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this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024
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So you're saying a good 50% of Americans have no idea how they could possibly retire, they just think they will anyway.
Anecdotal, but I've actually been saving for retirement since I was in my twenties (forty now) and I doubt I'll actually be able to retire. Most models say I need to put in more than ten percent of my salary and I can't afford that.
I have never made enough to save for retirement and I've been told right here on Lemmy that I shouldn't be buying my kid Taco Bell and myself a chai latte a couple of times a month to make our lives a little bit more bearable because I should be saving for retirement and providing for her when I'm old so she doesn't have to take care of me.
Because, you know, $400 a year or whatever that is would definitely be enough to retire on.
Just yesterday, someone actually said to me here, "do you not have a 401k?" as if that were a rarity like leprosy. But then it's my fault for not being rich enough I guess.
Yeah people really do like to pretend putting pocket change into savings will somehow add up to a 7 figure nest egg.
For context: $400 per year for 35 years (making some assumptions about your age) with 8% average market return (probably optimistic tbh) and you wind up with a whopping $84k to retire on
So yeah, shits fucked
Even if it netted more than that, denying myslef simple pleasures that make my life better today because might might survive long enough to be able to capitalize on that money not spent for the last 10-20 years of my life is not a way I want to live. No one should be expected to be miserable until they retire.
Shit, I'm almost 50 and I've been putting 10% or more of my gross pay into a 401(K) since the late 90s. For the last 10 years or so I've been occasionally increasing my contributions. I'm up to 16% now. Most of my employers have also done some amount of matching. I have a fair amount saved, but based on current projections, I'm still not sure I'll have enough to retire at a reasonable age unless I drastically reduce my cost of living (which is already relatively modest). Part of the reason is that the markets have been somewhat volatile over the last 30 years. There have been at least 3 major downturns/recessions, and that means the money I have invested hasn't grown at the rate that was projected when I started putting it away. There were several years where I saw significant losses in value. I should have a lot more than I actually do at this point. It doesn't help that my in-laws are totally screwing us over. They retired with no savings at all, sold their home and drove around the country in an RV for 10 years. Now they're completely out of money and their health is failing so it looks like we're going to have to spend a significant amount of resources to support them.
I’m 30 and have been putting in 17% the past 5 years or so, fucking hurts and makes it hard sometimes but I don’t want to be working at 80. Most days I can’t decide if I want to live to retirement or not but I’m saving anyway so i don’t screw myself once I hit that age
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