How many here nere or past 60 are wonding if they will be

[blues90]

Able to hang on? At least those who still have an internet connection and not those who have a good job and doing fairly well.

I ask out of curiousity because as far as I can see things are not going to improve for some time and it's not like there are jobs let alone jobs for those at this age.

[Rick Myers]

1. I'm gonna be 52 soon and I'm just about at the end of my rope

There is NO chance I will get to retire. Impossible.

Just lost the freelance TV production job I'd been living on... If it wasn't for the VA I'd have no health care.

It's looking VERY bleak.

[roguevalley]

40. I am retired but due to deaths in the family I went from three good incomes to

one in ten months. Its tough. I love everyone on this thread who is struggling. Know you are loved.

[slackmaster]

2. 51 and just hoping to keep my job until the heat blows over

I plan to have my house paid off in nine years. I figure my investments that crashed have a good chance of recovering in that amount of time.

[Donnachaidh]

3. we were seeing 70 and 80 year old guys bagging groceries last year

And NOW we're seeing people 20 years younger than that actively looking for work that is NOT there. The MSM is NOT reporting just how BAD it is - and especially bad for those older Americans who've paid taxes all their lives and now face homelessness, foreclosure and hunger at a very REAL level.

[Cant trust em]

4. It feels like the idea of retiring at 62 is becoming less and less of a reality

[knowbody0]

5. I'm one year past

and have elected to become invisible. In preparation, I am maxing out my credit cards, stocking my pantry, planting a huge garden, raising chickens and trying new recipies for slugs.

[Lebam in LA]

6. I'm 59 and I have the prefect retirement plan

death

[rug]

27. I'm on the RJReynolds plan.

[Lebam in LA]

34. That part of my plan too

Heck I may be able to leave the kids a buck ot two

[midnight]

7. Those who are past 60 probably have the best feedback on

dealing with this economic disaster. They lived through Ronald Reagan's trickle down nonsense.

[blues90]

11. I just squeaked by Reagans assult

We were barely making it then but I was lucky enough to have a job then. Now it's so much worse then the 80's. There were jobs back then, at least you could walk into a place and fill out an ap and not be in line floating out in the internet with an ether sent resume or a faxed hope someone looks at it. Now it's 1,000 people or more for one job and age really plays a role in your chances.

I see very few jobs listed now compared to 2006 and the key word search doesn't even seem to apply now.

[SoCalDem]

30. That's the BAD part.. we got it as we entered adulthood..spend a lifetime recovering

and got it AGAIN.. It's the BOHICA Retirement Plan

[Mari333]

8. Im almost 58 and Im spending nothing nothing nothing

just the basics..what little retirement savings I have has depleted in a Vanguard account, no doubt, I wont even look at the statement for the next 10 yrs.at 60 I receive widows benefits, and I am going to live off of those. only 2 more years and living like a pauper now. just glad I own my home clear and free and can afford beans. lots and lots and lots of beans.

[yy4me]

9. I'm scared to death of the future, Well over 60, husband recently

died, laid off from my job twice. First for only 5 weeks. Called back for few weeks then laid off again, along with others.

Our retirement funds were in stock. It was not that much but is now worth 50% less.
Went from 2 Social security checks any my pay down to 1 SS check. This whole year has been the worst of my life and I'm afraid what the next few years will bring me, my children and grandchildren.

I know Obama is trying but I don't think I'll see the day when things are as they should be. It is just too out of control.

I check on line daily at the job listings and it is pretty bleak and at my age I'm not going back to school.

I think I could handle things better if my husband was still alive. That unexpected death has knocked the enthusiasm for my life right out the window.

[blues90]

15. I'm so sorry , that's horrifying

I know what you mean about going back to school or re-train , I have no idea what I would even think about re-training for , all you see are ad's for security and scam work from home ad's.

All I've got is my wife and my disability and that just covers basics , if we need clothes or something breaks we will have to do without. I guess the next thing is to get rid of the cell phone we already got rid of everything other than that and the $20 month internet connection. And of course the 4 cats cost more than we do as far as food goes.

[Thickasabrick]

22. Bless your heart! I wish I could give you a big hug and say something

to ease your worrying but I'm like everyone else, just trying to get by until things turn around. I know things will turn around for the better. I am so sorry for your loss but see that are blessed with children and grandchildren. My one son moved to Canada and I haven't heard from him in months (little jerk), and he hates children so I will never have grandchildren. I am very envious of you!

Take care of yourself and consider yourself hugged.

