Will You Be Ready For Retirement???

[JaniceSW]

According to articles I am reading and news shows I have been watching, there is a significant portion of the population which doesn't have nearly enough saved for retirement.  What do you think?  Do you think you will be ready financially?  If already retired, were you ready?  What kind of money do you think would be necessary to have saved?

[melissaotto1982]

I hope to be but with the increase in the cost of things I cant be so sure.

[gaby_ro_2004]

No way!    We can afford to travel to Europe every 3 years but not to retire.You need millions to retire and live comfortable.

[dancer139]

as ready as I will ever be.   Will I have enough money to get me through?   probably not.   But I will make adjustments

[oldbuddy]

No way!    We can afford to travel to Europe every 3 years but not to retire.You need millions to retire and live comfortable.

That is a big fat myth and I can prove it. It's just Wall Streets way of getting more suckers to put their money up where they can grab it.

I did retire in Sept of 2000 and when I saw that my Stocks were worthless after the greedy market mavens manipulated the market and real estate that I owned was not selling, so I had no savings left and only Social Security to live on, I turned to the Internet and it saved my day.

Now it's almost 15 years later and I live quite comfortably. I play around online for extra money to add to our Social Security, my wife works part-time as a sub for special needs kids (because she loves it) and runs a distributorship for Stampin' Up part time and we finally did sell the real estate we had.

We still don't have more than a few thousand in savings, because we put our money in a condo timeshare (which some say is a scam) and enjoy traveling all over and staying in luxury accommodations several times a year.

Life Is Good!  

[squirrelgirl44]

Nope. I have only about one years salary in savings/retirement funds right now. I'm in my mid 30's... so scary!

[bremer51]

I retired and I was ready because I have a pension through my workplace.  I contributed to it since I was 22 years old.  I haven't applied for Social Security yet being that I'm not really at full retirement age.  Its never too early to start putting money towards your retirement.

[Nancy5]

I took an early retirement and now can draw a pension and social security.  I am also able to pull from my 401K with no penality.  My husband still works because, like Old Buddy's wife, he chooses to and loves his work.  Me on the other hand did not love my job.  We are able to live a comfortable life, travel, and help our kids.  In my opinion if you only listen to tv reports you will never be able to retire.  Yes, we have savings but no where near millions!

[braggin]

I am already retired and I had saved for retirement for many years before I retired. However, I do not think I saved enough. I saved enough to pay all my regular bills and lead a pleasant modest lifestyle, but I wish I had saved up enough to travel all over the world too. I think to be really sure you have enough to do everything you want to do you need at least a million dollars saved up for retirement.

[sfreeman8]

I was forced to retire early (not fair!) and wasn't at all ready. I lost most of my retirement funds in the crash, as did hubby and we weren't prepared even then. Problem was not being able to save when younger because of raising kids and all the bills associated with them. Plus our education never included being taught about retirement savings because Social Security was THE retirement idea back then as an "extra." 

You worked for a company who provided a profit/pension plan and you were pretty well set even if you didn't contribute. Sadly, those companies or the profit/pension plans are long gone and the younger generation are forced to find their own way to the golden years.

Today, my hubby and I are on Social Security and those earnings put us in the poverty class. Another thing that happened was when I was self-employed, you didn't have to pay into SS for 3 years. I took advantage of that because I wanted to get my business up and running. Well, when SS started sending automatic statements every year, I noticed my SS went had gone from $800/mo. to $200/mo. I called and they told me that they start taking the money AWAY from you if you don't contribute for a couple years. That is definitely NOT fair because I worked hard and paid in for 27 years working in the outside world.

If they wouldn't have taken my SS away, I would be getting around $1200/mo today. It's not much, but better than what I AM receiving. When I was forced to retire from another outside job and my self-employment (paying the 15% myself into SS), my earnings were up to a whole $500 (after another 15 years).

So, young 'uns...take my advice and start your retirement ASAP, even if you can only put $10 a week in a fund...it would make a big different when you retire because who knows if SS will even be around.

[michele2042]

Not ready but it's here.   So many unfortunate happenings through our 40 years of marriage that we were unable to save like we wanted.   Husband has a great 401K and he still has a couple of years left to work.   I, on the other hand, lost my job of 20 plus years in the non profit sector.   I'm at an age now where it has been very difficult to find another job.   Age discrimination may be illegal but when you go in for an interview or submit a resume with as many years of employment as I have it becomes obvious they want younger folks. 

[missplaymate618]

No where close of being ready I am only 30 and a stay at home mom for the time being. I know once I am able to go back to work one paycheck a month will go towards my daughters college fund and my retirement.

[sdenimandlace1]

I hope to go next year. Not much in saving it just time to get out.

[svetka05]

I hope so. I do try to set aside as much the amount as I can into my retirement account. With my age I think I am way behind on saving the amount that I should per month to be able to retire well and securely. That is why I am hoping to put all my talents to work to make additional income.

[bleyd]

I agree that people need to save more for retirement. My hubby and I have some kind of plan in place but not nearly enough to where we can retire. He just retired (but wasn't a good one), but he still needs to work at least part time maybe for another 10 years. And I still have to work full time probably another 20 years (full SS). Hopefully by then, we'll be debt free.