Outliving Your Retirement Funds
I keep running across two conflicting sets of data concerning retirement funds.
They talk about pensions, IRAs, Social Security, 401Ks, how much to save, how much to withdraw for their minimum distribution, their stock portfolio, and just about every type of plan for retirees to live comfortably after they can no longer work.
And that's fine if we're talking about people retiring at 65 or 70.
But, on the other hand, there are almost as many sets of data showing that research scientists are getting closer to having us live to 150, and very few people will have enough money in those retirement accounts if they live that long.
We're looking at the first wave of Baby Boomers who have reached retirement age and they look remarkably healthy.
A large percentage of those Boomers want to retire at 65; they don't want to continue working and most of them don't want a second career.
They feel they have earned the right to live out their golden years with all their funds in place, just the way they planned.
The problem, as I see it, is that no matter how much the average Boomer has saved, and I'm not talking about the wealthiest 1% of our retirees, is that even withdrawing 1% to 4% of what they saved, if most of these people live well into their 100s, they will outlive all their savings plans.
Right now, in this country, there are thousands of people who are over the age of 100 and that number is climbing every year.
We keep seeing people in their 100s who look and act remarkably young.
They don't look like they're ready to kick the bucket yet.
I keep running into people who are in their 90s and they are still active.
They go out to dinner with their friends, of similar ages, every night and do some kind of activity during the day.
They don't speak about retirement; they have no intention of going back to work but they don't want to think that they will outlive their money.
More senior citizens than not, depend on Social Security to make up most of their retirement income.
They don't plan on living until 150 but they also don't plan on dying anytime soon.
Of course, we hear about people dying in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, but we've always heard about them.
The ones that concern me are the ones who never planned to live longer than 70 or 80 and have geared their retirement plans for that lifespan, only to find that they are still healthy and raring to go at 100.
With politicians trying to privatize Social Security and dismantle Medicare, my concern is that we're going to end up with a different kind of welfare state than we've ever had before because most people are not capable of handling their own retirement funds and they're going to outlive their savings.
They talk about pensions, IRAs, Social Security, 401Ks, how much to save, how much to withdraw for their minimum distribution, their stock portfolio, and just about every type of plan for retirees to live comfortably after they can no longer work.
And that's fine if we're talking about people retiring at 65 or 70.
But, on the other hand, there are almost as many sets of data showing that research scientists are getting closer to having us live to 150, and very few people will have enough money in those retirement accounts if they live that long.
We're looking at the first wave of Baby Boomers who have reached retirement age and they look remarkably healthy.
A large percentage of those Boomers want to retire at 65; they don't want to continue working and most of them don't want a second career.
They feel they have earned the right to live out their golden years with all their funds in place, just the way they planned.
The problem, as I see it, is that no matter how much the average Boomer has saved, and I'm not talking about the wealthiest 1% of our retirees, is that even withdrawing 1% to 4% of what they saved, if most of these people live well into their 100s, they will outlive all their savings plans.
Right now, in this country, there are thousands of people who are over the age of 100 and that number is climbing every year.
We keep seeing people in their 100s who look and act remarkably young.
They don't look like they're ready to kick the bucket yet.
I keep running into people who are in their 90s and they are still active.
They go out to dinner with their friends, of similar ages, every night and do some kind of activity during the day.
They don't speak about retirement; they have no intention of going back to work but they don't want to think that they will outlive their money.
More senior citizens than not, depend on Social Security to make up most of their retirement income.
They don't plan on living until 150 but they also don't plan on dying anytime soon.
Of course, we hear about people dying in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, but we've always heard about them.
The ones that concern me are the ones who never planned to live longer than 70 or 80 and have geared their retirement plans for that lifespan, only to find that they are still healthy and raring to go at 100.
With politicians trying to privatize Social Security and dismantle Medicare, my concern is that we're going to end up with a different kind of welfare state than we've ever had before because most people are not capable of handling their own retirement funds and they're going to outlive their savings.
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