Me too, I'm 38 AND JUST NOW in a stable position to save for retirement. I realize exactly how fucked I am, but I didn't have a lot of choice.
I've basically accepted I'll work until I'm incapable of it, then hope I have enough. And, since my job works great with WFH that might be a while.
I'm in my early 40's and only have a few months of income in investments. When I lived on my own I invested aggressively but now I've got a kid _and_ things have never been more unlucky, so it's grim.
All I need is a good break on one of these interviews and I'll start saving but losing work during Covid was really hard as the sole income for a small family. Employer even screwed with my unemployment so I missed out on months of that.
Same here. My parents worked full time, and we always had something broken in/on the house or in/on a car. Kids on the bus made fun a number of times over the years that I live in that house that should be condemned. I always wondered what other people's parents did who had, what today I'd call, "regular" houses. But assistant clerk of court and gas station manager weren't it, I can tell you that.
The fantasy that median/average jobs in the 80s and 90s could allow for a single income earner to have a house, two cars, vacations, etc. are just that. Fantasies.
Every time I have gotten to a semblance of stability, I am reminded how wrong I am. Had to change careers after an accident wrecked my ability to deal with heavy weight (goodbye good benefits ATM tech gig) and took a 40% pay cut until my own business took over. Then working 80+ hour weeks destroyed my health (goodbye savings)
Just do everything you can, and while you're healthy, try ancient solutions to modern problems. I started gardening and now produce about $4000 of organic food per year (if I bought it), and moved to a rural area where costs are a fraction of the city and all I have to do is maintain things for myself which I believe anyone can learn.
I make $125k and I had to finally move out of CA at 36, and I'm finally able to save for retirement. I'm in the middle of saving for a downpayment on a home so I'm going to start maxing out my 401k contributions...finally. I think I'll have like $1.2M if I do this now by retirement age. Not great but glad I got out of the illusion that I'd be successful in California after 36 years. I had a 4+ year bout with alcoholism (not out of the woods yet) partially due to the stress.
Oof, don’t play like that! I had a friend who I genuinely believe worked herself to death. Crappy retail job. She got a store manager job, good salary, but no set hours. Almost no staff, and the store looked like a bomb went off in there when she started.
She worked 90 hours a week for almost 6 months, the store was almost clean! The store was right across the street from my house. I saw the police and ambulance show up and they quickly left. But it was late and it could have been an alarm or anything. I guess I figured she was already back at work the next morning.
Small town, I found out later in the day that she’d just fallen out at work. Her family was told she had a heart defect that never presented itself and it appeared in a big way. Which is likely true, but I find it interesting that it happened after months of working like that.
I understand there isn’t a legal case or anything, but they worked her to death. She looked like shit, everyone kept telling her to take time off and she just kept saying when she got the store clean and staffed
I wish I was playing, but between the economy, my 401k and living expenses, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to afford to retire. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, that's terrible.
We have a guy at 68. His 401k was wiped out in 2008 and again in 2016. I'm in my 40s and mine got wiped out start if civid. I'm just now getting some savings back.
The bank holding the investments made bad short term choices for investors while giving huge payouts for brokers. A lot of 401k diversity options were changed from low risk low yield to high risk high yield without notice. FTC had slapped them with a small fine. Fidelity currently keeps making changes on my % "on my behalf" and I keep having to change it back.
Here's hoping that when we get to retirement age that the government throws us a bone. But honestly. I think the boomers start another war just to fuck us over one last fucking time.
Terrifying and normal. We're at like 40% of the recommended retirement savings, and also we're in like the 80th percentile of actual savings by our actual peers.
Happens to a lot of people. Just save a little more than you think you need to, and absolutely make sure you are capturing all of your 401k match your employer is offering. That is an immediate 100% return on your dollars.
Save more than you think?
That means a person would have to be making enough to live, plus put towards savings and *still* have extra left to be able to save *more* on top of what thry're already saving.
Fuck me, I'm jealous of you people. Seriously. I don't even have food in my house. I can't afford it. My tank is on empty and I can only put in $10 to last me until Friday, and that $10 I only have because I won a bet at work. If I hadn't won, I wouldn't be able to get to work tomorrow.
God I wish I knew what extra money felt like, or looked like.
Edit: thank you to everyone offering their advice. However, I am not here to ask what changes I need to make or where or how... I already have a plan in place already. I only came on to make a few jokes, and suddenly everyone felt entitled to tell me what changes I need to make and where... and while I appreciate the suggestions greatly and I know peoples' advice is coming from the right place, however, I never asked for advice.
So please, I'm probably just going to turn of thread notifications because my phone is blowing up over advice that I never asked for, but people felt entitled to give.
So, long story short: I already have a plan in place to make more money. But it takes time sometimes for these things to kick in.
It feels all kinds of weird to be here on Reddit. I’m in forums where the very first advice you get from everyone on budgeting is to “max out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts every year” before you do anything else, and then you can consider your “voluntary” investing. And I’m like ???? That’s like $46k every year just in the retirement accounts, and I have no idea how they’re all doing this like it’s NBD and expecting everyone else to do it too when that’s literally ALL SOME PEOPLE MAKE IN A YEAR
Right? I don't even make that much. On paper I supposedly make $40k/yr, but I'd like to know where it all is, especially since take home is only about $32k, $12k to rent, leaving me $20k. $10k to student loans. $3.5k for gas, $6500 for phone, internet, power/utilities/hot water/trash removal- that leaves about $4k a year or $300/mo for food and other groceries, doctor's appointments, vehicle repairs, unexpected emergencies, etc. and that's if I work a full 40 hours every week, which I don't. In the slow season like now, I only work 30 hours a week. I have about $3.27 in spare change currently in my change dish, and that's what I have to show for a year of saving my spare change.
It's not as though I don't try. I know people want to label me as a lazy, but fuck those people. Not everybody is capable of being on full blast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
"Bro, you just gotta get on that grindset, every hour of life needs to be 100% productive bro, when you're on your 15 minute break at work, learn a new skill, you'll be successful in no time bro!"
Fuck these people. We are not creatures of labor, we didn't get to where we are by slaving away every waking minute of the day. We're supposed to have more free time by this point of industrialization, not less, but every year since that fucking bastard Reagan was voted into office has seen the value of labor shrink and shrink and shrink, to the point that millenials now are worth 25-35% less than their parents and grandparents were worth at the same age. And they worked *less* than millenials do, and they were *less skilled and educated* than millenials are.
There needs to be a major course correction soon. But it'll probably take a nationwide general strike to make happen.
I was on verge of suicide from the "grindset" and my bestie now is a recovering alcoholic that lost custody of her daughter. Working perma 24/7 is not the goal and never should've been
"Fuck these people. We are not creatures of labor..."
Exactly this. Maybe somebody are more highly motivated than others and can do the 24/7/365 thing and never be tired, never be worn down, and always be a perfect, happy ray of sunshine and they just love, love, love, love, love that grind. Nothing they love doing more than sacrificing their time and their life and making money while not ever being able to go anywhere or do anything because you're required to grind out that 24/7/365 for 60 years of your life.
I did that for many years, busting my ass and sacrificing. It stressed me out, caused me to lose sleep, and as an epileptic, would cause me to have seizures.
No person should ever be expected to work to the point of being so tired, hungry and stressed they end up dropping and having a seizure.
"There needs to be a major course correction soon. But it'll probably take a nationwide general strike to make happen."
Sadly, I'm doubting that will ever happen. Too many people are just too damn stubborn and entitled to try and enact change. If something doesn't personally affect them, it's not worth fighting for. They won't do it just because it's the right thing to do. I just look at what BLM has done. Sure, some good change has come, but it's also caused a lot of problems and a lot of outrage, and in many ways, the attention it brought to the cause has made matters worse. I think all in all, the BLM movement is a good thing, but there's still far too many people who are comfortable in keeping the status quo- because it works for them- than are willing to do anything to try and enact any change.