:hug:

[Geek_Girl]

10. My mom lives with me

I don't know that my mother would be able to survive on her own she's 65 with MS. She had no health care after he husband passed a few years ago and was not able to sustain a job with her condition. She took care of my grandmother and lived with her till about 2 years ago when my grandmother passed. My grandmother left her a house but she was not able to afford taxes and upkeep living on SS, so she asked to come and live with me.

I hope other family members out there will help there parents stay off skid row. I'm really concerned for Seniors.

[appleannie1]

14. 65 here and hub 72. We can barely afford the regulars. His whole pension

goes to health care insurances. Both have the joke known as Medicare D. He has diabetes and reaches the doughnut hole well before the end of the year. One of our kids had to buy our furnace for us when ours died because we did not have the money to replace it. I worked a part time job until last Oct. when I had to quit because I needed surgery. Now we barely hang on.

[Thickasabrick]

23. I hope that "doughnut" hole is one of the first things that gets fixed!!

[JDPriestly]

41. 65 and 69 and we have cut back on everything.

We are very, very careful. We each get a little part-time work. We are probably luckier than most because we watch economic data as a kind of hobby so we saw this coming long before it was really obvious.

[illuminaughty]

42. Are you my long lost daughter? I'm kidding but Wow!

I'm 53 with MS taking care of my Mom who is 86. And when she is gone I have no idea what will happen. Our house is also my dance studio that Dad built years ago. So far, I've managed to keep it going. I have lovely students who have been here for the entire 27 years of the studio. Without them, it wouldn't be possible.

I've been in remission about 4 years and fortunately, I have trouble remembering how bad I was at one time. Bless you for taking good care of your Mom. I know it has to be difficult. I wish both of you the best. These are truly scary times.:hug:

[Warpy]

12. It's funny, because those of us at this age

got through school before it was dumbed down completely and have built solid work history records. We're educated and dependable.

Business is allergic to us because they're terrified we're going to make their insurance costs go up. In addition, those brash young human resources people get a little squicked out when it comes to hiring Gramma and Grandpa.

I think a lot of us are going to be opting for early and inadequate social security and relying on a bunch of dead end, low level, low paid jobs to make up the difference.

[blues90]

16. I know

I went into a few temp agencies and they looked at me like I was nuts and I was the first one out after taking their tests but that didn't matter . Every interview I did manage to land rendered an interviewer that was younger than my last shave. And they do look at you as some old guy and you can feel it in the air. " can I help you sir?" Right there is the clue and then you say you are there for the interview.

[JDPriestly]

44. When I worked, I virtually never, never missed a day.

I was probably the most dependable person in my office -- and I worked long hours willingly. But my boss did not like the fact that I was old. Talk about age discrimination. There was nothing subtle about it. Foolish on the part of my boss.

I'm convinced that age discrimination is the most common form of discrimination today. Unfortunately, it is probably also the most difficult to prove. Employers make up all kinds of excuses -- like that they are just firing their most expensive employees -- or that they don't want to train an older person -- or they are reorganizing the department in which the older person is working. Lots of creativity when it comes to explaining why older people need to take "early retirement."

A lot of older people are too proud to file a complaint about the discrimination. It's so common to assume that older people are somehow not as capable or smart as younger people that older employees doubt their own worth. Let's face it, we just kind of slink away in shame when our employers don't want us any more.

If you are older and get "laid off," talk to some lawyers (not just one) and see whether you should file claims in your state and federal equal employment offices.

Don't delay. You only have a certain amount of time to file a claim for discrimination. And be sure to file any internal claims within the time set forth in your employee manual. Also, be careful about what you say about the reason you were laid off when you file for unemployment. If you think you might be a victim of discrimination, talk to lawyers (probably more than one) before you even file for unemployment. I'm only giving you a few suggestions.

It's complicated to bring a discrimination claim. Remember, you are not just making your claim for yourself. You are helping other older people. If more older people file discrimination when they are laid off unfairly, employers will begin to think twice about picking on older people.

[lamp_shade]

13. 62 and nest egg is half what it was 8 months ago. I won't be retiring at 66

as I'd planned.

[emilyg]

20. So is my nest egg. I'm 70.

[MGB67]

17. Will be 65 in November,

living (?) on VA disability. Planning a garden and have given up on most meat. we get eggs from the neighbor, pecans fall from the tree on the other side and there are persimmons and oranges very near. i miss going to the pub for a pint but the local market has decent wine for three bucks. PG&E rapes us every month but solar panels might solve that if ever there might be any equity to refinance for. our car is eighteen years old but I have tools and determination and I plan to drive it until the wheels turn square.

One thing we DO have, my wife and I, is Hope, Faith and, at long last, a President who gives a damn about us.

Come to think of it, those are the same things that my father and mother (both born in 1902) had through the 1930s.

