Your Retirement: It’s Not Happening |
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Not sure if you heard, but Americans aren't prepared for retirement.
They don't know how much money they'll need; their confidence in
their ability to afford a comfortable retirement is at historically low
levels; they don't contribute to a retirement plan, or they don't
contribute enough; they mistakenly believe they'll be able to afford
retirement on Social Security alone. You get the idea.Just about every week another survey comes out saying as much. One of the latest says nearly half of American's aren't contributing to a retirement plan. Keep in mind that many of these surveys are released by money managers who want a cut of your retirement savings. Nevertheless, here are just a few recent (and mostly scary) examples:
T. Rowe Price (April 16)
-Most investors (69%) between the ages of 21—50 plan to work either part-time or full-time during their retirement years.
-Among those who plan to work at least part-time, most (75%) will do so because they want to stay active and involved; only 23% believe they will do so because they will not have saved enough money.
LIMRA (April 24)
- 49% of Americans said they weren't contributing to any retirement plan; Americans ages 18-34 were more likely (56%) to be among those not saving.
-The survey found that only a quarter of all Americans and less than a third of Americans over age 50 worked with a financial professional to plan for retirement.
Fidelity Investments (May 1)
-Average balances of 401(k) retirement plans were about 62% higher as of March 31 than the first quarter of 2009, when the stock market reached a 12-year low.
-Strong stock market performance accounted for about 80% of the average $5,500 increase in the first quarter of 2012, compared with the prior quarter, while the remaining 20% was from employer and worker contributions, the firm said.
BlackRock (May 3)
-There's a marked gap between today's and tomorrow's retirees. How current retirees are actually living outstrips what today's workers are expecting.
-64% of current retirees strongly agree that their financial situation allows having a choice not to work anymore, while just 37% of workers expect their finances will allow the choice not to work, according to the survey. -One-quarter of today's workers — compared with 51% of retirees — are confident about having enough money to live comfortably in retirement.
Charles Schwab (May 7)
-Employers and their employees hold different perspectives on how to best achieve retirement readiness through 401(k) plans; most workers are unengaged and financially unprepared for retirement.
-More than half (54%) of employers report that employees participating in plans are not taking full advantage of the investment options, features and services offered in their 401(k) plan.
-A separate survey of 401(k) participants found that more than half (52%) say they don't have the time, interest or knowledge to properly manage their 401(k) portfolio.
Fidelity Investments (May 9)
-Health expenses for a retired couple climbed 4% from last year to $240,000.
-The estimate assumes that a couple retires when both spouses are 65 years old and that they qualify for Medicare but have no retiree-health coverage through an employer. It uses life expectancies of 17 years for men and 20 years for women.
-Nearly three-quarters (73%) spend less than eight hours per year managing their 401(k) plan account.
Some other (somewhat contradictory?) findings:
-A majority (61%) have calculated the savings they believe they will need for retirement. Among this group, 84% were confident that their savings would last.
-Respondents reported on average that they feel they need to bridge an eight-fold gap between how much they have saved and how much they calculated they would need in retirement.
By the way, these same headlines have been splashed across financial news sites (this one as well, most likely) year in, year out — perhaps with different numbers, but a similar conclusion: that Americans are financially ill-prepared for retirement.
We all know the reasons: the financial crisis of 2008 took a big bite out of many a retirement portfolio; people are living longer and need pricier medical care. And then there are the people who don't earn enough to sock a bit of that away for their golden years.
Are these surveys screaming at the wrong people? Meaning, are the people who read about these surveys already well-informed about saving and investing for retirement, and likely well on their way. Or is a fundamental behavioral or policy change needed to address the issue? Perhaps workers are just not saving and investing the right way. Maybe, as some experts have noted, the 401(k) isn't the most effective retirement-saving vehicle. end quote from word button at top.
However, it is important to note that my life went completely different from anything in this article.
First, I put people rather than money first in my life. So, for example in my 20s if a friend was threatening suicide, quitting my job and staying with them until they were out of danger was an option for me in the way I decided to live my life.
Second, being an alternative kind of person I wasn't interested in ever having a house with a mortgage. So, as a contractor I saved money and eventually bought property with it and built a house with my friends. This saved between 90% to 150% of what a mortgage would have cost. By doing this it freed my family and I to actually live a live worth living for about 5 years while my kids were 5 to 12 years of age and to live in an idyllic place a wilderness lifestyle that my wife and I had always dreamed of.
So, by always putting people first and all the good karma that brought into my life and living remotely which because it was incredibly beautiful and inspiring in every way brought multiple forms of enlightenment and beauty into my life and my family's life as well. This led to traveling to other countries etc. So, if you are both kind and intelligent in all your thoughts and actions things might get difficult at times but ongoing they just seem to get better and better. This is my experience of life. So, it is less really about how you deal with money and more about your motivation about everything in your life. So, by helping yourself and all others you naturally become one of the richest people on earth in every way. I hope this point of view is helpful.
Also, I expected to work until I died. However, when I almost died at age 50 I happened to be in a situation where I actually could retire. I was very surprised actually. However, I had been praying for the "Leisure to Practice"(time to contemplate, pray and write and to find ways to help all life in the universe) which retirement actually brought into my life. So, at 50 my prayer manifested. However, I thought then that likely I would die by 65 because I was getting bronchitis about 2 to 5 times a year and thought I would likely die by pneumonia like my Brother-in-law did in Seattle at age 60. But, luckily, my physical trainer who is from Germany was trained there as a physician's assistant and even though she cannot legally practice here in the U.S. she still knows a thing or two. So, when I described my symptoms she said, "I think you are hypothyroid like me. You have all my symptoms and you need to go to a doctor and take a t3 and then a t4 blood test". Sure enough, she was right and then I started taking Armour Thyroid which has no side effects at all other than making my mind feel like I did at age 20 or so which is wonderful. However, I'm still now in my early 60s. But now, instead of dying at 60 or 65 I now have the potential opportunity to live into my 80s or 90s because of getting diagnosed as a hypothyroid sufferer which basically just means my thyroid glands no longer make enough thyroid to keep all my hormones in balance. So, likely I would have died by 60 or 65 without it being diagnosed when I was 58. This completely changed my life for the better. I was grateful that God had given me my health back at age 58. The only snag was when the U.S. Government didn't want to authorize Armour Thyroid because it was natural and actually saved people's lives. So now, I have to buy my Armour Thyroid from Canada. But where there's a will there's a way!
So now, instead of dying at 50 and then worrying about dying at 60 or 65 I'm still amazingly healthy still at age 64 and I have now been retired since I was 50 and have traveled to Europe twice and Hawaii three times and Canada about the same as Hawaii and 2 months ago for both my daughters birthdays I went to Mt. Hood Skiing at Timberline Lodge which was amazing with 2 of my 3 kids and one of my daughters' boyfriends. Actually my daughter and her boyfriend snowboarded but my son and I skied. So, when you pray to God for years for what you really want, often it manifests! Also, it helps to constantly be praying for and helping everyone you know or become aware of as well.
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