How not to retire. A well-written but frightening tale

[Delawaredave5]

The guy's writing doesn't appeal to me - so it doesn't surprise me he couldn't make it as a freelance writer.

Sounds like he "followed his dreams" and had some great experiences in his 50's - more than he would have w*rking - so that was a great "reward" - and he gambled stable work for it - his choice - we just can't tell if it was a good choice.

We have no idea whether or not he was prepared for ER at 53 - he rambles about inflation, dilution of pension, escalation of medical costs, etc - but I didn't see anything about his savings/401K at retirement. We have no idea what % is pension was of his spending rate.

Maybe the intent of the article wasn't facts - instead the plight of the working poor - which is important - but I don't want read about it through his "upper crust" New Yorker Magazine style prose....

 

[Bestwifeever]

I usually (okay, almost always) have a cynical reaction to these kinds of stories but I do feel a little for this man for some reason. As always there are things missing from the article--just what is his income, sort of a big one.

I think I would retitle it "Why I Am Not Rich." He is not in the situation of the other men he mentions, the one begging on the corner and the addict in dire straits that he helped get Medicaid. He is a gifted writer and won a Pulitzer at the Post on his own merits, not as part of a group. He probably had contacts in publishing many writers would kill for. And his income, whatever it is, is probably equal to or more than lots of 81-year-olds.

He also probably never "retired" in his mind until he was broke: he says "As the last leave rolled on, the Post suggested I come back to work or, alternatively, the company would allow me to take an early retirement. I was fifty-three at the time. I chose retirement because I was under the illusion—perhaps delusion is the more accurate word—that I could make a living as a writer...." Making a living as a writer is not the same as being retired imho, and he did continue to make a living as a writer. He explored and wrote about eastern Europe after the fall if the Wall, for example.

 

[Totoro]

Agree that I really miss some numbers here. Guess it goes with our personalities.

Also, giving others control of your investment account and the authority to use margin

 

[travelover]

I think that he proved that you can be extremely articulate and a little nuts at the same time.

 

[robnplunder]

Also, giving others control of your investment account and the authority to use margin

He should have hired me. I could have done better. I've seen people around me who are reckless with their money, and wealth. I've seen the opposite who have money/wealth and can't let go of it for any worthy cause or even to spend it on themselves. I don't know which is worse.

 

[Chuckanut]

If you are living on someone else, as he is, you really ought to go where you don't necessarily want to go.

My brother was once approached in Vegas by a hooker he figured was 70 if a day. Still, there are some things a self respecting person might want to think hard about. Like shopping in Costco. That may be beyond the pale. Anyway, what use is 6 dozen eggs to a single man?

Ha

Good grief! You can buy as little as two dozen eggs at Costco. And if one has money problems, eggs make an excellent, low cost food. The cholesterol nonsense has been debunked.

 

[Meadbh]

Good grief! You can buy as little as two dozen eggs at Costco. And if one has money problems, eggs make an excellent, low cost food. The cholesterol nonsense has been debunked.

Very true! These free range eggs for yesterday's satisfying breakfast cost me about 30 cents each, the total cost of the meal was about $2, and I had no need of lunch.

 

[FIREd]

I happen to have a close relative in a similar situation. She's 70 years old, her income is around $15K a year, and she has almost nothing in savings. This is the result of a lifetime of bad financial decisions. Yet, despite the temptation for self-righteous finger-wagging, I take no pleasure to see her get socially isolated because she can't afford hearing aids or to see her suffer needlessly because she can't afford to go to the dentist. At some point, why she is in this situation is not really important anymore. What I can do to help her age with dignity is what matters.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think Ha's comment was partly tongue in cheek. But eggs do last pretty long in the fridge and can also be scrambled and frozen in make ahead breakfast burritos or scrambled in a breakfast hash with diced potatoes and onions, which I can buy for 20 cents a pound each.

Anyway I guess this gets back to the whole personality type and some being good with numbers and some not, maybe creative types more often on the not side, with some moving into the financially self destructive zone.

