this post was submitted on 03 May 2024

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237

Majority of Americans over 50 worry they won't have enough money for retirement: Study (www.usatoday.com)

submitted 6 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

55 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Among AARP survey findings: 61% of Americans 50 and up are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement. And only 21 percent of people have a retirement plan.

An increasing number of people are worried that they won’t have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, and men aren’t as financially secure as they once were, according to an annual survey from AARP.

The AARP Financial Security Trends Survey, conducted in January and released in April, included interviews with more than 8,300 Americans over 30 across every state in the country. Conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, the survey aims to analyze the financial experiences and attitudes among Americans.

One of the survey’s biggest findings is that 61% of those 50 and up are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement, Indira Venkat, senior vice president of research at AARP, told USA TODAY on Wednesday.

And if you break those numbers down even more, one in five of people who have not retired have no savings at all, Venkat said.

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[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 51 points 6 months ago (2 children)

If you are still young and working try to remember this: time is on your side. Any small amounts you can put away now for later really helps. I know so many people who say they cannot afford to save and invest for retirement. I totally get it. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to save any money sounds laughable / impossible.

However, if your employer has a 401k plan and they do any matching: do whatever you have to in order to meet that matching. It's a vital part of your compensation. If you are not investing up to that matching level, you are throwing part of your paycheck away. It's not just white collar office jobs that have 401k plans. Even some fast food places offer these, as do many blue collar jobs.

These are all short-term / individual things to consider. Long term we need more unions, more worker cooperatives, and more corporations paying their fucking taxes.

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

Yes. Because compound interest is exponential. At 10, 20, 30 years you have 2X, 4X, and 8X your money. Assuming about 7 pct interest.

If you start now, you can get away with putting a few hundred a month away. If you wait until you’re 40 or 50 you have to be putting thousands away per month.

[–] dmtalon@infosec.pub 45 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

What I hear is 61% of Americans should be voting for politicians that want to support and bolster social security.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Are those a thing? Where I live we have a liberal government and they don't give a single shit about the working class, just like the conservatives

[–] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Well yeah, because liberal != progressive or even remotely leftist.

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were both (neo)liberals.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 2 points 6 months ago

Social Democrats are also a kind of liberal, but most Americans seem like they just keep right on heading towards democratic socialism or anarchism if they're already prepared to reject neoliberalism.

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[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 23 points 6 months ago (7 children)

Wait, so 61% of people are worried they don't have enough to retire but only 21% of people have any retirement plan at all? What the fuck do those 40% of respondents who worry but have no plan think is going to happen at 65?

[–] ramble81@lemm.ee 16 points 6 months ago

Keep working until they die

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

Have you seen those elderly greeters at Walmart?

Do you know why they're working at Walmart?

It isn't for fun.

[–] WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

Seeing coworkers dying first-hand in the workplace will be more and more commonplace, should do wonders on morale.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

Whatever happens happens. In fucked anyways so why worry about it now?

[–] bluGill@kbin.social 2 points 6 months ago

More than 50% of americans in this age group have a 401k. 34% of all americans have one. There are also iras and the like.

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[–] freewheel@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago

Garbage. I'm over 50 and I'm not worried.

I know for a fact I'll be working till the day I die.

[–] filister@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Not only Americans. Pretty much the whole West, especially people who were unlucky not to buy their own places. My rent is 1600, without bills, my projected rent is 2500. And mind you, I am well above the average.

I have zero trust that when it is time for me to retire I will have money to pay my rent, bills and have something left for food. Because my rent will also increase in price and also the inflation will be 40-60% higher. It is really f****d up situation.

[–] BottleOfAlkahest@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Honestly if your rent is only 1600 then your probably not in one of the super high COL places either which is wild. Well paid people in NY and San Francisco are going to have to die on the job while barely making their rent in 50 years. Everyone's fucked if nothing changes.

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[–] Gingerlegs@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I’m 40 and I know i won’t. Must be nice to worry you won’t lol

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 months ago

Super nice.

I recommend travelling.

You still get your social security while abroad, which is enough to live off of in most countries.

A little goes a long way abroad.

