'Alarming number': Boomers struggle to save enough for retirement, survey finds

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Many baby boomers don’t have nearly enough money to retire.

The median amount they have saved for retirement is $144,000, according to a recent survey from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a figure that should be a “call to action” for boomers, said one financial expert.

“When we think about it, $144,000 to last in retirement that could be 20 or 30 years just isn’t going to go very far,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica Center, in a conversation with Yahoo Finance. “It’s a very alarming number.”

Financial firms, such as Fidelity Investments, recommend those nearing 67 to have saved 10 times their salary. But Collinson said the shortfall for baby boomers is largely because of the late emergence of 401(k) pre-tax retirement plans.

https://money.yahoo.com/boomers-struggle-to-save-enough-for-retirement-survey-finds-205447433.html

[brooklynite]

1. Doesn't this story get released every year?

FWIW, my wife and I are boomers about 2-3 years out from retirement, and have plugged as much money as possible into whichever options were available to us (401k, 457, IRA, taxable investments, etc.).

[phylny]

25. We retired at 64 and 61 last year

and were fortunate that my husband has a pension. We have his 401K and pension, and Social Security for both of us. We lived carefully, if not frugally. We never went to Disney, took expensive trips, or lived on credit card debt. We drove our cars until the cars weren’t worth repairing. We did as much home repair, projects, and car maintenance as we possibly could by ourselves.

We did go to Italy last year, a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We know we are much more fortunate than most.

[DBoon]

2. The first generation without private pensions

Individual retirement savings shifts the risk of investment to the individual. Doesn't work out so well for many.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. Agree

And in the end most of us end up in the same exact spot to die. A state run nursing home sharing a room.

I don't care how much money you've saved, a nice country club like nursing home is too expensive to spend many years there for all but the very very rich. You're talking a couple hundred grand a year for the nice places. So they take it all and then ship you off to a state run nursing home.

So I say, make the state run homes a lot nicer.

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. We have a posh care home near me. It's about $500 a day.

Last edited Tue Jun 23, 2020, 04:21 PM - Edit history (1)

A fruend is in a regular care home and it's about $4,000 + a month. She pays $400 extra for a private room.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. Have a chef friend

He worked at the fancy one in town for several years, $25,000 a month, and even that wasn't as nice as you'd think. Obviously he was a chef so he was involved in the food and he said they get the same ingredients that a buffet place would get, nothing fancy at all.

[MichMan]

14. Traditional pensions were great if you worked your whole career for one company

Very few people do that anymore, with many changing jobs every few years for better opportunities. Can't imagine how much it must have sucked to keep plugging along in a job you hated merely because you had to keep the pension going.

401k may have drawbacks, but at least they are portable and not tied to any one employer. It has worked out well for me. Hoping to retire in another year or so.

[phylny]

26. My husband stayed with the same company

for 38 years, although his jobs changed. It was really hard at times, but the pension, payable until the last of us dies, made it a good decision for us.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Given what birth years you attribute to the Boom generation,

at least half of them are 62 or older. And given that an astonishing (to me at least) percentage who collect SS at the earliest possible age, this is quite sad.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. I should have more money saved than I do, I'll admit.

Having said that, I also know that for the average American, wages don't allow for that kind of savings plan. By the time you get done with obligations, there simply isn't enough to match what they say you should do. I am not even gonna talk about the impact of either kids or elderly parents on the budget...………….

[Mike 03]

6. Really good points.

There are unforeseeable contingencies that are hard to plan for while simultaneously saving ten times your annual salary. I know friends of my parents who due to circumstances beyond their control have had to raise their grandchildren (sometimes going to court over various legal issues) or still have aging parents who ran into economic difficulty. And I don't say these contingencies are "uncommon"; difficulties are commonplace.

[zipplewrath]

11. Pensions

Pensions are the way that people can come together and share in the risks and rewards. It makes it possible to "save" enough for retirement, even with the unforeseen circumstances that come in life. We all "pay in" during our lives not knowing how much we'll "take out". That drives the conservatives nuts because they go apoplectic when someone gets more than they give, or worse one gives more than they get.

Republicans wake up every morning worrying that someone, somewhere is getting something they don't deserve.

Democrats wake up every morning worrying that someone, somewhere isn't getting something they need.

[madville]

7. My parents are getting around $5300 a month in Social Security

They waited until hitting age 70 last year to start drawing though so they were maxing it out. That’s not a bad strategy if you want to and are able to keep working well into your 60s.

[Quixote1818]

10. What about their social security? nt

[madville]

17. My parents are 70

They are getting about $5300 a month in social security but they delayed drawing it until recently to maximize the amount and they actually still enjoyed working.