They made it.... so will we.

[geckosfeet]

18. Yeah. And baby boomers are being demonized for putting a burden on SSI.

The country, civilization is going to have some hard choices to make.

Keep funding a ridiculous military budget - or help your people? Young and old. The republics were outraged that the dems shoved SCHIP up their backsides. After all - kids don't pay taxes, and parents of po' kids don't pay taxes. Why should they get any help?

[Donnachaidh]

19. THAT is the ultimate kick in the teeth for boomers who played by the rules, isn't it?

The working class boomers have become the ultimate punching bag, both for the wealthy and the kids coming up. THEY are the ones who worked in the businesses that decided to close shop and open jobs in Mexico and India, hiring workers for thousands less. THEY are the ones who are now left with nothing, and they are being vilified because the REAL culprits control the airwaves, and the companies that are shitting themselves trying to shift the blame off of their *brand name*.

[Ron Green]

25. That's why it's astonishing that so many of them (fewer and fewer, though)

continue to support the "market monkeys" that populate the teevee.

[Donnachaidh]

36. Don't assume that so many of them support the market monkeys

The real working class boomers didn't have time or the cash to *invest*. It's media bullshit propaganda that lumps all these people together.

You're buying into the very same bullshit that is allowing the MSM and the political parties (BOTH sides) to completely disregard the very real heart and soul of this country. The folks who WERE NOT able to go out and buy the latest over-priced toy to impress their friends. The ones who weren't trying to buy clothes and look like the latest thing being pushed by E! Network or the cruise line ads.

The folks that thought that buying a house was a necessity, and NOT because they had to look as good as the guy who sits in the next cubicle at the office.

Automatically assuming all boomers look as if they just walked off a cruise ship ad is as BAD as the republicans calling all liberals dirty hippies. It just ain't so. And our side needs to get THAT reality check too.

There's a whole layer of boomers out there that is being shat on by BOTH parties. Right now, right at this moment. NO help has happened - and from the looks of things, it won't be coming anytime soon.

The most repulsive label ever to be coined covers many of the working class now - the newly poor. How awful that many of them are people in their 50's and 60's.

[blues90]

37. OH I just love the term the newly poor

There are a hell of a lot of boomers out there that never reached for the gold or had this idea of keeping up with anything that the marketing freaks had to offer as if this made you somehow better as a person.

That's all hype sold like so many bananas. Many stayed within their means perhaps buying some fixer upper home so they had something to show for all the monthly rent money but not huge homes by any means.

Hell I still drive a car from 1973 because a car is a car and transportation not some sign of personal signature as if that makes the person.

Now however the companies we worked for were not interested in years of work that got these companies where they are , just their bottom line and share holders so here we sit with nothing because of greed and lies.

[blues90]

35. that does sum it up well .

I worked hard and for what , everything I worked for is gone now and it didn't matter if I played by the rules. It just doesn;t matter.

Now I'm defined as a drag on society and I always had great respect for my elders because they meant something.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. 62 here.

Our IRAs took a good hit, but fortunately we got them out of the market last spring before they got hammered too hard. We're lucky because my husband, as a retired marine engineer, has a defined pension, I just started getting social security, and I still put in a few hours of work a month. Plus we live in our duplex, which I bought in 1990 for a good price, after the last recession here, and my tenant pays about 2/3 of the mortgage (although I pay her utilities).

Anyway, I think we're okay as long as there's not a total collapse.

[proud patriot]

24. I'm turning 40 in MAY

I want to be able tobe there for my Parents and Grandparents .
I believe if we as families and neighbors pool our
resources together where one is weak another is strong .

We must be there for each other .

peace

[ThoughtCriminal]

26. At 50, I'm sort of nervous

It didn't help that I basically entered the job-force in '82 along with a zillion other baby-boomers. It took a lot longer than normal to get some traction and job security. Now that security is questionable 15 years before retirement. Most of our savings are tied into a house can't sell and we had move away from to find a job with health insurance.

But I have to tell you, I feel a lot better about our prospects than I did 6-months ago.

[Buck Laser]

28. At 73, I'm hoping I die before the money runs out.

It looks promising. I have heart trouble, leukemia, diabetes, and am on dialysis. But other than that, I'm OK.

