Meh.
I'll sleep when I'm dead.

As a 42 year old who is already semi-retired and will be retired at 55, I am gonna get a kick outta these replies.

meh

Maybe I should stay in the military and retire in 14 years.

regular citizens never retired before the golden age of america and they will not retire after it

generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

Be strong and you will be renewed. Identify.

I'm gonna die somewhere with a name tag on.

lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

I must have been dropped as a child...I never plan on retiring. I enjoy my job too much. As long as I'm physically able, I'd rather work. Vacations are boring. Give me a few days off a year when I'd rather do something other than work, a couple holidays and that's all I need.

spookidooki: generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

Hmmm... Maybe those "Death panels" aren't such a bad idea after all....

Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, not everyone has the option of a pension these days.

I just recently got my SS statement in the mail and by the time I retire, I'll be getting about $400 a month less than I should.

It would be hard to do away with SS entirely, but they should atleast let us keep our own money rather than the current system of todays workers pay for yesterdays.

-not an economist
-or accountant

I will die with a TPS report in hand.

My retirement plan is to keel over in the middle of the day from job related stress.

/So far, it's working.

chookbillion: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, not everyone has the option of a pension these days.

My point exactly. Guaranteed pensions are virtually non-existent these days. Corporate douchebags have successfully convinced America that gambling with YOUR money is better than you keeping it.

chookbillion: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, not everyone has the option of a pension these days.

Kind of the point, no?

spookidooki: regular citizens never retired before the golden age of america and they will not retire after it

generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

I lived with my parents for twenty years, they're not coming back, man. I got a pillow picked out for them and everything.

/they put a clause about not being left on an ice floe to die like an Eskimo in the will so I can't do that.
//absolutely true.

Just got vested in my pension. Then left the company. It's only 5 years of a pension, but it IS 5 years of a pension that I have.

Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

KhamanV: spookidooki: regular citizens never retired before the golden age of america and they will not retire after it

generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

I lived with my parents for twenty years, they're not coming back, man. I got a pillow picked out for them and everything.

/they put a clause about not being left on an ice floe to die like an Eskimo in the will so I can't do that.
//absolutely true.

My parents actually put in a 'Don't let me get like my mother.' clause.

In fact, they advocated a viking 'burial'.

General question for everyone...

What percentage of gain/loss did everyone receive on their 401(k) plans over the past couple of year?

I've seen as much as 50% get obliterated from some people. Thank Baby Jesus that I pulled my money once I started getting reports of an imminent crash.... like years ago.

As long as the government has green ink and silk threaded paper we should be ok. What could go wrong?

TheWizard: KhamanV: spookidooki: regular citizens never retired before the golden age of america and they will not retire after it

generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

I lived with my parents for twenty years, they're not coming back, man. I got a pillow picked out for them and everything.

/they put a clause about not being left on an ice floe to die like an Eskimo in the will so I can't do that.
//absolutely true.

My parents actually put in a 'Don't let me get like my mother.' clause.

In fact, they advocated a viking 'burial'.


Err, well almost. My mom wants that. My dad wants to be dropped off somewhere in Alaska with a rifle, and some supplies.

oldsbone: My retirement plan is to keel over in the middle of the day from job related stress.

/So far, it's working.

Seems to be mine, too. I develop a new symptom every month I work there.

p51d007: I must have been dropped as a child...I never plan on retiring. I enjoy my job too much. As long as I'm physically able, I'd rather work. Vacations are boring. Give me a few days off a year when I'd rather do something other than work, a couple holidays and that's all I need.


What he said. If you hate your job so much, why did you get into the field you're in? There's a line in Kill Bill that I believe. "The biggest cause of death is retirement". Especially if you're a Replicant but that's a different movie.

This is all the baby-boomers fault. They have been piggy backing off of their daddy's war all their lives. They even got a retirement out of the farking deal. Their parents didn't retire and neither will I. These "baby-boomers" are the same people that are in power in Washington right now. With their undeserved feeling of entitlement. They didn't earn what they have, put the man that did earn it in a nursing home, and now they have no concern for the next generation.

ad hoc: I just recently got my SS statement in the mail and by the time I retire, I'll be getting about $400 a month less than I should.

