My dad worked for the same company for all of his working life. He didn’t have a 401(k) and only a small IRA when he retired. But he retired comfortably at age 58 because he had what not too many people these days have. A pension. With getting Social Security early at age 62, plus his pension, he and my mom have been able to do pretty much what they wanted.
My dad’s dad never really retired. He lost everything in the Great Depression, when he lost his farm. He worked in town for a wage from then on and there was no pension or 401(k)’s. He was in his 70’s when I was a young boy and I remember him doing yard work around town to pick up some extra money to supplement his Social Security check. He did that right up until his Parkinson’s became so bad that he couldn’t work, and then he died.
Grandpa never really retired. Dad retired and never worked again after age 58. He’s still living now at age 86. Now comes the “boomers.”
In order to compete in an even more competitive world economy, most companies have realized that they can’t afford to give worker’s pensions when they retire. Social Security has been used up by my parent’s generation. My dad’s been drawing it for 24 years, and he isn’t unusual. So we boomers are left with what’s left of Social Security and whatever we have been able to scrounge away in our 401(k)’s and IRA’s.
What that translates into is that a few boomers may be like my dad, able to retire and never work again. Probably an even bigger number will be like my grandpa and never retire, and a whole big bunch of us will “retire with options.” What our options are will be dependent on how much we have saved. Perhaps our options will be to leave our current job and work at something we have always wanted to do. Or start our own business, or maybe just go to part time work to supplement Social Security.
As life expectancy increases, so will our overall time in the workforce. What you do, what options you have as you age, will depend largely on what you have saved.
Mike Berry is a Registered Representative offering securities through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Legacy Wealth Management, LLC and Cambridge are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice.
Copyright ©2016 Mike Berry. All Rights reserved. Commercial copying, duplication or reproduction is prohibited.