[SoCalDem]

31. aaaw, Bucky..

you need a :hug:

hang in there, baby:hug:

[southernyankeebelle]

29. I don't care what your age is I think we are all

Scared to death. There are controls we have and there are controls we don't have. Am 61 and come Oct 09 I will apply for early retirement. I pray I will be able to get it. I have an adult son who has worked as a cook for 12 yrs and has 1 child. He has health insurance that really isn't great. My husband and I both have medical issues and his a little more serious than mine although I need medications everyday. We have a little savings but since our son's hours have been cut back we are helping him. I tell him sooner or later we are going to run out of money to help him. If we can hold out for 2 yrs our 2 wide trailer will be paid for and will give us a little breathing room. My husband still has a job and he has had his hours cut back a little but hopefully in march he will get more hours. I pray every night that the President and the democratic party and get our country on the right track. The republicans don't want our country to be successfull. Everyone please for the Obama because there really is alot of hate out there for him.

[Nay]

32. 57 here, and luckily I have a good job that's not going anywhere.

That said, I REALLY wanted to retire at 62, but it looks like that will not be possible unless Mr Nay gets a retirement early-out at his workplace. Then we could possibly retire together, and take our time seeing the country.

[MISSDem]

33. I'll be 64 in July and today my financial advisor

told me to not retire if I can avoid it. I have lose so much from my 401K it is not funny. Yeah I'm worried.

[dgibby]

38. I'm 63, living on SS and VA.

Will be moving back home in about 6mos. I'm single, and it's time to be closer to family.

One of my nieces lost her job (social work), but was able to find another one. Of course, the time off really depleted her resources, so she and I are going to move in together. We're planning a garden, and I'd like to get some chickens. Would love to have a goat, but will be living in town, so suspect the goat is not an option unless I could disguise it as a dog!

The problem is getting my house sold and paying for the move from SC to Va. I guess I'll be ok money-wise unless the gov't goes belly up (which wouldn't surprise me at all). If that happens, at least I'll be with the rest of the family.

[eridani]

39. I'm comparatively fortunate at 62

After a lot of temporary postdocs and student debt, I got a well-paid corporate gig that lasted 22 years. Husband has done mostly contract work, but I had health insurance that covered both of us. I've always been a very conservative investor, and had about 1/2 a percent gain on my 401K last year before taking early retirement, which was actually a layoff. My boss pointed out that if I pulled rank on someone younger and stayed another couple of years, I wouldn't get the 6 months severance pay. I'd been doing succession planning for 3 years, so I figured it was time.

Between my defined benefits pension and hubby's SS, we have an income of $25K/year. That's way less than I was making, but nearly twice what a full time minimum wage worker gets. I'm thinking of applying for social security early, and am weighing the reduction in future monthly payments. We have laddered CDs, and I've rolled over the 401k into an annuity. We have one more annuity that we got after cashing out some CDs and Series EE bonds. If you're thinking "gee, that sure doesn't look like the recommended share of stock/bonds/cash in the charts that Vanguard and other mutual funds have for people in their 50s," you are absolutely correct. And it's why we are in much less trouble than many others our age.

House has been paid off for years, but needs earthquake retrofitting and other work. The only major bummer is that after my COBRA runs out, I'll have to give up my doctor. My retiree medical plan doesn't cover Group Health. (Granted, retiree medical is in danger of being eliminated, as it has been at so many other companies.) Hubby is on that evil gubmint Medicare, so he gets to keep his doctor.

[hfojvt]

45. finally a positive response or two

I mean, everybody cannot be hurting, especially among the group which still has the internet. I am only 47, and doing about the same. As long as I keep my job I should be fine. My IRA money is in CDs and I have not heard how my retirement fund is doing. It's backed by the state, so not necessarily dependent on the market.

My advice would be to take the early SS. From my earnings statement, I would have to live to be 80 before I am losing money by taking early retirement. And that does not even figure the interest gains from taking the early money. You probably know the formula 60 months * small payment = X (large payment - small payment). 67 + X months is how old you will be when you start losing money by taking the smaller payment early.

[eridani]

46. The early SS is making more and more sense

I'll probably file for it after I figure out what possible part time work penalties might be.

Your strategy is much like what mine was at 47, though I probably would have gained more during the bubble years by risking more. It's even more suited to today's circumstances.

[deaniac21]

43. You can tell by looking at the plan and seeing the players

involved that this will be fixed in a couple of years. These folks are experenced and they know what they are doing.

[Thothmes]

47. In not to bad shape at 61.

Home paid for, no credit card debt. Kids schooling paid off. Minimal direct health care costs. All possible because I spent 25 years in the U.S.Navy.

[RebelOne]

48. I'm 70 and doing OK right now.

I'm working full time and collecting social security. But half of my salary goes to pay off a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. I'd like to retire, but looks like I'll be working for a couple more years. What little that was in my 401K was being eaten up by the falling market. So, I pulled out the money and for the time being it is sitting in a savings account. At least, I'm not losing any more. I only have a few thousand in an IRA and that keeps losing, but I'm going to let that sit.