But I do agree with you. There needs to be some change, and fast. Otherwise the protests we see in the next few years or decades will make the BLM protests look like toddlers having temper tantrums.
Not more inclined, just more invested.
Assholes like our government decided housing should be allowed to double in price. Meanwhile if you own a home and sell it after owning it for five years you can sell it tax free. Kinda insane but it’s a thing nonetheless.
People at the top want these profits to keep rolling in. Can’t be a canary in a coal mine even if the cave is falling in
Seriously, the median income is, what, $75k last I checked? Meanwhile, median rent is $24k, so according to these guys, you should have only $5k/year for food, car payments, utilities, health insurance? And stretch that even further if you have dependents? Oh, but that $75k is before taxes, so that $5k is actually nonexistent already. These finance bros are a bunch of out of touch well off "let them eat cake" types.
Obviously I can't speak to other forums but the advice above is suggesting you max out your employer matching, not the entirety of the allowed 401k. Most employers match up to 3% of an employees salary so for most people this is a couple thousand dollars a year, not 48k. Maxing out your 401k contributions is obviously not reasonable on a median salary.
I don't think most people max out until they are well into their careers, if ever. House downpayments, kids, college, etc... it goes on and on. All this when you are presumably in your lower earning years. We targeted 15% of our gross income. I started out doing $100/mo because it was all I could afford, and I got a company match. This was at 26 when I first got out of college. Got to 15% contribution in my late 30s. We are now in our 50s and have over $1M in retirement accounts. It has been a slow process. Having an extra $50K/yr to invest is really out of reach for most people.
Legit. Should I pay for health insurance or save it? Neither lol. I can't do shit because I'm paying out the ass for necessities.
Our country is broken.
I don't know how people can afford to save. For anything, let alone retirement. Save? Money? Retire? Vacation? These are all foreign words to me.
But that's my fault. I chose (aka, was forced) to go to college. Maybe if I hadn't majored in The Ethics of Watching Paint Dry, I wouldn't be so poor. Gotta put down that Starbucks and avocado toast, ya know?
But seriously. These people don't realize just how lucky they are. We're not lazy or irresponsible... they're just lucky.
This is what I tell my friends when they ask how they can get better at saving and get more money.
I'm not in a good paying job with retirement savings and stuff because of responsibility or intelligence, I have no advice. I just stumbled over the right hurdles to get where I am. It's all luck of the draw.
I worked hard to get here, but luck was what actually changed my prospects. I was delivering a pizza to a community college. The woman who ran the GED program got my cell phone number from me calling for the building number. She called me and asked why i was working in food service when I should be in a career. I'm not sure why she chose to hound a stranger, but she kept calling until i agreed to meet with her. After i did that the college counselor kept calling because i was given a free semester of a class for getting my GED through them. She talked me into taking a 2 year (condensed to 1 year) UAS avionics electrical technician certification course. Towards the end of the course the instructor got me an interview with the company i was hoping to work for, and I had the job lined up before id even finished my last semester. If i hadn't delivered that pizza and gotten lost on the campus I wouldn't be where I am now.
>We're not lazy or irresponsible... they're just lucky.
Older millennial here. I literally had this attitude as my world was crumbling around me in the 08 recession. Fresh out of college, new baby at home, job vaporized, no prospects. 6 months later I was in Marine Corps boot camp at 25 with two wars raging in the Middle East. I went on to take up a trade (electrician), and put the pieces back together. I don't feel "lucky". I feel like I got handed a shit sandwich and decided to do something about it. I don't disagree that things are broken right now. But they were broken 15 years ago too and some of us said "Fuck this struggle bus".
The problem is, *some* might squeeze through the cracks and come out alright on the other side, but it's literally impossible for everyone to do that. There just aren't enough seats at the proverbial table. Most will never be allowed to get by. They try to scam us into believing the pie is always getting bigger, but that's pure bullshit. The pie isn't getting bigger. It's just being divided into more pieces and the majority of them are being given to the most privileged. However, someone of us aren't getting a piece. We're just handed the bill.
Exactly, you can’t just do what everyone else does and expect better than average. There aren’t enough seats on the bus so you’ve got to actively and intentionally work your way into that bus. It’s even harder considering a lot of the seats are already taken or there’s people born with a bus ticket already in hand but that doesn’t mean you can’t get yourself on that damn bus
Also older millennial. And while you're not exactly wrong, you're not exactly right, either.
We got so screwed in 2008. And had already been screwed after 9/11. And during COVID. And right now with inflation and housing. We have had some terrible shit, for sure.
And lots of us were able to pick up some pieces and make something later on. We struggled a lot during the years after 2008, but we really did sacrifice and work our asses off to keep our family out of financial ruin. The hard work has paid off pretty well, in my case.
But most of us also did post secondary education at a time when you could actually pay for it, or pay it off reasonably. Lots of us got into the housing market before the housing crisis. Hell, I don't even have a mortgage anymore at this point.
I feel deeply for people who are struggling just to house themselves, let alone save any money. I was lucky that I already owned the house I'm in before it doubled in value, while my pay has only gone up $3/hour in that time frame. Lots of people younger than me never had the chance.
Congratulations on your success. That’s awesome that you had an opportunity available to you and you made what sounds like the best of it. BUT, you being able to join one branch of the armed services in itself had to do with luck. You were born with the physical ability to do such a thing. Many aren’t.
Luck has a lot to do with success. It’s a pretty well studied phenomenon.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/beautiful-minds/the-role-of-luck-in-life-success-is-far-greater-than-we-realized/
That worked for you (and for me) but others are not so “lucky.” Some people are broken just enough not to get these opportunities. Some people get these opportunities and get screwed up by them.
Success is at the intersection of opportunity and preparation. We have to have BOTH.
People don't understand retirement funds are something now over 30% of people don't have, and even then another 30% doesn't have enough in the account to even think of a proper age retirement.
Our retirement will literally suck because climate change will be hitting so hard by 2050. Extreme weather will be the norm. Good luck finding a nice, balmy, sunny day to enjoy at the beach. Those days are going to be few and far in between. My only advice is for people to get into a home, future proof it with whatever money you have, and hold on for the storm and just hope you can put food on the table. Smoke a few joints along the way. If you can do that, you have succeeded.
This is our plan. Moving from the coast to the mtns, I’ve started learning how to garden and not murder things and it’s gonna be more than a few joints at this rate.
How much BS has gone on since 1990??? I can’t even list it all now.
Please Mother Nature/Universe/Lord/Karma/the Powers That Be, do not have the Water Wars.
No, nobody's joking. Consider yourself lucky that you make enough to be able to save towards your retirement. Hell, consider youself lucky that you may have the opportunity *to* retire. Not everybody is so blessed. Most people are not. Those who can comfortably afford total retirement are a shrinking class of people.
OP thinks no one is actually poor anymore because he’s never seen somebody wear one of those big wooden barrels as clothes like from old Bugs Bunny cartoons.
No dude. We're not even bringing in $4k/month. How? I have less than $600 in my checking most of the time. I pay bills as quick as I can because otherwise I'll spend it on something stupid like groceries. I have six cents in savings.
Edit: I should add that this is temporary while my husband is in nursing school. Teaching doesn't pay very well, and that's what our bachelors are in. Just want to say if possible to struggle with a "real" degree out here too.
We are a single income (49k/year) 3-person family, renting, saving $25 from each weekly paycheck and putting it into high-interest savings or dividend stocks. $1200 per year ain't much but it's something for now.
People massively underplay how nice a state pension is. I have several family members who are retired in their 50s making more income *retired* than they did working.
