Nearly HALF of American Households Had No Retirement Accounts
Are you “retired?” You are! But are you still working? Aye, there’s the rub. Looking for information on how many people like myself have to continue to seek income after retirement, I came across this article from the NEW YORK POST entitled, Fast-food chains no hiring more senior citizens than teens (see featured image). The article, written by Hannah Frishberg, published on Nov 5, 2018, points out numerous reasons why the chains prefer seniors, but the most important aspect of her article to me, i.e., to us is this,
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts the number of American workers aged 65 to 74 will swell 4.5 percent by 2024, while the 16-to-24 demographic could shrink 1.4 percent.
By 2024, the BLS projects the labor force will grow to about 164 million people. That number includes about 41 million people ages 55 and older— about 13 million of those are expected to be ages 65 and up.
Guess what, yes, it is now 2024, proving Ms. Frishberg was correct in her reporting.
Figuring out exactly what you will do when you retire is a luxury that a very small percentage of us will ever have. Of course, Dorothy taught us to sing, “The dreams that you dare to dream really can come true.” On the other hand, facts indicate that the realities are often much less than we had hoped for or dreamed of. In fact, according to USAFACTS, updated November 9, 2023, the writer quoted the Survey of Consumer Finances as saying:
In 2022, almost half of American households had no savings in retirement accounts…
USAFacts
…and in a Federal Reserve report of 2008-13, opened with this statement:
“As the baby boomers begin to retire, a great deal remains unknown about the evolution of wealth toward the end of life.”
Finance and Economics Discussion Series
Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs
Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C.
The Trajectory of Wealth in Retirement
David A. Love, Michael G. Palumbo, and Paul A. Smith
2008-13
However, before you go to that link, I will tell you this about that!
You will love this report if you like double-talk, governmental jargon and rhetoric, flamboyant language, and tremendously confusing dialogue, with loads of charts and graphs! The document will help you see why the Federal and State governments have no idea what “life-after-working” means but instead use hand-picked information from the IRS to say, “Looks like to us, the seniors are doing just fine.” In other words, it will prove how obvious it is that so many who work within government circles become educated far beyond their intelligence!
From what I could comprehend, the document says that most retirees will outlive their wealth. Still, regardless of what anyone tells you about it, so many factors have to be figured into “life after work” that it is impossible to know precisely what you can or how you will afford it.
Why? Because we live in a very unstable world.
It’s not just day-to-day living that you have to be concerned with
When you enter retirement, you have to (i.e., you must) enter it with the end game in mind. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET YOUNG AGAIN. Ergo, your retirement planning cannot be all about what a great time you’re going to have but must include what will happen when the fun times end and your health brings you to the point where LONG-TERM-CARE will be needed.
Being the youngest in my family of seven siblings, I can attest to what time and unforeseen occurrences will do to the body. Having lost four of the seven by this time and watching my next two eldest enter their eighties are not happy events. No, they concern me, NOT ABOUT DEATH, but what can and will come beforehand. So, again, I say, PLAN FOR IT.
So, what does that mean?
According to SENIORGUIDANCE.ORG, a local BLOG page here in Daytona Beach, Florida, there are 25 senior living facilities in the area, many of which Kate and I began researching within the past year. Beyond these, however, are other various and sundry types of facilities that offer varying levels of care and services.
What we learned was shocking. For instance, they all offer the apartment, utilities, cable-tv, etc. Of course, you have to provide your furnishings. Beyond that, the cost of the facility will depend upon the size of the apartment, if it is one or both of you living there, the level of care that you require, and if you own and need to park a vehicle.
If and when we have to move into an assisted living facility, the minimum cost would be nearly $4500 per month, which means that we would pay about $3500 – $4500 for me and an additional $900 or so for her. That is one of the “less expensive” facilities. Others, our research found, run as high as $10,000 per month or more.
Now, they do provide meals (one of the menus we looked at regularly featured macaroni & cheese with a hotdog, among other somewhat child’s menu fare), if you can handle them. Beyond that, you must consider the expenses they DO NOT cover, like the cost of your vehicle, vehicle insurance, health and liability insurance, medical and dental expenses, and anything else outside their list of “included amenities,” which, when calculated, is quite a lot.
The long and short of it is, do not try to retire on bare minimums ‘IF’ you can avoid it, or you will end up as I, looking for a way to earn a little extra to ensure our later years are covered.
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James Eichenlaub says: