If you are over 50, how much do you have saved for retirement? anonymous of course

If you over 50, how much do you have saved for retirement? anonymous of course

  • over 500 K, we're all set

  • over 250,000 and climbing

  • 100,000 still saving

  • less than 50 K

  • absolutely nothing and am scared


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65% of Americans save little or nothing—and half could end up struggling in retirement
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/15/bankrate-65-percent-of-americans-save-little-or-nothing.html

“The average American has less than $5,000 in a financial account, a quarter to a fifth of what you should have, and those aged 55 to 64 who have retirement savings only carry $120,000 — which won’t last long in the absence of paychecks, ” the survey reports.
Their cutoff is 55 for the survey instead of 50 for this DIS survey.
 
I'm not your target demographic (just turned 35) but those numbers seem scary low. I think for people of my age or younger getting anything like a pension is almost unheard of with a job. Most people are happy/lucky to have a 401k that matches 6% from an employer. Not to mention the fact that there's absolutely no guarantee that by the time I retire there will be any Social Security money waiting for people in our age group. With that in mind, I'm focusing on preparing for a retirement that relies solely on my 401k, and personal investments. I save as much as I can into my 401k yearly (my husband and I both barely hit the max contribution limit this year) and have been saving since my first "professional" paycheck. I'm not expecting to retire early because I have no idea how the next 15-20 years will go with inflation/stock prices. I still have over the top amount listed on the survey saved and feel like it's "never going to be enough". I'm a lucky person for my age group because I'm not still saddled with student loans, but I know plenty of people my age who can't contribute much to a 401k and manage to pay their loans as well. For those of you who are in the closer to retirement demographic, do you feel this sense of uncertainty, or are you more comfortable?


My husband still works (for medical benefits). I'm retired (age 60, so no SS or Medicare yet). We are comfortable, but I still feel anxiety about how it's going to go in the future. What happens to medical care in this country? (Right now, I think we can all agree that costs are still skyrocketing out of control, with no end in sight). Very difficult to plan for that! Is Medicare still going to be there? What kind of changes will be made to Social Security (and some surely will be)? What about long term care? (I have insurance, DH does not because it's frightfully expensive if you didn't get in before you were 50).
 
I just totaled up my February bills, $1,955, so just under the wire. March will blow that out of the water because of air fare, hotels, and rental car for my Spring Training trip. About $3,000 just for that.
Just my mortgage and property taxes are $3500 a month. Cell phone, cable and gas add another $1000. Add on food, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, kids activities, college loan interest, medical expenses (high deductible) and home maintenance (100+ year old house), and I wonder why we never vacation.
 
Just my mortgage and property taxes are $3500 a month. Cell phone, cable and gas add another $1000. Add on food, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, kids activities, college loan interest, medical expenses (high deductible) and home maintenance (100+ year old house), and I wonder why we never vacation.
No mortgage for 19 years, so that bought a HUGE amount of breathing room.
No college loans, primarily because we used the mortgage money to pay the kids tuition as we went.
Yikes, $1,000 for cell phones, cable and gas (gasoline?) !!!!!??? Our cell phones are $80, landline $38, satellite is $130 and gasoline for 4 cars (2 drivers) is $200
 


No mortgage for 19 years, so that bought a HUGE amount of breathing room.
No college loans, primarily because we used the mortgage money to pay the kids tuition as we went.
Yikes, $1,000 for cell phones, cable and gas (gasoline?) !!!!!??? Our cell phones are $80, landline $38, satellite is $130 and gasoline for 4 cars (2 drivers) is $200
Lol no gas/electric is $400 a month, cellphone is over $400, 7 people, unlimited data (and most phones are paid off, 4 of them are over 4 years old. Public college tuition was about $30,000 a year on campus, we give each kid $30,000 plus loan interest while they are in school (so about $200,000 total). Dd22 has her masters in accounting, dd18 will start her 7 year program in the fall, ds20 will be done next May, then the twins start in 2 years.
 
Lol no gas/electric is $400 a month, cellphone is over $400, 7 people, unlimited data (and most phones are paid off, 4 of them are over 4 years old. Public college tuition was about $30,000 a year on campus, we give each kid $30,000 plus loan interest while they are in school (so about $200,000 total). Dd22 has her masters in accounting, dd18 will start her 7 year program in the fall, ds20 will be done next May, then the twins start in 2 years.
No gas for me either, provider and solar bill combined for electricity is about $180 depending on weather. Should drop to $100 for April/May with no heat or ac being used. Yeah, we paid cash for our kids tuition, but it isn't like we didn't have 18 years each to set aside money for college, plus the $1,100 a month our house payment used to be.
That tuition is nuts for a public school. I don't remember the exact dollar figure when she started in 2009, but even today California State University tuition is only $5,742 per year. And there are protests here that $5,742 is way too high !
https://csumb.edu/catalog/cost-need
 


My husband still works (for medical benefits). I'm retired (age 60, so no SS or Medicare yet). We are comfortable, but I still feel anxiety about how it's going to go in the future. What happens to medical care in this country? (Right now, I think we can all agree that costs are still skyrocketing out of control, with no end in sight). Very difficult to plan for that! Is Medicare still going to be there? What kind of changes will be made to Social Security (and some surely will be)? What about long term care? (I have insurance, DH does not because it's frightfully expensive if you didn't get in before you were 50).

