Live Poor or Die: The New American Retirement

[Liberal_in_LA]

Live Poor or Die: The New American Retirement

By James Ridgeway
| Wed Oct. 20, 2010 9:43 AM PDT.

The very idea of retiring in America had become a mirage–tantalizing, but always sliding into the distance. Those visions of golden years spent playing golf in Tucson or bridge in Boca Raton, promoted by AARP magazine and purveyors of retirement investments, are now nothing more than a chimera for most Americans. The exception, of course, is a wealthy minority, who for the past decade has been squirreling away money they should have been paying in taxes. For everyone else, old age been reduced to three alternatives: Those of us lucky enough to have jobs can keep working indefinitely; the rest can live poor or die.

Anyone who doubts this blunt truth should take a look at a few few recent trends. Start with something called the Retirement Income Deficit. Retirement USA, a consortium of non-profits and unions, which came up with the term, describes the deficit as follows:

Retirement USA asked the respected non-partisan Center for Retirement Research at Boston College to calculate the figure that represents our current retirement income deficit – that is, the gap between the pensions and retirement savings that American households have today and what they should have today to maintain their standard of living. Using the data from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the Retirement Research Center has calculated that figure at $6.6 trillion.The deficit figure covers households in their peak earning and saving years—those in the 32-64 age range—excluding younger workers who are just beginning to save for retirement as well as most retirees. It takes into account all major sources of retirement income and assets: Social Security, traditional pension plans, 401(k)-style plans, and other forms of saving, and housing.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/10/live-poor-or-die-new-american-retirement

[RKP5637]

1. Frankly, I think there is a percentage of America that just wishes older people

would just die. It's become a very strange country. One day they will be there and I'm sure this new American economy will serve them so well. (NOT)

[daleanime]

4. There are some strange and sad folks out there...

during the health care :puke: I managed to pin a repug co-worker in a corner for 25 minutes(quiet nite) after going over every fact I could her final position was:

"I know single payer would save the US money, I know it would save me money, but I can't do any thing that would help 'those people'.":wow:



Never did find out who "those people" were.:banghead:

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. She probably cannot put it in words

But those people are poor lazy slobs who are taking up space.

The same poor shiftless slobs that ruined things in Elizabethan England. Yes, the attitude goes that far. Gets worst, they're not saved either since they're poor.

Add a litle race and you got your answer. I need to get back to work on chap one. Yep, it's 'bout them attitudes.

[Monique1]

8. I am feeling this as a senior

die now

[RKP5637]

11. I'm getting there and I'm no longer sure what to expect. About 10 years ago

I was pretty well set, but costs continue to go up, SS and Medicare are always on the hit list for cuts, whatever, so the best laid plans have been messed up out of my control.

As one of my friends was saying, old age is not for the weak and/or faint of heart. As long as I have the ability to maintain things here I will be just fine, lots of experience, but I guess one reaches the point of not being able to keep the house up. Sadly many of my friends have passed on. I do have my cat, he's a pretty unique one.

When young I always though SS, and Medicare made a lot of sense, as did my portfolio. Just the way I was raised, and at one time I had a pension and they took that away.

[raccoon]

30. I think there's a percentage of America that just wishes anyone who is in financial straits would

die.

[RKP5637]

34. That's a very good point! It does go far beyond older people... just thinking

of health care, growing poverty, unemployment. Exactly, a certain element just wishes others would just die, especially, as you say, anyone in financial straits. We used to be a society that more or less worked together, now I think we have a growing and growing sociopathic element. It's becoming IMO a rather hateful country and that I find quite sad. There is just too damn much hatred in this country today.

[spooky3]

2. thanks to Bush and his band of incompetents and sociopaths, 401ks were stagnant for 10 years

no matter how hard you saved or carefully you invested, the 8% returns per year you should have gotten averaged 0% for an entire decade. So how is a family to prepare for retirement when it can't earn any income on savings?

[laughingliberal]

13. I remember back when my life included a 401k watching it sit idle or go down every quarter.

My precise thought when it was losing money was that I could lose my money perfectly well by myself at the Sands, have a better time doing it, and get a free drink and discount at the restaurant.

After we lost our income, I had to pull it out to survive for a while and, I swear, it was less money than I'd personally put in. And that was before the crash.

[spooky3]

24. well said! That's what we should have done.

And yes, it is absolutely possible that before the crash you had less than 0 earnings, i.e., that you had lost money on your own contributions during the Bush years.

[raccoon]

31. Great post. nt

[hendo]

3. I resent this statement

"The exception, of course, is a wealthy minority, who for the past decade has been squirreling away money they should have been paying in taxes."

My grandparents are by no means wealthy, but neither are they poor. Then again, they saved and planned accordingly for retirement. Sure they took a hit with the market crash, but that's the glory of saving for decades (its still quite a bit more than they put in).

Too many people are over leveraged, and pull money out of their retirement funds before retirement. Pulling money out before retirement is never a good thing since early withdrawals are penalized if they are not paid back.

It is dangerous to borrow money from your future self, after all if you don't pay you back, then you are the only one hurt. And don't even get me started on the people who run up massive credit card bills!

[daleanime]

6. You realize that many Americans....

are too poor to be 'leveraged' in the first place? O8)

[county worker]

9. You need to stop acting like everyone makes enough money to live on

and save for the future. You have no real concept of how working America has been living since the decline of unions, off shoring of job, the end of pensions as older people knew them.

