quotes like this drive me nuts

[Marquette]

...well...go ahead and make your own joke.

You're right, that does sound Looney!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Dang...I just lost a dollar bet that nobody was gonna go there...

My bet is that he made the comment about saving for 40 years and it still wasnt enough as some part of a statement about the costs of retirement and in particular the health care issue. AARP has been pushing hard for medicare reform and a nationalized health care program.

 

[Marquette]

What's 10% of diddli?

Dad put 20 into the air force, it was either sign up for the AF or get drafted by the army. Retired E-6. They put 50% down on their first house at 12 years in, rented it out until they could retire to the area. Sold 10 years ago and relocated. They rented to see how the new area would be and then paid cash for their current house.

He had a steady job when he retired and then didn't.. work here and there plus the pension was enough to keep us fed and out of trouble. He and mom worked at Wal-Mart and started the stock purchase plan... figured free money is better than money you need to work for. That's what let them pay cash for the house. He's 56 now and a manager at Wal-Mart. He can retire at 62 or 65 and stick with their current lifestyle, which might even make Jeff blush.

If they could have kept putting away a solid 10% with no big employment gaps then they would have been able to replicate what they're getting with that pension (someone can fill you in on how much dough a retired E-6 pulls down).

 

[CuppaJoe]

I'm trying to imagine applying for a j*b at the AARP. They want someone who is thinking long-term, not looking to RE? Financial illiteracy would be a plus.

 

[Marquette]

Dang...I just lost a dollar bet that nobody was gonna go there...

My bet is that he made the comment about saving for 40 years and it still wasnt enough as some part of a statement about the costs of retirement and in particular the health care issue. AARP has been pushing hard for medicare reform and a nationalized health care program.

Well, I'm cheap and easy... and that's made all the difference! Who won the dollar?

So, if he's a director and saving just wasn't cutting it, I wonder if AARP will have some new services or articles soon. I mean, there's no chance that a manager would be making some sort of statement just to help out his bottom line, is there?

 

[Pete]

It's just the quote at the end that rubbed me wrong. 40 years savings, yeah, right. More articles like this, and then nobody will save. After all, if he can't do it after 40 years, then what chance do I have...

I love these kind of people. They pull the cart so I don't have to. It's savers like you I hate.

 

[Milton]

I'm guessing he was probably making some decent money...and to not have invested enough or well enough when working a senior job for an organization that has a primary focus on advising people on how to prepare for and live well in retirement...well...go ahead and make your own joke.

Sounds like the old story about the cobbler's children have no shoes. Or for a medical example, see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061116.wdayinthelife8/BNStory/cancer/home.

 

[Nords]

I agree about the gist of the article but I took OP's question to be: why can a person save for 40 years and still not have enough?

I have some ideas from the stories I've heard/seen:
1. Divorce.
2. More than a few kids.
3. Saving more for kids' college funds than for retirement.
4. Joe Dominguez syndrome-- putting it all into Treasuries. That must've seemed like a good idea in the late 1960s...
5. Putting too much of it into [insert hot investment idea of the week here]
6. Neglecting to mention that he's tapped his 401(k) for a loan.
7. Buying an AARP financial product?

Lemme call BS on another statement:

In Honolulu, where Meals on Wheels delivers to 700 elderly people a day, the number of volunteer drivers is down about 20 percent, because drivers can’t afford the gas for their trips. The agency’s 50-cent-a-mile reimbursement doesn’t begin to cover expenses; as a result, the agency estimates, drivers now spend more than $300 a year out of their own pocket.

50 cents a mile with gas at $4.50/gallon would imply that the volunteers are driving cars that get less than nine miles per gallon, right?

I'd guess that they're down 20% because people don't want to drive for them (for whatever reason) or because their volunteers haven't been growing as fast as their customer list.