 

[haha]

The guy's writing doesn't appeal to me - so it doesn't surprise me he couldn't make it as a freelance writer.

...

Clearly.

McPherson's first novel, Testing the Current, was published in 1984 to wide acclaim. Russell Banks wrote in the New York Times Book Review, "William McPherson's first novel is an extraordinarily intelligent, powerful and, I believe, permanent contribution to the literature of family, childhood and memory."[4] The New York Times named Testing the Current one of 1984's "Notable Books of the Year."[5] McPherson's second novel, To the Sargasso Sea, explores the adult life of the first novel's child protagonist.[6] New York Review Books Classics republished Testing the Current in January, 2013.[7]
McPherson moved to Romania shortly after the execution of communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and spent most of the next seven years exploring and writing about Romania for Granta, the Wilson Quarterly, the Washington Post, and Slate. McPherson has also contributed to The New Republic, The Nation, The New Yorker, the International Herald Tribune, and Life, among other periodicals.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Articles on the best credits cards for people with poor credit scores and pay day loans probably pay more these days, with no travel costs.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Clearly.

I read about his two novels and actually thought they might appeal to many here.

 

[haha]

I have testing the current on hold now.

 

[Sunset]

Reading his story, it certainly gave me the impression he felt he deserved various lifestyle actions, even if his finances didn't agree.
That is why he is in trouble now, at tax-payer expense.
I have 2 relatives, both of whom inherited some $$$ , a small amount of 50K-150K, both over 4-6 yrs, blew this extra money on things, stuff they would not have bought had they not had this extra $$$, none of it necessary, and some extremely wasteful.
The most wasteful thing I know of is traveling to another city to go drinking at bars.
This behavior of spend-now, and hope something will turn up in the future is a real problem for some.

 

[tryan]

He as sharp as a tack to have written what he did ... I think there are many who would pay a fortune to have that at his age.

At some age it's more about health than money.

 

[Running_Man]

I note he gives no actual figures, I assume because facts would diminish the impact of his article by people who do well with quite a bit less, I am going to guess the pension is around 12,000 per year, it could be more and his Social Security is probably now at least 21 K per year for a total of 33K per year.

Of course his decision to live in the most expensive city in the US is another of a long string of bad financial decisions which he deflects responsibility for in a long stated expose of his stupidity framed as being a result of a need for his observations on the important changes on the world he is able to observe and put down on paper for the rest of us. Washington DC then a needed location for the advancement of the recognition of his writing along with his cherised Iphone and Macbook. Indeed I think he is proud of what he did, as he states " In my opinion, I didn’t squander the money, either; I just spent it a little too enthusiastically—not on Caribbean cruises but on exploring the aftermath of the fall of Communism in eastern Europe. I don’t regret it. "


He knows he has superior writing talent and the impression I get from the article and his spartan blog postings is that he feels this should be all he should have to do, humbled and all that he is of course by his lack of money. But what he craves is recognition and the story that I gave up all my money to write these important pieces is how he is trying to frame his Eulogy

 

[athena53]

The most wasteful thing I know of is traveling to another city to go drinking at bars.

To each his/her own! I'm not big on spending money drinking in bars but our travel budget is a huge priority. We've been careful, though- alternate splurge trips in one year with more modest trips the next and making careful use of frequent flyer and hotel miles/points.

I agree with you, though, that you need to spend with an eye to the future and clearly this guy didn't. DH and I have a pile of wonderful travel memories and the pictures to prove it, but we can still afford health insurance and dental implants. For that I'm grateful.

 

[Gumby]

We periodically see stories like Mr. McPherson’s. In fact, there was one on the front page of the paper today about a local “working poor” family of 5 who can’t make ends meet and are being foreclosed, notwithstanding that the husband has a $40k per year full-time job. My visceral reaction is usually to point out all the poor decisions they have made along the way – Why did McPherson live it up in Eastern Europe without an income and trade stocks on margin? Why did that family have 3 children in the first place? Why did they take a cash-out mortgage and go to Disneyworld? “Boy, that was stupid,” says the officious voice in my head. “Here’s what they should be doing.” Most of my unspoken suggestions involve making better decisions, working harder, and doing things that are necessary even if they are unpleasant and difficult. If only they would have done what I would have done in the circumstances, I tell myself, all would be well.

