Ya know, I would like to say that we (ourselves) are responsible for our life after retirement. However, I also believe that after 30 or 40 years of work for society and goverment, you deserve something in return from them.
However, then I think I will just be living off my kids and they can buy my beer.
It's the individual's responsibility. Depending on somebody else is foolish.
I am always amazed at how many people I meet who have done little or no retirement planning for themselves, their spouses and their families. Most people do not know how much (if any) money they will receive from Social Security and most people don't know that SS was designed to be a "supplemental" retirement account and not a person's principal source of retirement income. Many also don't have any idea of how much income they plan on receiving when retired or even plan to have their house paid off when they retire.
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Good question Dave. But the time to really do anything about it, at that point is well past. Regretably, most of us, myself included, have been conditioned to believe that your employer and the Government would take care of those things. At the time many of us were at the planning stage, we (I) really believed that those programs we were contributing to would be able to take care of our needs in our "Golden Years". Social Security benefits to my Grand parents seemed a fine thing and worked quite well for them. I have been contributing since I was 16. My retirement plan from work seemed like a good thing, until the rules were change mid-stream and well after there was any alternative available. Even the savings plan I participate in, while a fantastic deal on the surface, took a drubbing the past several years due to the structure of it. In short, we are all responsible, or should be, for our future and should plan accordingly but if that planning included things like SS, a corporate retirement and savings plans based on corporate stock..............Welcome to WalMart.
stuckinthereeds - I suspect a "retirment" benefit package was intitially offered to entice employees to stay with companies for their entire lives. That day and age is over - people change jobs every 5 years now it seems.
I am 34 years old and already am planning my retirment. How ? I have 2 nice pieces of property, a good paying job and a couple of other things too. My goal ? By age 40 to have the property to build a home on and the finances to build that home and be debt free. If I can do that, I can work at McDonalds and make my bills. Simple, non-extravagant lifestyele .... but it'd suit me just fine if thats where I end up.
I forget which 3rd party had a SS elimination plan in 2000 .... I loved it. Phase it out and phase it out now so my kids wont have to suffer through it. I can handle my money better than the Govt ever will.
i worked in furniture manufacturing for 45 years and in management for over 30 of that.i made a million dollars in my entire working career but since i moved and changed companies about every four years,i did not manage to amass any savings.between myself and my employers,we put $100,000 into my social security account.i began drawing mine at 62 last oct.i still work 28 hrs./week to supplement that and to have health insurance.back to the issue at hand,employers have slowly gotten away from retirement pensions and rising cost of health care are significant.unless a person gets an education[minimum of bachelors] there is not much chance of getting employed and earning enough to start and maintain iras, 401ks or other formal plans.also,you will pay taxes on it when you do retire.with a majority of workers employed by retailers like wal-mart or fast food the odds of anyone staying with anyone long enough to have any retirement benefits while making less than $10/hr. are remote.it seems the most logical thing is to have your ss deductions go into a guaranteed earnings plan for you and the government cannot rob or borrow it without having the ability to pay it back with the appropriate interest.JMO.
I brought this topic up because a couple of other threads on here got me to thinking about personal responsability, and how many tend to blame others for their financial status.
It seems that those who complain the loudest are those who did the least planning.
This is a little "off" topic, but related non-the-less. Hopefully, I can connect the two later.
Who's responsability is it to provide JOBS in the United States?
I keep hearing the Democrats bemoan how Bush has failed to provide more jobs for the American people.
I think that it is the governments job to provide a "climate" that is condusive for a free market, and then get the heck out of the way.
Which in my opinion, is exactly what President Bush has done.
I'm 32 (today actually) and I am part owner of a Golf Course. I'm on a plan with the main owner (partner) that will enable me to own 51% of it in 20 years from now. At that point I either get out and he has to pay me my share of market value of the club at that point, or I buy him out.
I also own 2 other homes that I rent out right now and will have paid off in 15 years at which time I will sell and take the cash. I "own" the home I live in now, but still have 25 years to go on that.
I have 401k through the Golf Course.
The only thing I don't have right now is any money invested in the market. Don't know that I want to. I'd rather invest in another small business or something like that. Just waiting for a good situation to arrise and a little more cash flow wouldn't hurt.
I think I'm fairly well set up for 20 years down the road when I'll be 52. But, you can never plan enough. I continue to explore my opportunities and posture for the best outcome. I have accepted sacrificing a little short term to put myself in a position where I don't have to work 70 hours a week when I'm 65 years old.
Anyway, I don't think I'm going to rely on the government for my survival after retirement nor do I think anyone else should. Plenty of things to be done out there to be self sufficient.
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Jimmy S: 1/8/09 " I can hardly wait for baseball season to start. I love my Yankees! "
So,,,Who's responsability is it?
