Why are people obsessed with putting $$ in retirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My point is that people obsess over retirement and don't enjoy their hard earned money while they are young. I understand putting away money for retirement, but just not most of it. Saving can make a person miserable.

Who is putting away MOST of it? I'm 5 years older than you. Maxing out on the 401k since I started working. It's not MOST of my salary -- it's been 11-13% of my salary to hit 18.5k. How many people do you know in our generation who have a savings rate of over 50%? Bc that is what you would need to be putting away MOST of your money. Do you know a lot of people who make 36k and are putting away 18k of it for retirement?

I agree - who is putting away "most" of their money"? OP for clarification purposes - what are you proposing to put into retirement as a percentage of salary each year??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My point is that people obsess over retirement and don't enjoy their hard earned money while they are young. I understand putting away money for retirement, but just not most of it. Saving can make a person miserable.

This is a straw man argument. No one is telling people to save most of their money. I think a healthy floor is about 20% savings overall, with fluctuations for the heavy daycare years, paying off student loans, etc. Mostly the advice is the save a manageable amount, try to bank salry increases and never leave matching contributions from donors on the table. As you age, you look into the balance of traditional 401k, Roth 401k, traditional/Roth IRAs, 529s, etc.

^^Sorry, meant employers not donors.

[Anonymous]

OP is at least partly right. The Economist recently ran a cover story about a worldwide savings glut - never in the history of the world have people saved as much as now. And all these savings create a hunt for yield, which is part of what has bid up housing markets in the rich world - think Sydney, London, SFO, Toronto, etc. This is sort of why interest rates are so low. Too much supply of capital has bottomed out the demand (interest). This is the systemic side of things.

At a personal level you also require far less money than you think. And if you are willing to work until 70 you are golden.

[Anonymous]

Because I plan to achieve financial independence (i.e., to be able to choose a job, or intermittent jobs, or to be self-employed, with a much lower salary and less stress) no later than 50. Saving a shitload now makes that possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I don't want to be a greeter at Walmart when I'm 80.

+1

And because in the US, we have only the thinnest of social safety nets.

[Anonymous]

Because I want to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because I don't want to be a greeter at Walmart when I'm 80.

+1

And because in the US, we have only the thinnest of social safety nets.

and it looks to be getting thinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I plan to achieve financial independence (i.e., to be able to choose a job, or intermittent jobs, or to be self-employed, with a much lower salary and less stress) no later than 50. Saving a shitload now makes that possible.

^^ as a result my employer and I put away an amount that adds up to about 30% of my salary. So technically it's not "most" of what I make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...Because after you stop working, the paychecks stop. The money you put into a retirement fund is for you to live on for the rest of your life after you stop working.

what about social security?

Seriously, how old are you? You seem to have no real grasp on how the world works.

OP here. I am 32. People are just afraid of running out of money. I think all will be okay.

Hope is not a plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is at least partly right. The Economist recently ran a cover story about a worldwide savings glut - never in the history of the world have people saved as much as now. And all these savings create a hunt for yield, which is part of what has bid up housing markets in the rich world - think Sydney, London, SFO, Toronto, etc. This is sort of why interest rates are so low. Too much supply of capital has bottomed out the demand (interest). This is the systemic side of things.

At a personal level you also require far less money than you think. And if you are willing to work until 70 you are golden.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is at least partly right. The Economist recently ran a cover story about a worldwide savings glut - never in the history of the world have people saved as much as now. And all these savings create a hunt for yield, which is part of what has bid up housing markets in the rich world - think Sydney, London, SFO, Toronto, etc. This is sort of why interest rates are so low. Too much supply of capital has bottomed out the demand (interest). This is the systemic side of things.

At a personal level you also require far less money than you think. And if you are willing to work until 70 you are golden.

If I'm recalling the correct article, it didn't say definitively whether the savings glut was well-distributed among working people. I think that the savings is heavily weighed to the top earners, many of whom are not salary-dependent.

[Anonymous]

He doesn't hope. He thinks!

[Anonymous]

Because I saw how heartbreaking it was for my parents to deal with my grandfather who did NOT plan accordingly and ran out of money. I would never, ever want to be that kind of a burden on my kids. Worst case scenario, you pass it on to your kids who will be quite thankful.

I’m your age OP and you’re embarrassing our generation with your question and responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...Because after you stop working, the paychecks stop. The money you put into a retirement fund is for you to live on for the rest of your life after you stop working.

what about social security?

Seriously, how old are you? You seem to have no real grasp on how the world works.

OP here. I am 32. People are just afraid of running out of money. I think all will be okay.

Hope is not a plan.

It is for the Rs and their tax plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...Because after you stop working, the paychecks stop. The money you put into a retirement fund is for you to live on for the rest of your life after you stop working.

what about social security?

Both parents worked very good jobs and the SS they receive is mediocre at best.

Something tells me you're too young to have received your first estimated SS payment sheet from the Gov. At what age does that first come now? I know you get one at 30 as that was the last I received. Wait until you get that letter and see if something happened today, how much you'd get in SS.