Average retirement savings

[RamblingMad]

It is interesting that comments in this thread have ventured into Public Workers retirement and the rise in property taxes because basically one is causing the other. Numerous articles over the years have pointed to the fact that as Public Workers, Fireman Police, Teachers, State Workers and their unions have negotiated pay and benefit increases that the most expedient way to settle the negotiations have been to offer more benefits on the back end ie retirement benefits. As a result governments from County all the way to Federal have basically mortgaged the future for the present. I am not saying those workers who are so critical and needed in society are not entitled to them, but the level they are at is going to potentially bankrupt states forced to pay them.

IL can’t go bankrupt per its constitution. But it can have its debt rated as junk.

 

[spiders]

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It is interesting that comments in this thread have ventured into Public Workers retirement and the rise in property taxes because basically one is causing the other. Numerous articles over the years have pointed to the fact that as Public Workers, Fireman Police, Teachers, State Workers and their unions have negotiated pay and benefit increases that the most expedient way to settle the negotiations have been to offer more benefits on the back end ie retirement benefits. As a result governments from County all the way to Federal have basically mortgaged the future for the present. I am not saying those workers who are so critical and needed in society are not entitled to them, but the level they are at is going to potentially bankrupt states forced to pay them.

The biggest debt challenge facing the country is social security and the next 10-15 years are going to have some decisions that a lot of people aren’t going to like.
.

 

[MillauFr]

The biggest debt challenge facing the country is social security and the next 10-15 years are going to have some decisions that a lot of people aren’t going to like.

There is very little chance that congress will make the difficult decision to raise the retirement age, slow the COLA increases, and increase the payroll taxes needed to make the program solvent for decades to come. A more likely scenario will be for the federal government to issue more debt even though we can never pay it back. The federal reserve will just warehouse all of that debt on its books which will cause inflation to increase.

 

[Donald13]

I just watched a tik tok of a doctor who paid off her debt. They take home roughly $20k a month. But yeah follow for tips. That’s just not realistic.

 

[kymom99]

It is interesting that comments in this thread have ventured into Public Workers retirement and the rise in property taxes because basically one is causing the other. Numerous articles over the years have pointed to the fact that as Public Workers, Fireman Police, Teachers, State Workers and their unions have negotiated pay and benefit increases that the most expedient way to settle the negotiations have been to offer more benefits on the back end ie retirement benefits. As a result governments from County all the way to Federal have basically mortgaged the future for the present. I am not saying those workers who are so critical and needed in society are not entitled to them, but the level they are at is going to potentially bankrupt states forced to pay them.

The reality in Kentucky is that during the recession, the state government "borrowed" from the teacher retirement system and failed to pay it back. They also stopped contributing to it for a time. Then they blamed the system and said it was not sustainable. In fact, it was very healthy prior to that time. Our other public pension systems are failing, but the teacher system doesn't have to.

 

[MillauFr]

I just watched a tik tok of a doctor who paid off her debt. They take home roughly $20k a month. But yeah follow for tips. That’s just not realistic.

What kinds of debt did they have? Student loans?

 

[Donald13]

What kinds of debt did they have? Student loans?

Don’t know they didn’t say.

 

[DLgal]

I just watched a tik tok of a doctor who paid off her debt. They take home roughly $20k a month. But yeah follow for tips. That’s just not realistic.

These are about as useful as those articles that try to claim that a couple making $400,000 is barely middle class, and then proceeds to break down their monthly expenses and you see that about 75% of it is luxury wants, not needs.

 

[Donald13]

These are about as useful as those articles that try to claim that a couple making $400,000 is barely middle class, and then proceeds to break down their monthly expenses and you see that about 75% of it is luxury wants, not needs.

Exactly!!!

 

[MillauFr]

These are about as useful as those articles that try to claim that a couple making $400,000 is barely middle class, and then proceeds to break down their monthly expenses and you see that about 75% of it is luxury wants, not needs.

Agreed. About the only lesson you learn from people like that is the best way to pay off debt is to make $400k per year.

 

[cedricandsophie]

another reason to consider taking your ss earlier vs. later is if you have a disabled child (whose disability occurred before the age of 22). if one of that child's parents is in receipt of ss retirement benefits then not only will the child be eligible as a minor to receive benefits, they will be eligible when they turn 18 and apply as a disabled adult to SSDI vs. SSI using that parent's earning records. may not seem like a big deal but-

average SSI payment for an adult is $551 monthly vs. average SSDI at $1258, AND

it starts the 2 year waiting period for that adult child to qualify for full blown medicare (tremendous benefit as compared to high cost disabled adult child coverage on private insurance/much inferior medicaid programs ssi only recipients tend to qualify for).

creating that eligibility for a disabled adult child can result in decades of superior financial and medical benefits.

My daughter has Down syndrome. She has been getting 50% of my husbands social security since he startEd taking it at 67 when his Benefit would not be reduced for working And as you said 2 years later she got Medicare. My husband would have waited a few more years to take SS because he’s still working if not for our daughters benefits.
we are very blessEd. We have a significant amount of money saved. We will be fine. The most important thing is our daughter has enough to make her life comfortable after we are gone.

 

[DLgal]

Agreed. About the only lesson you learn from people like that is the best way to pay off debt is to make $400k per year.