It would be hard to do away with SS entirely, but they should atleast let us keep our own money rather than the current system of todays workers pay for yesterdays.

-not an economist
-or accountant

I completely agree with this statement. I recently got my social security benefits summary and evidently it looks like I will be eating ramen in a cardboard box.

Can someone more informed that I am answer a question for me please? Let's say my statement says that I will be making $500 a month when a retire in 30 years...Is that $500 going to add interest to compensate for inflation? I would imagine $500 a month would worth next to nothing by then.

The whole retire at somewhere between 50 and 60 only worked back when the human life span was shorter and diseases like cancer were killers. Back then you died in your 70s or got cancer and likely died, whereas today you'll go through 25k worth of medical treatments and live for another 10 to 15 years. So now you get to work later in life.

karmaceutical: chookbillion: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, not everyone has the option of a pension these days.

Kind of the point, no?

Guess I'm kinda stupid. Anyway, I don't see how I can ever retire. My big plan is to ask my student loan company for a deferment when I start collecting social security in hopes that I can take a week or so off before starting work at Wal-Mart as a greeter.

TheWizard: KhamanV: spookidooki: regular citizens never retired before the golden age of america and they will not retire after it

generational homes are coming back, kids. you can't afford to put grandpa in a nursing home.

I lived with my parents for twenty years, they're not coming back, man. I got a pillow picked out for them and everything.

/they put a clause about not being left on an ice floe to die like an Eskimo in the will so I can't do that.
//absolutely true.

My parents actually put in a 'Don't let me get like my mother.' clause.

In fact, they advocated a viking 'burial'.

My mom talked a big game like that. She claimed to have purchased long term care insurance, said to put her in a home as soon as her mind went.

And when her mind went, it turned out she'd never bought any insurance. And was madder than hell to have to go to the nursing home. Still is.

As for her will, it's utterly irrelevant. The nursing home will get all of the not much.

/Alzheimer's
//runs in the family
///do not want

Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Our 401Ks went up $80K this last quarter. Maybe you should change your allocations and spend a little more time managing it?

Thanatos_10: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

Companies took on that "risk" well before some Wall Street monkey thunk-up 401(k) horse crap, and companies were doing just fine. Put pensions are a thing of the past, I'll give you that.

But until pensions come back, I'll have to settle for social security and stuffing cash in my mattress.

ha-ha-guy: The whole retire at somewhere between 50 and 60 only worked back when the human life span was shorter and diseases like cancer were killers. Back then you died in your 70s or got cancer and likely died, whereas today you'll go through 25k worth of medical treatments and live for another 10 to 15 years. So now you get to work later in life.

That's a fine notion, but who the hell will employ me when I'm 70? It's not like folks are knocking on the door now, and I'm not even 40.

jgmilliken: This is all the baby-boomers fault. They have been piggy backing off of their daddy's war all their lives. They even got a retirement out of the farking deal. Their parents didn't retire and neither will I. These "baby-boomers" are the same people that are in power in Washington right now. With their undeserved feeling of entitlement. They didn't earn what they have, put the man that did earn it in a nursing home, and now they have no concern for the next generation.

I guess no one was born between the 40's/50's and the 70's/80's????

Maybe someone else can supply the figures for real wages/cost of living/inflation/etc. but it seems to me there was once a time in this country when a man with a high school education, if he worked hard, could expect an income which would support a family and perhaps buy a modest home, and if he saved prudently could expect to retire before he became too decrepit/senile to work anymore.

These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.

sweav: jgmilliken: This is all the baby-boomers fault. They have been piggy backing off of their daddy's war all their lives. They even got a retirement out of the farking deal. Their parents didn't retire and neither will I. These "baby-boomers" are the same people that are in power in Washington right now. With their undeserved feeling of entitlement. They didn't earn what they have, put the man that did earn it in a nursing home, and now they have no concern for the next generation.

I guess no one was born between the 40's/50's and the 70's/80's????

