Boomer Savings Better Late Than Never
Boomers start saving, baby boomer retirement savings, spendthrift boomers
Well let us face it, We are not the saving kind, especially the Boomers.
They never bothered to save. But Armageddon is near and it is about to
kick us in the butt. Sorry, but that is the only way I know how to get
you listening.
Armageddon was long predicted the retirement of some 30% of the population
of America (nearly 78million) and is fast drawing near. Quite a number
of surveys and studies have emphasized the problem.
One report found that the elderly of both sexes, specially women, tend
to worry about:
? Not having sufficient savings to lead a decent life
after retirement and worrying about fast rising inflation, reducing the
value of whatever they did save.
? Not being able to pay for health and or long term nursing
care.
? Working their way through their savings and investments
and saddled only with their Social Security.
With the life expectancy of women being, on an average, more than men
by some five years, the worries and the experiences that women undergo
is far different fro those of men. The worst of them being widowhood.
One study says the some (or most) women will live for about fifteen years
as widows and in declining standards of living. A daunting prospect indeed.
Coupled with a shorter employment span and lower wages, they will get
a lower pension and other retirement benefits. They will also need more
long term care services when compared to men, having also outlived them.
Though women worry more about their future that men do, yet they nearly
85% of them have not purchased long term insurance.
We will have to address ourselves to these concerns. Male or female, boomer
or not, many are simply not prepared fiscally to live out in comfort the
may years that our present projections of life expectancy show. Life expectancy
studies have projected that some 20% of all men and 30% of all women of
the age of 65 will live to see their nineties; and most are them are going
to be in trouble because their retirement benefits are not going to stretch
that long.
In spite of evidence pointing to this impending disaster, most of us did
not pay heed to the voice of doom. The problem is that we were on a spending
spree and the voice of doom was simply drowned out. Many boomers simply
walked their way into debt with their famous sticker outlook that He
who dies with the most toys wins.
There is not stopping. The market is flooding with costly cars and other
equipment. A study by a marketing consulting company says that nearly
50% of boomer households have three or more automobiles.
The fact remains that:
? Boomers are expected to work well past the age of 65.
This makes sound sense since all-round good health prevails and good jobs
are available. There are about 24.60 million people who are above the
age of 55 who are working and 25% of them are 65 or older.
? It is not too late for them to change themselves. A
short informative pamphlet published by the Government details out how
they can do it. It advises the buying of long term insurance. Insurance
that will ensure that you lead a protected life in your old age. Other
options include creating an estate plan and carefully evaluating the options
under your Social Security Plan. In these days of dwindling pensions,
it is better that you start saving early. Put away a fixed amount of your
salary in a bank account. Spend consciously. Try to keep healthy with
a balance diet and avoid junk foods. We are practically loving on borrowed
time. Time and resources borrowed from our children. This brochure is
available free of cost, both online and offline.
? In case you do not know how to put together a retirement
plan, sit up and learn. The Internet teems with advice on how to do so.
Free classes are held by a number of non-profit organizations that teach
you how to prepare your budget and balance your income and expenses, weed
out the unnecessary ones and save money for a rainy day. They also teach
you how to invest your money etc. You can learn all these in the company
of others who are learning also.
As such, we have, on the whole, guilty of not saving but have gone on
a spending spree and are not exactly prepared for the post-retirement
scenario, especially for the boomers who are going to live well past their
nineties. Neither they nor us, the ones they mat be dependent on, have
given serious thought to retirement and this has to change. The Internet
has a lot of advice to offer, so have other non-profit institutions.
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