement plan.

This is what America used to look like, before Reagan.

[Mz Pip]

18. Probably will be okay

I took an early retirement so don't get a lot of monthly income but I do get my health insurance, which is a good thing. If that ever falls apart I am toast since I can get very sick very fast. If I had to get health care on my own I'd probably be denied for pre existing conditions.

Hubby still works and he does okay. That said, I consider myself really really lucky. BushCo has not been kind to the middle class and for me I am sort of waiting for that shoe to drop on us somehow someway. It wouldn't take much for a couple of things to go very wrong and we would be up Shit Creek.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[spacelady]

19. I voted other because until 6 years ago, we were on track for a

comfortable retirement, connect the dots, now we are 6 years of stagnation. With compound interest.

[roguevalley]

20. my pension and accounts are good to go. Please, young ones,

start now. put twenty-five away each month if you can. get a tax deferred annuity that allows you to put in up to 7500 a year. then you get to pay taxes on what is left each payday. when you begin to withdraw, you pay at a lower tax rate. you will be glad if you start young.

[earth mom]

21. No one is secure any more...

Between union busting and the coming attack on social security and all the other tricks up big businesses sleeves...I worry about what the future holds for the majority of the people in this country. :scared:

[blues90]

24. we will be lucky to make it through this year

I had a good job until just beofre the 2004 elections . I can't make it on SS and have 5 years to go before that kicks in since they raised the ago a year . I doubt by then there will be any SS funds left . It's all been used and is worth nothing .

Now we have nothing and a real low pay job and my wife can't work so we are pretty much screwed . We are at the point of hoping to buy a small travel trailer and hope we can park it and still be able to buy food until we both drop of old age or depair , which ever cmoes first .

This is what I get for believing in falling back on a trade , there are no jobs in the trades anymore and certainly not for someone my age . If you think age has nothing to do with finding a good job , think again .

[tinfoilinfor2005]

29. Thanks for posting.

And I wish you the very best. I think we beat bu$h back on the SS (although it is yet an unknown as to how much he may have robbed without our knowledge). If we win this election, we'll at least have more oversight and he won't have his "mandate" to go after it again.

You "fell back on a trade" because it was an honest and honorable way to make a living. Don't fault yourself for that. You deserve a decent hard earned retirement and I sincerely hope you get it.

[blues90]

49. It is pretty scary stuff

I never saw this coming , I don;t think there was a way to see it coming and so fast .

We thought of moving but this is not an option , I would'nt know where to move to and this costs money we don;t have without it being a gamble on making things worse than they already are .

When you find yourself out of work and people talk about new jobs , well there are none .

[annabanana]

25. "hopefully, I have planned and saved enough to"...

maintain, only giving up a few current extravagences.... If we cut back a scoetch (I have NO idea how to spell it) we'll be ok.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

33. I guess my situation sounds the most like your scenario.

I worry the most about inflation, though, as SS and interest rates on my nest egg probably won't keep up. It is just all of those big UNKNOWNS that worry me. But yes, I can easily live without going out on the town every night, since we haven't had either the energy nor the desire to do that for thirty years!

[oblivious]

26. My father's 82 and the top salesman in North America for his company.

Like him, I can't imagine retiring.

[flyingfysh]

28. a large inheritance helps

That's what happened to my wife and me. Except for that, paying for college would have been a real problem.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

30. No large inheritance here, but certainly a goodly amount of help

from family on both sides. It came in very handy at difficult times, and we have been helpful to our kids as well. I think psychologically, family support is hugely important, even if it just means room and board until you are on your feet.

[Buck Laser]

31. I've been retired for 6+ years--so far, so good.

I am very fortunate to have health insurance and prescription insurance that is way better than what's available commercially as a retirement benefit from my last employer. If I hadn't had it, I'd be bankrupt and probably homeless right now. My retirement income is sufficient for a comfortable, if not lavish life. For the first time in my life, all I have to worry about is not becoming a spendthrift.

[SheilaT]

36. We're among the lucky ones.

An inheritance is the foundation of what we have. Plus various retirement stuff: I have a small pension coming to me from my USAir job, we have decent 401k's and Roth IRA savings, which we will continue to contribute to. And even though I almost never bother to think about Social Security, that will actually be a nice bonus. Also, we're giving serious thought to eventually retiring to another country, possibly Costa Rica, although nothing has been decided.

[yurbud]

38. master's degree, teach college, pension is near zero

My retirement plan is to have kids and be a burden on them.

[Raine]

39. I'm good, I inherited

from my aunt...property, stocks bonds and CD's plus having my parents home. If I hadn't had an inheritance though I'd be in a mess cause I worked as a domestic and had no SS or health insurance.

[Hekate]

40. We live below our means but feel a lot of anxiety about health care

Our biggest nest egg is our home -- we had the good luck to buy on the coast, so our little tract house is Plan B, meaning if things get tough enough after we retire we can sell it and move someplace much less attractive but a lot cheaper. Since I love my community, I am hoping we don't have to do that.

I realize how fortunate we are compared to many folks, but both my husband and I have chronic health problems and take a bunch of prescription meds. It's expensive.

I watch what's happened to my Mom, who's over 80 and just entered an assisted living facility near my brother. She's trying to figure out how to kill herself.

Hekate

[tinfoilinfor2005]

44. My dad got remarried at 80, a year after mom passed,

and took up surfing at 84. Good health makes ALL the difference. Maybe it's more important to tell our kids to guard their health than to save their money. :)

[B Calm]

41. I always dreamed I would retire at age 55. I'm now almost 57 &

still working. I was debt free at age 42 and saved money ever since. I promised my son that I wouldn't give him a shiny new car or a lot of material things like all his friends have, but I would give him a quality education. His college education cost me around 125 thousand dollars, but it was worth it and I'm proud that I did it. My son is the first in our family to graduate from college. For hourly workers my wife and I have several 100 thousand in savings, but I don't think even with our savings that we can retire. In 2001 my employer after 27 years employment filed bankruptcy and stole my pension. We need health insurance and Social Security retirement age has risen for baby boomers born after 1950.

[BeachBuckeye]

42. What Retirement?

It ain't gonna happen unless I'm willing to have my wife and I live under a bridge

[Rosemary2205]

45. I am 46 and about to declare bankruptcy.

My husband and I were hit by a drunk 6 years ago and racked up $148,000 in medical debts (and we had "good" insurance). We owed $4000 more on the car than it was worth (it was 3 weeks old), and ended up behind on all our bills to the tune of $40,000. And needless to say wiped out our savings.

Now we are both working for less money but we will never be able to climb out of the hole. Bankrupcy and starting over penniless is our only option to survive.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

48. And yet you have a smiley sunshine face lighting up your post.

Speaks volumes about you as a person, and I bet I'd love to know you.

[Rosemary2205]

50. What's not to be happy about?

I lived. My husband lived. Neither of us is a veggie. We can still slobber up the foster kids with love on our farm. They told me I'd never work again. Well I am. They told me I might never be able to talk again, well my "S's" are slurry but even strangers understand me just fine. They said my husband's arms would never work good enough to hug me again. Well guess what - they were WRONG. So what if I need wheels to get around? What's to complain about? -- I mean I COULD be a female in some abusive or wartorn country......... I get the sunshine on my face, and the cold snow on my tongue, and my dear lover's twinkley eyed smiles every day. IMHO we have no right to expect more (AS IF anything on this planet mattered more)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

52. Sorry about the snow. That part I couldn't deal with.

:)

Much love and luck and Florida Keys sunshine to you and your lucky hubby.

[smirkymonkey]

46. At a certain age, since I won't have enough to last for a decent

retirement, I am going to take whatever I have saved, go on the trip of my dreams and then come back and drink and drug myself to death within a month or two. That's my retirement plan.

[Stardust]

51. Seriously, sounds like a plan to me.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

47. Retired from Gov't jobs 7 years ago. Quite comfortable.

I worked for the Feds, my wife for the state. Pretty good pensions and we planned early with IRA's and work sponsored savings plans and avoided debt. Also, we have relatively good, relatively cheap, health insurance that I carried with me from my job. Without that, we'd be in deep trouble.

But, we're homebodies, book lovers, non-materialistic, and chose not to have kids. We live in a very nice house in a semi-rural area of forest. My truck is 13 years old and my wife's car is 15. God Bless Toyota. When we buy anything, we pay cash. If we don't have the cash we forget about it or save for it.

I have no idea how ordinary people with kids to raise ever manage to retire at all.