

Retirement on Hold: American Workers $6 Trillion Short - chailatte
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Retirement-on-Hold-American-cnbc-2085207793.html

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tptacek
This study starts with the assumption that Americans should retire at age 65,
which is to say that despite massive changes in health, life expectancy,
productivity, and the fundamental nature of work as we shift from the
physically demanding manufacture of real goods to a service economy, we should
be using the same definition of "retirement age" as our grandparents used.

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kgermino
Exactly, when Social Security was started it was expected that you would live
into your early 60's, nowadays the average is about 75 and it's common to live
past 80. Yet the retirement age has change very little in the last 70 years.

Anecdotally I know quite a few people who are still working well into their
seventies, all of them working construction in some form. (I spent several
summers working for a remodeling firm so my sample is somewhat biased) But
these guys are working in a physically demanding job, and doing it by choice.
Sure they cannot do as much as they used to be able to but they are certainly
doing enough to be productive. They all work part time, regularly go away for
weekends, vacations, etc. and working just enough to make money and enjoy
their life.

It's very possible to have the relaxed lifestyle that people look forward to
in retirement without having to completely stop working, regardless of your
job, but especially these days where, as you noted, most people work in a
service economy.

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houseabsolute
Meh. People should not feel entitled to sit around and do nothing for the last
third of their life.

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rdl
Sitting around and doing nothing (or driving around the country in an RV,
etc.) is the most depressing thing I can think of doing. I hope when I'm >65 I
am still working, if not in an operational role, in some kind of investor or
advisory role.

Retirement from a physically demanding job makes sense when you can't do that
job any more, but enduring a job/life you hate, just to reach (hopefully)
retirement and finally enjoy life, really seems like the wrong model.

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Pyrodogg
So social security is going to go bust and the markets are losing people
money, how is a 20-something techie to build funds for retirement? Go back to
stashing hard earned cash in a fireproof safe? Never plan on retiring?

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orangecat
Dollar cost averaging into an index fund. If that doesn't produce a positive
return over several decades, then we're completely screwed anyway.

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jbarham
Just be glad you weren't "yen cost averaging" in the Nikkei 225 which is
currently 70% down from its 1989 peak:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikkei_225>

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endlessvoid94
Your retirement: courtesy of China.

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CamperBob
Yeah, it must be somebody else's fault.

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endlessvoid94
Heh, totally not what I meant.

I was referring to the main purchaser of our country's debt: China. I wasn't
BLAMING them.