Ha ha. Yep. Also, those "I paid off a six figure debt in 2 years and so can you!" articles where you read it and find out the person lived at home for free for 2 years and basically mooched off their parents so they could throw most of their income at their debt. Completely useless.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It is interesting that comments in this thread have ventured into Public Workers retirement and the rise in property taxes because basically one is causing the other. Numerous articles over the years have pointed to the fact that as Public Workers, Fireman Police, Teachers, State Workers and their unions have negotiated pay and benefit increases that the most expedient way to settle the negotiations have been to offer more benefits on the back end ie retirement benefits. As a result governments from County all the way to Federal have basically mortgaged the future for the present. I am not saying those workers who are so critical and needed in society are not entitled to them, but the level they are at is going to potentially bankrupt states forced to pay them.

That was what I was trying to get at. Probably deserving of its own thread.

 

[disykat]

I just watched a tik tok of a doctor who paid off her debt. They take home roughly $20k a month. But yeah follow for tips. That’s just not realistic.

Yeah. I would assume that if doctors follow the basic "live like a student until your loans are paid off" advice they could pay off the same way people with smaller loans/smaller salaries do, especially since their wage would be well above the minimum required to live. If someone needs "tips" about how to use your salary to pay off loans, they probably aren't going to follow the tips. "Oh, don't buy a new car, new furniture, vacations, etc. and put what you would have spent on your loans? Genius! Why didn't I think of that?"

That said, I just watched an apartment tour vlog from a young single nursing student and I'm thinking "live like a student" is no longer very good advice for paying off loans.

 

[disykat]

These are about as useful as those articles that try to claim that a couple making $400,000 is barely middle class, and then proceeds to break down their monthly expenses and you see that about 75% of it is luxury wants, not needs.

Yep. Obviously cost of living is different in different places, but it's always interesting to find out that an amount of money I think puts me solidly middle class is less than a quarter of what others think makes them barely middle class!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I just watched a tik tok of a doctor who paid off her debt. They take home roughly $20k a month. But yeah follow for tips. That’s just not realistic.

I work with surgeons who have a starting pay of 600k+. One doc would constantly talk about how broke he was. The chief had to have a discussion with him about how out of touch he was. I heard him say it twice but I know he did it more often and someone must’ve complained about it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Ha ha. Yep. Also, those "I paid off a six figure debt in 2 years and so can you!" articles where you read it and find out the person lived at home for free for 2 years and basically mooched off their parents so they could throw most of their income at their debt. Completely useless.

I’ve seen some of these on Dave Ramsey’s IG page. “300k paid off in 15 months.” People constantly complain in the comments. If you had 300k in 15 months why were you in that much debt to begin with? But then it comes out that they sold their home, sold their cars, used the money to pay debt and lived with their parents for two years.

 

[barkley]

It is interesting that comments in this thread have ventured into Public Workers retirement and the rise in property taxes because basically one is causing the other. Numerous articles over the years have pointed to the fact that as Public Workers, Fireman Police, Teachers, State Workers and their unions have negotiated pay and benefit increases that the most expedient way to settle the negotiations have been to offer more benefits on the back end ie retirement benefits. As a result governments from County all the way to Federal have basically mortgaged the future for the present. I am not saying those workers who are so critical and needed in society are not entitled to them, but the level they are at is going to potentially bankrupt states forced to pay them.

the pensions and retirement benefits that are offered by my former government employer are much less for those who have hired in over the last 10 or so years than were offered when i hired on in the 80's. as far as bankruptcy goes-for the most part government pensions do not have many of the protections and guarantors that private pensions come with, and municipalities that file under chapter 9 ARE permitted to shed 'pension debt'. most that have filed have not for political reasons but the courts have sided with some who have opted to drastically curtail their current and future pension obligations.

in the 90's when orange county california filed for bankruptcy there was a wave of their staff that moved up to northern california in search of new jobs. i don't know what was ultimately decided in that county's bankruptcy proceedings but the staff that came to work for the county i worked for were very forthcoming that from all they had been told by their former county, their former union and other sources was that their best case scenario at the time was to receive a fraction of their pension when they hit retirement age.

 

[spiders]

I think it’s important to keep everything in perspective. Higher incomes obviously have higher bills. That doesn’t mean they can’t be irresponsible in the process but certain life events can take their toll on any income. I’m sure there are a lot of people in debt who make $60k where people making $25k can’t understand how you can be in debt. People making $60k can’t understand how someone making $120k can be in debt, etc...

But of course it’s best to know your audience. Everyone I work with makes good money. We take lots of trips - obviously this year has been kind of a bummer. And a coworker may complain to me about how they are disappointed that their trip to Fiji got canceled but that doesn’t mean they’re going to go share that complaint with the janitor.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I’ve seen some of these on Dave Ramsey’s IG page. “300k paid off in 15 months.” People constantly complain in the comments. If you had 300k in 15 months why were you in that much debt to begin with? But then it comes out that they sold their home, sold their cars, used the money to pay debt and lived with their parents for two years.

I actually think some of those stories are useful because they show the extremes some people go to to get their financial picture under control. You might not be able to do all of it, but even if you are encouraged to take 1 step, it’s a move in the right direction.

One of the financial podcasts I listen to always talks about “getting 1% better” and that’s really what people need to do. A bunch of small cuts add up.

I think it’s important to keep everything in perspective. Higher incomes obviously have higher bills. That doesn’t mean they can’t be irresponsible in the process but certain life events can take their toll on any income. I’m sure there are a lot of people in debt who make $60k where people making $25k can’t understand how you can be in debt. People making $60k can’t understand how someone making $120k can be in debt, etc...

Its always the people making 20% more that have it made. People don’t understand that they have been saying the same thing for a decade while their wages have increased to levels they thought were easy street.