Retirement Q&A

#76
#76
Go aeiou said:
I'm not sure things have changed as far as young people. Except many jobs have included a retirement plan in the past. Nowadays, they are being dropped or the employer does not contribute.
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I don't know too many companies that offer pensions anymore but that may just be the industry I am in. There are probably plenty out there that still do.
 
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#77
#77
95 Vol Alum said:
Sure. The meaning I couldn’t glean was how Gen X and beyond’s alleged attitude has anything to do with your situation. You brought it up. Why?
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Boomers represent ~21% of the population and are shrinking. Ensuing generations comprise a super majority of voters. If you believe voters wield any power in the US, these ensuing generations hold the key to demanding that elected officials do something to meet the promises of Social Security and Medicare. Their attitudes toward these matter. However, you’ve made it abundantly clear that reasoning is voluntarily absent from your viewpoint. Accordingly, I wish you collisions with coffee tables in the dark.
 
#81
#81
Thunder Good-Oil said:
It probably doesn’t matter. SS payments are mandatory spending in the federal budget. So that amount paid to retirees literally isn’t going to be cut without an act of Congress. If the revenue from payrolls isn’t enough to cover those benefit payments (and the SS fund balance is zero or in a deficit) then the shortage will come out of the general fund/discretionary budgets. Earmarking tax revenues that come from the marginal FIT paid by individuals that are SS recipients is basically just a journal entry on the federal general ledger.

It really doesn’t require huge adjustments to the system to reverse the shrinking SS fund balance. Delay benefits, reduce COLA, raise the 6.2% / 12.4% payroll rates, lift the cap on high earners. The problem is that any politician voting for any of those adjustments will lose re-election so they’re all chicken **** to fix the accounting. They hold on to their seats by continuing to kick the can down the road.
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IMO, First fix should be to remove every payout from SS that goes to someone who didn’t earn their own benefit. If you want a spousal benefit for someone who didn’t earn their own benefit, then you can take a reduced benefit yourself just like in most all traditional pensions. Your other examples are all reasonable options also.

For those thinking SS may go away, I can’t imagine our country with all the retired folks who live solely on SS (articles I’ve read are along the line of 30%) now homeless and starving in the streets. Something will happen to keep SS functioning albeit at a reduced benefit or they just keep printing more money resulting in more inflation
 
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#83
#83
walkenvol said:
IMO, First fix should be to remove every payout from SS that goes to someone who didn’t earn their own benefit. If you want a spousal benefit for someone who didn’t earn their own benefit, then you can take a reduced benefit yourself just like in most all traditional pensions. Your other examples are all reasonable options also.

For those thinking SS may go away, I can’t imagine our country with all the retired folks who live solely on SS (articles I’ve read are along the line of 30%) now homeless and starving in the streets. Something will happen to keep SS functioning albeit at a reduced benefit or they just keep printing more money resulting in more inflation
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I promise not to become argumentative or make this a thread destined for the political forum, but i have a question.

You made the leap that without SS 30% who depend on it would be "homeless and starving in the streets".
Was that poetic hyperbole or something you earnestly believe?
 
#85
#85
McDad said:
I promise not to become argumentative or make this a thread destined for the political forum, but i have a question.

You made the leap that without SS 30% who depend on it would be "homeless and starving in the streets".
Was that poetic hyperbole or something you earnestly believe?
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If folks over 65 have no means of support other than SS then what happens if SS goes away? 30% is a statistic I’ve seen, but even if it’s 10% then it’s a tremendous number of people. I think many folks in my circle are so far removed from folks living in poverty that they don’t grasp the magnitude of the impact of Medicare going up a couple hundred bucks a month. Where do folks go when they have no means of support? I thought that was the homeless?

Planning for retirement is challenging. I retired from my corporate job of 35 years 8 years ago. Part of my retirement benefits was I could keep my health care until 65. It’s a high deductible plan that was $40 a month then and I opened a letter this morning to a 31% increase for next year raising it to $415. So from $480 annually to $4,980 in 8 years. While I can afford it, I certainly didn’t budget for it 8 years ago.
 
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#86
#86
Does anyone have any outside the box ideas for retirement savings? Outside of 401k, rental property or anything else that has already been mentioned in this thread? Even if its something risky. I am honestly curious. Trying to explore all other options
 
#87
#87
walkenvol said:
If folks over 65 have no means of support other than SS then what happens if SS goes away? 30% is a statistic I’ve seen, but even if it’s 10% then it’s a tremendous number of people. I think many folks in my circle are so far removed from folks living in poverty that they don’t grasp the magnitude of the impact of Medicare going up a couple hundred bucks a month. Where do folks go when they have no means of support? I thought that was the homeless?

Planning for retirement is challenging. I retired from my corporate job of 35 years 8 years ago. Part of my retirement benefits was I could keep my health care until 65. It’s a high deductible plan that was $40 a month then and I opened a letter this morning to a 31% increase for next year raising it to $415. So from $480 annually to $4,980 in 8 years. While I can afford it, I certainly didn’t budget for it 8 years ago.
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Thanks for the reply. It kinda went in the weeds. I gather from the response you do not believe it is exaggerated. You do believe the 30% will be in the street starving.
 
#88
#88
McDad said:
Thanks for the reply. It kinda went in the weeds. I gather from the response you do not believe it is exaggerated. You do believe the 30% will be in the street starving.
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I have no way to know the exact number of folks over 64 with no means of support other than SS so 30% isn’t the issue to me. What becomes of those older folks if they have no savings and no income? Some won’t have a residence and no means to feed themselves and that’s an ugly thought to me
 
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#89
#89
walkenvol said:
I have no way to know the exact number of folks over 64 with no means of support other than SS so 30% isn’t the issue to me. What becomes of those older folks if they have no savings and no income? Some won’t have a residence and no means to feed themselves and that’s an ugly thought to me
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I think you might misunderstand. I'm not questioning the veracity of the 30%. I'm just making sure I understand your true feelings about what would become of that group.

I think I understand now. Thank you.
 
#91
#91
Orangeslice13 said:
Can be.
But there’s only so much of that you can do.
My retirement lasted 3 weeks
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My dad retired and was done for about a month and half before he started doing things again. Now he ushers for UT sports and works at a golf course. The golf course pays him in free rounds of golf which is right up his ally.
 
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#92
#92
Orangesmokey said:
Does traveling and see the world count as being productive???
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Depends on what you call productive.
I'd say yes. At least personal productivity. You are learning about the world. The people, governments, Landscape, general knowledge. At the very least it is education that will help you in life. regardless of your location.
The USA is the baby(young) of the world. It's amazing to go abroad and see the centuries old buildings, houses, etc. Maybe several years in the building industry makes it more noticeable to me?
 
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#99
#99
Orangeslice13 said:
56.
I’m contracting but working about 35-40 hour weeks.
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Yeah, even if you are financially able you can't relax/exercise/fish all the time. I just got out of the land deals I had about 3 years ago at 70. I was fortunate to have a couple of good partners. A surveyor and a developer.
I mostly retired at 53, but too young.
 
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#100
#100
Go aeiou said:
Yeah, even if you are financially able you can't relax/exercise/fish all the time. I just got out of the land deals I had about 3 years ago at 70. I was fortunate to have a couple of good partners. A surveyor and a developer.
I mostly retired at 53, but too young.
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Grandfather retired at 50. He's 84. Hasn't and doesn't work, but stays active. That's what matters.
 
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