Baby boomers are not all in this condition, but a surprising number are financially strapped and ill-prepared for retirement. Many failed to plan very far ahead, while others just never expected to face some of the financial stresses they now must deal with. And of course, many have always placed an inordinate faith in Social Security to provide their retirement funding. Well, we should by now all realize that in the United States at least, social security is not all that secure. There is a large, and growing, imbalance between the number of people still working and contributing to the system, and the number of people being supported by the system. As for personal finances, one of the common threads that seems to weave its way thru many conversations among baby boomers is just how much money they have spent, and for many, are still spending, helping to support their grown children who should by now be supporting themselves. I'm not talking about the situation that arises in a family that requires the stop-gap sort of support that we should all be willing to give where possible. What I'm talking about is the ongoing, week after week, month after month, year after year drain on your finances trying to get a child to finally "get their act together." Well, at some point you must realize and accept that you may not really be helping them at all. More likely, you are enabling them to continue to be less-than-responsible for themselves. And if you are caught up in this dilemma, you are certainly not helping your own chances of supporting yourself to a reasonable extent in your post-retirement years. To some extent, you may be preparing yourself to be more dependent upon some social services, and there simply are no guarantees that those services will have the funds to provide even your basic needs. So, perhaps you need to close your child's bottomless bank account with you. Set them free to learn to fly on their own. And certainly tell them why. At what age should they be flying on their own? That's something only you (and they) could possibly decide.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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3 comments:
I became disabled about five years ago,I'm now 62. I'm drawing 100% disability and that is what I would have drawn when I reach 65 or that is what I was told. I know that most people have paid in more to their Social Security account than I have mine, if it were not for my Wife working, we could not make it just on what I draw from my disability, nor could we get by even if she were to draw her retirement. If you don't have a large amount build up in your Social Security account, or a good retirement plam from where you work.
I guess it all depends on you life style, but it's not going to be easy for the average person to live on just your retirement and or your Social Sercurity benifits.
I can see why a lot of people would not want to retire at 62 or maybe even 65, not full retirement. I would love to be able to work and to be able to have drawn my Social Security at age 65, that is if I was still able to work. Most people that I've talked with plan to retire at age 65, but the people I've talked with are not your average person.
We live in the mountains of North Western North Carolina and the pay scale here is just about as low as any anywhere. There's really no good incentives for most people here to keep working. What ever most decide, I hope it's right for them.
Thanks for your input Mervyn!
Retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Once you stop earning and are just spending, you really have to think about what you do with every dollar.
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