DH does not have a physical job, so as long as his mind is good, he will never stop working, though I’m sure he will not put in as many hours later in life. He’ll just manage our extensive portfolio. 
My job, on the other hand, is very physical. Every time I come home, I’m dead on my feet, my back and neck are, if not screaming in pain, whispering very loudly. Eventually I’ll need to hang up beside nursing and either work in another capacity, or just retire altogether. I’m okay with that.
Good for your husband, but not possible for most people. Do you think those 60+ people you see working at fast food places or Walmart or Target had that as their first choice???
@garland no ball dropping here. My point is that kids are taught in school and in most media that wealth = greed and ill gotten gains that are best redistributed.
The “left wing” as you put it is generally opposed to private wealth and would rather expand social security, convert it to a capped entitlement, and therefore tax all income to redistribute it to others who do not save sufficiently for their retirement.
The left wing is generally opposed to allowing people to dispose of their wealth as they see fit when they die. They want to tax it again to redistribute the sum of a person’s lifetime productivity to others, not the person’s designated heirs.
When young people grow up indoctrinated in economic nonsense it is no wonder that saving for their futures is on the backburner.
^ Oh please. i am an admitted liberal and I believe in working hard and saving ( as I have). And have taught my kids the same.
^Same as Fallgirl. You’re making things up with no basis. I know of no school that teaches such things. I work hard and save, so do my kids. Because I tuaght them to. I do get that kids don’t always follow what they’re modeled, but they’re more likely to if you try than if you don’t.
In terms of entitlements for the retirees, it isn’t necessarily just the “left wing” that defends them.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/medicare-republicans-george-w-bush-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
http://reason.com/blog/2012/08/29/the-gop-is-the-party-of-medicare
oldmom…exactly! They have jobs! Finding “something” at 60 is not impossible! No one said anything about “first choice”. Of course it does depends on what your experience and skill sets are . My FIL recently retired for the second time. His first career was as an engineer. He retired at 62 but went back to work doing financial “bookwork” for a big box optometrist’s office at the age of 75 and retired again at 80. He found this second career job because he volunteered at his church counting the Sunday collections and serving on different committees within the church. Network wherever you can!
Apology to OP for going off topic!
There’s nothing that penalizes or bans folks from saving more than the amounts that get tax benefits in retirement accounts. I know S has saved much more than he has in his retirement accounts to date.
I’m not positive what makes one person a saver while the other is a spender. Among my sibs we all have strong tendencies one way or another, even tho we have the same parents.
32 yo S and I have had this discussion several times. One of his undergrad majors was economics. The primary issue for this generation, IMO, will be funding post-retirement health care and this generation is having trouble funding retirement early or even getting into the housing market with their substantial student loan debt. S and D are fortunate to not have undergrad debt, but S and his wife have a pretty hefty bill for their law school educations and since they entered law school in 2008, just a month before the crash, it’s been somewhat of a tough slog since graduation, though things seem to be improving in the last year.
While not everyone in my generation enjoys the benefit of post-retirement health care, many do. As a community college professor, it saddens me that my new younger colleagues, hired since policy changes in 2008, will only be covered by a system funded health plan until the day they leave employment. Since many of us work for less than stellar wages while employed, the benefit of health care to supplement Medicare at a cost in today’s dollars of $28/month offsets the lower salary.
I think some of the “Feel the Bern” excitement/frenzy by the younger generation is due to concern over the inability of this generation to see the same kind of retirement potential that their parents and grandparents have enjoyed.
Himom. I assume your son has his own business and can add more because of this.
Normal people with full time jobs and no 401K can only put in $5500.
DH is self employed. He has invested his “profit sharing trust” and has had remarkable results. We have much more money in that retirement vehicle than we do in our current personal accounts and investments.
Yes, S runs his own business and holds a full time job. He contributes the max to his 401k at work with some employer match and also as employer to his solo 401k. He also has an IRA that he regularly maxes out.
He wants to earn and save all he can while he’s single and has no other obligations.
Maybe older boomers who were surprised by the demise of the traditional pension but younger boomers on should not.
I’ve assumed full responsibility for teaching my kids about saving for retirement. Time value of money and opportunity costs are terms my kids have heard since elementary school.
I believe most people are better off in a ROTH than conventional. Tax on principle today vs tax on principle, capital gains, and dividends on retirement.
Finally, many “normal people with full time jobs” have access to 401k’s. You don’t need to be a CEO to have a company plan. Due to my job relocations my wife has not been able to qualify so I understand the drawbacks but 401k’s are not just for the elite. Also, if married, each spouse can contribute $5,500 to their own ROTH. If one spouse doesn’t work, he or she still qualifies off the spouse’s income. If a family is contributing $11,000/yr in a ROTH over decades, they will be fine in retirement.
One VERY important thing is for folks to learn to live comfortably BELOW their means. It is easier to control spending than income, sometimes. If one always lives above one’s means, that person will always be in debt and never be able to save.
Sometime, living BELOW your means actually results in much higher spending like my D. easily learned when she did not buy a new car at the time we recommended her to do so. She said, she learned her lesson after spending more on repairs than the car worth. Not only she did not have money for these constant expansive repairs she did not have time for them at all, while working her crazy 80 hrs / week. Do not go below your means, please! It will cost you much more than you asked for! Yes, she is in debt now. But she couldcontrol her spending by stretching her payments at her comfortable level. She has a full warranty on her car and she does not need to take it in for repairs,…and as a icing on the cake, she is building her credit score, so next time she should get a better deal on her interest. All was worth it, she has no doubt about it!
In 2011 47% of people were not offered a retirement plan by their company. That figure continues to increase.
These are normal working people. So NO, not everyone has the same benefits as everyone else. People who are only allowed to save $5,500 a year as determined by law are not able to save enough in a retirement account.
The laws need to change.
People who are self employed and get a 1099 can open different accounts.
However, most people work for someone else as an employee.
I admit, I worry about mine. And they don’t even have the crushing debt and I still worry.
I came into our marriage in 1977 with $10K which translates to $40.5K now. Not too bad. And we paid for our own wedding so maybe I should not worry about our son and his fiancée’s plans after all. Sorry…off topic.
A Roth is a much better option for younger people than a standard IRA or 401(k). Their tax rate is usually low so they get little benefit for pretax contributions. They are likely to be in a higher tax bracket when they withdraw money, especially the way our government is currently mismanaging itself. The Roth is almost too good to be true.
The math gets more difficult with employer matches to 401(k). I wish the government would simplify the retirement savings system.
Roth for say 5% of income with no caps or maxes, i.e. open to everyone.
401(k) type plan for everyone with no limit to the annual contribution. This is deferred income so they will get their cut in the end anyway.
Elimination of mandatory withdrawals but an income or distribution tax at death equal to the median tax rate in that year.
http://www.rothira.com/2016-roth-ira-limits-announced
The 2016 limit for a Roth IRA is $5,500.