I can't wait until retirement...
I have 36 1/2 years before I can touch any of my retirement savings money. I guess what's more surprising (other than the fact that I'm already counting down to retirement), is that I have a retirement savings account.
I overheard three women at lunch the other day - all of them said that none of their parents had any retirement savings whatsoever. NONE. Now these women were easily in their mid-thirties. Their parents were probably baby boomers. Very nearing retirement age. How can you get to that point in your life and not have saved a penny? The moral of the story is: No one can save money, unless they actively try to. One theme I like to stress is that people are consumers. If people still don't believe me, then is there another explanation for why people could have 40 years of earning power, and not have saved a single cent?
Maybe they're all waiting for social security checks to start coming in the mail. What they don't realize is that their social security checks, compared to their paychecks, would probably cut their current income by a huge percentage. Are they ready to start living on a budget when they're older? Why not budget a bit when you're younger? And spend the rest of your days living them out comfortably. That sounds like the good life to me.
I'm going to end this entry with a story from Sex and the City. Carrie Bradshaw, in the show, owned 100 pairs of $400 shoes. (That's $40,000 on shoes alone!) She wanted to buy her apartment and didn't have the down payment money. So, you can either have 100 pairs of shoes, or a house. And I am that person - that has a house.
I overheard three women at lunch the other day - all of them said that none of their parents had any retirement savings whatsoever. NONE. Now these women were easily in their mid-thirties. Their parents were probably baby boomers. Very nearing retirement age. How can you get to that point in your life and not have saved a penny? The moral of the story is: No one can save money, unless they actively try to. One theme I like to stress is that people are consumers. If people still don't believe me, then is there another explanation for why people could have 40 years of earning power, and not have saved a single cent?
Maybe they're all waiting for social security checks to start coming in the mail. What they don't realize is that their social security checks, compared to their paychecks, would probably cut their current income by a huge percentage. Are they ready to start living on a budget when they're older? Why not budget a bit when you're younger? And spend the rest of your days living them out comfortably. That sounds like the good life to me.
I'm going to end this entry with a story from Sex and the City. Carrie Bradshaw, in the show, owned 100 pairs of $400 shoes. (That's $40,000 on shoes alone!) She wanted to buy her apartment and didn't have the down payment money. So, you can either have 100 pairs of shoes, or a house. And I am that person - that has a house.
posted by L.Su at 4:46 PM
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