GenXers: What Are YOUR Plans For Retirement Fund?

[Taverner]

Wondering - granted we have a way to go, unless the boomers kill us all with their Logan's Run plan.... :)

[doc03]

1. My retirement plans, I will retire the day you see

my name in the obituaries. Just joking, I am retired already but that is pretty much what GenXers have to look forward to.

[FirstLight]

2. What retirement?

I am just trying to figure out how to SURVIVE and get through Christmas!
no job since 2008, public assistance, hud housing, single mom of 3

ya, if i had a 'real' job, maybe i'd have a 401k, right? haven't had THAT offered to me at a job since the 90's... (or healthcare for that matter)

[marmar]

3. I expect to work until I drop..........

...... because I have serious doubts that those investment devices we've been programmed to believe in, e.g. 401(k)s, will be worth the paper they're written up on when we finally reach "retirement" age.

[DJ13]

4. Begging, recycling

Aint America great?

[Rochester]

5. if my union pension stays afloat,

then that plus whatever I can save between now and then should allow me to retire at the typical age (late 50s)

[a la izquierda]

6. Money under the mattress, like the old days

That's my plan.
First I have to get a job (still a grad student).

[demodonkey]

7. Keep working, or DIE.

I am on the cusp between GenX and Baby Boom so am posting this in both threads. :-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. not enough but we squirrel away as much as we can

and I mean that. I still get toys, we still go out for dinner, and all that, but we put away as much money as we can every month.

[Taverner]

10. I used to do that - until I got laid off...

Hopefully my new job will have a good 401k plan...

And hopefully all 401ks won't be run into the ground

[OhioChick]

9. Work until I'm dead n/t

[libmom74]

11. it depends

on what happens with 401K plans over the next 30 years.

[Denninmi]

12. Enough money for a pistol and a bullet.

I don't frankly care what they do with my body after that.:sarcasm:

[Statistical]

40. Maybe someone will start a pistol renting service.

You just prepay for the number of rounds you need to use.

[dkf]

13. $1 million isn't enough. $2 million is moderately ok.

I'm quite a bit from that but I'm on target.

[raouldukelives]

14. As long as we keep going to war

My 401k should keep making money from it.

[Withywindle]

15. I had a decent amount in a 401k

...about ten years ago. Guess what happened?

[dkf]

19. The Dow is down about 20% from the high.

Which is a bummer but not that bad considering.

[Uben]

45. I'm back to where I was pre-2008

I am pretty surprised it made it back this quick. Being retired, I shouldn't even be in the market, I suppose, but I'm still growth oriented. I should probably dump everything now and get real secure. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

[Statistical]

39. You are up significantly?

You aren't comparing it to the peak you are comparing it to what you put in right?

I mean if you buy a house for $60K the value goes to $200K then falls to $150K which is more accurate
You have lost $50K ($150K - $200K)?
You have gained $90K ($150K - $60K)?

[Violet_Crumble]

16. I'll be retiring at about 62 on an indexed pension of about 2/3 of my salary

Sweet!

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. Hate to say it, but Logan's Run killed off everyone over 30 -

it would be a bit counter-productive for boomers to enact a plan that would target evey one of them.

[Taverner]

18. That was my little joke.

No one ever gets my jokes...

[Greyhound]

34. It was 21 in the book. Michael York was just too old to pull that off so... n/t

[salvorhardin]

20. Suicide probably. eom

[Taverner]

21. Better to rob banks than suicide, personally...

[salvorhardin]

30. Haha

Kind of hard to rob banks when you can hardly walk, but I hear what you're saying.

[Statistical]

41. Eventually that just turns into suicide by cop. n/t

[kiranon]

24. Many seniors are considering this option because of the cost of

health care and the dread of suffering without sufficient pain management efforts on the part of their doctors. Yet, many in the medical profession save up certain medications to ease their own suffering and to make their final days shorter in duration.

[bigwillq]

26. If you're serious

I suggest you seek medical treatment immediately.

If you're joking, I ask that you please delete your post as I believe it is insensitive to members of the DU community who have attempted, or have had family members who attempted and/or succeeded, in this drastic measure you speak of.

[Edweird]

35. Let me ask you something.

I'm 40. I lost everything a few years back - my house, my wife, my construction company. I am rebuilding my career but I'm struggling financially due to the still sluggish economy. I have no real family to speak of and nowhere to turn. At the moment, I'm healthy. Let's say I get ill. Really ill. Bone cancer. At what point would I have YOUR PERMISSION to exit on my own terms? Or should I just hope for a quick death while I'm huddled under a bridge?

[bigwillq]

37. I only questioned the intent

of the poster above. It seemed like he/she was joking, and I don't think suicide is something anyone of us should joke about.

[Edweird]

49. Ok.

Sorry if I was a little too 'snarly and bitey'.

