The Retirement Nightmare: Half of Americans Have Less Than $2,000 Banked for Their Golden Years

This is staggering..The next 15 years in this country are going to be extraordinarily rough, as an entire generation retires, and those whom they rely upon are going to have to figure out what to do to care for them..

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"One out of three working Americans does not have retirement savings beyond Social Security, and about 35% of those over 65 rely almost totally on Social Security alone," Dallas Salisbury, president of the Alliance for Investor Education and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) , explained to AlterNet. "Of the remaining two-thirds of working Americans that have some retirement savings, 27 percent report less than $1,000, 16 percent between $1,000 and $9,999, 11 percent between $10,000 and $24,999, 12 percent between $25,000-$49,999, and 36 percent $50,000 or more." Perhaps the most shocking number is that half of Americans have $2,000 or less saved for retirement.

Here's my view on this, I have been working since i was 15 and have paid national insurance contributions for my state pension, Which i can claim when i am 67 years of age (I Am only 45), I have invested in property and Will not see it "seized" to cover any long term injuries (stroke, heart problems), That's why i pay national insurance. I will sell all pensions and plank the money somewhere safe, If i am asked by social services what i did with my money i will tell them i am an alcoholic gambler. ( go to your nearest Betting shop and grab a sackful of racing dockets) this will help prove you are an addict,

This is my theory on how to "beat the man". As an old adage states, "get even die in debt" Just my Tired old two bobs worth. .

Given the level of risky investment policies adhered to by many (even state) pension treasurers, pray that the soundness of the pension is in tact when you're 67, or 72 if certain lawmakers have their way.

And don't forget, dying in debt can, in many cases, simply burden surviving family members.

People dont save anymore. I dont get it.

Set a goal and shape your budget to meet that goal. If you want to buy some toys then realize that purchase is going to alter the path to your goal and either forgo the toys or accept the adjusted goal/path.

It's not rocket science.

People are morons and instead of being allowed to starve to death for being a moron people are held up with artificial programs and excuses which just enables their bad habits to continue.

It used to be that making it through life took a certain amount of concentration. You at least had to show-up. Now nobody has to show-up. You can make it through just fine laying face down on the carpet for 70 years and somebody will come by and coddle your worthless ass.

Thanks for the reply Markus, But as i am lead to believe i can sell my two private pensions when i am 55yrs old, Get a reverse mortgage on my property and find a way to "gift it " to my nearest and dearest, thus hopefully completing a "Jewish insolvency" and living off the state, Its just a theory that keeps me fighting against the Man..

And they didn't save when times were good. I can't image how the figures are going to look when the ~20 year olds get to retirement age. That age group is probably less responsible than the baby boomers. And by retirement age what will our national debt look like? Yeah we're screwed...

[edit on 23-7-2010 by ghaleon12]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

Ahh but, TGRT,

"People are morons and instead of being allowed to starve to death for being a moron people are held up "

" A hungry eye sees far " my friend..

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
People dont save anymore. I dont get it.

This is precisely right. No one really saves anymore, and the bulk of families spend every penny from pay period to pay period.

We buy lots of things we don't need. We've forgotten how to live simply.

There are many reasons for this.

Personally, I look to our culture and the things which influence us, because as organisms, humans are very easily influenced and led.

Not to sound too clichéd, but if pop culture embraced the idea of being frugal, and not "bling" and all the CRAP that goes along with that type of lifestyle, it could and would make a difference.

Essentially, during our years of "prosperity" in this country, our engineered entertainment has been DESIGNED to make us into nonstop, always spending, consumers.

The power of popculture over this attitude is real.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Hi,

Having just retired I totally agree. One of my (few) maxims to by kids was that if they have some spare money; Spend some (on paying bills or paying off credit cards), save some and enjoy some (holidays or toys).

As you said it's not rocket science! But recently I've been amazed by people living well beyond their means - they know they are seriously in debt (overdrafts, credit cards, loans) and yet insist on luxuries (expensive holidays, new cars...)

It would appear many will leave debts to their kids rather than work the other way and try and leave some sort of inheritance... Just pure greed and selfishness.

Peace!

reply to post by MarkusMaximus

Well i am quite "frugal" with my money, I don't even own a car i cycle everywhere including to and from work, I am lucky to have headed advise from my elders and take early retirement at the first opportunity,
What i do not want is the government bleeding me dry because i worked all my life..
As for use baby boomers don't worry we are all looking to "rest up" in the next ten years or so, So there will be plenty of work to go around for the yous younger generation IMO..

damn double posts

[edit on 23-7-2010 by thisguyrighthere]

Originally posted by MarkusMaximus

The power of popculture over this attitude is real.

It is and it's a shame. Further evidence of a complete inability to think.

They would rather follow some superficial ideal or keep up with the proverbial 'Joneses' than feed themselves and take care of their children.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is indicative of some sort of evolutionary trait. As in the missing link walks among us. Sub-cognitive. Largely unaware. Like some chimp passing up food and water for nicotine. And is this rift within the species growing or shrinking?

Racial divide gave way to economic divide and eventually we will be split by a "stupidity" divide. Unfortunately under this current system that body, no doubt being larger than the other body, will wield control of the nation.