Medical benefits and the cost of healthcare is what we're anxious about.
 
No gas for me either, provider and solar bill combined for electricity is about $180 depending on weather. Should drop to $100 for April/May with no heat or ac being used. Yeah, we paid cash for our kids tuition, but it isn't like we didn't have 18 years each to set aside money for college, plus the $1,100 a month our house payment used to be.
That tuition is nuts for a public school. I don't remember the exact dollar figure when she started in 2009, but even today California State University tuition is only $5,742 per year. And there are protests here that $5,742 is way too high !
https://csumb.edu/catalog/cost-need
This is th3 largest public university in NJ, the public university ds20 attends costs more. https://admissions.newbrunswick.rutgers.edu/paying-for-college/tuition-and-fees
 
To keep tuition in perspective, when my wife went to San Diego st in the 70s, tuition for all classes was $100 a semester. Now I hear us old farts brag about how they paid their own tuition, yes it was a little less painful back then
 
I'm not your target demographic (just turned 35) but those numbers seem scary low. I think for people of my age or younger getting anything like a pension is almost unheard of with a job. Most people are happy/lucky to have a 401k that matches 6% from an employer. Not to mention the fact that there's absolutely no guarantee that by the time I retire there will be any Social Security money waiting for people in our age group. With that in mind, I'm focusing on preparing for a retirement that relies solely on my 401k, and personal investments. I save as much as I can into my 401k yearly (my husband and I both barely hit the max contribution limit this year) and have been saving since my first "professional" paycheck. I'm not expecting to retire early because I have no idea how the next 15-20 years will go with inflation/stock prices. I still have over the top amount listed on the survey saved and feel like it's "never going to be enough". I'm a lucky person for my age group because I'm not still saddled with student loans, but I know plenty of people my age who can't contribute much to a 401k and manage to pay their loans as well. For those of you who are in the closer to retirement demographic, do you feel this sense of uncertainty, or are you more comfortable?
The bolded is such a good point! There was a recent thread around here somewhere where saving for retirement was discussed in relation to college costs and student loans, and there seemed to be a pretty general consensus that
"Nobody starts saving for retirement in their 20s anyway". I think its pretty smart to try, if you're able, as we've seen here. It was sheer laziness on my part that I didn't sign up for payroll deduction toward retirement a few years before I actually did, which was still in my late 20s. I've had money taken out weekly that I've never seen ever since then, and it's grown pretty nicely. But I did waste a few years at the beginning, and that was dumb on my part. I'm talking to my kids about it so they can get started early when they begin working full time.

To answer your question, I can't say I'm uncomfortable. As I mentioned before, we've got funds socked away, and honestly, I'll probably be one of those nutty people who wants to work a bit into retirement because I enjoy helping people and it's part of who I am, not just a job. I might as well get paid for it. DH and I have a few things in mind, too, that we might like to do (for fun) which could supplement our income, and if we stay put we'll also have a rental income. I'm not too worried about SS as it seems to still be working. Medical expenses, yes, those can be astronomical. But I'm also optimistic that those can be contained, and having the knowledge I have about disease and illness can hopefully help us keep costs to a minmum. I also don't anticipate we'll be traveling the world or otherwise having a jet set lifestyle, lol, so what we have we'll more than likely make work for us. I think combining households is something that used to be done more frequently, but we somehow got away from mid-century. It seems to be coming back as costs have risen so out of control in many places. I don't rule that out in the future, either. So there are different things that can be done besides having millions of dollars in the bank.
 
The bolded is such a good point! There was a recent thread around here somewhere where saving for retirement was discussed in relation to college costs and student loans, and there seemed to be a pretty general consensus that
"Nobody starts saving for retirement in their 20s anyway". I think its pretty smart to try, if you're able, as we've seen here. It was sheer laziness on my part that I didn't sign up for payroll deduction toward retirement a few years before I actually did, which was still in my late 20s. I've had money taken out weekly that I've never seen ever since then, and it's grown pretty nicely. But I did waste a few years at the beginning, and that was dumb on my part. I'm talking to my kids about it so they can get started early when they begin working full time.

