42% of Americans have no retirement savings

I didn’t notice any breakdown by age which would be interesting to see. I would hope the younger folks cause the % to be that high.

Ive been in the workforce for 25 years now and every place I’ve been from large corps to small strongly encourage folks to put into a 401k and match your contribution to a point - it’s so easy to do and you don’t even miss the money because it’s gone before you actually see it. It’s just dumb not to do and that’s coming from someone who is not good at saving money on her own.

Do it people. When you first start seeing your statement you’ll be like meh that’s nothing but then years later granted (but time flies) you’ll look at it one day and be kinda proud of yourself and amazed that you didn’t hardly have to lift a finger to save that money.

401K is good, but that money is going to get taxed coming out. You need to save some money post tax, whether a Roth IRA or other investments. Retirement will be dependent on multiple sources of income, including 401K, SS, investments, etc. Otherwise, you're possibly fuct.

quote:

---

when you consider SS at best has a sketchy future for being able to meet it's obligations.

---

SS is not going to run out of money. In fact, Congress could easily 100% fund it for the foreseeable future if they really wanted to. This is a scare tactic by those that want to privatize it and shove more money towards the Wall St banks.

quote:

---

I’m not holding my breath but my fingers are crossed on that.

---

How can you type so well if your fingers are crossed?

Joking aside yes, retirement is a problem for many people. I think its the credit crunch that many folks have fallen into. They buy in to something like a credit card or a timeshare (my folks lost almost everything they own on timeshares they thought were a great investment they could pass onto us) and suddenly that money that would have been put away for retirement or a rainy day is going out the door to pay interest.

When you add the younger generations paying heaps of money towards servicing their student loans you have generations dependent on Social Security (which doesn't cover a whole lot) and their pensions. And pensions are slowly but surely going the way of the Dodo bird.

In the age of the Robber Barron the number was probably much higher

American created a middle class when they invested in the stock while working then had income on the dividends of those stocks when they retired.

Pre 1980's "Greed is Good" mantra...
Corporations spent income on the following
Wages and benefits of workers
Compensation for executives
Dividends for investors
Research & Development and capital budgeting for Plant & Equipment
Eschewed a country built on excessive debt

Post 1980's
Shipped jobs overseas and shut down plants and sold equipment
Slowed or eliminated dividends to shareholders
Stopped meaningful R&D or farmed it out to US government through grants to higher education
Gave massive pay and bonuses instead to top executives and Wall Street raiders
Got consumers to believe high debt was good long term for the USA

quote:

---

In the beginning it was strictly a widows and orphans fund to supplement early death of US workers

---

Not the case with the Social Security Act of 1935. While that did provide widows benefits, it also included retirement(it was labeled old age benefits at the time) pay for older workers. Around that time, only around 10% of companies provided any sort of pension, and most of the ones around were paltry. Retirement funds were whatever a worker could save himself, which during the Great Depression wasn't much, if anything.

quote:

---

also included retirement(it was labeled old age benefits at the time) pay for older workers

---

That may not mean what you think it means

I grew up around old coal miners (maybe 40 years old before black lung "retired" them and folks were different back then. The "dole" was seen as bad even though they needed it they were too proud to take it. Seems there were lots of jobs like this in an age of manufacturing and agriculture and Social Security was the net for them to land in. Especially as many were crippled and near dead anyway. It was not the national retirement beast it would grow to become. That changed after WWII and politicians found expansion was good for votes. Boomers entering the workforce swelled the coffers which covered a lot of issues.

In the early days it was mandated by the federal government but administered by the states much like the Department of Transportation is done today. Folks may find it hard to believe but before World War I the vast majority of jobs were in agriculture or domestic help. Lots of folks in the early days were self employed or employed by business with fewer than 10 employees. Seems lots more folks were exempt from paying into social security back then.

quote:

---

That may not mean what you think it means

---

I know what it means. One aspect of the act was wage replacement for older citizens. And of course it changed over the years. Society in 1935 was a lot different than it was post WW2. But the fact remains, one of the goals of the SS Act of 1935 was providing an income for older citizens so they could exit the workforce.

quote:

---

23% of Americans are depending on lottery winnings for their retirement.

---