[–] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I'm 26 and I don't expect to be able to retire. I just hope I can keep up in my field when I'm old. It's weird thinking of an old person fixing computers, though.

[–] pacoboyd@lemm.ee 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

That's funny because I'm an old person in IT and we struggle to find new hires that know how to troubleshoot beyond basic issues. Most of them might have been the techy for thier family but few have experience with actual enterprise solutions, that's only something that comes with experience.

[–] veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's going to get increasingly harder to find competent young workers because entry level positions are getting automated away, as well as our deteriorating collective attention spans to actually give a shit

[–] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I just started my career in IT, I only have about 3 years of experience in the field. The biggest issue with finding young people, imo, is wanting people with experience. Fresh outta college kids aren't going to have the knowledge and experience most entry level positions are looking for. I got incredibly lucky with my career, but I know people who were brilliant in college (I was not) who are currently working retail because it's so hard to get into entry level positions.

[–] pacoboyd@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This was more of a comment on the poster above feeling like he's gonna be irrelevant when he's older. That's not true, at least in my experience, if you are passionate about IT, your knowledge will age like fine wine.

I didn't mean to imply that you should have all the experience right out of the gate, just that you may start out thinking you know all that and will be irrelevant by 30, but that's not the case. Wait until you find out all the stuff you don't know! (this is a good thing, not bad)

[–] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ah okay. I misunderstood a bit lol. I work at an MSP, so I learned that I don't know jack shit on day one. Every single work day I am met with something new and wacky to fix. The horrors persist, but so do I.

[–] WhoIsTheDrizzle@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's a great place to get a lot of technical, customer service and project management experience.

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[–] Kadaj21@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

40 and I’m not worried. I know.

[–] Avg@lemm.ee 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

My 401k provider keeps telling me I should have more saved for retirement but it's literally illegal for me to contribute more

[–] Kadaj21@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Oh so does mine. It wants me to have like $450k in there by 45. I have $15k. Only like 125% of my pay for the next 5 years to make it! Forget the bills or eating. RIP

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

As a 40 year old person here I thought the retirement plan for my generation was to get a nice ergonomic office chair and die in it while still playing of my kids student debt and overvalued mortgage.

[–] Doxatek@mander.xyz 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

May I interest you in this chair instead

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Nice, I like the wood grain, gives it a nice I'm a horrible executive vibe to it, the seat padding looks from a distance okay but the lumbar support looks to be lacking.

[–] Doxatek@mander.xyz 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Haha definitely true. I'll just use my regular office chair to die in too much better back support

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

My work sprung for the hayworth ferns, damn those things are nice. If they made a burial chair, I'd be all over it.

[–] Doxatek@mander.xyz 1 points 6 months ago

Holy shit. Those are some nice fucking chairs. My company is not ever going to buy those haha

[–] InternetUser2012@midwest.social 11 points 6 months ago

I don't want to work. I'd love to retire someday. I will however, work till I die, because I have to.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

It's not in capitals interest to let people retire. The system is working properly and as designed.

The great machine in it's late last stages hungers even more, needs to be fed more and more workers to take their labour and wages.

To lower overall production and lower the working-for-survival hours of the population would only benefit humanity and the planets biodiversity, but would be just too cruel to the capital. In dire times like these we must think of the poor capital.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

It's not in capitals interest to let people retire

Instead they just lay off people who have been on the payroll for "too long".

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago

That's lowering costs ("efficiency"), as was keeping the salaries down.

[–] sunbytes@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

"you're done when I say you're done"

[–] rayyy@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Majority of Americans worry. They worry instead of acting.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

What the fuck you want them to do? Start selling meth with Jesse?

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago

Money? Bruh I'm more worried about climate change meaning mass migration when whole regions become uninhabitable because they can't produce food any more.

Is that reasonable? Maybe. I looked for data once and saw an estimate that that's not going to happen until at least the year 2100. I don't know how accurate that is.

But even if it's not, there's still the current and tangible rise of fascist politics around the world, and while I'm in their ethnic demographic, I'm not nearly right-wing enough to be on their good side.

[–] Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Intentional heroin overdose

[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

Easy don't retire.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

"Worry" is such a nice word for a situation where an important share of population already know they won't have enough money.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Yepyep

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