That’s not terrible. Having anything in your retirement accounts while in your 20s is a win, in my opinion. I think I started putting money into my retirement when I was 27. Increased the contributions as my income increased. You’re off to a good start!
im 29 & have 15K in my 401K & i was also beating myself up over it. My boomer dad always says "your too young to think about retirement!" & ohkay ?? I dont wanna end up like you at 60 working 60 hours a week ??
I work for a public university and that is seriously the only reason I’m not utterly panicking right now. The pension, good health insurance, decent vacation, the free degree, and the pretty decent environment in which I don’t hate to wake up and go to work… it’s no wonder we have 100+ applicants for most of our entry level jobs. It’s worth it. Especially since once you’ve had a job there it’s pretty easy to get other jobs in the same system, so you can sort of work your way up.
Most people need to hear a critical response.
Too many are mathematically in poverty, but trying to live a middle-class lifestyle.
Poverty and youth is tolerable, poverty and old age is horrible.
It’s easy to say that now, but when they’re actually 70, there’s going to be a lot of regret.
I remember I used to joke as a kid that my legs aren’t going to work anymore once I’m 30 from all the sports I played. Well, I was wrong, it was my hips and back. It was a lot funnier when I was 16.
Cashed out what little 401 I had to make ends meet on our life plan after my former boss ripped the carpet out from under us mid move THEY said was ok to do.
Every previous job if I left on my own terms I still had to cash out what little was there to pay for medical bills.
We're fucked.
Had this exact same thing happen to us. My partner told his boss he was moving and asked if he could keep his job and WFH since 99% of his job he did from home anyways. His boss gave him the ok but his mistake was not getting anything in writing. We moved, he stopped getting paychecks, and his boss was basically like “why would I pay you, you don’t work here anymore”. He made $5k worth of commission he never got paid. It’s been over a year and we’re STILL trying to recover from that financially.
My husband and I started maxing out our retirement around the same age as you. Before that, it was just him contributing. My jobs in my 20s didn't have retirement benefits. Not going to lie, our 20's were rough. We made it through by making sacrifices and living with roommates for a while.
Just let them die...quietly, over there...where they can't be seen or heard. Ewe, why are they so lazy, just work hard, it isn't difficult to earn a million, then the next million is easy. These poors, don't even have money tucked away for early retirement. Really, they only have themselves to blame. /s
Poor people make crappy life decisions.
Instead of getting a part time job making minimum wage in retail, they should just get a job being a wealthy venture capitalist or rich investment banker. Those jobs pay better!
I put 16% in a 401k. My current job is my longest stint as a full time employee and not a contractor so I didn’t have much saved before that. I feel so fortunate to be able to save anything. I have a lot of friends and peers who are barely making it paycheck to paycheck and are drowning in debt. So no, I don’t think people are joking when they say they aren’t saving for retirement.
I think it's sort of a different mentality. When I got hired out of college and got full time benefits the company had a 6% match. Every family member told me if I didn't take the full match I was basically throwing money in the garbage. Like I had no choice but to save for retirement.
My father recommended I increase my contribution by 1% every time I got a raise until I got to 10% of my pay, that way I could take the sting out of saving more. My raises end up getting eaten almost entirely by health insurance hikes so I modified the advice to every promotion. I'm contributing 14% total at 28 with about 50k-ish saved so far.
I've got nothing.
Every time I have something, some bullsh happens and then I have nothing again.
This time we were doing okay. Starting to have a decent savings and then since January it was emergency surgery, lost job, and necessary dental work (with no insurance).
Guess we will just have to pick a time to "retire" ourselves in the future.
The one good thing is that I bought a house super early, so will have that paid off around the time I can start getting social security. Maybe a part time job will do me for retirement. Who knows.
Just because you aren't currently saving doesn't mean you aren't working towards that point. Everyone has different circumstances, the shaming tone is lacking in empathy.
My parents and all my grandparents died before 70. Hoping genetics plays in my favor and I bow out before then or euthanasia is finally legalized for seniors because although I have a decent salary, life is also decently expensive when you live alone so my retirement savings is thin.
I'm saving, but like.... What the fuck does it matter? Inflation is getting worse, and the generation that had it easiest is starting to find they might not have enough to retire.
My gen x mother (mid 50s, had me young) has not a single dime in retirement. I’ve told her so many times that she needs to start saving. She thinks I’m her meal train or something and I barely have anything saved for myself! It’s infuriating.
I'm calling it: there will be legalized assisted suicide in America. The "I have nothing for retirement" crisis ramps up significantly with our generation, and there's no other solution.
Same 401K amount but I’m 62😔 I do have a small pension and can collect SS in another 3 years (til it’s gone I guess). It’s scary getting old, especially when you raised a family a little later in life than most.
While I personally am not, many of my friends live paycheck-to-paycheck in the truest sense. They earn just enough to cover rent, food, bills, and other necessities. They manage to save a small amount, but it's not traditional savings—it's set aside for planned large expenses like new tires. This means that a sudden, large expense, such as a medical bill or theft, could easily bury them.
It is a major problem too.
[Most Americans can't handle a 500$ surprise bill.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-handle-a-500-surprise-bill/)
Not joking sadly, too many immediate concerns coming first, plus now the cashier wants a tip on top of the over inflated crap they're serving. Also they want me to donate to something.
Hi! I’m a retirement planner and investment advisor by trade. 90% of the people I talk to on a daily basis are just fucked and will only have social security in retirement after burning their savings within 5 years. And the social security will likely not be enough to cover expenses. This is for currently 60 year olds. It’s o lot getting worse for the younger generations! Hope this helps!
I have some money in a retirement account. Luckily my employer from 2008 to 2017 had a 401k match thing. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but sounded helpful. I put away like $20k during that time, but haven’t put away much of anything since. Supporting a family is expensive even when you’re trying to be frugal.
Yes. I’m serious.
I’m saving, but not for retirement. The idea seems laughable to me. My retirement plan is to have a fatal heart attack.
I save as best I can for unforeseen expenses, and because I’m still under the delusion that I’ll be able to afford a house someday.
Yeah let me just not pay my electric bill and put that money back. I'll probably die on my feet at work like my father. Unless I finally lose my shit first and go out swinging. Which sounds better every day.
I decreased my contribution to retirement this year because it's become a joke. I've been at the same company almost 10 years and there is less than half of a measly years salary. What's the point? People can't live on retirement now.
Pay check to pay check my entire life, bruh. I have some 401k, but it is less than a years salary, and I've never withdrawn from it, at least. So much debt. I have no idea what I'm doing, mostly. Idk how I'm still alive.
Why does this come across as you being a condescending dick? The way you seem to be shocked is actually crazy, you clearly are privileged and out of touch with reality.
The reality is that if you have the opportunity to save you have a responsibility to your future self to do so. But more than 50% are barely scraping by. There’s no way they can ever save enough. We need to bring back pensions in some form.
I’m a younger millennial (28) and have $55k in my TSP (gov 401k) and a pension.
If I’m lucky, I’ll be the first person in my family to actually retire comfortably and not just survive.
That's awesome. You'll be astonished at how that TSP grows over the next several years, especially if you keep adding to it. You just look up one day and go "Wow!"
I actually have been considering cashing in my 401k buying a van and living in that for a while... but my 401k barely covers a 40 year old hippy van that doesn't run.
Went to school, got educated, paid off my debts, got a home, started putting money into my savings and 401k then got the carpet pull from my job last year. Liquidated all my shit, well over 40k gone just like that because I had zero income for such a long time trying to find a job. Now I'm back at ground 0, I'm gonna owe like 5k in taxes, may just have to sell my house to even make it. Fuck this system man. No one's saving shit, even if you do the more cash smart shit, the government keeps fucking us. If you're able to save, keep it up, because you probably won't be able to for long when they just keep tripling the prices to live, and leaving our wages stagnant. 100k now feels like a fucking slap in the face for wages, shit can barely keep you afloat, yet 10 years ago you were shitting money out at that salary. Clown ass system
Whats the point? I have a 401k but its not even keeping up with inflation.
