Median Retirement Savings of Pre-Retirees is $17,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. I posted this as a result of an annoying parallel thread in which people are insulting college graduates who havent amassed $2 million by age 40 as being irresponsible and "flushing money down the toilet."

Nice to know there are some normal people on DCUM, too.

Yeah. That "flushing money down the toilet" comment pissed me off. But then I remember that it comes from an elitist snob and all is right with the world again.

I assume that comment came from a poor person who cant imagine that one might spend a whole 100 HHI annually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, really, prior to the mid-20th century, "retirement" if it existed at all was living with your kids. Multigenerational households were the norm. I think we're going back to that.

When life expectancy was 40, people didn't worry too much about retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. I posted this as a result of an annoying parallel thread in which people are insulting college graduates who havent amassed $2 million by age 40 as being irresponsible and "flushing money down the toilet."

Nice to know there are some normal people on DCUM, too.

Thanks for posting this, OP! Those other threads cause me such anxiety. And I should end up with a decent retirement. But those threads make me feel like I'm a lost cause. I needed this reality check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. I posted this as a result of an annoying parallel thread in which people are insulting college graduates who havent amassed $2 million by age 40 as being irresponsible and "flushing money down the toilet."

Nice to know there are some normal people on DCUM, too.

Thanks for posting this, OP! Those other threads cause me such anxiety. And I should end up with a decent retirement. But those threads make me feel like I'm a lost cause. I needed this reality check.

Thanks. OP checking in quickly - then back to work.

Glad it helped. Hearing people talk about $2 million as if everyone other than losers get there is surreal. Just know that if you have even a few hundred thousand by retirement, you're way ahead of most people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. I posted this as a result of an annoying parallel thread in which people are insulting college graduates who havent amassed $2 million by age 40 as being irresponsible and "flushing money down the toilet."

Nice to know there are some normal people on DCUM, too.

Thanks for posting this, OP! Those other threads cause me such anxiety. And I should end up with a decent retirement. But those threads make me feel like I'm a lost cause. I needed this reality check.

Thanks. OP checking in quickly - then back to work.

Glad it helped. Hearing people talk about $2 million as if everyone other than losers get there is surreal. Just know that if you have even a few hundred thousand by retirement, you're way ahead of most people.

Only if you plan on retiring somewhere much cheaper than DC.

[Anonymous]

OP, thank you. Sometimes, DCUM can make folks feel all wrong, when really, they are doing a lot of things right. There is often helpful criticism but when it becomes haughty and discouraging for most of us just working to create opportunity to grow and connect, this forum loses its power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this statistic is pretty useless. DC area residents are not anywhere near the median in terms of education, income, or housing costs. I'd be willing to bet that most people in NW DC or close-in suburbs have at least $2 million in net worth by the time they retire.

THat's kind of the point -- DC is in a bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that’s eye opening. I knew the numbers were low, but didn’t realize it was that low. Easy to forget the number of people living paycheck to paycheck.

OP here. Yes, we have a real problem facing us, as a nation. The vast majority of people are unprepared for retirement, and with the disappearance of pensions in the private sector, they will have nothing but social security - and that's not enough.

People have been living on just their social security checks for a long time. It isn't fun but this isn't a new thing, either.

How can they live on $1200 a month? Even if their home is paid off, they can have property tax of $500 a month. And then there's food, utilities, gas money and car expenses, Medicare premiums, household stuff, and more.

LOL property taxes for most people in this country are nowhere near $500 a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that’s eye opening. I knew the numbers were low, but didn’t realize it was that low. Easy to forget the number of people living paycheck to paycheck.

OP here. Yes, we have a real problem facing us, as a nation. The vast majority of people are unprepared for retirement, and with the disappearance of pensions in the private sector, they will have nothing but social security - and that's not enough.

People have been living on just their social security checks for a long time. It isn't fun but this isn't a new thing, either.

How can they live on $1200 a month? Even if their home is paid off, they can have property tax of $500 a month. And then there's food, utilities, gas money and car expenses, Medicare premiums, household stuff, and more.

LOL property taxes for most people in this country are nowhere near $500 a month.

It really is astounding to me how uneducated the educated are.

[Anonymous]

My property taxes are $1000 a month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My property taxes are $1000 a month

And where do you live? Do you think most of America lives in a home like yours?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but having only $17K saved is NOT a good thing either. There are financial sites that can advise you on how much you need to be/should be saving. You don't need to rely on DCUM estimates - aim for what legitimate financial sites indicate you will need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but having only $17K saved is NOT a good thing either. There are financial sites that can advise you on how much you need to be/should be saving. You don't need to rely on DCUM estimates - aim for what legitimate financial sites indicate you will need.

no kidding its not good enough. the point is that most of america is not prepared for retirement.

[Anonymous]

NP here, who built an addition to house ILs in retirement.

They actually are doing better than the average retiree - they each get SS around $1200/mo, plus have about $200K in 401(k)s. That said, now that they live with us, their day to day expenses are fairly low so they are saving that $200K for health issues.

My parents have pensions plus SS plus some savings, so they are "living" large.

The loss of pensions definitely hit this generation of retirees hard. I wonder if Gen X and younger will do a bit better, given that all we've had are 401(k)s from the start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but having only $17K saved is NOT a good thing either. There are financial sites that can advise you on how much you need to be/should be saving. You don't need to rely on DCUM estimates - aim for what legitimate financial sites indicate you will need.

no kidding its not good enough. the point is that most of america is not prepared for retirement.

This is nothing new though.