Median boomer retirement account $144,000

[Beernuts]

Best to retire and die before 2032 based on this analysis --

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/54868

How Changing Social Security Could Affect Beneficiaries and the System's Finances

Social Security is the largest single program in the federal budget. In fiscal year 2018, outlays for Social Security benefits totaled $977 billion, or almost one-quarter of federal spending. The benefits are paid from two designated Social Security trust funds. On the basis of the analysis described in The 2018 Long-Term Budget Outlook, which incorporates the assumption that current law generally does not change, the Congressional Budget Office projects that those trust funds combined would be exhausted in calendar year 2031, requiring the amounts scheduled to be paid in 2032 to be reduced by 26 percent.

There are some fun calculators on the CBO website.

You all should go and play with them.

Younger people are going to have to pay a whole heap lot more in taxes than their parents and grandparents did to hope to receive the same benefits.

Absolutely. In addition to our "normal" budget annual shortcoming of approximately 1 trillion dollars / year, now we add to that a 3 trillion dollar coronavirus expense package.

Congress and their spending decisions are going to be our kids and grandchildren's greatest enemy. Placing this burden on their shoulders for a $1,200 stimulus payment and larger unemployment benefits for a VIRUS with no known cure but normal common sense hygiene is sickening.

There will be books written on the poor decisions made in 2020 and how it will effect generations to come.

 

[SoapyCy]

Same thing with my grandma, she had around that much in a SINGLE checking account. Had no clue about FDIC insurance. She said she wanted to write a check for 100k for each grandkid when she thought the lights were going to go out so her kids wouldn’t **** with it when she died.

She wasn’t having it when I told her that she should be writing a 13,999.99 check to each grandkid every Christmas (this was back quite a few years ago) I think the limit has increased.

couldn't she open up a generation-skipping trust for the grandkids? no taxes and the parents can't get their hands on it unless they are the executor.

i don't know about lots of your parents, but many are secure enough to write that $13,000 check every year but don't do it. i don't know if it's a mental hurdle they can't get over or what.

 

[Gunnerclone]

couldn't she open up a generation-skipping trust for the grandkids? no taxes and the parents can't get their hands on it unless they are the executor.

i don't know about lots of your parents, but many are secure enough to write that $13,000 check every year but don't do it. i don't know if it's a mental hurdle they can't get over or what.

Im sure there are vehicles that she could have/could be using, but she’s old school, trusts her bank, and if someone suggests it to her then it’s likely getting vetoed. And she can’t hear almost at all, so it’s a lot of work to “trick” her in to doing what’s best.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Same thing with my grandma, she had around that much in a SINGLE checking account. Had no clue about FDIC insurance. She said she wanted to write a check for 100k for each grandkid when she thought the lights were going to go out so her kids wouldn’t **** with it when she died.

She wasn’t having it when I told her that she should be writing a 13,999.99 check to each grandkid every Christmas (this was back quite a few years ago) I think the limit has increased.

It is $15,000 now.

My maternal grandparents "hoarded" their estate (despite being way wealthier) so the family got slammed on taxes for it when they passed away. And it was not a surprise with either of them, too, with my grandfather slowly dying of lung cancer and my grandmother slowly succumbing to COPD. Please do not smoke, people.

My paternal grandparents did what you described (despite not having nearly as much money to their names) -- regular checks, well under the (now $15,000 limits) each year to the kids and the grandchildren, leaving only a small reserve for themselves with some understanding that the kids would help if things ever went south financially.

My grandfather died virtually penniless but happy, but it all went to his family.

 

[Gunnerclone]

It is $15,000 now.

My maternal grandparents "hoarded" their estate (despite being way wealthier) so the family got slammed on taxes for it when they passed away. And it was not a surprise with either of them, too, with my grandfather slowly dying of lung cancer and my grandmother slowly succumbing to COPD. Please do not smoke, people.

My paternal grandparents did what you described (despite not having nearly as much money to their names) -- regular checks, well under the (now $15,000 limits) each year to the kids and the grandchildren, leaving only a small reserve for themselves with some understanding that the kids would help if things ever went south financially.

My grandfather died virtually penniless but happy, but it all went to his family.