No, I don't volunteer for MOW and I don't know what their volunteers are expected to do. I suppose I could check into delivering around my neighborhood and a bit north, but no way am I driving into Honolulu or out to Ewa for courier duty. If the meal pickup is indeed in town then that might explain why they're having trouble finding drivers.

Clif, have you ever looked into Meals on Wheels?

Dad put 20 into the air force, it was either sign up for the AF or get drafted by the army. Retired E-6.
If they could have kept putting away a solid 10% with no big employment gaps then they would have been able to replicate what they're getting with that pension (someone can fill you in on how much dough a retired E-6 pulls down).

He retired around 1989-91, right? A friend of mine retired at my rank/YOS in 1989 and his COLAs have generally kept up with my 2002 retirement pay. So as a very rough estimate, without doing the correct calculation and applying nearly two decades of COLAs to his original E-6>20 Final Pay retirement amount, it'd be about $1600/month or a tad over $19K/year. With $460/year family TRICARE.

 

[rs0460a]

because their volunteers haven't been growing as fast as their customer list.

That's the problem we're having in our area. More and more people are going on the list (yes, they do pay for meals on a sliding scale, based upon their income) but since we have a lot of "mature folks" in our state, the service is constantly being extended.

BTW, I don't get any reimbursement (even though I am a driver; a "visitor" goes with me to actually go into the home to deliver/set-up the meals). My time/expense is just "payback" for the good life I have ...

- Ron

 

[Milton]

I don't get any reimbursement (even though I am a driver; a "visitor" goes with me to actually go into the home to deliver/set-up the meals). My time/expense is just "payback" for the good life I have

Ron, great that you are donating your time ... but if they don't pay mileage, perhaps they can give you a tax receipt for donating the gas? Seems only fair.

 

[Koolau]

It seems the media squander the opportunity to educate people to AVOID the "save for 40 years and be broke" tragedy. Cheap headlines with sob stories (no doubt true - but incomplete) sell. I suppose we get the media we deserve. Sigh.

Koolau

 

[rs0460a]

Ron, great that you are donating your time ... but if they don't pay mileage, perhaps they can give you a tax receipt for donating the gas? Seems only fair.

IRS mileage for volunteers is much less than allowed for a "business expense". While I could ask for it (and some folks do) it's just more work (mileage/schedule tracking) for the organization, which is mostly staffed by volunteers, anyway.

They don't do any tax receipt for fuel used. That would be quite difficult to measure (how many fractional gallons did I use this month?)

A few $$$ saved on taxes? That's OK.

- Ron

 

[CaseInPoint]

After all, if he can't do it after 40 years, then what chance do I have...

I don't think that most people would necessarily consider this person to be a role model for their own future.

But it does bring up an interesting issue, which is that many people seem to consider retirement to be an entitlement. Is it a constitutional right?

 

[Nords]

IRS mileage for volunteers is much less than allowed for a "business expense". While I could ask for it (and some folks do) it's just more work (mileage/schedule tracking) for the organization, which is mostly staffed by volunteers, anyway.
They don't do any tax receipt for fuel used. That would be quite difficult to measure (how many fractional gallons did I use this month?)
A few $$$ saved on taxes? That's OK.

If you itemize your deductions then it's probably easiest to track your own volunteer mileage (perhaps with a paper log or a spreadsheet) and report the deduction on your tax return. No tax receipts or organization's paperwork necessary. We've been reporting our own deductible Reserve, volunteer, and landlording mileage on our taxes for well over a decade.

 

[Delawaredave5]

I am not a Suzi Orman fan, and I don't watch her - but... last night she made some vague comments at end of show about the huge spike in calls/letters she's getting from elderly folks broke and borrowing from their kids.

No facts, just a gut impression. Look on her face looked sincere, and scared.

FWIW.

 

[rs0460a]

If you itemize your deductions then it's probably easiest to track your own volunteer mileage (perhaps with a paper log or a spreadsheet) and report the deduction on your tax return. No tax receipts or organization's paperwork necessary. We've been reporting our own deductible Reserve, volunteer, and landlording mileage on our taxes for well over a decade.