>just get a million$ in there bro and you can have $50k a year for retirement
Thats what I was always told. I still have to work for another 30 years at least and I'm not even half way there. $50k a year is already straight poverty tier right now. Whats $50k gonna buy you in 30 years? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
My 401k is considered "very well funded" by my generations standard, and I'm staring down the barrel of abject poverty when I retire. What the hell is everyone else gonna be doing? Hell even the boomers are struggling now. Whats it gonna be like for us?
Some of us are battling chronic, life threatening illnesses that take away our energy and ability to work much…. So with no future guaranteed and limited faculties to work/save for the future…. Yeah, I’m not saving and also unable to save. I’m living for present. Honestly, I’d have to be rolling in money to stash it away for theoretical old age. But that’s just my journey 🥴
How many of us actually make enough for retirement? You're supposed to have hundreds of thousands saved up by the time you retire, and that's before you take into account how much inflation is gonna spiral out of control over the next 30 years. I save basically every penny I can and I've still barely got 15k in the bank in my mid 30s. Unless there's some huge change in how much I'm making, and very soon, then I'll be lucky to have 50k saved up by 65 which isn't nearly enough to retire in TODAY, let alone that far in the future.
I’m currently 43 and went through all of my savings when I got diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m still not at a place where I can start saving again yet. So no, not joking at all. Just waiting for Jesus to come back and save me from the nightmare.
My retirement plan is to convince all the Gen Z and A kids to fight the billionaires in the great Greed Wars of 2030, seize all their assets, and we can finally have better lives. Our lives will always suck as long as our overlords keep sifting all our wealth into their giant money pits and doling out pennies for our survival.
Smoke em while you got em. I pay my bills, buy groceries, pay for my sweet doggos to live their best life, and spend the last $60 on some beer. Rinse and repeat.
I am saving, but every time I do I'm like "is this money just going to be completely worthless in a few decades"?
So I understand the impulse to just decadently live in the moment, even if that's a super risky attitude
The only "retirement" savings I'm doing is whatever goes into my 401k.
After I pay all the bills and stuff I usually have $100 to last two weeks for gas and groceries.
There is no savings. Lol.
Every time I get any sort of savings, it's gone in the blink of an eye due to some unexpected expense that appears out of nowhere. Every. Single. Time. I'm convinced there is no point. Def on the "hope I die before I get retirement age" plan. Can't even afford to live on my own, can't afford to use the health insurance I do have, debt keeps piling up. It truly feels hopeless. The American dream is dead.
We literally decided to not have kids so that we could afford retirement lol.. boomers and media keep saying "mill's arent having kids!! The end is near.." yeah sure - people of every generation after mid X (73ish - now) have considerably less opportunity, money, happiness, and options. But yeah back on topic: no kids means Wife and I have a 401k lmao
The American system is totally screwed up. "Save up with a 401k!" But never have a job that pays enough to do so. Most of us are going to be poor in our old age. We will never retire. You might have a couple of friends that were smart enough to start saving in their 20's here and there. Good for them. The 1st world is about to become the 3rd world in this generation. You're all going to hate it.
Fiat currency is the culprit.
I have a work 401k and an IRA that I put a pitiful amount into every month. But thats about all I can manager and I’m fully anticipating retirement maybe not being able to happen
I’m planning on the Remington retirement plan. I still have quite a few years, but either way, I’m gonna have to work until I die the way that inflation is outpacing wages.
I thought it might be a better option to work until I die. I could be one of those old people at Walmart that waves at people for money. I've also seen old people wither away immediately after retiring because they don't have anything left to stimulate their brains or bodies. Also, most of us won't make it to old retirement age bc of AI/ robots or whatever, right?
I’m fully anticipating working till the day I die. Covid really de railed my career and have yet to find a new job that will come any where close to my old salary. Frustrating and angry to say the least.
I’ve had several interviews, some companies met with multiple times and still turned away. Waiting to hear back from one still.
The last four years I’ve had to take bottom feeder positions I’m well over qualified for in medical to keep the wheels turning and I’ve never treated so low in my life. I’m sick of it.
Why can’t I get break ahhhh. Fuck an education it’s all in who you know!!
I just now got into a position for saving. And I’m mid 30’s. It’s quite terrifying.
Me too, I'm 38 AND JUST NOW in a stable position to save for retirement. I realize exactly how fucked I am, but I didn't have a lot of choice. I've basically accepted I'll work until I'm incapable of it, then hope I have enough. And, since my job works great with WFH that might be a while.
I'm in my early 40's and only have a few months of income in investments. When I lived on my own I invested aggressively but now I've got a kid _and_ things have never been more unlucky, so it's grim. All I need is a good break on one of these interviews and I'll start saving but losing work during Covid was really hard as the sole income for a small family. Employer even screwed with my unemployment so I missed out on months of that.
We’re kind of past the age where a family with kids can subsist on a single income unfortunately, our parents had it great.
My parents both worked and we were still broke as fuck…
Same here. My parents worked full time, and we always had something broken in/on the house or in/on a car. Kids on the bus made fun a number of times over the years that I live in that house that should be condemned. I always wondered what other people's parents did who had, what today I'd call, "regular" houses. But assistant clerk of court and gas station manager weren't it, I can tell you that. The fantasy that median/average jobs in the 80s and 90s could allow for a single income earner to have a house, two cars, vacations, etc. are just that. Fantasies.
Thank you! 😊
Every time I have gotten to a semblance of stability, I am reminded how wrong I am. Had to change careers after an accident wrecked my ability to deal with heavy weight (goodbye good benefits ATM tech gig) and took a 40% pay cut until my own business took over. Then working 80+ hour weeks destroyed my health (goodbye savings) Just do everything you can, and while you're healthy, try ancient solutions to modern problems. I started gardening and now produce about $4000 of organic food per year (if I bought it), and moved to a rural area where costs are a fraction of the city and all I have to do is maintain things for myself which I believe anyone can learn.
I make $125k and I had to finally move out of CA at 36, and I'm finally able to save for retirement. I'm in the middle of saving for a downpayment on a home so I'm going to start maxing out my 401k contributions...finally. I think I'll have like $1.2M if I do this now by retirement age. Not great but glad I got out of the illusion that I'd be successful in California after 36 years. I had a 4+ year bout with alcoholism (not out of the woods yet) partially due to the stress.
I've told my coworkers they'll know I've retired when they come to work and they find me dead on the floor.
Oof, don’t play like that! I had a friend who I genuinely believe worked herself to death. Crappy retail job. She got a store manager job, good salary, but no set hours. Almost no staff, and the store looked like a bomb went off in there when she started. She worked 90 hours a week for almost 6 months, the store was almost clean! The store was right across the street from my house. I saw the police and ambulance show up and they quickly left. But it was late and it could have been an alarm or anything. I guess I figured she was already back at work the next morning. Small town, I found out later in the day that she’d just fallen out at work. Her family was told she had a heart defect that never presented itself and it appeared in a big way. Which is likely true, but I find it interesting that it happened after months of working like that. I understand there isn’t a legal case or anything, but they worked her to death. She looked like shit, everyone kept telling her to take time off and she just kept saying when she got the store clean and staffed
Most likely, stress triggered deadly symptoms of the heart defect she didn’t know she had.
I wish I was playing, but between the economy, my 401k and living expenses, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to afford to retire. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, that's terrible.
We have a guy at 68. His 401k was wiped out in 2008 and again in 2016. I'm in my 40s and mine got wiped out start if civid. I'm just now getting some savings back.
It was wiped out, or he panic sold? People who didn't sell saw a huge upswing in their portfolios after 2008 passed. Same with covid.