However, after reading Mr. McPherson’s story and having the same reaction I usually do, I started to wonder why it is that I should be so critical of people like this. And it occurs to me that it is a manifestation of my own fears. I like to be in control of my own destiny. I make plans and spreadsheets for all my investments. I rigorously track and analyze my spending. I run retirement calculators and read this board endlessly to glean new ideas that might nail down the last uncertainties, increase that margin for error and give me comfort. And yet, I know that Robbie Burns was right when he said

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!


And that knowledge scares me. The possibility that despite all my best laid plans, something will happen beyond my control – a catastrophic illness, embezzlement, market crash, fire, flooding, war, famine – and I will be cast into poverty and despair. So, I attribute the unfortunate lot of the people in these stories to some action or inaction on their part, to some defect or disability in their thinking, some lack of foresight or some weakness of purpose or determination. I tell myself that I would never do those things or have that problem, and I half convince myself that everything will be fine. But I am just whistling past the graveyard, and in doing so, I am ignoring the fact that these are real people with real problems, not all of them self-inflicted. They need my help, or at least my understanding, not my derision.

 

[nun]

The article annoyed me....and I'm a bleeding heart liberal. Mr. Mcpherson takes care to say that he isn't as poor as a lot of people and that he's made some very dumb decisions so it's hard for me to feel a lot of compassion for him when there are lots of hardworking people trying to raise families working multiple low wage jobs. Statements like

"In my opinion, I didn’t squander the money, either; I just spent it a little too enthusiastically—not on Caribbean cruises but on exploring the aftermath of the fall of Communism in eastern Europe. I don’t regret it."

Of course he regrets it....that's the whole premise of his article.

It amazes me that a presumably intelligent person can make such bad decisions.......oh and if my attempt at ER fails I take it all back

 

[Walt34]

We periodically see stories like Mr. McPherson’s. In fact, there was one on the front page of the paper today about a local “working poor” family of 5 who can’t make ends meet and are being foreclosed, notwithstanding that the husband has a $40k per year full-time job.

One of the more interesting neighbors I had at one time was a working psychologist, and we had a lot of interesting conversations over the backyard fence. Being ever-curious at the weird things I saw people do at work I had a seemingly endless supply of stories and questions to go with them.

At one point she asked "Has it ever occurred to you to just take off to the other side of the country to live there, no plans, except to just see what turns up?"

I said "No, of course not. That would be like putting my life in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean."

She said "Yes, and you might land on a nice warm beach."

"And I might also get smashed on the rocks. I will not leave that to chance."

She went on to say that huge numbers of people will do just that - head out, not knowing exactly, precisely, where they're going or what they're going to do when they get there, but convinced that "there" is better than "here".

To most on this board I would think that would be, to put it mildly, a strange thing to do. But apparently large numbers of people do exactly that.

 

[samclem]

I am ignoring the fact that these are real people with real problems, not all of them self-inflicted. They need my help, or at least my understanding, not my derision.

That's a noble outlook, and you are surely right in the strictest sense: That's what that one particular person needs (or wants), now that he/she is in that place.

But what does society need? Are we better served, and better off, with an increase in fatalism ("things just happen, there's nothing much I can do to prevent my own falling into that pit") or an increased feeling of personal responsibility for our fate? Based on what I see around me, I'd pick Door Number 2.

And, from an objective standpoint, when people "fail" like McPherson did and then they take community resources (that subsidized lodging is coming from somewhere . . .), it hurts everyone. It especially hurts those who are in the same pit but for reasons outside of their control, because fewer resources are available for them and because people who are paying the bill lose faith in the government programs that give resources to the needy.
I wish McPherson and those in his situation the best possible outcome.

