Let’s try another avenue that hasn’t been explored as much as it should be. The word “seniors” is a generalization meaning both men and women. Now, my wife for instance, is of the old school and was a house wife and mother to 3 kids for the better part of her younger days. This left NO time for schools, trades, or gainful employment of any kind. Heck, even in those days women were not allowed to have a bank account unless it was approved by the husband but I digress. By the time she Could go to work, it was, “get what you can and stick with it” kind of work because she had no background in anything that higher paying employers want. As it is, even her SS is around half of mine (which is definitely wrong) because she didn’t pay enough into it to warrant a full check. The only thing the government does do for her is give her an extra hundred beans because she’s presently married to me. Now, one could rationalize that , “when a woman is married the man is supposed to earn enough for both of them to retire successfully.”. In an ideal situation this might be true but how many marriages are indeed ideal and how many end up in divorce (or death) leaving the female to fend for herself and her kids? Even if a marriage stays intact, how many coal miners, construction people and other blue collar workers actually make enough to make ends meet much less think of buying that nice RV and travel the world until they can rest in a ritzy retirement home? Oh well, maybe they should have invested 10% of their wages to a mutual fund so they’d be set! Let’s see, 10% to the church, 10% to a Mutual Fund 33% (ideal) for house and utilities, 30% to the government, and 20% for kids clothes, groceries etc. Whoops! That’s over 100% so I’d best leave out the extra life insurance, mutual funds and that IRA I was thinking about and try to feed my kids better and save for their college. Truth is, without even doing the research I am sure that if there are 1 in a 1000 or more seniors of our generation who can say that they are fully endowed with enough in the bank to say they are fully covered for their retirement, I’d be deeply surprised.
If you look back you have quoted the wrong one. ~*~ Shirley Martin: I'm not sure who you are speaking to but, I don't envy anyone. I was just participating in the conversation. But if we are going to start tossing around insults I can go back to my corner.
I worked in retail, but even at management level the pay was not great. I was retrenched five times in my working life. Most of my working life was back when things were not politically correct, so age always came into it when applying for work, plus being asked was I going to start a family, etc. But I managed to stay employed most of the time. Compulsory superannuation didn’t come in till I was in my thirties and on low wages it didn’t amount to much. Of course I tried to get better jobs, but the competition was very high for those. In my late fifties my one remaining parent was in their nineties, incapable of looking after their self, and refusing to go into care. I was forced to give up work and become a full time carer. This situation went on for several years. I received the carers pension which kept me going(I was by that time divorced and supporting myself solely). My parents behaviour was horrendous and abusive and it was a miserable time for me. I was left with PTSD. When I was no longer a carer I tried for employment but I was regarded as too old and I had been out of the workforce for years. I lived on my superannuation and a tiny govt benefit until I was old enough to get the aged pension. Now I am quite secure, I own my home, I’m frugal, so I can pay my bills and have some travel on a budget. My point is, life doesn’t always play out the way you’d like it to. I would have liked a job that I could have stayed in for life, but that is rare. I’ve always worked hard, saved what money I could, but there was never going to be enough for me to be a self-funded retiree, and I don’t apologise for that.
I agree with you that seniors shouldn't have to work. Some choose to work to stay busy or not get on their spouses' nerves. Not every body is as blessed as you Hal. Some people had steady jobs but lousy benefits. My cousin worked for McDonalds, one of the biggest companies in the world, but had no benefits. She was a manager there for decades. Some people unexpectedly got laid off well before they thought they'd be leaving the work force. I read about a homeless couple who had both been high earners and thought they had done everything right as far as planning, saving, etc. The husband got sick to the point he could no longer work, therefore lost his insurance benefits and the huge medical and hospital bills wiped them out. They started living in a tent city in N.J. I read about them because there was an article about people living there being "evicted" by the town. Like you I'm blessed to be collecting a pension and social security. But for many, defined pensions went the way of the dinosaur. I also retired in 1998 and am living a comfortable retirement.
Seniors?? What age group. Some at age 55 are referred to as seniors and nothing wrong with working at that age.
