Alan C. Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Retirement: A third have less than $1,000 put away About 36% of workers have less than $1,000 in savings and investments that could be used for retirement, not counting their primary residence or defined benefits plans such as traditional pensions, and 60% of workers have less than $25,000, according to a telephone survey of 1,000 workers and 501 retirees from the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald and Associates. Only 44% say they or their spouses have tried to calculate how much money they'll need to save by the time they retire so that they can live comfortably in their golden years, the survey shows. Workers who have done calculations on what they need to save tend to have higher levels of savings than those who haven't crunched the numbers. I bet most of them have TV though.
cobra2411 Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Blows my mind. Even in my 20's in my darkest days of employment I still usually had $1,000 in the bank. I'll bet they have not only have a TV but have something more than basic cable as well as an iPhone or two...
dsayers Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Why save when you can just get random strangers to steal from your neighbors or your unborn grandchildren and pay for stuff for you? It's the law!
Freedomain Posted March 22, 2014 Posted March 22, 2014 Things are going to get pretty scary when the welfare spigot gets turned off and the state turns on the dependent classes to survive...
Alan C. Posted March 22, 2014 Author Posted March 22, 2014 I discontinued cable TV about 5 years ago. I wish that I had done it sooner because it cost $80/mo. I'm the only person at my company who doesn't own a smart phone. Everyone pays $50/mo (or more) for that. I have a cheap flip phone with a pay-as-you-go plan which costs $100/yr. I used to be on a $38/mo plan which I cancelled 3 years ago. It adds up quick.
LibertyDefender Posted April 7, 2014 Posted April 7, 2014 Unreal. It doesn't help that technology and advances in medicine will have boatloads of people living well past the 60-something, arbitrarily set retirement age for government benefits. As MMD stated, it is going to get pretty scary!
philsau Posted April 7, 2014 Posted April 7, 2014 I was lucky to be taught the savings habit from an early age, though I understand that for many people, especially if you are poor, money burns a hole in your pocket. I once read a book about class differences and apparently one of them used to be the length of time waiting and chatting when the dinner is served before tucking in. If you dug in staight away that was low class (instant gratification) and if you could wait that was considered upper class (ie deferred). In many ways the lack of the habit of saving even a little bit over a long time is what sustains poverty in the long term.
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