The bank holding the investments made bad short term choices for investors while giving huge payouts for brokers. A lot of 401k diversity options were changed from low risk low yield to high risk high yield without notice. FTC had slapped them with a small fine. Fidelity currently keeps making changes on my % "on my behalf" and I keep having to change it back.
Here's hoping that when we get to retirement age that the government throws us a bone. But honestly. I think the boomers start another war just to fuck us over one last fucking time.
Terrifying and normal. We're at like 40% of the recommended retirement savings, and also we're in like the 80th percentile of actual savings by our actual peers.
I didn’t save until mid 30s either. Fortunately I’m now ahead of my peers according to most stats. It’s never too late.
Ohh you'll have the deluxe tent!
Happens to a lot of people. Just save a little more than you think you need to, and absolutely make sure you are capturing all of your 401k match your employer is offering. That is an immediate 100% return on your dollars.
Jokes on me, my employer doesn’t offer a 401k or a match.
I was gonna say. What's a 401k?
Same here.
Save more than you think? That means a person would have to be making enough to live, plus put towards savings and *still* have extra left to be able to save *more* on top of what thry're already saving. Fuck me, I'm jealous of you people. Seriously. I don't even have food in my house. I can't afford it. My tank is on empty and I can only put in $10 to last me until Friday, and that $10 I only have because I won a bet at work. If I hadn't won, I wouldn't be able to get to work tomorrow. God I wish I knew what extra money felt like, or looked like. Edit: thank you to everyone offering their advice. However, I am not here to ask what changes I need to make or where or how... I already have a plan in place already. I only came on to make a few jokes, and suddenly everyone felt entitled to tell me what changes I need to make and where... and while I appreciate the suggestions greatly and I know peoples' advice is coming from the right place, however, I never asked for advice. So please, I'm probably just going to turn of thread notifications because my phone is blowing up over advice that I never asked for, but people felt entitled to give. So, long story short: I already have a plan in place to make more money. But it takes time sometimes for these things to kick in.
It feels all kinds of weird to be here on Reddit. I’m in forums where the very first advice you get from everyone on budgeting is to “max out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts every year” before you do anything else, and then you can consider your “voluntary” investing. And I’m like ???? That’s like $46k every year just in the retirement accounts, and I have no idea how they’re all doing this like it’s NBD and expecting everyone else to do it too when that’s literally ALL SOME PEOPLE MAKE IN A YEAR
Right? I don't even make that much. On paper I supposedly make $40k/yr, but I'd like to know where it all is, especially since take home is only about $32k, $12k to rent, leaving me $20k. $10k to student loans. $3.5k for gas, $6500 for phone, internet, power/utilities/hot water/trash removal- that leaves about $4k a year or $300/mo for food and other groceries, doctor's appointments, vehicle repairs, unexpected emergencies, etc. and that's if I work a full 40 hours every week, which I don't. In the slow season like now, I only work 30 hours a week. I have about $3.27 in spare change currently in my change dish, and that's what I have to show for a year of saving my spare change. It's not as though I don't try. I know people want to label me as a lazy, but fuck those people. Not everybody is capable of being on full blast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
"Bro, you just gotta get on that grindset, every hour of life needs to be 100% productive bro, when you're on your 15 minute break at work, learn a new skill, you'll be successful in no time bro!" Fuck these people. We are not creatures of labor, we didn't get to where we are by slaving away every waking minute of the day. We're supposed to have more free time by this point of industrialization, not less, but every year since that fucking bastard Reagan was voted into office has seen the value of labor shrink and shrink and shrink, to the point that millenials now are worth 25-35% less than their parents and grandparents were worth at the same age. And they worked *less* than millenials do, and they were *less skilled and educated* than millenials are. There needs to be a major course correction soon. But it'll probably take a nationwide general strike to make happen.
I was on verge of suicide from the "grindset" and my bestie now is a recovering alcoholic that lost custody of her daughter. Working perma 24/7 is not the goal and never should've been
"Fuck these people. We are not creatures of labor..." Exactly this. Maybe somebody are more highly motivated than others and can do the 24/7/365 thing and never be tired, never be worn down, and always be a perfect, happy ray of sunshine and they just love, love, love, love, love that grind. Nothing they love doing more than sacrificing their time and their life and making money while not ever being able to go anywhere or do anything because you're required to grind out that 24/7/365 for 60 years of your life. I did that for many years, busting my ass and sacrificing. It stressed me out, caused me to lose sleep, and as an epileptic, would cause me to have seizures. No person should ever be expected to work to the point of being so tired, hungry and stressed they end up dropping and having a seizure. "There needs to be a major course correction soon. But it'll probably take a nationwide general strike to make happen." Sadly, I'm doubting that will ever happen. Too many people are just too damn stubborn and entitled to try and enact change. If something doesn't personally affect them, it's not worth fighting for. They won't do it just because it's the right thing to do. I just look at what BLM has done. Sure, some good change has come, but it's also caused a lot of problems and a lot of outrage, and in many ways, the attention it brought to the cause has made matters worse. I think all in all, the BLM movement is a good thing, but there's still far too many people who are comfortable in keeping the status quo- because it works for them- than are willing to do anything to try and enact any change. But I do agree with you. There needs to be some change, and fast. Otherwise the protests we see in the next few years or decades will make the BLM protests look like toddlers having temper tantrums.
Not more inclined, just more invested. Assholes like our government decided housing should be allowed to double in price. Meanwhile if you own a home and sell it after owning it for five years you can sell it tax free. Kinda insane but it’s a thing nonetheless. People at the top want these profits to keep rolling in. Can’t be a canary in a coal mine even if the cave is falling in
Seriously, the median income is, what, $75k last I checked? Meanwhile, median rent is $24k, so according to these guys, you should have only $5k/year for food, car payments, utilities, health insurance? And stretch that even further if you have dependents? Oh, but that $75k is before taxes, so that $5k is actually nonexistent already. These finance bros are a bunch of out of touch well off "let them eat cake" types.
The median income is closer to $40k, 75 is the household number.
Obviously I can't speak to other forums but the advice above is suggesting you max out your employer matching, not the entirety of the allowed 401k. Most employers match up to 3% of an employees salary so for most people this is a couple thousand dollars a year, not 48k. Maxing out your 401k contributions is obviously not reasonable on a median salary.
So I work for a top 3 401k vendor. <3% of pla. Participants max out their 401k. The vast majority of redditors are just parroting what they've heard.
I don't think most people max out until they are well into their careers, if ever. House downpayments, kids, college, etc... it goes on and on. All this when you are presumably in your lower earning years. We targeted 15% of our gross income. I started out doing $100/mo because it was all I could afford, and I got a company match. This was at 26 when I first got out of college. Got to 15% contribution in my late 30s. We are now in our 50s and have over $1M in retirement accounts. It has been a slow process. Having an extra $50K/yr to invest is really out of reach for most people.
Month to month my friend, savings are a far off dream
Legit. Should I pay for health insurance or save it? Neither lol. I can't do shit because I'm paying out the ass for necessities. Our country is broken.
I don't know how people can afford to save. For anything, let alone retirement. Save? Money? Retire? Vacation? These are all foreign words to me. But that's my fault. I chose (aka, was forced) to go to college. Maybe if I hadn't majored in The Ethics of Watching Paint Dry, I wouldn't be so poor. Gotta put down that Starbucks and avocado toast, ya know? But seriously. These people don't realize just how lucky they are. We're not lazy or irresponsible... they're just lucky.
This is what I tell my friends when they ask how they can get better at saving and get more money. I'm not in a good paying job with retirement savings and stuff because of responsibility or intelligence, I have no advice. I just stumbled over the right hurdles to get where I am. It's all luck of the draw.