I might write her a letter and tell her my 4 year old son needs a new car to take his girlfriend for milk shakes and a moving picture show and to send a $15,000 check ASAP.

 

[Beernuts]

1. Hoping to have a rough version mostly completed by the end of the year.

2. Definitely second this thought....heck, probably 30-50% of the 'teachers' I worked with should not have been teaching but that's what happens when the perception of teachers as legitimate professionals is so poorly viewed by so many & the pay (at least in IA & FL) doesn't encourage younger generations to do it for more than a few years.

3. Sadly, this doesn't surprise me & certainly wouldn't be limited to writing alone.

4. Love the charter school idea!! I go back & forth about returning to the States & doing something like this but I really have a hard time giving up all benefits I get from teaching overseas....and salary (aside from two years in Vietnam for an Australian university) isn't even in the top 10!

I honestly think we would have to find older teachers that remember actually teaching students the fundamentals of education. I feel sorry for new teachers as our public education is more about babysitting kids with discipline problems than actually teaching.
Much of this is a parenting problem that the schools are forced to deal with due to public education rules. Ideally a charter school would work in partnership with parents...not as a replacement for them.

 

[EnkAMania]

I'm at the lowest end of the boomer spectrum and 401k was available when I got my first real job. I always assumed social security would be gone by the time I retired.

 

[SoapyCy]

I honestly think we would have to find older teachers that remember actually teaching students the fundamentals of education. I feel sorry for new teachers as our public education is more about babysitting kids with discipline problems than actually teaching.
Much of this is a parenting problem that the schools are forced to deal with due to public education rules. Ideally a charter school would work in partnership with parents...not as a replacement for them.

public education isn't bad because the system, it's bad because they need to deal with bad parents. taking the "better" kids out and putting them into charter schools won't help anything because those kids were going to do fine anyway.

 

[Sigmapolis]

public education isn't bad because the system, it's bad because they need to deal with bad parents. taking the "better" kids out and putting them into charter schools won't help anything because those kids were going to do fine anyway.

That "death spiral" is to an extend what has already happened to public education on the East Coast, West Coast, and major metropolitan areas.

The best of the best students are removed from the schools by the parents (and these are by definition the parents most likely to be involved in their children's education). So the schools get worse. Then the next "tier" does it. Then the next tier. And the next.

It all falls apart quickly.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Such an awesome idea & definitely something that I would hope catches on across the country.

BTW - A guy like Mike Rowe would be a phenomenal Secretary of Education!

The idea that a college degree is the only way to achieve success is such a terrible line we keep telling every-single-high school-student! So many trades/skilled labor jobs are always hiring & paying well but it's not perceived as being a 'success'.

There are many of us out there in education telling our students to look into the trades. I have been telling students that message for at least 15 years.
I had a former student last month, say on Facebook, "no one ever told me about going into the trades." "I told him I had many times when I had him in class." He replied "that was one of the few." But he was told repeatedly. Do not believe the propaganda that these kids are not being told about the trades, they are, many just see that them as hard work and they do not want to work that hard to earn money.

 

[BoxsterCy]

This thread's convinced me I should have spent more money on hookers and blow when I was younger.

 

[SoapyCy]

This thread's convinced me I should have spent more money on hookers and blow when I was younger.

never too late to follow your dreams

 

[Gunnerclone]

This thread's convinced me I should have spent more money on hookers and blow when I was younger.

@TommyBirchIknowyouareonthissite

 

[Entropy]

There are many of us out there in education telling our students to look into the trades. I have been telling students that message for at least 15 years.
I had a former student last month, say on Facebook, "no one ever told me about going into the trades." "I told him I had many times when I had him in class." He replied "that was one of the few." But he was told repeatedly. Do not believe the propaganda that these kids are not being told about the trades, they are, many just see that them as hard work and they do not want to work that hard to earn money.

The wear and tear on the body is also substantial.
My father was a substation electrician for 40 years. Unless I have an incredibly bad accident in the lab, my physical state at 50 will be significantly better than his.

 

[Urbandale2013]

There are many of us out there in education telling our students to look into the trades. I have been telling students that message for at least 15 years.
I had a former student last month, say on Facebook, "no one ever told me about going into the trades." "I told him I had many times when I had him in class." He replied "that was one of the few." But he was told repeatedly. Do not believe the propaganda that these kids are not being told about the trades, they are, many just see that them as hard work and they do not want to work that hard to earn money.