To answer your question, I can't say I'm uncomfortable. As I mentioned before, we've got funds socked away, and honestly, I'll probably be one of those nutty people who wants to work a bit into retirement because I enjoy helping people and it's part of who I am, not just a job. I might as well get paid for it. DH and I have a few things in mind, too, that we might like to do (for fun) which could supplement our income, and if we stay put we'll also have a rental income. I'm not too worried about SS as it seems to still be working. Medical expenses, yes, those can be astronomical. But I'm also optimistic that those can be contained, and having the knowledge I have about disease and illness can hopefully help us keep costs to a minmum. I also don't anticipate we'll be traveling the world or otherwise having a jet set lifestyle, lol, so what we have we'll more than likely make work for us. I think combining households is something that used to be done more frequently, but we somehow got away from mid-century. It seems to be coming back as costs have risen so out of control in many places. I don't rule that out in the future, either. So there are different things that can be done besides having millions of dollars in the bank.
To me, I've always viewed the 401k contribution as throwing money away if you don't put in at least what your company will match. When I first started out of college I did 6% because that's what my company matches at 100% and slowly raised the percentage up to 13% over the past decade, but have coworkers my age who haven't started saving anything yet. If you put 6% pre-tax away each paycheck, you don't miss it after awhile! I increase my percent contributions when I get raises (if I get a 3% COL raise, I can afford to put an additional percent into 401k and still will be taking home more net pay). I think that high school is a great place to start learning about savings, interest, investments, differences between IRAs, pensions, ROTH, credit cards, mortgages and the like so that when kids do start out they don't have that "who saves in their 20s" attitude, and realize how valuable even 10-20 dollars a month can become over a period of 30 years.
 
To me, I've always viewed the 401k contribution as throwing money away if you don't put in at least what your company will match. When I first started out of college I did 6% because that's what my company matches at 100% and slowly raised the percentage up to 13% over the past decade, but have coworkers my age who haven't started saving anything yet.

Are there still employers out there who do matching for 401(K)? I thought pretty much all companies did away with that years ago?
 
To me, I've always viewed the 401k contribution as throwing money away if you don't put in at least what your company will match. When I first started out of college I did 6% because that's what my company matches at 100% and slowly raised the percentage up to 13% over the past decade, but have coworkers my age who haven't started saving anything yet. If you put 6% pre-tax away each paycheck, you don't miss it after awhile! I increase my percent contributions when I get raises (if I get a 3% COL raise, I can afford to put an additional percent into 401k and still will be taking home more net pay). I think that high school is a great place to start learning about savings, interest, investments, differences between IRAs, pensions, ROTH, credit cards, mortgages and the like so that when kids do start out they don't have that "who saves in their 20s" attitude, and realize how valuable even 10-20 dollars a month can become over a period of 30 years.
ITA! You played it smart and it will pay off down the road for you! I never had a match because mine is a 403B. The one thing they do partially match over 50 is health care savings so I signed up for that as soon as I could to take advantage of it. I remember a friend/coworker now passed told me that that was one of the smartest things she ever did because throughout her lengthy illness, that health spending account covered everything. DH’s company was just bought out and they match for 401K and he’s doing the max. It’s a little tough right now with two in college but we haven’t had to stop our retirement savings, thankfully.
 
Are there still employers out there who do matching for 401(K)? I thought pretty much all companies did away with that years ago?
I guess that's a question for another thread. I've only worked at one company since I graduated college and it's always had the 6% matching at 100%.
 
DH and I could live off our current pension (collecting now) with some minor lifestyle adjustments, especially after the kids move out (ages 14 & 15)DH is working toward a second pension and I am working for the health insurance (and the extra money).

We have quite a bit in deferred comp accounts but hope not to touch it until our health drastically declines.

The kids college plan, on the other hand.... well, let's say we discourage reading and encourage a lot of TV watching so the grades are low enough that we don't have to save for college. :teeth:
 
Are there still employers out there who do matching for 401(K)? I thought pretty much all companies did away with that years ago?

Some companies do 401K contribution because they do not have pension plans any longer and stopped funding pensions for pre existing employees some time ago.
 
The person sitting in the most stressful job in the world is 72. The Senate majority leader is 77, the house majority leader is 78, Chuck Grassly is 80, one of the people seeking the most stressful job in the world is 76, the queen of England who still works every day is 92, Jeff Bezos is still running Amazon at 55, so definitely a full time job, Warren Buffet ceo of a Fortune 500 company is 87, Kevin Johnson (Starbucks) is 57, and on and on and on..

Seems a whole ton of extremely successful people are still working full time jobs at 55 and over. In fact, the average age of a CEO of a fortune 500 company, so still working a full time job and more, is 55.

I can't imagine not working until I am not able to work. I am currently in my 60's and work full time because I want to not because I have to.

I hope I’m not working full time in my 70’s, but the “I can’t imagine working full time at 55” is an absurd comment. PP was fortunate to retire young, but the vast majority of people her age will be employed full time into their late 50’s or beyond. So, I find it hard to believe she can’t “imagine” that.
 

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