[bigwillq]

56. You weren't.

And maybe I overreacted. No biggie on both our parts. :hi:

[salvorhardin]

53. Oh, I was quite serious

The OP asked about Gen-Xer retirement plans. I am a Gen-Xer and I am disabled. I rely on SSD. I would love to return to work, but in this economy I don't see any employer giving me a job that paid a living wage. That's a big deal, because if I take a job I will lose Medicare. If I lose Medicare I lose access to the health care that keeps me alive and my chronic pain in check. So I am effectively forced to choose between a job that doesn't pay me enough to live with manageable pain, and the roughly $700 monthly I receive from SSD.

On the other hand, I'm equally fearful I will be losing my disability coverage. If not sooner, then later. I'm incredibly fearful of the future given what is happening in Washington. If that happens, I will be homeless.

So while I don't intend to kill myself tomorrow, in the future-oriented context of the OP's question then in all seriousness I see suicide at some point as my only option.

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. "I have no real family to speak of and nowhere to turn..."

...and yet there would still be people devastated by your untimely, non medically motivated exit. Let's ask my husband. Oh wait. We can't, because he thought it would be "okay". It's never okay.

[Edweird]

47. That's very similar to a selfish attitude I see among pet owners.

They do everything in their power to prolong the chronological existence of their pet despite knowing that that animal is in constant agony. They do it because they "love" that pet. To me that looks almost exactly like torture and not a bit like love.

[ScreamingMeemie]

55. yes.

We tortured my husband, by being his family. Yep. That's what we did.

Some people will say anything just to be right? won't they. Please don't ever consider doing that to those who love you.

[FormerDittoHead]

52. I would support your right to suicide. n/t

[TNLib]

22. I plan on going into my second career. Bank Robbing or Career Criminal of some sort

nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. There's plenty of opportunites in the world of chemistry.

AMC is running a "how to" show on it.

[AndrewP]

25. An adequate 401K and my Diabetes

My actual bail out will probably be my earlier than normal death from Diabetes. So I probably won't be dealing with this at 80 like many will. But I'll probably have a couple of years from my 401k. Who knows though.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

27. Not sure how good this poll will be.... some of us are too young still

I was looking at this poll thinking that I couldn't imagine having all that much saved up yet (maybe 15% - 20%?), but I'm in my early 30's. This poll makes more sense for the oldest Gen-Xer's who are close to 50.

[REP]

28. Retired 8 years ago (at 37); so far so good

[MissB]

29. I'm married to an older Gen-Xer.

He's 8 years older than me.

We're in a good spot. He has a small pension (think: beer money). I have a good pension coming my way. His 401k has a hefty balance. My 401k is smaller, but still decent for my age. We expect to get some social security, but not what they say we will get.

I didn't vote.

[Starry Messenger]

31. Die early, and hope it isn't cancer. n/t

[Confusious]

32. Retire?

I have mountains of debt. Never going to happen.

[Frank Booth]

33. I'm pretty sure my big Mega Millions win is just around the corner.

[TheKentuckian]

36. I'll get back to you when I'm not struggling to keep a roof or at least have a real one.

[Statistical]

38. 10% of paycheck into 401K (w/ 5% employer match).

Every week. Pretty much consider it non negotiable like tax witholdings.

When I change jobs I move from 401K to IRA for more control.
Recently I have been paying the taxes and converting 20% of retirement a year from IRA to Roth IRA (I think taxes just "might" be higher in future).

On track so far.

[HughBeaumont]

42. I'm retiring at age 60.

Don't really care if I have the "Required Amount" by then, I'm retiring from full-time work at age 60. There comes a point in someone's life where you aren't going to be mentally able to go into an office at 6 AM anymore. My house will be paid off by then, so I'm pretty much going to do what I want in life from then on. Definitely going to take a lot more driving trips, for sure.

Life shouldn't be about work. I'm not my job.

[Renew Deal]

43. GenXers are a long way from retirement

So none of us are really "set" yet.

[readmoreoften]

44. My pension will likely disappear when I go to claim it. I don't expect Social Security to be there.

My real pension plan is that my parents are leaving me their small, paid off ranch home and that when they pass I will be able to pay off all of my even smaller home. I hope that work will help pay for some kind of food, property taxes to keep from being homeless, and some kind of transportation until I die. I worry about living past the age where I am able to work. But my lack of access to health care will probably remedy that situation.

[X_Digger]

48. Retire? Surely you jest.

I'll be the 78 year old deck hand on a fishing boat, when I fall overboard.

[Luciferous]

50. A massive inheritance from my in-laws, a union pension, and

whatever money I manage to scrape together into a 401k if I can ever find a job.

[Connie_Corleone]

51. Hopefully running a very successful scam to bilk millionaires out of their money.

Then fake my own death, never to be heard from again.

[salvorhardin]

54. Ma'am, if you have a good idea how to do so...

...and require the skills of a crafty computer programmer and web developer then I am your man! :D