The Sky is Not Falling!

[MBAustin]

Saw this article in this month's Kiplinger's

Kiplinger - Interstitial

A brief excerpt:
"The Success of the U.S. Retirement System," a recent report by the Investment Company Institute, makes the case that the good old days of retirement are overrated and that current retirees, so far, are doing just fine. Today's retirees have more than two and a half times the retirement assets (inflation adjusted) of retirees some 30 years ago, according to the report.

I haven't read the full report from the Investment Company Institute (ICI), but it is available at http://www.ici.org/pdf/ppr_12_success_retirement.pdf
(It's about 50 pages with lots of graphs and charts)

I'm not familiar with ICI but their website indicates they are focused on promoting investments and ethical behavior of investment firms.

Thought this might be of interest to some here.

[Animorph]

30 years ago 70 seemed REALLY old. We have to plan for longer retirements, and typically without pension guarantees.

[Accidental Retiree]

FIL retired at 61 with no pension but with a house paid off. In southern California.

MIL also retired at 61. He did not have LTC insurance, but MIL did, which is just as well, as my dear late MIL developed Alzheimer's and died at 79. Her small pension died with her.

FIL is now approaching 85.

He makes less than $30,000/year (probably closer to 28k) and is never really short of money. I know how much he has in his investments, and it is waaaaaayyyy less than DH and I have.

Even in costly California, sometimes I think we worry too much.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animorph 30 years ago 70 seemed REALLY old. We have to plan for longer retirements, and typically without pension guarantees.

I wonder if the report is gliding over that part concerning pensions. I imagine many a person could have retired back then with hardly a penny in the bank, as a pension/ SS combo check would have more than filled the need for money. Also, I imagine most people were not worried about healthcare costs too much then.