That’s just BS. High schoolers get so much shoved at them about their future. While there may be some messaging about trades and I think it’s getting better the overwhelming pressure is still you have to go to college. It isn’t enough to have people tell them to go to trades. It has to be about granting them the freedom to legitimately consider a trade.

A lot of the messaging has to be directed at parents and counselors. To those groups it’s generally a college or your a failure message.

 

[Entropy]

The median boomer retirement account value is only $144,000. That seems really, really low for folks 65+, especially when we hear how boomers have all the wealth in the country. And this is after an historic 11-year bull run. Really hits home for the younger folks on here to start saving early.

https://madison.com/business/investment/personal-finance/the-median-retirement-savings-balance-among-baby-boomers-is-shockingly-low/article_333016c3-5318-51cf-b17e-ad35f1055554.html#:~:text=The median savings balance among,amount of work to do.

This is the reality I'm dealing with currently with my mom.
Minimum retirement and savings. Still has house debt and a home equity loan. Credit card debt. If we sell the house, we should be able to break even on the debt. Hopefully.
No idea where she would be without social security. It's a freaking nightmare, and it's a situation my siblings and I have been attempting to fix for 15 years.

 

[Beernuts]

The wear and tear on the body is also substantial.
My father was a substation electrician for 40 years. Unless I have an incredibly bad accident in the lab, my physical state at 50 will be significantly better than his.

Maybe....but those who spend their work days staring into a computer screen and sitting 8 hours a day will/do have their own physical weaknesses as life goes on.

 

[Dopey]

Just my two cents - Basic financial literacy, basic investing, compounding interest, depreciating assets, credit cards, loans & interest rates, etc. should all be part of the high school curriculum in some capacity....however, that would eliminate the abundant debtor mentality that pervades far too many Americans & it doesn't seem like that would be good for 'business'.

Side note - been working on a book about 're-imagining' high school education for the modern age which includes the aforementioned financial component among a cadre of others relevant work, life, & civic aspects.....after spending a decade teaching at two vastly different Tampa, Florida high schools & fortunate to be born & raised in small town Iowa, there were a number of things that really stuck out to provide a sense of understanding about the real world for students today.

Don't know what you're going for with the "civic aspects" portion, but I really wish my career counselor talked more to be about job/personal satisfaction rather than just paycheck potential when I was determining my path. My career feels much more suited to making a company money rather than helping others.

Anyway, good luck on the book. It seems much needed.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

The wear and tear on the body is also substantial.
My father was a substation electrician for 40 years. Unless I have an incredibly bad accident in the lab, my physical state at 50 will be significantly better than his.

Some are, others are not. Trade jobs today involve a lot less physical labor than ever before. Landman do not climb poles anymore, for example. Now concrete work and stone masons, that type of work is not for older men.

In my earlier post, I mentioned kids being lazy, I had an example of that this past year. My wife works as the city clerk in our town, they had an opening for an apprentice in the gas department. We were talking about it, and I told her, that I had a former student last year that would be great for the job. Kid loves hands on activities, bright, just needed to catch a break.
I had the kid' younger brother in class, wrote information down, told him to go to the website, and apply for the job. I told him starting pay was $18.00 an hour and they will train you, includes benefits, but you have to live within 30 minutes of town. He currently lives about 45 minutes. I told the brother to tell him my wife is on the group that is doing the hiring, and generally only a few people apply, so he had a great chance at getting the job.

Kid never even bothered to apply for the job. Long story short, many are given real opportunities and just do not care.

 

[isufbcurt]

My brother is defeatist, so his attitude doesn't surprise me. He owns a brand new truck ($35k +/-) a brand new motorcycle ($10k +/-) and travels the country every summer to go to dirt track races. Yet, within 30 seconds of ever speaking to him, he'll starting complaining about how he has no money and is being screwed by anyone and everyone. Life is about making choices and accepting what comes with them. It's ok to have nice toys, but you can't then complain that you have no money when you're dropping 25% of your income on said toys.

Sounds like a guy I'd hang with

 

[isufbcurt]

How much money do I need to sit on my deck, fish in my pond and relax when I retire?