another gloomy retirement article

[timo2]

More of what I call 'retirement porn'.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...-financial-insecurity/?utm_term=.a9edcf042003

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

More of what I call 'retirement porn'.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...-financial-insecurity/?utm_term=.a9edcf042003

I read about 2 sentences and realized that this is a story that has been repeated over and over and over and over.

Edit...and the political slant of the article is well...that can't be discussed here.

 

[ls99]

Please hold until I get the world's smallest violin to play the saddest tune.

 

[Major Tom]

I like the photo at the head of the article, especially the way the photographer has used the color temperature to contrast the blue of the outside with the warmer inside lighting.

Oh, this is an article about older folk who are struggling to make ends meet! Sorry - I was waylaid by the cool photo! A brief synopsis of the article accompanied, perhaps, by your own opinions, would have been nice. I only scan-read the article and looked at the photos, but haven't there always been a significant number of people who struggled to get by in old age? I'm guessing the problem was even worse before the introduction of SS, Medicare, and various other related benefits.

I'm not without sympathy for folks who are struggling in their senior years - not at all, but this doesn't seem like news to me, though there was an extra angle added, of the view that increasingly, people lower down the financial "ladder" are being left behind. I do like the header photo though, and the one of the couple in the laundromat. That's a classic wide-angle photojournalism perspective, taken from close-up.

My main take-away from this article was something we all know here - that life can be tough if you're not financially literate.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I read about 2 sentences and realized that this is a story that has been repeated over and over and over and over.

Edit...and the political slant of the article is well...that can't be discussed here.

Agreed....I quit reading when I got to this:

Fundamental changes in the U.S. retirement system have shifted responsibility for saving from the employer to the worker

like this is a bad thing. Being responsible for ourselves? Unheard of!

 

[timo2]

Oh, this is an article about older folk who are struggling to make ends meet! Sorry - I was waylaid by the cool photo! A brief synopsis of the article accompanied, perhaps, by your own opinions, would have been nice.

Sorry about forgetting a synopsis, I like it when people include that also. I am flabbergasted that this same type story keeps getting rehashed every so often. And these type stories are just going to keep coming and coming, as the boomers (I'm one) age out.

This type of thing is one reason DW and I don't like saying we are retired.

 

[Bir48die]

Read some of the online comments. Very telling.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Read some of the online comments. Very telling.

OH NO!!! That is a TERRIBLE idea!

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Wow, I got the headline, then I got "keep reading for a $1".

I'll take the above posters word for it, its an article I could live without spending a buck.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I thought it was sad.

 

[Freedom56]

This is a free country. People have a right to live beyond they means and not save anything for retirement. That was their choice. Those that lived responsibly and saved for a comfortable retirement should not feel any sympathy for them. Sure there are cases where some have health issues early in life that prevent them from working and saving. However, the vast majority are living well beyond their means. Just look at the cars that some people drive and the clothes they wear. If they want to spend money on image rather than a safety net, that is their choice. They don't deserve sympathy as they approach retirement age.

 

[timo2]

I thought it was sad.

It is sad. IIRC from past threads, this site is populated primarily by INTJ/INTP folks (including me) who by definition have difficulty with empathy, especially when most of us have planned and planned and planned to ensure funding in old age.

 

[Nemo2]

Wow, I got the headline, then I got "keep reading for a $1".

I'll take the above posters word for it, its an article I could live without spending a buck.

+1

 

[ownyourfuture]

Paragraph 5
"And at a time when 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, Social Security benefits have lost about a third of their purchasing power since 2000"

Yet every month, a certain entity tells us there's no inflation. LOL

As for the rest of the article, I can't comment any further because I would get too
P _ _ _ T _ _ _ L

 

[ownyourfuture]

This is a free country. People have a right to live beyond they means and not save anything for retirement. That was their choice. Those that lived responsibly and saved for a comfortable retirement should not feel any sympathy for them. Sure there are cases where some have health issues early in life that prevent them from working and saving. However, the vast majority are living well beyond their means. Just look at the cars that some people drive and the clothes they wear. If they want to spend money on image rather than a safety net, that is their choice. They don't deserve sympathy as they approach retirement age.

Well done Freedom!