General comment not related to Gumby's post:
Shame-- a lot has been said against it. But it has historically existed in every society, and before we cast it aside entirely we need to think hard about the ramifications.

 

[nun]

I agree with you, though, that you need to spend with an eye to the future and clearly this guy didn't. DH and I have a pile of wonderful travel memories and the pictures to prove it, but we can still afford health insurance and dental implants. For that I'm grateful.

Budgeting and cost control are what Mr. McPherson lacked.

I'm 8 months into ER (at age 53) and I've had to pay for an unexpected tooth crown and 2 trips to the UK. Thanks to building in contingencies and being able to control other spending I'm still under my budget, which is half of what my savings could actually support. If Mr McPherson had kept to a budget he wouldn't be writing such bitter little articles. The socialist and Christian in me says that society must take care of people no matter how they arrive at their present circumstances, the literary critic in me recoils from the self pity which is expressed and then denied.

The piece reminds me of the old Victoria notion of the "deserving poor", those that work hard and are poor through circumstances beyond their control and the "idle poor" and malingerers. The deserving poor are.....well.... deserving of our help the others are not. Is that the way to do things? Do we accept moral hazard when dealing with social services.

 

[Gumby]

That's a noble outlook, and you are surely right in the strictest sense: That's what that one particular person needs (or wants), now that he/she is in that place.

But what does society need? Are we better served, and better off, with an increase in fatalism ("things just happen, there's nothing much I can do to prevent my own falling into that pit") or an increased feeling of personal responsibility for our fate? Based on what I see around me, I'd pick Door Number 2.

And, from an objective standpoint, when people "fail" like McPherson did and then they take community resources (that subsided lodging is coming form somewhere . . .), it hurts everyone. It especially hurts those who are in the same pit but for reasons outside of their control, because fewer resources are available for them and because people who are paying the bill lose faith in the government programs that give resources to the needy.
I wish McPherson and those in his situation the best possible outcome.

Shame-- a lot has been said against it. But it exists in every culture, and before we cast it aside we need to think long and hard about the ramifications.

I would never argue against the idea that an increased sense of personal responsibility would greatly benefit society. There is no question that if the people in these stories followed my suggestions, they probably would not be in the hole in which they find themselves and they would have a better future. But I think it useful to acknowledge that my identification of their failings and suggestions for improvement is not driven solely by some objective desire to be helpful. It is, at least in part, a sort of exorcism of my own anxieties.

You're right that there is a societal cost to helping people out of a jam. But life is complicated; even people with a history of poor decisions can also be simply unfortunate. If we first insisted on ironclad proof that the situation was solely and unambiguously the result of factors beyond that person's control, we would never help anyone.

 

[samclem]

But I think it useful to acknowledge that my identification of their failings and suggestions for improvement is not driven solely by some objective desire to be useful. It is, at least in part, a sort of exorcism of my own anxieties.

As an aside, pilots do this all the time. If there's a crash, we rush to dissect it, and gather together those hints of poor judgement or less-than-stellar competence on the part of the pilot. At the end of this exercise all is well: "see, that bad outcome was entirely avoidable. I wouldn't make those mistakes!"
And, for good measure, we jump on anyone who openly opines as to the cause of the accident before the official report is issued. But--in private--we're all gathering info quickly to build our story and make the bad thoughts go away.

(Obviously, the above contains much unfair overgeneralization)

 

[thefinancebuff]

But what does society need? Are we better served, and better off, with an increase in fatalism ("things just happen, there's nothing much I can do to prevent my own falling into that pit") or an increased feeling of personal responsibility for our fate? Based on what I see around me, I'd pick Door Number 2.

And, from an objective standpoint, when people "fail" like McPherson did and then they take community resources (that subsidized lodging is coming from somewhere . . .), it hurts everyone. It especially hurts those who are in the same pit but for reasons outside of their control, because fewer resources are available for them and because people who are paying the bill lose faith in the government programs that give resources to the needy.

Absolutely agree.