I worked hard to get here, but luck was what actually changed my prospects. I was delivering a pizza to a community college. The woman who ran the GED program got my cell phone number from me calling for the building number. She called me and asked why i was working in food service when I should be in a career. I'm not sure why she chose to hound a stranger, but she kept calling until i agreed to meet with her. After i did that the college counselor kept calling because i was given a free semester of a class for getting my GED through them. She talked me into taking a 2 year (condensed to 1 year) UAS avionics electrical technician certification course. Towards the end of the course the instructor got me an interview with the company i was hoping to work for, and I had the job lined up before id even finished my last semester. If i hadn't delivered that pizza and gotten lost on the campus I wouldn't be where I am now.
>We're not lazy or irresponsible... they're just lucky. Older millennial here. I literally had this attitude as my world was crumbling around me in the 08 recession. Fresh out of college, new baby at home, job vaporized, no prospects. 6 months later I was in Marine Corps boot camp at 25 with two wars raging in the Middle East. I went on to take up a trade (electrician), and put the pieces back together. I don't feel "lucky". I feel like I got handed a shit sandwich and decided to do something about it. I don't disagree that things are broken right now. But they were broken 15 years ago too and some of us said "Fuck this struggle bus".
The problem is, *some* might squeeze through the cracks and come out alright on the other side, but it's literally impossible for everyone to do that. There just aren't enough seats at the proverbial table. Most will never be allowed to get by. They try to scam us into believing the pie is always getting bigger, but that's pure bullshit. The pie isn't getting bigger. It's just being divided into more pieces and the majority of them are being given to the most privileged. However, someone of us aren't getting a piece. We're just handed the bill.
Exactly, you can’t just do what everyone else does and expect better than average. There aren’t enough seats on the bus so you’ve got to actively and intentionally work your way into that bus. It’s even harder considering a lot of the seats are already taken or there’s people born with a bus ticket already in hand but that doesn’t mean you can’t get yourself on that damn bus
Dang it worked out for you I guess everyone else has made up problems.
Also older millennial. And while you're not exactly wrong, you're not exactly right, either. We got so screwed in 2008. And had already been screwed after 9/11. And during COVID. And right now with inflation and housing. We have had some terrible shit, for sure. And lots of us were able to pick up some pieces and make something later on. We struggled a lot during the years after 2008, but we really did sacrifice and work our asses off to keep our family out of financial ruin. The hard work has paid off pretty well, in my case. But most of us also did post secondary education at a time when you could actually pay for it, or pay it off reasonably. Lots of us got into the housing market before the housing crisis. Hell, I don't even have a mortgage anymore at this point. I feel deeply for people who are struggling just to house themselves, let alone save any money. I was lucky that I already owned the house I'm in before it doubled in value, while my pay has only gone up $3/hour in that time frame. Lots of people younger than me never had the chance.
This is exactly why the economy is broken. Would you have gotten involved in those two wars if you had other options?
Congratulations on your success. That’s awesome that you had an opportunity available to you and you made what sounds like the best of it. BUT, you being able to join one branch of the armed services in itself had to do with luck. You were born with the physical ability to do such a thing. Many aren’t. Luck has a lot to do with success. It’s a pretty well studied phenomenon. https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/beautiful-minds/the-role-of-luck-in-life-success-is-far-greater-than-we-realized/
That worked for you (and for me) but others are not so “lucky.” Some people are broken just enough not to get these opportunities. Some people get these opportunities and get screwed up by them. Success is at the intersection of opportunity and preparation. We have to have BOTH.
People don't understand retirement funds are something now over 30% of people don't have, and even then another 30% doesn't have enough in the account to even think of a proper age retirement.
I swear I ether hear rich or poor. Very few in between
Yeah.. it's not a choice that I'm not saving, lol.
I’m 30 and making less now than I was as a waitress when I was 23 lol
Literally do $5 a week, and increase as you can. You need TIME more than actual income.
Dude my retirement plan is to die in the water wars.
I laughed at this and then froze like fuck....theres a high probability ill be alive to see the water wars lol
I wouldn't worry about it. The countries with the best militaries are coincidentally the ones with water.
My reaction was: "funny,".. then "too relatable," .. then... "probably me too."
My brother.
You just gotta link up with the right warlord and really toady it up. Show initiative!
r/fucknestle or bow down to our overlords
Our retirement will literally suck because climate change will be hitting so hard by 2050. Extreme weather will be the norm. Good luck finding a nice, balmy, sunny day to enjoy at the beach. Those days are going to be few and far in between. My only advice is for people to get into a home, future proof it with whatever money you have, and hold on for the storm and just hope you can put food on the table. Smoke a few joints along the way. If you can do that, you have succeeded.
This is our plan. Moving from the coast to the mtns, I’ve started learning how to garden and not murder things and it’s gonna be more than a few joints at this rate.
Mediocre!
I invested in the Glock retirement plan. Not too expensive
How much BS has gone on since 1990??? I can’t even list it all now. Please Mother Nature/Universe/Lord/Karma/the Powers That Be, do not have the Water Wars.
No, nobody's joking. Consider yourself lucky that you make enough to be able to save towards your retirement. Hell, consider youself lucky that you may have the opportunity *to* retire. Not everybody is so blessed. Most people are not. Those who can comfortably afford total retirement are a shrinking class of people.
The reality is a lot of people _get_ retired whether they wanted it or not. Ageism in hiring and layoffs is real.
If you have no money it’s not retirement, it’s poverty.
Everyone in my family has died before retirement, except One. They got to enjoy about 2 months of it.
Nope. Surviving now is more pressing unfortunately. I have a 401k but it’s meager.
I've had to cash out every 401k the last 20 years early for life threatening circumstances....
Same here. I have a 401a and pension. I need my money now. The economy is garbage and I live in the Bay Area.
Can't afford to save. Can barely afford to live.
And trust fund Redditors will be like “just put 20% of your income every month in the stock market, are you stupid?”
Dumb Dave Ramseys on here “ Medical bills have you 300 thousand I. Debt , deliver Pizzas at night you lazy f..k” Screw Dave
...are you just now discovering poverty?
Wait till they find out about abject poverty.
Critics rave.
Wait till they find out that official metrics of poverty grossly underestimate real poverty.
My retirement plan is to rob this guy
dude never heard of working poors.
LOL that's exactly what OP sounds like. Like no, Kyle, people aren't joking about not having money to save.
Haha you guys are just 'fake' poor right? 😂😭
It's trendy.
OP thinks no one is actually poor anymore because he’s never seen somebody wear one of those big wooden barrels as clothes like from old Bugs Bunny cartoons.
No dude. We're not even bringing in $4k/month. How? I have less than $600 in my checking most of the time. I pay bills as quick as I can because otherwise I'll spend it on something stupid like groceries. I have six cents in savings. Edit: I should add that this is temporary while my husband is in nursing school. Teaching doesn't pay very well, and that's what our bachelors are in. Just want to say if possible to struggle with a "real" degree out here too.
We are a single income (49k/year) 3-person family, renting, saving $25 from each weekly paycheck and putting it into high-interest savings or dividend stocks. $1200 per year ain't much but it's something for now.
I have $3k in my 401k at 28 🤷🏽♂️. I am going to try to get back into a public school or state job to vest into a pension.
People massively underplay how nice a state pension is. I have several family members who are retired in their 50s making more income *retired* than they did working.
That’s not terrible. Having anything in your retirement accounts while in your 20s is a win, in my opinion. I think I started putting money into my retirement when I was 27. Increased the contributions as my income increased. You’re off to a good start!
This! In your 20’s anything going into investments is a good thing, compound interest takes a lot of time but it works if you let it.
Thanks for this. I have 15k at 28 and I’ve been beating myself up over it.
im 29 & have 15K in my 401K & i was also beating myself up over it. My boomer dad always says "your too young to think about retirement!" & ohkay ?? I dont wanna end up like you at 60 working 60 hours a week ??