Boomers = 1946-1964
X'ers=1965-1980

maceinator: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Our 401Ks went up $80K this last quarter. Maybe you should change your allocations and spend a little more time managing it?

Right, because I'm a Wall Street expert? I'm a stock broker? My job is to write code in computers, not to manage stocks and mutual funds.

The bottom line is, if a CEO can't entrust the lowliest worker with managing the company's finances, how could he then entrust the lowliest worker with managing their own??

trancemission: Maybe someone else can supply the figures for real wages/cost of living/inflation/etc. but it seems to me there was once a time in this country when a man with a high school education, if he worked hard, could expect an income which would support a family and perhaps buy a modest home, and if he saved prudently could expect to retire before he became too decrepit/senile to work anymore.

These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.

Nope, three degrees and a skilled trade in our household, and we are clinging by our nails.

trancemission: These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.


The term you're looking for is realist.

Red_October: Thanatos_10: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

Companies took on that "risk" well before some Wall Street monkey thunk-up 401(k) horse crap, and companies were doing just fine. Put pensions are a thing of the past, I'll give you that.

But until pensions come back, I'll have to settle for social security and stuffing cash in my mattress.

What's so horse-crap about a 401(k)? It's no different than any other equity investment, but with the added advantage of being pre-tax. If it's the market risk that bothers you, you realize you are always free to put it in a money market account or a bond fund, right? 401(k) does not necessarily equal stocks.

I "always knew" that there would be no traditional retirement.

and don't farking lump me in with the boomers. I thought Doug Coupland sorted all that out once.

// age 48

trancemission: Maybe someone else can supply the figures for real wages/cost of living/inflation/etc. but it seems to me there was once a time in this country when a man with a high school education, if he worked hard, could expect an income which would support a family and perhaps buy a modest home, and if he saved prudently could expect to retire before he became too decrepit/senile to work anymore.

These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.

Don't worry, it will trickle down sometime. All that money that comes from working class salaries and gets handed over to executive salaries and insurance companies will come back to the working class somehow. I'm sure they've got their top men working on it right now.

atomic-age: trancemission: Maybe someone else can supply the figures for real wages/cost of living/inflation/etc. but it seems to me there was once a time in this country when a man with a high school education, if he worked hard, could expect an income which would support a family and perhaps buy a modest home, and if he saved prudently could expect to retire before he became too decrepit/senile to work anymore.

These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.

Nope, three degrees and a skilled trade in our household, and we are clinging by our nails.

FightDirector: trancemission: These days, it seems that you can collect all the college degrees you want, and you'll still need two incomes to raise a family and have to continue working until the day you die.

Maybe I'm just being a pessimist.


The term you're looking for is realist.

Dear god it really is that bad, isn't it?

I was talking to my mom the other day - she is college educated but never made what would be considered a good income. She does have a good chunk of change set aside now that she's retired, but that's only because she lived like a god-damned pauper her entire life.

It's difficult to convince my wife that despite both having advanced degrees and being lucky enough to be employed in good fields, we're going to have to pinch pennies for the rest of our lives.

Red_October: maceinator: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Our 401Ks went up $80K this last quarter. Maybe you should change your allocations and spend a little more time managing it?

Right, because I'm a Wall Street expert? I'm a stock broker? My job is to write code in computers, not to manage stocks and mutual funds.

The bottom line is, if a CEO can't entrust the lowliest worker with managing the company's finances, how could he then entrust the lowliest worker with managing their own??

I'm a safety and health specialist, managing my 401k couldn't be easier and I only ever took econ 101.

Red_October: maceinator: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Our 401Ks went up $80K this last quarter. Maybe you should change your allocations and spend a little more time managing it?

Right, because I'm a Wall Street expert? I'm a stock broker? My job is to write code in computers, not to manage stocks and mutual funds.

The bottom line is, if a CEO can't entrust the lowliest worker with managing the company's finances, how could he then entrust the lowliest worker with managing their own??



That's your fundamental error. My job was to write code too, and I did for 25 years. But thinking that's important to your retirement is like thinking that the point of a game of chess is to move the pieces, not to capture the king.

