Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMo50
Social Security was never meant to be a direct income replacement for retirees. Kind of like how minimum wage jobs were never truly seen as a career path. I am for self sufficiency. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have worked for 50 or so years should have been responsible enough to plan for the eventuality we all face. Obviously, there are people who, through no fault of their own, were not able to do that. But, for the majority of folks in our age bracket, they should have been planning for their retirement a long time ago. No one will be able to enjoy a lifestyle they had during their working years on Social Security alone. It was never meant to work that way. If someone failed to adequately fund their own income stream for retirement, it's a little late to change it now.
At my retirement party from my previous, long time job, my boss asked me if I had any advice for a group of young new hires. He was thinking I might offer some tips related to the work. Instead, my advice was simple: Put money away every month until it hurts. Consider that money spent, and never touch it. You'll thank me in 30 years.
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Mostly useless advice now that "entry level" (not minimum) wages haven't kept up with the rate of inflation. When I went to college back in the early 1980's, I had a studio apartment on Charles Street, the foot of Beacon Hill in Boston. I paid $375/month including heat and hot water. I didn't have cable TV and in fact, had an old black and white that I picked up off the side of the road that a college student had thrown away the year before. I was earning $4.00/hour at two part-time jobs, and averaging $10/hour playing guitar in the subway system as a busker.
I was also a full time student. I managed to save some money and blew it all on stupid college-student crap.
That same apartment was available for rent in the past couple of years. It was well over $2000/month. Minimum wage hasn't gone up proportionately, but it's still considered appropriate for students. Except now you have to be in a very wealthy family to afford that apartment as a student. It has an updated bathroom now but is mostly the same as it was. The basement apartment is now for rent - it's 120 Charles Street unit 2 if you want to look it up. I had unit 1 on the main floor, which was similar but a bit smaller, with no access to the "courtyard" (which was really just a walled-in concrete slab big enough for a lounge chair and a potted plant).
People who can save up, are people who are earning more than they need to live already, or people who come from families who can afford to help them with expenses until they're able to save up. People who think everyone can "just" do that - are thinking in terms of how it used to be - and not how it is now.