50's = MakeorBreak

[mickeyd]

We are encouraged to save by our employers and a mind-numbing volume of ads from the financial services industry.

In spite of that, few people in their 20s save. Ditto for their 30s. Those are the years of acquisition – or paying off student loans.

Most people start to save in their 40s and, if they are smart, really get into it in their 50s. Although that may seem too late to make a major change, it's a good time to work on a smooth transition from working.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...s/2006/stories/080306dnbusburns2.3d5af91.html

It is my observation that if an individual has not established a pattern of regular saving/investing long before age 50, he will not suddenly become a regular investor at age 50 in order to achieve a "smooth transition".

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i mostly pretty much always saved, not so much because i was financially astute but more because i simply wasn't a spender and ya gotta put the money someplace.

earlier in life the only time i saved towards a goal was the purchase of my home. i lost what i saved in recovery from a bad construction accident. saved again. bought home. later i saved towards my first vertible. lost that what i saved to my wolfpuppy's operations. saved again. bought a vertible.

i never consciously saved towards retirement. it is only by chance and being cheap that i saved enough to retire before inheritance. but i have a friend who just turned 50 who has saved about $100k so far and is now awakening to her need to step up savings. she is hoping to retire by 60 and fortunately just discovered a really good profit sharing plan (with an excellent company) in which she participates but didn't know it. i think she'll make it by 60, or certainly she will be in very good shape at 65. her mom is 85 and still in good shape so i think my friend will do well even though she's only getting serious now.

 

[VoyT]

I probably agree with him about folks in their early to mid-20s. Juggling student loans, car payments and having fun is probably upper most.

From what I've seen though, folks in their late 20s to early 30s start to get a lot more interested in savings -- usually about the time they get married and/or get interested in buying a house.

 

[Mwsinron]

No one bothered to plop down the study of people who in their 50's suffer some kind of major setback.... Divorce,major illness,layoff etc.