Get to Motley Fool and read everything. In terms of your 401k, here's the tl;dr:

When the market starts going down, shift to bonds. They provide stable interest. When the market starts to recover, shift to stocks. They provide high growth. Rollover to annuities to provide fixed income. Create a ladder of investments that will start paying out over time, so you get 'raises' as the cost of living goes up. Live within your means.

I retired at 45. When getting financial advice ask when the person retired, and use that to gauge the value of the information. Everyone wants your money.

/This is not financial information or a recommendation. Use your own brain cells.

trancemission: Red_October: Thanatos_10: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

Companies took on that "risk" well before some Wall Street monkey thunk-up 401(k) horse crap, and companies were doing just fine. Put pensions are a thing of the past, I'll give you that.

But until pensions come back, I'll have to settle for social security and stuffing cash in my mattress.

What's so horse-crap about a 401(k)? It's no different than any other equity investment, but with the added advantage of being pre-tax. If it's the market risk that bothers you, you realize you are always free to put it in a money market account or a bond fund, right? 401(k) does not necessarily equal stocks.

Is it or is it not gambling?

I'll probably be dead of liver failure by age 45 so I see no reason invest in retirement when I can invest in booze.

I got a kitten a few months ago, I figure I'll stick around until he dies and then just bite it.

/31

Red_October: trancemission: Red_October: Thanatos_10: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

Companies took on that "risk" well before some Wall Street monkey thunk-up 401(k) horse crap, and companies were doing just fine. Put pensions are a thing of the past, I'll give you that.

But until pensions come back, I'll have to settle for social security and stuffing cash in my mattress.

What's so horse-crap about a 401(k)? It's no different than any other equity investment, but with the added advantage of being pre-tax. If it's the market risk that bothers you, you realize you are always free to put it in a money market account or a bond fund, right? 401(k) does not necessarily equal stocks.

Is it or is it not gambling?

That really depends on how you manage your investment. It can be very risky or it can be played very safe. Either way, it is much better than most of the alternatives.

I don't get it. European can get away with putting the fear of God into corporations when it comes to things like retirement, vacation time, work hours, free higher education and all, but we have to settle for 401k.

But apparently we have some farking financial experts here that know better than the rest of us retards.

Red_October: trancemission: Red_October: Thanatos_10: Red_October: lolololololololol

You guys have been convinced to give up your pensions in favor of 401(k) awesomeness. Really, 401k is great! You can profit!!! You can make gazillions!!! Your company will have more for your raises by eliminating wasteful pensions!!!

No, 401k isn't like gambling. No, really it isn't. See, we just take your money, put it into Wall Street and you profit!! Everyone profits!! Everyone wins!!

Well, it's either that or some entity gets tasked with providing a constant return to workers, with little certainty as to how long these workers will be drawing on it from. This can be a substantial portion of the employee's actual 'cost'.

All sorts of problems get introduced when companies underfund pensions, understate liabilities, etc. and then eventually need bankruptcy. The government ends up taking on the majority of the pensions.

/Doesn't think it's prudent for companies to take on that risk. Some people will wind up having a tough retirement either way.

Companies took on that "risk" well before some Wall Street monkey thunk-up 401(k) horse crap, and companies were doing just fine. Put pensions are a thing of the past, I'll give you that.

But until pensions come back, I'll have to settle for social security and stuffing cash in my mattress.

What's so horse-crap about a 401(k)? It's no different than any other equity investment, but with the added advantage of being pre-tax. If it's the market risk that bothers you, you realize you are always free to put it in a money market account or a bond fund, right? 401(k) does not necessarily equal stocks.

Is it or is it not gambling?

Depends on how you define "gambling."

If "gambling" to you means that you might lose some money, then like I said stick to a money market account or high-grade bonds. You won't make a pile of money, but you'll keep what you have and make somewhat better interest than your savings account.

The most important thing here is time horizon: don't put money in stocks that you're going to need any time in the next 10 years or so. They might go up and down in value, but they'll almost certainly go up over the long term. I have no sympathy for people who needed the money they lost in their stock investments last year - if you are retired or are close to retirement, that money should NOT be in stocks.