Ok - I'll do it this year (first full year of M-O-W) and see what happens ...

Between my DW deciding to work "just one more year ", this deduction on my taxes, and "learning" this year that I can claim half my DW's SS at my age 66 (I'm planning on taking mine at 70), the $$$ just keep on rolling in (who needs the market ?)

- Ron

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Funny, the big media play a few months ago was kids moving back in with their parents.

 

[CitricAcid]

I don't think that most people would necessarily consider this person to be a role model for their own future.

But it does bring up an interesting issue, which is that many people seem to consider retirement to be an entitlement. Is it a constitutional right?

No. Constitutional rights do not include privacy (in many circumstances), home ownership and retirement. It does not mean that we should not strive or attempt to attain all of these for all Americans, it just means that (I feel) people should not feel entitled to these things.

 

[ziggy29]

But it does bring up an interesting issue, which is that many people seem to consider retirement to be an entitlement. Is it a constitutional right?

No, but I think there is an implied right to pursue it and not have the government block it with some sort of "mandatory work" laws.

In other words, it's more or less tied into the right to "pursue happiness" as enumerated in the Declaration. But not specifically a Constitutional right.

 

[CitricAcid]

No, but I think there is an implied right to pursue it and not have the government block it with some sort of "mandatory work" laws.

In other words, it's more or less tied into the right to "pursue happiness" as enumerated in the Declaration. But not specifically a Constitutional right.

Pursuit of property? In any case, sounds like you are describing a privelege still.

 

[Nords]

Funny, the big media play a few months ago was kids moving back in with their parents.

That's why they call Boomers the "Sandwich Generation". Around here we call it "ohana housing".

Luckily those kids can help care for Grandma & Grandpa... talk about an incentive to get a job and move back out!

 

[unclemick]

Pursuit of property? In any case, sounds like you are describing a privelege still.

That's the way ol TJ originally wrote it but Ben talked him into switching to happiness.

heh heh heh - at least that's what I heard. .

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

No. Constitutional rights do not include privacy (in many circumstances), home ownership and retirement. It does not mean that we should not strive or attempt to attain all of these for all Americans, it just means that (I feel) people should not feel entitled to these things.

The constitution does not enumerate rights but merely limits the scope of government power. The reason the bill of rights was added later and not initially was that the founding fathers assumed that since they didn't mention anything that was in the bill of rights that the government would have no authority over them. In many ways creating the bill of rights has limited our freedom because schoolkids are taught that they only have the rights listed.

 

[CitricAcid]

By limiting the scope of the government's power, however, it is implied that what is not listed is under the scope of the government. The Bill of Rights was added later to ensure some rights that would protect many individuals from a changing government. In other words, there is no right to privacy as many proclaim, but against unlawful search and seizure and many others that fall under the realm of privacy.

 

[CaseInPoint]

No. Constitutional rights do not include privacy (in many circumstances), home ownership and retirement. It does not mean that we should not strive or attempt to attain all of these for all Americans, it just means that (I feel) people should not feel entitled to these things.

No, but I think there is an implied right to pursue it and not have the government block it with some sort of "mandatory work" laws.

In other words, it's more or less tied into the right to "pursue happiness" as enumerated in the Declaration. But not specifically a Constitutional right.

The constitution definitely does not guarantee the right to retire.
But, the government does have various social programs like social security, welfare, medicare, etc. In today's economy, that's of course not enough to retire comfortably for most people.

Getting back to the original OP, it does seem that there is a sense of entitlement for those who saved (even a little) for a number of years, then decide that they want to retire. Well, if you haven't saved enough, it won't be possible to retire comfortably. That's the reality these days. Things are different than in the 1950s and 60s.

And given the economic climate, I'm starting to question whether the average person will be able to count on retirement at all without expert-level planning and starting to invest from a very young age.