Ya know, the way I take it is that the OP is about Having to work versus wanting to work. I’m going on 71 and I HAVE to work and I like to work. No, not because we necessarily need the finances but I have to work and I do believe I will always Have to work. It’s an ingrained thing and sitting around counting my fingers and toes just doesn’t seem like something I could get used to nor, to be blunt, think myself the proper man for being lazy and blaming it on my age. I’m fit, I’m healthy and can do virtually anything I wish in the realm of work so why not? If there’s a few extra beans in it for us, that’s even better!
But, Lon, just how many years ago did you do that? Pension plans really don't exist any more, or, at least, not that much anymore. Today, it's all about 401K. The old days of Pensions are pretty much gone. And, besides that, many, many people don't stay on a job for 20 years, or more, like they use to.
I worked full time starting in 1972, and never had an employer with a pension plan...and I job-hopped quite a bit. All of my employers put money into IRAs or 401(k) plans, some that immediately vested and some that vested over time. I researched this subject once, and even during the heyday of manufacturing, the percentage of workers covered by pension plans was pretty small. Regarding the original post of "plan accordingly," I've been laid of several times in my life. You can plan, but you cannot control. And there are other life catastrophes that can decimate you financially. If they happen later in life, you don't have time to recover. I'm sure others have made this point. And lots of folks don't have high-paying careers where they can save a lot of money. So much of personal wealth is determined by geography...regional job markets, real estate markets, rate of growth, etc.
So very, very true! I've been laid-off and quit companies that ended up shutting down. When a potential employer wants a reference, it's very hard to get one from a company that is no longer in business. And, many people don't ask for a Letter of Recommendation, before they leave. And, there are those that will chose a lower-paying, 8-hour a day, weekends off, type job so they can be with their families or simply don't like working long hours and weekends. Basically speaking, I've only had one job, in my life, where I could financially afford to contribute to a 401k plan.
I was fortunate that my last job was with a company that put bonuses amount to 10% of my wages into a 401(k) account. And I was making enough to put in the max allowed by law to get the tax benefit...the ceiling is raised when you hit 50 (or maybe 55) and have that "Oh, poop!" moment when you realize that you might actually live long enough to retire. And I've mentioned before that I could have made lots more money if I pursued one of those "I live to work" situations. I consciously chose not to. I worked with folks who made $300,00 and more, and had huge benefits packages. They are gonna live large when they retire, but they lived to work the bulk of their lives. And they are not happy. A big issue is that so many of us don't have a concept of retirement when we are young. Those who worked for one employer for so long and got a pension did not all start retirement planning when they were young...they just stayed with that company and their benefits happened to accrue because they showed up to work every day. Then some wake up one day and say "Look what I did!" And the airline industry where Hal worked happened to be one of "national security," so to a large extent the Federal government protected them against the vagaries of the market, both domestically and internationally. That's a big reason his employer survived his entire career. I'm sure he worked hard and earned his pay, but there are a lot of moving parts we have no control over. I had that good job for the last 10 years of my career, which paid me well, put money into my 401(k) account, and boosted by Social Security base wages...but I took a huge risk to get into it (a longer story.) I also owned a house in a hot real estate market for over 30 years. All of that contributed to my reasonably worry-free retirement (as least, as far as finances are concerned.) The part I played in being where I am today is trying to be work-responsible and always having a low-key/low-cost lifestyle (I still do.) But a large part was happenstance. Excepting people who are horribly irresponsible (like one of my brothers is), I'd never judge someone for where their life is on any given day.
We were selling and installing 401 K plans in the 70's to small corps & partnerships. Keogh Plans to sole propritors. IRA's to individuals.
There you go. There's a difference in terms: "pension plan" has a different connotation to many of us than the products you were selling. As an aside, Lon...my most recent employer was so good to their workers in so many ways. I keep my money in their 401(k) plan and even as an ex-employee, I never paid any maintenance fee whatsoever. A few years ago things changed and they charged $10/quarter. I just got a letter and the fee went down to $8/quarter. Not bad, huh? But that's what you can do with the leverage of over 25,000 current employees plus all of that ex-staff. The company has been around for over 100 years. They easily have several hundred thousand plan participants.