They wouldnt even be useful slaves due to their inability to perform or understand tasks more complex than watching television.

reply to post by ghaleon12

And they didn't save when times were good. I can't image how the figures are going to look when the ~20 year olds get to retirement age. That age group is probably less responsible than the baby boomers. And by retirement age what will our national debt look like? Yeah we're screwed...

I humbly beg to differ. Though I can just barely still cling to calling myself a "20 something";
myself, and quite a few more in my age group (as well as the group older than mine) have indeed been saving for retirement.

We just havent been saving dollars......

reply to post by MarkusMaximus


It's the same here in the UK, half of the population have less than £500 in savings or absolutely nothing at all

I used to be a saver, but not anymore !!!!

Savers in this country have been taken for complete mugs by the banks and NO WAY am I going back to lining their greedy lil' pockets

As they say, " if you can't beat em, join em !! " and seems to me the people that are living life for the " now " are probably actually the savvy ones, cos in retirement it looks as if they end up in a better financial position than the poor bug*ars that have skimped n saved all their lives !!


Naw, get it spent !!

Well, a good chunk of the reason is that we've allowed parasites (central bankers) to steal our time and energy over the years. Because the system is a ponzi-scheme in itself, the larger power-entities have learned to play this game, creating more ponzi-schemes and making it even harder for the average person to save.

So, we have a system gone corrupted from the top, and the psychopathic-values have made their way through the hierarchical power structure, until average, everyday people are left with either adapting this bs or going hungry.

Yeah, there's next to no savings in most people's accounts. It seems a lot of it has to do with the last few years as times have gone from rough, to severe.

Ultimately, it is the people's continued ignorance which has allowed this mess to continue on for so long, but still.. half the people are of below average intelligence. We're being attacked on so many levels, it's difficult for all but the brightest of us to figure out what's going on.

Originally posted by unityemissions
Yeah, there's next to no savings in most people's accounts. It seems a lot of it has to do with the last few years as times have gone from rough, to severe.

I see what you're saying, but I get the general feeling that it's not a "bleeding off" of peoples' savings that's occured...

It's that for the last generation, a time of unprecedented prosperity, for the most part people haven't been saving at all.

Originally posted by MarkusMaximus

It's that for the last generation, a time of unprecedented prosperity, for the most part people haven't been saving at all.

Wasnt much of that prosperity false? Riding off of the back of inflated values and loose lenders?

If that's the case then despite the prosperity most still had nothing in hand to save. The debt they carried against the inflated value of the homes they couldnt afford was what created the perceived prosperity.

I would say we havent had any real in the black type prosperity for decades now. Even the fabled Clinton surplus wasnt a completely in the black surplus. It was just poor/good (depending on how you look at it) debt management.

2,000 bucks? where they get money like that? some just live on easy street.
more of us will die in debt..serf city here we come..
AUSTERITY = PROSPERITY!
freedom is on the march..we have money to blow the crap out of some raggedy
tribesmen..money for an NSA HQ with 6,300,000 sq ft of space and 112 acres of parking
we can put missiles and military bases all over the planet.
but meanwhile the country they are supposed to be fighting for goes belly up..
DER HOMELAND UBER ALLES!



[edit on 23-7-2010 by p51mustang]

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

Originally posted by MarkusMaximus

It's that for the last generation, a time of unprecedented prosperity, for the most part people haven't been saving at all.

Wasnt much of that prosperity false? Riding off of the back of inflated values and loose lenders?

If that's the case then despite the prosperity most still had nothing in hand to save. The debt they carried against the inflated value of the homes they couldnt afford was what created the perceived prosperity.

I would say we havent had any real in the black type prosperity for decades now. Even the fabled Clinton surplus wasnt a completely in the black surplus. It was just poor/good (depending on how you look at it) debt management.

Yes, but that's what "modern economic theory" IS. Perceived value of "individual credits (currencies)."

And because they have a perceived value, they allow for prosperity.

All that to say: We've lived in a prolonged period of "prosperity," - a time of surplus goods, excessive convenience, etc - all because of the temporary mastery of a particuly economic theory.

And during this time of lack of want, we've been transformed into people who needlessly and constantly consume goods. When the economy takes a dive, what does the President (Dem and Rep) come out and say? "It's your patriotic American duty to spend."

During WWII, when society realized the necessity for Americans to suddenly become frugal and thrifty, that was the message fed to us by our government and by its propaganda arm: Hollywood (popculture). Their message to us changed as the perceived prosperity brought by global domination settled upon us.

Basically, we haven't felt that saving was necessary, because "how could this gravy train ever come to an end?"

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Agreed. I'm not sure if we're talking globally, or just in the U.S. In the U.S., our time of prosperity was from roughly the end of wwII until about the end of the 70's. We came off the gold standard in what '71 or '73 ?? then we started forcing other countries to buy our debt and trade certain commodities in USD. We hijacked the rest of the world and continued our "prosperity" by crapping on other countries. Not only this, credit cards became popular, and people adapted the psychopathic/idiotic value of paying in the future and looking out for ones short-term interest. It's some sort of mass hysteria that kept this game going as long as it did. It's all been a bunch of bs. Burn it all to hell !!