About one-quarter of U.S. adults age 50 and older who are not yet retired say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds.
About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research released Wednesday by the organization that shows how a graying America is worrying more and more about how to make ends meet even as economists and policymakers say the U.S. economy has all but achieved a soft landing after two years of record inflation.
Everyday expenses and housing costs, including rent and mortgage payments, are the biggest reasons why people are unable to save for retirement.
I won’t be retiring. Not particularly good with money, plus a divorce, I’m 60, and have about 200K in retirement. It’s my own fault, I could have been far smarter. Now was always far more important than then.
It’s my own fault, I could have been far smarter.
No. No it isn’t. It’s the country’s fault for not giving you enough to retire on even though you didn’t make the best financial decisions over the years. People should not be punished in their old age because they didn’t follow all the right rules of capitalism (which keep changing anyway).
It might be your fault that you’re not as comfortable or as well-off as you would like to be, but it is not your fault that you can’t retire.
Blaming anyone but yourself is the new hotness around here it seems. Not planning for the future is somehow now your fault but the fault of the country? Sounds a bit entitled to me
Yes it is. Other countries don’t force people to work until they die if they’re poor.
Other countries absolutely do require people to work to support themselves. The US is certainly not unique in this regard. Some countries have universal income or provide care for the elderly but to think it’s the norm is the Lemmy collective putting a bag over their heads.
Yes, shitty third world countries do requite people to work to support themselves until they die.
Non-shithole countries allow people to retire and not do that, even if they’re poor.
Actually, I take that back. Not even all the shitty third world countries. I just googled ‘Rwanda retirement,’ to pick a country at random and they have a government pension scheme.
Seems low.
Doesn’t mean they will, just that 3/4s think they will
So you’re saying a good 50% of Americans have no idea how they could possibly retire, they just think they will anyway.
Anecdotal, but I’ve actually been saving for retirement since I was in my twenties (forty now) and I doubt I’ll actually be able to retire. Most models say I need to put in more than ten percent of my salary and I can’t afford that.
I have never made enough to save for retirement and I’ve been told right here on Lemmy that I shouldn’t be buying my kid Taco Bell and myself a chai latte a couple of times a month to make our lives a little bit more bearable because I should be saving for retirement and providing for her when I’m old so she doesn’t have to take care of me.
Because, you know, $400 a year or whatever that is would definitely be enough to retire on.
Just yesterday, someone actually said to me here, “do you not have a 401k?” as if that were a rarity like leprosy. But then it’s my fault for not being rich enough I guess.
Yeah people really do like to pretend putting pocket change into savings will somehow add up to a 7 figure nest egg.
For context: $400 per year for 35 years (making some assumptions about your age) with 8% average market return (probably optimistic tbh) and you wind up with a whopping $84k to retire on
So yeah, shits fucked
Even if it netted more than that, denying myslef simple pleasures that make my life better today because might might survive long enough to be able to capitalize on that money not spent for the last 10-20 years of my life is not a way I want to live. No one should be expected to be miserable until they retire.
Welcome to America
I think that people don’t really understand what it means when they claim they have no plans to retire. My in-laws are always saying things like “I’ll work until I die” while they take out debt to go on vacations but they recently brought up that we should make sure to get an extra bedroom for them if/when we buy a house. The disconnect is infuriating.
There are reason for them asking about an extra bedroom. And that is at some point, something will happen and they can no longer work at anything. For example, as much as I would still like to do something to do, I can no longer physically work. Even though I can still do things, ain’t no one going to hire me to even be a greeter at Walmart…
Nor do people want to survive and die in a nursing home. It’s not a good place to die. We recently went through this 4 years ago with my Wife’s Father. Fortunately, we have/had the skills to care for someone at end of life. And we gave up our lives to do so. And he was able to die peacefully at home.
Whether or not you choose to do something similar is completely up to you and your family.
Only 1 in 4? 🤔 I’ve NEVER been under the illusion I would retire.
Are you over 50?
Yup!
Did you save at least 20-30% of your income in tax advantaged accounts?
30% on the solar panels. ;)
I’ve got literal $0 for retirement and my bank account is in the red. It’s not going to be too good when I’m old.
I am hoping they have Carousel when I turn 70.
Renew! Renew!
Well I’ll retire (sorta). I’ll just get another job making 50% what I was making and earning 75% of my original salary through retirement. I’ll work till I’m dead but at least I’ll make more money for a bit … until inflation eats it.
My dad did this for a while. Had a nice white collar job my entire childhood. He loved boating and owned one for 40+ years. A year or so after he retired from that he got a part time job as a cashier at a marine supply store. He loved the interactions with other boaters. He did that for probably 10 years before retiring fully.
I’m in MI and I’m pretty sure half the staff of any hardware store are retired Big 3 engineers. I’ve talked with them before, and most of them are more than comfortable financially, but just like having a routine, getting out of the house, and the employee discounts.
Incredible. You can bet your ass I won’t work another day after I retire. I’m limping along to get to the finish line even though I still have a few years to go.
A job is far more enjoyable when you know you don’t need it and have to put up with absolutely zero shit since you can leave at any time.
I’m 40 and I will work until the day I die.
I just hope that will be in my 60’s rather than my 80’s…
I have had conversations with evangelicals who believe retiring is morally wrong, based entirely on this one passage:
For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10
I can’t begin to wrap my head around this.
Same here in EU TBH
Yep that’s my experience too. That said, we were a bunch of hedonistic arseholes in the 90s so it’s no surprise we’re irresponsible 😅
Yeah, I took some years off to raise my kids, went to college while they were little, and overall I think it paid off but not to the point I plan to retire on purpose. Always saved what I could because employer matched, but some years that was $50 a month. Now finally at mid 50s with a husband who actually works (but had the same trajectory as a functionally single parent then actually single parent). We are sorta raking it in now but paying off the past still.
It’s not a terrible feeling, honestly, if doing again I might actually have chosen more years on the front end with the little kids, rather than time off when old. When I’m old, why not work? I have more time each year as some of the kids move out, once they are all grown maybe I will have enough time to work without feeling so rushed.
Of course the problem with this is that most people don’t choose to retire, it’s forced on them. Even as a clear minded fit and in shape 50 something I am one medical event or layoff away from “retirement”, right? That is what sucks.
We all be on that cruise
