Relying solely on Social Security for one's retirement is asinine.
As recently stated by a financial analyst, "Fact is, the Social Security trust fund has $3 trillion of paper IOUs issued by the Treasury Department over the last 70 years, but not one dime of real money."
Too many Americans are in denial that the Social Security system has problems.
I recently blogged about this on my Redroom Author's page with the topic titled Social Security Is a Secure Way to Find Great Pleasure in Being Terribly Deceived.
Fact is, sooner or later there is going to be a massive restructuring of the system and Americans are going to find out that they have no Social Security, or at least a lot less, to rely on for a retirement income than they had anticipated.
Regarding baby boomers not having saved enough for retirement, it is each individual's fault, and no one else's.
Unfortunately, many North Americans now suffer from a sense of entitlement and are not willing to take responsibility for their lives. This has in part contributed to the serious economic conditions today.
If people learned how to save and pay cash for anything they purchased, there would be few people in debt and few people who have not saved enough for retirement.
I worked less than half of my adult life and I have saved enough for retirement so that I don't have to rely on any government program.
Incidentally, I drive a 1995 Camry even though I can purchase 10 brand new cars for cash.
Key to my being able to save enough money for retirement was saving 50 percent of my pretax income when I started making a decent income. As I tell my friends, "Saving only 10 percent of one's income is for wimps and amateurs." This is one of the best money saving tips that you can adopt.
Also key is to avoid debt like the plague. Dave Ramsey covers this very well in his great book The Total Money Makeover.
Another valuable book is Larry Wingate's You're Broke Because You Want to Be.
As Larry Wingate says, most excuses for being in debt are essentially lies. For anyone who gives me excuses why they are in debt, I will give you an example of a person who had it much worse on a much lower income and still managed to save a bundle.
In short, J.P. Getty said it best: "Those who don't respect money don't have any."
Ernie J. Zelinski
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)
As an aside, from the the Globe and Mail's Report on Business Magazine
Cover Story: New Year's Resolution: GET A JOB ( Which for retirees should say GET A RETIREMENT JOB)
You are likely to be asked this question at your next job interview for any retirement jobs.
INTERVIEW QUESTION: WHAT WOULD PEOPLE WHO HATE YOU SAY ABOUT YOU?
Here's what your answers say about you:
Your Answer: "I'm a perfectionist" — The compliment-disguised-as-insult answer means you're a shameless self-promoter.
Your Answer: "I'm a brat" — Probably very true.
Your Answer: "No one hates me" — You are needy and possibly delusional.
For more information about retirement jobs, check out:
Retirement Careers on the Retirement Cafe
Unreal Retirement Jobs
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