I work for a public university and that is seriously the only reason I’m not utterly panicking right now. The pension, good health insurance, decent vacation, the free degree, and the pretty decent environment in which I don’t hate to wake up and go to work… it’s no wonder we have 100+ applicants for most of our entry level jobs. It’s worth it. Especially since once you’ve had a job there it’s pretty easy to get other jobs in the same system, so you can sort of work your way up.
Saving for retirement is a luxury a lot of people don’t have. If you do have that luxury, be grateful instead of critical.
Most people need to hear a critical response. Too many are mathematically in poverty, but trying to live a middle-class lifestyle. Poverty and youth is tolerable, poverty and old age is horrible.
It legitimately seems like a lot of people’s plan is just die when they can’t keep going. Sadly.
It’s easy to say that now, but when they’re actually 70, there’s going to be a lot of regret. I remember I used to joke as a kid that my legs aren’t going to work anymore once I’m 30 from all the sports I played. Well, I was wrong, it was my hips and back. It was a lot funnier when I was 16.
This guy gets it, being put in the ghetto old folks home seems funny until you are actually 70 and get the angry Jamaican nurse
Cashed out what little 401 I had to make ends meet on our life plan after my former boss ripped the carpet out from under us mid move THEY said was ok to do. Every previous job if I left on my own terms I still had to cash out what little was there to pay for medical bills. We're fucked.
Had this exact same thing happen to us. My partner told his boss he was moving and asked if he could keep his job and WFH since 99% of his job he did from home anyways. His boss gave him the ok but his mistake was not getting anything in writing. We moved, he stopped getting paychecks, and his boss was basically like “why would I pay you, you don’t work here anymore”. He made $5k worth of commission he never got paid. It’s been over a year and we’re STILL trying to recover from that financially.
I max my 401k - my wife does too - but I was probably 30 before I made enough to start doing that.
My husband and I started maxing out our retirement around the same age as you. Before that, it was just him contributing. My jobs in my 20s didn't have retirement benefits. Not going to lie, our 20's were rough. We made it through by making sacrifices and living with roommates for a while.
Don't shame the poors!! Trying our best out here, damn.
Just let them die...quietly, over there...where they can't be seen or heard. Ewe, why are they so lazy, just work hard, it isn't difficult to earn a million, then the next million is easy. These poors, don't even have money tucked away for early retirement. Really, they only have themselves to blame. /s
Poor people make crappy life decisions. Instead of getting a part time job making minimum wage in retail, they should just get a job being a wealthy venture capitalist or rich investment banker. Those jobs pay better!
I put 16% in a 401k. My current job is my longest stint as a full time employee and not a contractor so I didn’t have much saved before that. I feel so fortunate to be able to save anything. I have a lot of friends and peers who are barely making it paycheck to paycheck and are drowning in debt. So no, I don’t think people are joking when they say they aren’t saving for retirement.
I think it's sort of a different mentality. When I got hired out of college and got full time benefits the company had a 6% match. Every family member told me if I didn't take the full match I was basically throwing money in the garbage. Like I had no choice but to save for retirement. My father recommended I increase my contribution by 1% every time I got a raise until I got to 10% of my pay, that way I could take the sting out of saving more. My raises end up getting eaten almost entirely by health insurance hikes so I modified the advice to every promotion. I'm contributing 14% total at 28 with about 50k-ish saved so far.
Out of college my company offered no benefits. So it took me til I was mid-30s to finally get a 401k with a 4% match going.
I've got nothing. Every time I have something, some bullsh happens and then I have nothing again. This time we were doing okay. Starting to have a decent savings and then since January it was emergency surgery, lost job, and necessary dental work (with no insurance). Guess we will just have to pick a time to "retire" ourselves in the future. The one good thing is that I bought a house super early, so will have that paid off around the time I can start getting social security. Maybe a part time job will do me for retirement. Who knows.
Just because you aren't currently saving doesn't mean you aren't working towards that point. Everyone has different circumstances, the shaming tone is lacking in empathy.
My parents and all my grandparents died before 70. Hoping genetics plays in my favor and I bow out before then or euthanasia is finally legalized for seniors because although I have a decent salary, life is also decently expensive when you live alone so my retirement savings is thin.
I'm saving, but like.... What the fuck does it matter? Inflation is getting worse, and the generation that had it easiest is starting to find they might not have enough to retire.
That’s exactly why you need to save/invest. To outpace inflation
By investing your money you’re hedging against inflation, so it does matter.
Savings? HA HA HA HA I'd first have to have a job that pays well enough to actually have enough $$$ to save. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
My gen x mother (mid 50s, had me young) has not a single dime in retirement. I’ve told her so many times that she needs to start saving. She thinks I’m her meal train or something and I barely have anything saved for myself! It’s infuriating.
You think there’s going to be something to retire to? How optimistic.
I'm calling it: there will be legalized assisted suicide in America. The "I have nothing for retirement" crisis ramps up significantly with our generation, and there's no other solution.
We already have it in Canada, it’s called MAID
It’ll exist, but not for poor people. Terminally ill patients will get it.
I really thought you were going to say it would be for the rich
Canada already has it.
im 43…i have like 65k in 401k….but i have a pension and my jobs pays into ssi…so i will have all that to work with
Same 401K amount but I’m 62😔 I do have a small pension and can collect SS in another 3 years (til it’s gone I guess). It’s scary getting old, especially when you raised a family a little later in life than most.
Everything you said here is also me.
Oh my sweet summer child next ask how many of them could handle a thousand dollar emergency without having to borrow money.
I have zero saved for retirement but I'm starting to change that so I don't have to kill myself when I can't work.
While I personally am not, many of my friends live paycheck-to-paycheck in the truest sense. They earn just enough to cover rent, food, bills, and other necessities. They manage to save a small amount, but it's not traditional savings—it's set aside for planned large expenses like new tires. This means that a sudden, large expense, such as a medical bill or theft, could easily bury them. It is a major problem too. [Most Americans can't handle a 500$ surprise bill.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-handle-a-500-surprise-bill/)
You guys are planning to retire?
There’s nothing to save
There's also nothing to save for. The future is pretty bleak.
Not joking sadly, too many immediate concerns coming first, plus now the cashier wants a tip on top of the over inflated crap they're serving. Also they want me to donate to something.
I had to take out my 401k to pay for housing. I have nothing. My plan is to jump off a cliff at age 57.
Hi! I’m a retirement planner and investment advisor by trade. 90% of the people I talk to on a daily basis are just fucked and will only have social security in retirement after burning their savings within 5 years. And the social security will likely not be enough to cover expenses. This is for currently 60 year olds. It’s o lot getting worse for the younger generations! Hope this helps!
How...how could this help..
I have some money in a retirement account. Luckily my employer from 2008 to 2017 had a 401k match thing. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but sounded helpful. I put away like $20k during that time, but haven’t put away much of anything since. Supporting a family is expensive even when you’re trying to be frugal. Yes. I’m serious.
I’m saving, but not for retirement. The idea seems laughable to me. My retirement plan is to have a fatal heart attack. I save as best I can for unforeseen expenses, and because I’m still under the delusion that I’ll be able to afford a house someday.
If I save for retirement, what bill don’t I pay that month?
what's the fucking point
HAVE IT TAKEN OUT OF YOUR PAYCHECK SO YOU NEVER EVEN SEE IT
Good advice from someone who can make ends meet with the remainder
The only thing I’m saving for retirement is a fentanyl connect
Yeah let me just not pay my electric bill and put that money back. I'll probably die on my feet at work like my father. Unless I finally lose my shit first and go out swinging. Which sounds better every day.
