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Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 11:08 AM   #1
 
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Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Interesting article from an ER skeptic. Apparently the $1M or bust idea is hard to kill:

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/stor...7}&siteid=mktw

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Sorry, only millionaires can retire

By Paul B. Farrell, CBS.MarketWatch.com

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Hey boomers, if you're close to retirement run to Wal-Mart now and put in your application. And if you still have time before retirement, be forewarned. Keep that application handy.

Why? Because you have no choice but to work right up to the day the kids put you in long-term care or a mausoleum.

Seriously: Professional financial planners tell us we need a million bucks to retire today, multimillions in the near future. Unfortunately, the average American has a paltry net worth of $15,000 exclusive of home equity.

And things are going from bad to worse. A few years ago I ran across a study by the American Savings Council and the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Was anybody saving for retirement? Not many: Only 35 percent were 'Planners,' folks saving enough to retire comfortably.

The rest? Bad news: 13 percent were 'Deniers,' saving nothing; 15 percent were 'Impulsives,' consumers who save if there's anything left over after they buy that hot new toy; 20 percent were 'Strugglers,' who don't trust the market so they won't save much; and 18 percent were in the 'Cautious' category who know they're grossly unprepared.

Get it? Two out of three Americans had some kind of lame excuse for not planning their retirement: "I'm cautious, I'm struggling, I'm too impulsive, I'm in denial and can't save." Excuses, excuses, excuses. No wonder America's savings rate dropped from eight percent just 20 years ago to one percent today....(more) "



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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 11:31 AM   #2
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Part of the articles says:

"Nothing saved equals nothing invested equals nothing for retirement. A little saved equals a little earned equals a little for retirement. A lot saved equals a lot earned equals a lot for retirement. How much simpler can it get?

That's the solution to all your retirement problems. No excuses. You have absolute control. Don't tell me about the rocketing health-care costs. I know that. I know all about inflation in living costs, getting kids through college, the rent, rising interest rates, the war on terror, greedy lobbyists, wacko Federal deficits. We're all in the same boat.

Folks, we all have a ton of excuses. So stop kidding yourself. And stop expecting to find answers outside yourself. The government is not going to take care of you.

You're not a victim. You must save more. So either get into action and do something now ... or go get that application from Wal-Mart. But please stop whining."

I am sorry, but anytime I hear someone tell people to stop whining I get pissed off. It isn't helpful advice, especially if you are making $7.00 an hour, supporting a couple of kids, and just trying to make ends meet. We aren't all in the same boat.

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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 11:47 AM   #3
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

unless you want to be a manager, wal-mart isn't a career, its a transition job, so unless you're a student, a housewife, a farmer, school bus driver, a retiree for your primary occupation and use wal-mart as a second, or need something to hold you over between jobs, it's just not going to work. who else is going to hire someone thats 65 and wants to water plants for 5 hours 3 mornings a week, or someone in a wheelchair, or someone with epilepsy, or someone with brain damage from a car accident, or a housewife to fold clothes from 8am-2pm while the kids are at school? we have all those special situations and more at my store, and they don't whine, they're happy for their job. the people that whine are the people who are healthy and could work somewhere else and make significantly more, but it would mean more unpleasant work, so they just don't. So seeing it first hand, the way i basically feel about it is if someone is in good general health and/or maybe have a skill, they ARE capable of doing something different and they NEED to go get a better paying job, end of story.
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 03:49 PM   #4
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Well, maybe this is how the social security problem gets solved. If no one is able to retire, they will keep working and paying into FICA. I've been wondering who was going to pay my social security benefits.
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 03:57 PM   #5
 
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Quote:
Well, maybe this is how the social security problem gets solved. *If no one is able to retire, they will keep working and paying into FICA. *I've been wondering who was going to pay my social security benefits. *
Yup ! - I've brought this up before in similar threads. That coupled with increased immigration should hold us over until 2040 or so!

