Welcome to the round-up!
Below are the posts we read, found interesting and loved this week for a variety of reasons. They are inspiring and thought-provoking and we’d like to share them with you.
Forbes
Could The Retirement Crisis Be Overblown?
This article attempts to use data from a recently published study done by Merrill Lynch/Age Wave to suggest that the looming retirement crisis could be overblown because pre-retirees surveyed said they’d employ a variety tactics to create a course correction towards a happier retirement. The real question is will they? Will they stay on top of things and keep course correcting?
Not leaving as much money for their children or charities is something in their direct control but what about outside forces? The stock market is at an all time high and so are most home prices after an 8 year run, whose anniversary is April Fools Day 2017. What happens when the economy weakens and so do stocks and housing? Working longer may or may not be an option but they’ll have to fight for those jobs being taken by millennials and robots.
From the article:
The Guardian
Welcome To The New Dark Ages, Where Only The Wealthy Can Retire
This is a well documented article that explains why we may have a generation that can’t afford to retire at all. This is a realistic read on the current situation for UK pensioners and the effect continued austerity will have on the baby boomer generation in the US.
From the article:
“We’re now told that the real question is no longer when we will retire but if we will retire, with the prospect of working until you drop likely to become the norm. Due to an ageing population, longer life expectancy and a state pension scheme that can’t keep up, retirement might soon be a thing of the past. According to David Blake, director of the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School, “the danger now is we will have a generation who really can’t afford to retire”
You might enjoy our post on the topic. Stop Telling Yourself Your Retirement Will Be Ok.
USA Today
You have 2 choices: Reduce spending now or scale back retirement lifestyle
From the article:
“Seventy-eight percent of 45- to 65-year-olds somewhat or strongly agree they’ll need to cut back on spending after they retire, according to an Ipsos/USA Today survey of 1,205 adults in mid-January.
The results partly reflect the less-than-robust state of their nest eggs. Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed have no retirement savings or investments and another 22% have less than $100,000.”
This piece interviews several pre-retirees that have taken steps to downsize their lives before they retire.
I applaud the people who are happy and getting by on far less money. The sad fact is that people want their things today and also in retirement and the two don’t mesh well. Something has to give.
“I find that to be a (relief) that people are aware they won’t have as much,” says Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner and founder of Garrett Planning Network. “We have fewer ostriches with their heads in the sand.”
I don’t know if I agree, but it is the reality I guess.
However it doesn’t have to be this way! You can find meaningful things to do if you are creative and embrace new opportunities. Maybe you find work you truly love and never want to stop. Maybe you find work you never dreamed of that fills the gap. How about these outcomes? This article is about settling and I don’t like it, but we’re going to see a lot more like it!
Freedom Is Groovy
We’re Doomed: My Liberal Friend Bought a McMansion
From the article:
“I penned this post, not to chastise an old college buddy, but to comment on the powerful lure of stuff. Tim is a far better person than I am, and yet he couldn’t control his impulse for more. Despite all his concerns for rising CO2 levels, he chose a house with a prodigious carbon footprint over a house with a modest carbon footprint.
Mr. Groovy makes a fine point regarding consumption and stuff. That Mr. Groovy’s friend is a liberal speaks to the state of the disease of consumerism in America. Your home equals your fixed expense base. Your house is the most limiting of all your choices relative to your freedom.
Big Thanks to One Cent At A Time for featuring us this week. Read the post on their blog.
Convince Your Spouse To Save Money Together
Have a fantastic week!
Ian Bond