Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

We all know about the problems Social Security is facing. With our aging population, we're in a situation where we're going from 2.8 active workers for every one Social Security beneficiary right now to 2.1 workers for each beneficiary by 2035, according to the SSA.How do you keep the promise of Social Security with that new math?

The reality is you can't. According to the latest projections, the program's trust fund is slated to run out of money in 2034. But that doesn't exactly mean that future retirees will be getting a big, fat goose egg.

The SSA estimates that incoming revenue from interest on trust fund balances and the income taxes that select Social Security recipients pay on their benefits will allow payouts of roughly three-quarters on all benefits that retiree expect.

So if you're retiring 18 or more years from now, you can expect to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 cents on every dollar you contribute today. Not great news, but not the worst either.

 

Just curious those with a 401K, what does your company offer for a employer match if any? The company I work for gives a very generous 125% on the dollar for employees with 10 years of service, 50% for 5 to 10 years, and 25% for 1 to 5 years.

 

That is a fantastic deal...my employer matches the first 8 percent. I'd be on that deal like a bum on a baloney sammich.

 

That is spectacular, take advantage of that. Mine offers 6% of your salary is contributed whether you contribute anything or not. But there is a vesting period of 5 years. There is super high turn over amongst new employees in our industry and they want to try to keep them.

 

Oh I have been, have 35 years with the company and have another 2 -3 to go. Will be 62-63 years old and hope to comfortably retired. Not bad for a mechanic all my life. Its been a great company, but they expect hard work and dedication in exchange for good benefits. The match is for up to 6% of gross salary.

 

the company I used to work with (10 years of service) it was 6% match, 50% anything higher..

my current company is a lame ass 2%

 

If I don't retire by 40 I'm going back to doing porn.

 

My present company just got rid of pensions. Whatever you have accumulated at this point is what you will get.

Losing the pension was offset by boosting the company match. Some are eligible up to 14% match.
That's huge!

I'm happy with the 9% they gave me. Doing quick math, I shouldn't miss the extra $1000 a month too bad I was predicted to retire with.

 

It seems this may be the way companies are going. No insurance after retirement, no traditional pension. No gold watch.

 

Definitely the way they are going. Started as an accounting issue. Once they had to start showing pension liability on the balance sheet pensions started getting cut to almost non existence today. Part of the issue was management had no idea how expensive they were until the accountants started calculating the liability.

 

I've picked 4/24/2036 as my retirement date. Assuming a 10% CAGR on my 401k (without future contributions), I'll have a nice chunk of change.. House will be paid off 4/1/2026 at the latest. plus something (anything) from social security... i should be good

 

I am planning on about 4 more years. Biggest hurdle is health care. That might be 2 grand a month in a few years. Who knows maybe I should give my kids everything and go on welfare..

 

Never

 

I think Social security will still exist when I retire, but will probably have to be 92 to be eligible.

 

Health and the cost of health insurance are my two greatest concerns. I'm married and both my wife and I work, if one of us is unable to work than that throws my entire retirement plan out the window. I have always tried to run as lean as possible when it comes to finances, minimum debt and invest and save as much as possible. I'm almost to the point that we could live on a single income. It's good to have a goal and a plan but you better have a bump plan also and be flexible. Life has a nasty habit of biting you in the ass when you least expect it.

 

Ugh. Sucks that you didn't get grandfathered.

Soup is good food. Maybe not your kind of music but mute it and read the words at least. 30 yrs old and true now more than ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqP5tNX2KZ0

One reason for it yes. Same reason my company changed the vacation policy..you were able to carry 2 weeks over one year to the next, now you can carry nothing. The MBTA is a good example of paying so many people to not work in my state..and part of why they have financial trouble, at one time you could retire with full pay, insurance, etc in 22 or 23 yrs.

My company stopped offering pensions in the past few years, I forget exactly when. They also made some changes to insurance and such that caused some to retire a tad sooner than planned. Much as I'm dissatisfied with some of my situation (see my post in the Jobs area for more), my 17 yrs of service and therefore the pension is one reason at least for the short term I'm not looking to move on.

 

Just happened to us in Apr. (T&C of employment are subject to change without notice). We at least get a 5% match, but from what we can figure the bottom line will be ~50% less than if the pensions were still growing.

Same here. They give no fucks about us. We are just numbers / liability.

 

I just got my annual reminder from the Social Security Administration to check out my estimated benefits. Life is looking pretty good 30-40 years down the line. Just gotta remember to reach out to the Social Security Administration in about 33 years and get my Medicare. With my SS earnings and retirement plan, I'll be set. Dare I say, there might be a boat in my future.

 

This last year of stock market leaps and bounds sure has made things look much better.

This last week is not enjoyable to look at, but it's still not that painful in the overall big picture. I haven't changed a thing.

 

Yep, we lost $2K yesterday alone. but seeing as my ROI was roughly 20% last year, I can't complain too much about an off day or two.