I also believe that a lot of these folks will collapse at their desks and never be able to collect a dime!
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 04:22 PM   #6
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Quote:
Well, maybe this is how the social security problem gets solved. *If no one is able to retire, they will keep working and paying into FICA. *I've been wondering who was going to pay my social security benefits. *
SalaryGuru,
This is the funniest thing I've read on these boards in a long time, which is saying something. *(Cut-Throat, I guess I missed your earlier threads on this). *I feel a lot better, actually lighthearted, thinking that *the looming Social Security debacle might just be solved in this lateral-left-field kinda way. * Seriously, it makes so much sense -- if 'nobody' has saved enough to retire, they'll be collecting benefits on schedule, but they'll also be working, and paying into the system in much bigger numbers than previously thought. *I feel like writing my friends at the Congressional Budget Office -- tell them to take the rest of the year off!

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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 04:28 PM   #7
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Quote:
Part of the articles says:

"I am sorry, but anytime I hear someone tell people to stop whining I get pissed off. *It isn't helpful advice, especially if you are making $7.00 an hour, supporting a couple of kids, and just trying to make ends meet. *We aren't all in the same boat. *

martha,
I know how you feel, but in this case I do think Americans (though probably very few on this board!) need some straight talk about self-restraint and retirement savings, or else they need to plan a life based around 100% social security funded retirement. *I can't see any other way out of it. *(Unless of course they simply don't retire or they semi-retire at 70 and keep working part-time.)

I think these columnists are paid to be abrasive, though-- so I just try to look past that part and say, 'does he have a point?' In this case, I think he does, for the boomer generation, those living well, spending freely and very far from earning $7.00 an hour. *Paradoxically, the ones at the bottom of the ladder now will probably not be as challenged adjusting to retirement on SS, as the SS system is pretty progressive about providing a base level for everyone even if they didn't pay that much in each year. That base level is probably pretty close to their current standard of living, and thus not a huge setback. It's the freespending boomer who needs and deserves the 'eat your vegetables, they're good for you!" wakeup call.

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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 07:19 PM   #8
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Quote:
Well, maybe this is how the social security problem gets solved. If no one is able to retire, they will keep working and paying into FICA. I've been wondering who was going to pay my social security benefits.
I know it's being very self centered but except for my closest friends and immediate family, I have stopped talking about ER because I need people to continue paying into the SS treasury for that very reason. Luckily for us , most people cannot image retiring before their mid sixties so they don't plan early enough for a reasonable nest egg. This means they probably won't be able to retire even after 65.

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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 07:35 PM   #9
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Unfortunatly, there are some people that just can't make enough to pay for any more then the bare essentials, and that's the way they will have to live until they die. I never want to kick these people because sometimes they are in this situation even though they are really doing the best they can with what they have.

What I have no respect for are the majority of Americans who can do better for themselves but choose not to and then complain about it. We all know them and we've all heard their whining. When I see them maxing out their credit cards and paying the minimum each month, smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, drinking a 6 pack as soon as they cash in their paychecks and buying scratch tickets with any leftover money and then hearing them complain about not having any money, I have absolutely no sympathy for them.

Maybe they can't save $3,000 in a Roth IRA each year, and maybe they can't even save $2,000. But can they save $20, or at least $10, or even $5 a week? Of course they can, but they don't. Can they get a second job and sacrifice a little? Of course they can. Instead, they choose to give you a hundred reasons why they can't save when they only need one reason why they can and should.
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Paul Farrell's on retirement jihad.
Old 11-11-2004, 08:00 PM   #10
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Paul Farrell's on retirement jihad.

Which is pretty ironic, considering that he's shown no aptitude for retirement himself. Maybe that abrasive attitude is self-flagellation?
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire
Old 11-11-2004, 10:27 PM   #11
 
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Re: Sorry, only millionaires can retire

Folks, folks...............it takes a lot of resources to
ER (money power/brain power/willpower). Most people
just don't have it. Some very thoughtful posts on this
thread, but the bottom line is that your fellow citizens are lacking one or more of the necessary ingredients.
Thus, celebrate your uniqueness and weep not for
those left to "die at their desks" as Cut-Throat so
prettily puts it. They truly do not "get it" .

John Galt
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