Mountain_Mike
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2005
- Messages
- 239
This is a 5-page article that basically says Americans are not saving enough.... People on this forum really must be the elite.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050613/13squeeze.htm
Consider this: Fifty-five percent of young boomers--those ages 45 to 54--have saved less than $50,000 toward their retirement, not including the value of their primary residences. Two thirds have less than $100,000 saved. And nearly 9 in 10 have less than $250,000.
[Now how smart is this?]
Last year, the Eberts refinanced their mortgage and took some of their equity out of the home to pay for additions to their house. They redid their kitchen and added a bedroom and a garage for their growing family. To do so, they took an old 30-year mortgage--of which they already paid down 12 years--and replaced it with a new 30-year loan. This means Paul will be around 77 by the time his home is paid off.
[Do you agree that we need 100% of income?]
Mortgage bonfire. The fact that so many Americans will be carrying mortgages well into retirement means that the old rule of thumb of needing to replace 70 or 80 percent of your preretirement income is out the window. "That may have been true in the old days, when retirees burned their mortgages before retiring," says Rande Spiegelman, vice president of financial planning for the Schwab Center for Investment Research. But today, he says, young boomers should plan on saving enough to replace 100 percent of their preretirement income--minus whatever they are setting aside to build up their nest eggs.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050613/13squeeze.htm
Consider this: Fifty-five percent of young boomers--those ages 45 to 54--have saved less than $50,000 toward their retirement, not including the value of their primary residences. Two thirds have less than $100,000 saved. And nearly 9 in 10 have less than $250,000.
[Now how smart is this?]
Last year, the Eberts refinanced their mortgage and took some of their equity out of the home to pay for additions to their house. They redid their kitchen and added a bedroom and a garage for their growing family. To do so, they took an old 30-year mortgage--of which they already paid down 12 years--and replaced it with a new 30-year loan. This means Paul will be around 77 by the time his home is paid off.
[Do you agree that we need 100% of income?]
Mortgage bonfire. The fact that so many Americans will be carrying mortgages well into retirement means that the old rule of thumb of needing to replace 70 or 80 percent of your preretirement income is out the window. "That may have been true in the old days, when retirees burned their mortgages before retiring," says Rande Spiegelman, vice president of financial planning for the Schwab Center for Investment Research. But today, he says, young boomers should plan on saving enough to replace 100 percent of their preretirement income--minus whatever they are setting aside to build up their nest eggs.
DH (who turned 44 last month) and I (37 last January) have almost $200,000 in retirement accounts. We're young enough that we got the "don't count on Social Security" message drummed into us in plenty of time to plan around it. Of course, if we actually do get any Social Security money, that's gravy.
