According to the June 2017 snapshot from the Social Security Administration, nearly 61.5 million people were receiving a monthly benefit check, of which 68.2% were retired workers. Of these 41.9 million retirees, more than 60% count on their Social Security to be a primary source of income.
Of course, that dependency ratio is directly tied to financial insolvency of the vast majority of Americans. According to a Legg Mason Investment Survey, US baby boomers have on average $263,000 saved in defined contribution plans. But that figure is less than half of the $658,000 they say they will need to retire. As noted by GoBankingRates, more than half of Americans will retire broke.
This is a huge problem that will not only impact boomers in retirement, but also the economy and the financial markets. It also demonstrates just how important Social Security is for current and future generations of seniors.
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ReplyDeleteHmmm... maybe the baby boomers should have saved more...
ReplyDeleteWhat else would you expect from a generation that bought mcmansions and chased every bubble? Honestly, as an xennial (end of x, early millennial), i feel no sympathy for this generation that had it all and squandered it.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about planning and sticking to it. Too few are able to do the first part, and even fewer the second.
ReplyDeleteJust borrow from welfare fund, it always has money.
ReplyDeleteWish it were as simple as all the previous commenters elude to. With all the financial instability we have endured, some were wiped out of all their savings, 401K's etc.
ReplyDeleteYou can go all the way back to Enron. Some have never been able to recover, even though they followed the rules and tried to save.
No excuses. The stock market at all time high. Value of your home may have gone down about 10 years ago, but if you kept putting money in 401k or stocks, you would be ahead.
ReplyDeleteGet a clue folks:
ReplyDeleteThe Trust Fund was stolen.
Period.
can't spend all your money, from low paying jobs, on tatoos and body piercing, and be saving got the future.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those baby boomers. Back in the sixties and early seventies, there were no 401Ks. We paid into Social Security for 50 years and our employers matched what we paid into the system. Our biggest short fall was trusting our government with our money. We were supporting the old people some that never paid into Social Security. We never realized our government was going to steal our Social Security money and use it for whatever they wanted. We just assumed it would be like a savings account only with the government instead of a bank. Had we known that our government was going to steal our money to use for other things other then Social Security maybe we could have done something different. But at that time most people trusted our government and our leaders to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm 41 can I opt out yet, I'm getting screwed and don't want my money managed by the us government!
ReplyDeleteI will collect SS until I die. After that, who cares? Not me, I'll be dead.
ReplyDelete