Retirement years.... Is bankruptcy in your future?

[supton]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
What will happen first: ability of our body to stop aging or ability to transfer our brain into a computer?

Will it really be you if they replicate you on a computer? Even if it acts just like you... would you really be there?

I've always wondered about that... and then put the thought aside.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
What will happen first: ability of our body to stop aging or ability to transfer our brain into a computer?

Will it really be you if they replicate you on a computer? Even if it acts just like you... would you really be there?

Who knows. One thing's for sure, "living in a Cloud" will have a whole new meaning.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Where do you get a moderate income with pension, medical, disability, etc?

Suckling at the public teat.

 

[Cujet]

Simple statements like "nobody who makes over 100k/yr" are disingenuous. The fact is, higher pay generally co- locates with higher living expenses.

Long time residents of many major metropolitan areas find their plans insufficient despite best efforts. Due to to localized inflation.

Once entrenched in such situations, it's not so easy to pull kids from school, sell the shack and move to inexpensive rural TN then succeed.

Like being in a bar during a fight, some choices are made for you by your very presence in that location.

 

[4WD]

Have seen a few six figure folks fail at retirement thinking they can live on less yet never slashed former spending habits.
Perhaps I just described the origin of Consultants.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Ya ain't gonna work forever...
It's better to be able to give a little than to need a little.
I've been on both sides....
Good luck.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
What will happen first: ability of our body to stop aging or ability to transfer our brain into a computer?

Will it really be you if they replicate you on a computer? Even if it acts just like you... would you really be there?

Who knows. One thing's for sure, "living in a Cloud" will have a whole new meaning.

Would "having your head in the clouds" be an insult anymore?

 

[fdcg27]

Thrift plays a significant role in this, but so does luck.
I am fortunate in having been offered my first position. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and I was later in the right place at the right time for promotion.
Of course I had the right skills, but others did as well who applied for and didn't win the promotion.
While we do live pretty frugally, we also do a couple of winter vacations to someplace warm each year, but we can afford to do that.
We drive pretty inexpensive cars and we generally cook for ourselves.
Luck also plays a role in when one retires.
Many retire much earlier than they would have liked due to health problems that preclude their continuing in the workforce.
There is also the aspect of luck in one's lifetime income. We all know folks who've worked their entire adult lives who just never seem to catch a break other than a bad one.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that while personal sagacity does play a role in where one ends up, so does good fortune.
Those of us who have enjoyed it should be thankful for it and not look down upon those who haven't.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
Thrift plays a significant role in this, but so does luck.
I am fortunate in having been offered my first position. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and I was later in the right place at the right time for promotion.
Of course I had the right skills, but others did as well who applied for and didn't win the promotion.
While we do live pretty frugally, we also do a couple of winter vacations to someplace warm each year, but we can afford to do that.
We drive pretty inexpensive cars and we generally cook for ourselves.
Luck also plays a role in when one retires.
Many retire much earlier than they would have liked due to health problems that preclude their continuing in the workforce.
There is also the aspect of luck in one's lifetime income. We all know folks who've worked their entire adult lives who just never seem to catch a break other than a bad one.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that while personal sagacity does play a role in where one ends up, so does good fortune.
Those of us who have enjoyed it should be thankful for it and not look down upon those who haven't.


Well said.
I have made more mistakes than most.
At 25 I wrecked my body, mind and spirit; I was well on my way to destruction.
Due to AA, CA education and Silicon Valley opportunity, well let's just say things have changed.
And I know I am one of the lucky ones; others have tried far harder than I.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by gfh77665
The VAST majority of bankruptcy is self inflicted. Not just "the elderly", but across the board people believe in DEBT, and they do not believe in living within their means. I always used delayed gratification. I did not go out and buy an expensive car when I was 20. I saved, bought a modest car, and built on from there. I stayed out of debt my entire life. The economy is good, record low unemployment. You can work if you want to.

Work. Save. Pay your bills. Its not that complicated.


OH MY GOD! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!?!?!??!

Im not the only one on planet earth that actually believes people need to stand on their own two feet, for goodness sakes people, stop borrowing and buying things you can not afford! If you have to borrow money from someone, then guess what? You CANT afford it!
Really simple concept people, think about it.