 

[Teacher Terry]

I guess I didn't realize that many on this site lack empathy. I had good friends that even with health insurance died broke. That was because she had 8 bouts with cancer and he had 4. They sold everything before dying and paid off all their debt. Most of their $ was gone by then from all the medical bills left after insurance paid. She ended up in a nursing home and after a year on Medicaid until she died. Not exactly golden years.

 

[Curmudgeon]

As for the rest of the article, I can't comment any further because I would get too
P _ _ _ T _ _ _ L

plentiful? piratical? polytonal? practical?

As others have noted, we've heard this story many times over. My question is, what will it mean? As more and more boomers reach retirement age, without the means to retire, what happens?
If they all stay working, will there be enough jobs for the next generation?
If they don't earn enough to support themselves, or become too ill/feeble to support themselves, who will support them; where will the money come from? More government borrowing? Higher taxes? Reduced benefits for (or increased taxes on) those that don't need much extra for retirement, because they were foolish enough to save up a nest egg over the course of their working years?

 

[foxfirev5]

Without reading the article I felt sorry for the people described. However after taking the time to read the link I'm not so sympathetic. From my life experience they made their decisions, worked at their own business, lifestyle choices etc. Give me a break.

Like many here I endured an endless amount of BS in the corporate world for 36 years. Sucked it up and moved on while the kids were young, keeping a job was of paramount importance. While we took vacations it was always on a budget. It's still a game we play to see who can get the best hotels at the best rates. If I decided to go full time RVing like the article's subjects I would expect HIGHER not lower expenses.

And I've been at a laundromat more than once in the last year.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Older people that I know without a lot of $ have moved into senior housing and they pay 30% of their income for rent. They don't have cars, take vacations or go out much. The apartment complex has a lot of free events. They also have a group that plays cards regularly, etc. That sounds better to me then living in an RV and scrubbing toilets. Luckily we won't be in either group unless something catastrophic happens.

 

[Teacher Terry]

2 years ago we met some retirees that lived in their RV's and they had lower expenses because they would spend 6 months in one location and rent by the month. They would go places where they did not need either air or heat depending on the season. The people we met were pretty happy with the lifestyle and were not working. They had sold their homes.

 

[ownyourfuture]

I guess I didn't realize that many on this site lack empathy. I had good friends that even with health insurance died broke. That was because she had 8 bouts with cancer and he had 4. They sold everything before dying and paid off all their debt. Most of their $ was gone by then from all the medical bills left after insurance paid. She ended up in a nursing home and after a year on Medicaid until she died. Not exactly golden years.

I 'do not' lack empathy. I've also known people who died broke through no fault of their own. I feel as bad for those people as anyone else. But I've also known/seen many people who simply live way above their means, & realize far too late that they have, or will have nothing.

Those are the ones I have very little empathy for.

 

[Amethyst]

TT, I had the same thought. Now I know we can't always know or understand the course any particular person's life has taken, and yet, lots of people do get those "senior" apartments and "senior" benefits.

So I'd be interested in an article on why some, who could take advantage of benefits for low-income old people, seemingly choose a far harder path. Some misguided notion of "independence," perhaps? I'd consider a subsidized apartment, where I can do what I darned please all day, to grant me far more independence than a nomad's existence, bouncing from one horrible job to another.

Older people that I know without a lot of $ have moved into senior housing and they pay 30% of their income for rent. They don't have cars, take vacations or go out much. The apartment complex has a lot of free events. They also have a group that plays cards regularly, etc. That sounds better to me then living in an RV and scrubbing toilets.

 

[Amethyst]

Allow me to quibble I would have thought retirement porn would show old people who spend all their time living it up in places that look like those all-inclusive Caribbean resorts...not cleaning restrooms to keep food on the table

More of what I call 'retirement porn'.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...-financial-insecurity/?utm_term=.a9edcf042003

 

[foxfirev5]

2 years ago we met some retirees that lived in their RV's and they had lower expenses because they would spend 6 months in one location and rent by the month. They would go places where they did not need either air or heat depending on the season. The people we met were pretty happy with the lifestyle and were not working. They had sold their homes.

A very short term solution for retirees. Hopefully they set aside the proceeds from the sale of their home. If invested they may have enough for an exit plan when full time RVing is no longer feasible. I doubt this is the case.

 

[marko]

"The poor will always be with us"