You all gotta read this.
This piece, penned by a retirement policy expert and professor of Economics at the New School dishes out some shocking statistics:
Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day.
Just say it:
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
We're facing the looming specter of an entire generation of elders in poverty. And what's even more scary is that the Boomers had their earning years during decades of unprecedented prosperity. How are the younger generations, which never had the same opportunities, possibly going to manage?
Seventy-five percent of retiring Americans have less than enough money saved to provide for them for an entire year without Social Security. To me, that's essentially empty. What do you think?
And now the President, Congress and the whole political infrastructure wants to tamper with Social Security as well.
Please ...
Please ...
Please read this article.
It's going to upset you. And it should:
The professor says that failure is baked into the 401(k)-based private pension plan.
The only thing that keeps this from being a complete disaster is that younger folks have such good jobs and wages now that they will be able to support their parents, as well as their own kids.
Oh, wait.