Half of Americans Have Less Than $2,000 Banked for Their Golden Years

[slim 1,514]

Government agency. They don't pay in to system.

Government agencies should be mandatory since it's their system!

everyone that gives it an honest try. simply going to the doctor for depression can get you SSI.

it really isn't complicated. i've explained in on here before.

I missed your explanation. However I fail to see the relation between "honest try" and malingering.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

people who retire with nothing, deserve the poverty they get. Those who rely on SS are full of complete idiocy.

This goes for those whose life savings were lost as a result of investor crimes too? Those whose investment nest eggs tanked with the stock crash? Those whose retirement nest eggs were dumped in to investment 'vehicles' which made Goldman a bundle but hey, caveat emptor, were worthless piles of steamy dung? Those whose home was their primary asset, value currently jack $hit?

Here's a good one! Quality employer based insurance which ended part way through a catastrophic and horribly under covered major illness which both led to loss of your job and everything you ever worked for in medical bills? Didn't that idiot know he/she should just have died and saved the fam some bucks?

There are lots of ways to "save" and be bilked out of your money. Funny you should jump to idiocy as the only conclusion.

Edited July 24, 2010 by ready4ONE

[Obama 2012 1,714]

This goes for those whose life savings were lost as a result of investor crimes too? Those whose investment nest eggs tanked with the stock crash? Those whose retirement nest eggs were dumped in to investment 'vehicles' which made Goldman a bundle but hey, caveat emptor, were worthless piles of steamy dung? Those whose home was their primary asset, value currently jack $hit?

Here's a good one! Quality employer based insurance which ended part way through a catastrophic and horribly under covered major illness which both led to loss of your job and everything you ever worked for in medical bills? Didn't that idiot know he/she should just have died and saved the fam some bucks?

There are lots of ways to "save" and be bilked out of your money. Funny you should jump to idiocy as the only conclusion.

Let's go with this point by point:

#1 - The stock market is a Vegas Casino. There's risk involved. If you don't like the risk, don't put your money in the slot machine or on the roulette table. There are several investment opportunities that do not involve the risk of putting your money into certain stocks. Home values were also artificially high due to a market that grew too fast. It was time for them to come down and balance out. Which is what you're seeing there now. Some values around the country are starting to come back up as they should.. It's a cycle. Whatever goes up, must come back down to at least a point to where it's balanced with the rest of the market.

#2 - Perhaps it's a bit selfish to do away with life savings and leave your family with nothing, just so you can live. If it takes so much to save your life, maybe you weren't meant to live longer anyway. We have this entitlement mentality when it comes to life these days. The fact of the matter is, people get sick and people die. Man's greatest triumph is fighting death for as long as he can. Though this is not necessarily a good thing. Just look at what older people cost society these days under our socialised structure.

#3 - Yes, I jump to the idiocy conclusion because as you even said yourself, there are plenty of ways to be 'bilked' out of your money, but at the same time there are plenty of ways to save where you don't get 'bilked' out of your money.

[Captain Oates 910]

#2 - Perhaps it's a bit selfish to do away with life savings and leave your family with nothing, just so you can live. If it takes so much to save your life, maybe you weren't meant to live longer anyway. We have this entitlement mentality when it comes to life these days. The fact of the matter is, people get sick and people die. Man's greatest triumph is fighting death for as long as he can. Though this is not necessarily a good thing. Just look at what older people cost society these days under our socialised structure.

As an older person who is selfishly fighting to live a bit longer, I would say that my savings and pensions and investment income is being spent into the economy and supporting younger workers.

My experience so far is that younger people (My son and daughter) have taken massive funds out of me and I have received nothing in the way of money from them.

When younger people point out the cost of keeping older people alive, I think they forget when they were 1 day old and the next 2 decades after that when they were petulant, crying, grasping, needy, whining, pathetic people who needed their botties wiping - well perhaps not in the 2nd decade but they got more and more expensive to the suckers who were subsidising them

The gimmers should not be told they are an expensive and inconvenient irrelevance

Edited July 24, 2010 by saywhat

[SuperDuper! 230]

what happens if it isnt well placed? By the way what you doin up so late?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

i agree on the living frugally as stated by bob and saywhat. my former stepmother had a habit of getting a brand new vehicle every 1-2 years. meanwhile, i'm still driving the vehicle i bought in 1996.

tossing money at a car, trading it in every few years - maybe a status symbol, but those that do this sure don't get anywhere. an old yet reliable beater is like money in the bank.

I agree 100%. It's about being content with what you have. Status symbols cost lots of $$ and I would rather save the $$ and retire early.

[Atencio 43]

Government agencies should be mandatory since it's their system!

No, it is local government not Federal

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[mawilson 2,133]

Thank Goodness I don't pay into that money pit. I did pay enough in my youth though to get a whopping $300.00 a month when I retire.

You don't? I'd like to know how you managed to avoid paying taxes all these years.

Government agency. They don't pay in to system.

Government employees pay Social Security taxes just like anyone else.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

You don't? I'd like to know how you managed to avoid paying taxes all these years.

Government employees pay Social Security taxes just like anyone else.

Actually federal government employees don't pay any federal taxes technically....

[mawilson 2,133]

Actually federal government employees don't pay any federal taxes technically....

All federal employees hired on or after January 1, 1984 are mandatorily covered under Social Security.

There are still some Federal employees, those first hired prior to January 1984, who are not participants

in the Social Security system. All other Federal government employees participate in Social Security

like everyone else.

SSA FAQ

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Everything on Earth fluctuates and moves in cycles. We have day and night, hot and cold on one end of the spectrum, and the variable of value on the other end. What do I mean with that?

The value of an asset comes only into play when you want to SELL.

1) You always wanted that cute house near the beach. You bought it in 1970 for $100K, in mid-2008 it was "worth" $500K and today it's only worth $250K. So . . . did you lose money?

2) You invested $100K in the stock market back in 1980. By mid-2008 it had been grown to $500K. Then the market crashed. Today your 401K is only worth $250K. Again . . . did you lose money?

In a perfect world, one would have unlimited time and the ability to time every market perfectly. That's not the case in the real world.

You still own the house you bought in 1980. It's as cute as it was, and it has grown in value by 2.5 times. Sure, had you sold it in 2008 you would have had more money. But you would have bought another house, which at that time was more valuable as well.

Your nest egg has grown from 100K to 250K. Sure, you would have had twice as much had to sold every stock you own in 2008, but you most likely would have invested the cash in something else to escape the greedy Uncle Sam, and that something else would have dropped in value as well.

There's only one rule in this game that's essential: Value only matters if you want to SELL. So if you have time, you can invest long term. No matter where the stock market is right now, within the next 25 years it will go up and go down again. Just make sure that if you NEED to SELL at some point, that you get out when the value is up. Until then, wait.

If you don't have time, don't invest in the stock market. Money that you will need in the next 5 or 10 years is not safe in the stock market. The market may be fantastic again in 12 years, but when you get your last paycheck in 7 years, that doesn't help you, does it.

Depending on how much time you have, meaning WHEN you will need the money, you invest. Sometimes it's better to get just 2.5% then riding the roller coaster downhill.

That said, I more than doubled my investment in stocks since March 2009. Yet, it was much higher a few months ago, which doesn't mean that I lost money. I just hold on, do nothing, and wait for the tide to lift in all again. Once I'm 10 years away from retirement, I'll play it much safer, and so should you.