[Stallion]

12. 3 Straight Republican Recessions and/or Depressions Have Made it Pretty Damn Difficult

[haele]

13. Flat or declining wages for employees since the mid 1980's.

Boomers in their 70's and 80's benefitted from the Unions and the New Deal, but most workers in their 60's were sold the "401k" myth, lost wages through Union Busting concessions and increasing turn to contract and service employment, skyrocketing secondary education costs, MBAs and venture capitalism on steroids, consumer regulatory practices unraveling, and the rise of the use of a "credit check" as a tool just to get a job, rent or buy a home, or just to make a major purchase, even if you were going to pay cash. Boomers (and Gen-Xers) now in their fifties to seventies saw the change from being called personnel to being called "human resources" - a serious change that exemplifies the monitization of human value to a corporate culture.
I have actually seen wages go down without a corresponding rise in benefits (including retirement) for jobs that require certification or training as soon as the novelty of new technology wears off. This is not just an adjust for standard of living calculation, I saw jobs - shipyard welding - that would start at $12 an hour for a trained apprentice with paid benefits and a pension program in 1991 drop to $9 an hour in 2001 with a benefits option they had to pay into and an equally optional 401k with "up to 5% matching after 5 years". Same in retail and service jobs where previously full time employees found their jobs recategorize to part time or temp/at will or contract work, losing hours and benefits their employer no longer had to worry about paying.

Unless they were in Tech or Finance, the later Boomers are in no better shape than the average wage employee of the 1920's. No retirement, cost of living constantly going up, and technology reducing the jobs available to those who can't afford to take the time to start up their own business, get an advanced education or network themselves into a management track.

Haele

[gibraltar72]

15. This was my game.

Early on in my career I went to a seminar. The speaker said this generation will be retired more years than they worked for the company they retire from. He was referring to the current mostly union jobs that had early outs and also the fact that people weren't going to work for just one company. This made it clear to me that it was my job to explain that to my clients. Coincidentally I started in the field just as IRAs became law. I have had many thank me for helping them save money by putting away pretty modest sums consistently. It was hard to get people to pay themselves first.

[MissB]

16. Dh is a boomer

Just barely.

The only reason he (we) have a good amount in his 401k is that he’s been lucky. Well, we’ve been lucky.

Lucky to remain in the same job for over 30 years. Lucky to have a reasonable house payment. Lucky to have a good wage that allowed him to contribute the maximum amount each year. Lucky to have no health issues.

Damn luck.

[onetexan]

18. Sky high Healthcare & medication costs are no joke for the elderly.

[MichMan]

24. What about Medicare?

[Kaleva]

19. I'm used to living on SSDI alone along with a $140 a month VA pension

I supplement my income by babysitting for $4 an hour which nets me about $98 a week.

Add the benefits I get for being low income, I'll do fine on SS.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

20. They Wrecked as much as they have benefitted

They have made more or the housing market they any other in the history of the world. My house in Oregon sold in 1980 for 87,000 sold last year for 587,000 same exact house. They were the group that could buy houses from 1980-2000 and the market has exploded from 2000-2020 and they as a group were the owners who have made the most of this.

The story is only focusing on one aspect of retirement.


Markets
1987 crash
2008 crash

Politics
1980 elected an idiot who borrowed and gutted S.S, that guy also gutted Unions and defined benefit pensions by drastically changing bankruptcy laws!
1980-2008 Elected leaders and government who borrowed and ran up huge Debt, through WAR(s) on Credit and a useless battle on Terror at the Expense of social safety nets.

The next generations will not be able to make nearly as much money off of their house, so they will need to save more for sure. Will my kids ever be able to buy a house ??????

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. You might want to make an exception for the latter part of the Clinton administration

Bush II inherited a surplus which he turned into a trillion dollar deficit.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

23. I would except his damage was done by adding

all the police and creating Prisons Inc, also Welfare reform did not help the social safety net. He did social damage not really financial.


For the black lives matter supports, Did you love how Clinton added all the police??????

[seaglass]

27. Imagine how much profit those who bought in the 60s made! That would be the silent gen and they

quadrupled their initial investment rather than doubled.

Don't know how old you/your kids are, my kids are millenials - my daughter and her soon to be husband bought a house 2 years ago, my son and his gf are in the market right now. So there is hope.

I agree that housing prices are crazy, we have a lot of new condos going up in our town for 450k-500k and my husband and I are always wondering who the heck can/or would want to buy them.

[Bucky]

22. The saddest part of this is that we just finished up a historic stock market run

If schools just better educated students in high school how to save for retirement, emergencies, children's college expenses, etc. all these boomers & early GenXers would've spent the 90s and the 10s piling up cash instead of debt.

I came in late to the stock market in '98, investing small & regular, almost all in low risk mutual and index funds, and it's yielded 15% per year. The whole market alone is 11% annually over that time. I teach my student to never check daily numbers and buy big when the market dips.

If you're in your forties and not doing this yet, start now. The next 20 years won't be like the last 22, but the market always climbs faster than inflation. If you're in your 30s, also do this and you'll retire without any money worries.