Do you have 1 million saved for retirement? May not be enough.

[fujiyama]

161. We're seeing the realities of this already hit a generation

My dad is boomer era and has worked hard all of his life, but the reality is he couldn't retire today if he wanted to - or even within the next several years. He's still working, and will likely continue to do so for some time. These were due to things that hit many people - a bankruptcy due to a business that didn't make it, paying much of the college costs for two children, cancer (right before the recession - and with a really shitty health insurance plan), and then the recession itself where there was hardly any money coming in for over a year.

Fortunately, he's skilled and knowledgeable in his field and has been working the last few years (and he likes to keep busy and active).

The real problem is for those with fewer skills, those physically unable to work (perhaps those having worked labor intensive jobs most of your life - your body simply can't do much of that work as you get older), and those working jobs that barely allow people to survive on in the first place...

What happens for the next generation, especially for those heavily burdened in college debt? This country has already lost the top spot for the middle class (head north for a healthier one). Health care costs are unlikely to go down (regardless of Obama-care's implementation). The same goes with many other goods and services - education being the second worst...