Start learning, teach your kids right! An EXCELLENT way to start is Dave Ramsey show.
Im sick of excuses, people who borrow money and then cant pay it back, its got so bad now, that automobile ads do not even list the price of automobiles!
They list the price of the payments!

HOW MANY PEOPLE REALIZE IF A PAYMENT IS $400 A MONTH THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED (in rough numbers) to make $500 a month to pay the $400.
Yes, $500 of you paycheck = $400 after taxes etc.

Click - Educate yourself

Repeat - If you have to borrow money from someone then you can not afford it or were too lazy to save up for it.

 

[gman2304]

Credit is to be managed and can be a blessing or a curse. There are people who manage credit responsibly and are able to succeed and thrive through years or decades of hard work and due diligence to become debt free. I personally would have never been able to buy my first house, car, washer and dryer combo etc without borrowing money and repaying it in a timely fashion, more often than not paying off a note early. One has to start somewhere but the majority start with little or nothing. Of course there are those who live beyond they're means and can't resist that shiny, glittery object in front of them but to say as a blanket statement those who borrow money are too lazy to save for the future is disingenuous at best!

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

If you read the original article, the person referenced had an income of under $900 a month, and since she wasn't collecting Social Security at 73, apparently little or no work history. I would venture to guess that when she took out her loans via credit card she never had any intent to pay them back. I would be surprised if this was her first bankruptcy. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would lend her $18k considering her income.
I see a lot of references to those great retirement plans that companies the boomers worked for had. Other than government, Post Office, or military those plans often did not pay off. Companies would work employees like rented mules until just before they were eligible to retire (or were fully vested), then would lay them off, fire them under a set up pretext, or make work conditions so miserable they would quit. In those cases, they got nothing.
Aerospace companies were famous for this, but it happened in a lot of other industries also.
401k and IRA plans are a godsend in their flexibility, portability, and ability to accumulate wealth. They do take personal responsibility and if you choose not to participate when you can, there is nobody to blame but yourself for that retirement fare of cat food and government cheese.
And, last but not least, my "Get off my lawn" comment. I'm tired of hearing millenials getting bashed. I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of gen Xers and millennials, many military. The ones I've seen are hard working and sharp as a tack. I'm glad I was a mentor and not in competition with them.

 

[gfh77665]

I think we should all have a WHINE party. Whine, whine, whine.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by gfh77665
I think we should all have a WHINE party. Whine, whine, whine.


No, it's time for more wine, not whine. Also it doesn't sound like most posts are whine, more of a smack down that basically say pay your bills deadbeat and to save money.

 

[ZZman]

Biggest reasons for bankruptcy:
Huge medical bills even with insurance
Job loss
Poor/excess credit use
Divorce
Catastrophic losses (flood, fire etc)

 

[alarmguy]

^^^
Borrowing money from "Joe" to buy stuff is never a good thing.
Its best to use your own money or not buy it at all.

Of course I can certainly see an exception to that rule when your life is on the line regarding health care but that is just. a tiny fraction of the issues people whine about.

If people want individual liberty and be free to live their lives, work and be able to benefit from the fruits of their labor without government taking it away and giving it to others, then be an individual and stop blaming others for failure to do so.

)

 

[ZZman]

Of course it is a good idea to not borrow and pay interest. But what would happen to our 70% consumer driven society if that actually happened?

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by ZZman
Of course it is a good idea to not borrow and pay interest. But what would happen to our 70% consumer driven society if that actually happened?



Consuming would still happen, the banks would make less of course.

But that's never going to happen.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Credit is a tool. Correct use and it works for you.
Incorrect use is dangerous.

Even though I kinda go by, "Every tool is a hammer."

 

[JHZR2]

There are lots of folks living still who retired in the 80s, set their pensions or "high three" earnings based upon that timeframe, and how much has stuff gone up since then?

I have to wonder how many of these are playing the system too. The cost of assisted living is huge, as an example.

I know of people who divorced or quit a job to start their own business showing very little earned income, to play the financial aid game when their kids were going through college. I wouldn't doubt that there are folks who are savvy enough to clear out their assets to trusts or as gifts, run up debts, then go bankrupt on the basis of fixed income.