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Post by unlawflcombatnt on May 30, 2010 1:24:42 GMT -6
from CNN Money 43% have less than $10k for retirementBy Chavon Sutton Mar 9, 2010 " The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That excludes the value of primary homes and defined-benefit pension plans.
Rates provided by Bankrate.com. Workers who said they had less than $1,000 jumped to 27%, from 20% in 2009.
Confidence in ability to save enough for a comfortable retirement hovered at 16% of respondents, the 2nd lowest point in the 20-year history of the survey....
"Americans' attitudes toward retirement have clearly tracked the economy the last couple of years, and that seems to be the case in 2010," said Jack VanDerhei, EBRI's research director and co-author of the survey, in a statement.
The percentage of workers who said they have saved for retirement fell to 69%, from 75% in 2009.
While VanDerhei attributed the decline in current savings rates to job losses, mortgage problems and the suspension of corporate 401(k) matches in 2009, he said the economy isn't entirely to blame.
"In previous years, there were a whole lot of people who had nothing to begin with," said VanDerhei.
The gap between what Americans have saved and what they'd need for retirement is forcing workers to prolong their working years.
According to the survey, 24% of workers said they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year, up from 14% in 2008....
But the survey found that 54% of the workers with some form of savings said that they have less than $25,000 stowed away.
The EBRI surveyed 1,153 U.S. workers and retirees, age 25 and older, in January."
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Post by jeffolie on May 30, 2010 9:53:23 GMT -6
America's aged will have to continue to work if they can keep and/or find jobs. While EuroTrash get early government funded pensions, the rich and elite have no such problems.
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Post by griffudd on May 30, 2010 10:47:15 GMT -6
I'm one of those people who has less than $10K in retirement.
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Post by waltc on May 30, 2010 11:44:15 GMT -6
Horrible, I attribute this to a combination of a flat to declining wage market for most Americans and a ever shrinking jobs market. Such a environment makes it very difficult to put enough money away.
Then there is the thing of listening to experts who told people with retirement accounts to be heavily invested in aggressive stock funds - funds that got hammered in '08 and '09 and turned 401k's into 201k's.
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on May 30, 2010 14:07:38 GMT -6
Horrible, I attribute this to a combination of a flat to declining wage market for most Americans and a ever shrinking jobs market. Such a environment makes it very difficult to put enough money away. Absolutely. I just did a count of all the jobs I've had. So far the number is 32. And I spent a combined 10 years in college and medical school I've worked at least 10 jobs as a physician, and 6 different shipyard jobs. On at least ½ of the total I was either laid off or terminated. About ½ the remainder were temp jobs. The longest I ever worked on 1 job was 3½ years (where I was fired because the California Government mistakenly revoked my medical license because of misinformation provided by another Government agency.) The next longest were 2 shipyard jobs. Both were 1 1/2 years. The 1st was a layoff at Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore due to a work slowdown. (Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore ultimately closed down completely, laying off 100% of their workers.) The other shipyard jobs was @ Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, where I quit to return to college. It's tough to amass much in the way of savings when nearly all of your employment is short-term. It's also hard to get real good at a job if you're constantly changing jobs. It makes you a jack-ass of all trades and a master of none. And for the record, I have a B.S. in Biology and an M.D. degree. As such, it'd be hard to make the case that more education would help me in any way.
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Post by waltc on May 30, 2010 14:31:55 GMT -6
I just remembered that "temp" or "contract" work now constitute a ever growing segment of the jobs market, especially for older Americans as companies don't like to hire older workers directly since they worry that they'll actually use their benefits plan. Also, for low skilled office workers and laborers, "temp agencies" are about the only way to get a job.
And when people are put in such positions, saving money for retirement is the last thing on their minds since they have no idea how long they'll be working since they can be let go for even the most imagined slight. Heck some companies thrive on this.
Take for example Princess Cruises in Valencia, CA that actually likes having a constantly new workforce. They employ about 800 reservation agents and they have almost a 100% turnover rate every 18 months, most don't even last a year so they can never use their benefits package. Workers are penalized and fired for the slightest of reasons. Being late because of a traffic accident on freeway - too bad but you still get a letter of reprimand in your folder, get too many and you're fired. Even getting sick too often(about 3 times in a quarter despite having a doctor's note will get you terminated). The workplace itself is constantly monitored and stressful as hell.
This is IMO the future of the American worker - forced to labor in a deskilled environment where their value is next to zero.
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Post by agito on May 31, 2010 23:20:51 GMT -6
ditto.
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Post by whoswho on Jun 1, 2010 7:43:04 GMT -6
Funny thing is, it is the workers themselves who are being blamed 100% for not saving enough for retirement! Smack their hands, smack their hands - you dueless, bad, lazy workers. And yet, you're right.... the "new" setup for employment doesn't do anything to foster a solid, secure, good way to do that.
Remember the old saying, "a rolling stone gathers no moss"? Well, they've made rolling stones out of all of us. It's not like we have a choice. Longterm employment isn't easy to find nowadays.
Plus, even if you do get a 401k and try valiantly to save for your old age... the stock market will milk that like a milk cow.
Maybe there ARE folks out there who are financially savvy enough to make it work for them, but I don't think the average person really does know enough to get ahead this way.
Frankly, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't participate in a 401k at all. It's got "bullseye" written all over it - just something for fraudsters/Wall Street/whoever, to go after. Probably if you just had a regular passbook savings, you'd be money ahead, by the time that the stock market fluctuates a thousand different unpredictable directions.
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Post by jeffolie on Jun 1, 2010 9:32:59 GMT -6
Government support for retirement, health care and many social programs will stall after the Fall elections.
Anytime from late 2011 through the end of 2013, Austerity will come to American politics as TeaBaggers and blue dog Democrats stop expanding government programs. This will result in declining GDP, lower tax collections at all levels of governments and an accelerating Debt to Income level.
Obama is a fascist that lets corporations and the FIRE industries write the laws. There will be no retirement help coming. The new laws are written with exemptions and loopholes in their 2000 page sized formats that permit expensive benefits to be avoided or the costs passed to the workers. FIRE industries avoid retirement programs by getting them off their books and onto to the governments' obligations. FIRE industries rarely match 401K contributions now even if 401Ks are part of their labor/human resource arrangements.
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Post by jeffolie on Jun 1, 2010 9:51:05 GMT -6
"When the USSR collapsed, all those countries that emerged had their own currency overnight. The USSR collapsed without warning, so the currency of the USSR was deemed worthless in a single night. People's life savings was worthless at a instant. Also at the same time the new countries, they had no pensions, countless people on pension died the first winter."
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Post by mdub on Jun 2, 2010 0:45:58 GMT -6
I'm in the same boat as many others. The last seven years I have not been able to find full time work in my field, Information Technology. Americans are mostly hired for temp jobs lasting a few months. In between contracts, I have delivered pizzas and tutored. Currently I am studying for my EMT certification test in the hope that I can find a career in a state that isn't as financially screwed as CA where the counties can afford to sign bigger contracts with emergency response companies.
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