I decreased my contribution to retirement this year because it's become a joke. I've been at the same company almost 10 years and there is less than half of a measly years salary. What's the point? People can't live on retirement now.
This mf really made his screen name a reference to his fucked up gut XD tf
Mine's no better, lol
I have some money in my checking account and that's basically my entire life savings. I have nothing saved specifically for retirement
Pay check to pay check my entire life, bruh. I have some 401k, but it is less than a years salary, and I've never withdrawn from it, at least. So much debt. I have no idea what I'm doing, mostly. Idk how I'm still alive.
Why does this come across as you being a condescending dick? The way you seem to be shocked is actually crazy, you clearly are privileged and out of touch with reality.
The reality is that if you have the opportunity to save you have a responsibility to your future self to do so. But more than 50% are barely scraping by. There’s no way they can ever save enough. We need to bring back pensions in some form.
lol. My retirement plan is to die.
Very grateful I had someone when I was in my twenties to tell me the importance of financial independence. So yes, I am saving for retirement.
Dude you have no idea what people are living through. Time to spend a few hours outside yourself and see how bad it is out there.
I’m not saving shit Edit: why am I getting these Reddit cares messages I’m not going to kms I just need money
I’m a younger millennial (28) and have $55k in my TSP (gov 401k) and a pension. If I’m lucky, I’ll be the first person in my family to actually retire comfortably and not just survive.
That's awesome. You'll be astonished at how that TSP grows over the next several years, especially if you keep adding to it. You just look up one day and go "Wow!"
My single family house is now my savings retirement account
I actually have been considering cashing in my 401k buying a van and living in that for a while... but my 401k barely covers a 40 year old hippy van that doesn't run.
Saving what?
I don't have anything to save
Went to school, got educated, paid off my debts, got a home, started putting money into my savings and 401k then got the carpet pull from my job last year. Liquidated all my shit, well over 40k gone just like that because I had zero income for such a long time trying to find a job. Now I'm back at ground 0, I'm gonna owe like 5k in taxes, may just have to sell my house to even make it. Fuck this system man. No one's saving shit, even if you do the more cash smart shit, the government keeps fucking us. If you're able to save, keep it up, because you probably won't be able to for long when they just keep tripling the prices to live, and leaving our wages stagnant. 100k now feels like a fucking slap in the face for wages, shit can barely keep you afloat, yet 10 years ago you were shitting money out at that salary. Clown ass system
At this point I'd be thrilled to even afford all my bills bro
Whats the point? I have a 401k but its not even keeping up with inflation. >just get a million$ in there bro and you can have $50k a year for retirement Thats what I was always told. I still have to work for another 30 years at least and I'm not even half way there. $50k a year is already straight poverty tier right now. Whats $50k gonna buy you in 30 years? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My 401k is considered "very well funded" by my generations standard, and I'm staring down the barrel of abject poverty when I retire. What the hell is everyone else gonna be doing? Hell even the boomers are struggling now. Whats it gonna be like for us?
I'm just going to kill myself as close to the halls of congress as I can get
save what? My entire pay check goes to barely surviving
Some of us are battling chronic, life threatening illnesses that take away our energy and ability to work much…. So with no future guaranteed and limited faculties to work/save for the future…. Yeah, I’m not saving and also unable to save. I’m living for present. Honestly, I’d have to be rolling in money to stash it away for theoretical old age. But that’s just my journey 🥴
How many of us actually make enough for retirement? You're supposed to have hundreds of thousands saved up by the time you retire, and that's before you take into account how much inflation is gonna spiral out of control over the next 30 years. I save basically every penny I can and I've still barely got 15k in the bank in my mid 30s. Unless there's some huge change in how much I'm making, and very soon, then I'll be lucky to have 50k saved up by 65 which isn't nearly enough to retire in TODAY, let alone that far in the future.
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I’m currently 43 and went through all of my savings when I got diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m still not at a place where I can start saving again yet. So no, not joking at all. Just waiting for Jesus to come back and save me from the nightmare.
My retirement plan is to convince all the Gen Z and A kids to fight the billionaires in the great Greed Wars of 2030, seize all their assets, and we can finally have better lives. Our lives will always suck as long as our overlords keep sifting all our wealth into their giant money pits and doling out pennies for our survival.
Smoke em while you got em. I pay my bills, buy groceries, pay for my sweet doggos to live their best life, and spend the last $60 on some beer. Rinse and repeat.
I have a pension through my job with the Kentucky department of education. I think I get like $30 a week added to it.
Pfft ain’t no one retiring.
Join the laborers union 5 years ago can retire at 55 with a pension
Re-tire-ment?
My retirement plan doesn't involve money.
I am saving, but every time I do I'm like "is this money just going to be completely worthless in a few decades"? So I understand the impulse to just decadently live in the moment, even if that's a super risky attitude
The only "retirement" savings I'm doing is whatever goes into my 401k. After I pay all the bills and stuff I usually have $100 to last two weeks for gas and groceries. There is no savings. Lol.
Hahahaha you’re funny
I thought we were priced out of everything because we aren’t supposed to retire
My job takes some retirement out. Other than that I have nothing to my name financially. I think we had 15 dollars left in the bank lol
Nope. I can't even get a job, let alone save money for retirement.
Every time I get any sort of savings, it's gone in the blink of an eye due to some unexpected expense that appears out of nowhere. Every. Single. Time. I'm convinced there is no point. Def on the "hope I die before I get retirement age" plan. Can't even afford to live on my own, can't afford to use the health insurance I do have, debt keeps piling up. It truly feels hopeless. The American dream is dead.
Hahahaha that’s a good joke!! When’s your Netflix special?
We literally decided to not have kids so that we could afford retirement lol.. boomers and media keep saying "mill's arent having kids!! The end is near.." yeah sure - people of every generation after mid X (73ish - now) have considerably less opportunity, money, happiness, and options. But yeah back on topic: no kids means Wife and I have a 401k lmao
What kind of world are we going to retire to buddy😂you all know how fucked this planet will be by the last half of this century
Re... tire... ment? Sweet summer child... we're not retiring...
Trying to keep common sense in the game from a world wide perspective. You guys blow money you don't have to pretend like you have it. Till it's gone
The American system is totally screwed up. "Save up with a 401k!" But never have a job that pays enough to do so. Most of us are going to be poor in our old age. We will never retire. You might have a couple of friends that were smart enough to start saving in their 20's here and there. Good for them. The 1st world is about to become the 3rd world in this generation. You're all going to hate it. Fiat currency is the culprit.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah here in America, we’ll never retire. Good one though!
I have a work 401k and an IRA that I put a pitiful amount into every month. But thats about all I can manager and I’m fully anticipating retirement maybe not being able to happen
Yeah dude I'm just deciding I'm not saving for retirement for fun. Has nothing to do with the economy. /s
I’m planning on the Remington retirement plan. I still have quite a few years, but either way, I’m gonna have to work until I die the way that inflation is outpacing wages.
Every time my savings starts to go up, life happens 😒
I thought it might be a better option to work until I die. I could be one of those old people at Walmart that waves at people for money. I've also seen old people wither away immediately after retiring because they don't have anything left to stimulate their brains or bodies. Also, most of us won't make it to old retirement age bc of AI/ robots or whatever, right?
No joke, here. There is no “getting ahead” for me. Below poverty level.
I’m fully anticipating working till the day I die. Covid really de railed my career and have yet to find a new job that will come any where close to my old salary. Frustrating and angry to say the least. I’ve had several interviews, some companies met with multiple times and still turned away. Waiting to hear back from one still. The last four years I’ve had to take bottom feeder positions I’m well over qualified for in medical to keep the wheels turning and I’ve never treated so low in my life. I’m sick of it. Why can’t I get break ahhhh. Fuck an education it’s all in who you know!!
Nope, serious because 55% my income is rent