[laughingliberal]

15. Yep. Anyone who started their working life in or after the 1980's has been fighting the

decline/stagnation of wages over 30 years. Makes it kind of hard to save when you're working more for less every year.

[county worker]

20. not to mention the increase in home and car prices and increases in

the price of just about anything needed to live a normal life.

[laughingliberal]

21. Yep. And the gimmicks they've used to manipulate the CPI has hidden the extent of the shortfall.

This was part of the 1983 'fix' to SS that few know about. Most know that the full benefit age was raised to 67 and that FICA taxes were raised but few know that the manipulation of CPI undertook the job of hiding real inflation in order to avoid giving adequate COLA's to SS beneficiaries. Business followed suit, able to keep raises low or nonexistent and still claim the wages were keeping up with the cost of living.

[RKP5637]

28. Just living takes up most of the income before any savings anymore. n/t

[Individualist]

27. Hear, hear!

[Jim Sagle]

17. Timmy, is that you?

:puke:

[peanut]

18. How about if it's a choice between

Pulling money out of my 401K to keep a roof over my self, my partner and my pets? I know hendo, that the whole "idear" is to SAVE the money for retirement but pulling money OUT before retirement is sometimes a pre-condition of, um, staying alive? EATING?
Penalized? Penalized? I am so laughing right now. Obviously you have NO IDEA exactly how deeply some of us have been completely f**king "penalized" by having the LEADERSHIP of our COUNTRY stolen by that Robber Baron GWB. Who gave our 401Ks and OUR JOBS to his rich slacker frat boy defense contractor buddies.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING to eat on but credit cards. What a self-righteous pious know-it-all you are.

[laughingliberal]

22. +1000 nt

[hendo]

23. Wouldn't most people who have nothing to eat on but credit cards

be receiving food stamps anyways. There are public assistance programs for people who can't afford food because they are under the poverty line.

Yes, I also volunteer at the local food bank, or at least I used to.

[daleanime]

26. I think volunteering....

would be a good thing for you to start doing again.O8)

[hendo]

29. That it would. Now if only I had time at home :( NT

[zabet]

41. Yes there are but...

it is harder than you think to get this assistance. I live on SSDI and have hit the donuthole in my med coverage....which means I spend over 80% of my check on meds. Leaving me nowhere near enough for heating/cooling and utilities. I qualified for 16 dollars a month in food stamps. Lets just say I eat a lot of Ramen noodles to stretch my groceries. :(

[Dappleganger]

35. AMEN

Some people just don't get it, do they? If you ain't got no damn JOB, have spent all of your rainy day savings, have cut back everything else what in the hell are supposed to do next--starve yourself today and live in cardboard so you can keep your measly retirement?? Hell no.

[SammyWinstonJack]

37. *woot*

:applause:

[Celtic Raven]

36. Not referring to your G'parents I'm sure

When I think of who would be just as happy to see my body lying in a ditch instead of cluttering up the sidewalk as they roll by in their limo, your family hardly springs to mind. Of course, one of them would rather not "waste her beautiful mind on something like that".

[lonestarnot]

5. Apparently also America's new battle cry.

[SoCalDem]

10. One generation did get to "live the life"

They were the ones who got in on the union jobs for their entire careers, who were able to get in on Medicare when it was well funded (thanks to the Boomers)...they are/were the pre-boomers...born 1930-40. They were too young for WWII (to fight in it), but were old enough to be starting families in a time when there were still goodies to be had. They had careers with pensions and many were double/triple dippers. They retired into a medical system that had not yet experienced the "boomer-scare", and into a medial era that found all kinds of new treatments for things they were getting.

They were able to raise families in an era that made a one-income family the norm, and they were able to save for retirement AND afford college for the kids who wanted to go. They were "rid" of their children at an early enough age, for them to have time to enjoy their retirement...kids could afford to strike out on their own back then. The homes they bought for cheap, were unloaded at huge profits at just the time they wanted to/needed to downsize. The boomers' homebuying frenzy meshed with their retirement sell-off.

they cashed in & enjoyed their retirements.

[laughingliberal]

16. Correct. They were my parents' generation and they did OK. nt

[Kat45]

12. Thanks. Just put the link up on my Facebook page.

My main freeper FB friend is newly in a relationship, which is likely why he hasn't been polluting my threads there lately.

[doc03]

14. We need to take a lesson from France, I never thought I

would admire the French for having courage.

[RKP5637]

19. Yeah, we just seem to take all of the BS they shovel at us. France throws

it back at them!!!

[Panaconda]

25. K&R

[lapislzi]

32. I staunchly reserve the right to take myself out at any time.

I have a small stockpile of prescription drugs that I replenish regularly as it expires. If I become unable to work, and, hence, die at my desk, that's what I will do.

My husband and I joke every time we drive under a highway overpass, "look, honey! Our retirement home!" but it's no laughing matter (especially as hubby is not fond of fish, so cat food is out of the question for him).

No laughing matter indeed. If I take myself out, at least my daughter can enjoy the little bit of retirement money.

[mike_c]

33. as grim as it sounds, my partner and I have also discussed suicide...

...as a "retirement plan." One of the big unknowns for me is huge and crippling student loan debt. When I retire, in seven or eight years, we anticipate homelessness unless something happens to relieve that debt before then. My health probably won't let me work forever. If living in a third-world country doesn't reduce our cost of living to the point where we can afford to eat and have shelter, well, suicide at least lets us have some dignity at the end, and check out on our own terms.

[WillyT]

38. HUGE K & R !!!

:kick:

[maryf]

39. k&r nt

[Starry Messenger]

40. k & r