Tuesday, January 31, 2012
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46146242/
This is an interesting article about the concept of our generation needing to be worried about retirement. Since the economic downturn in 2008, fewer people have been able to retire at 65! We need to open our eyes and think about long-term investments! But, should we be looking for a job that will help us closely manage our retirement funds?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great article, Jake. I think that coming out of school, I will try to be conscious of my future and try to put some money into long-term investments, but I know that won't be easy because I will have money for the first time in my life and I will probably end up blowing it all on something ridiculous like a yacht or gold jewelry, which I could later sell at Scott's on south westnedge...so I guess it's an investment? But I am hoping to find a job with a good in place to help its employees prepare for retirement. Because let's be honest, why would I put money away when I could spend it on seeing Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera go yard in person?
ReplyDeleteThis article is quite interesting because it shows how our generation is evolving to understand retirement. The last generation is having a problem understanding that someone else, even if promised responsibility was allotted, there may just not be the funds in the future. This goes to show that planning is required and with more educational training and advise programs like SS may not be needed in the future.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is very interesting to read, especially because all of us in this class fit in this category. We are about to graduate and move out on our own and be responsible for planning our future. I think that 20-somethings are more aware of the need to plan for retirement because of the economy in which we have grown up. For a significant amount of our lives, or at least the part of our lives in which we were more aware of the economy, it has been suffering. Therefore, we have been forced to understand the importance of the long run of our lives and plan for our retirement. But the article has a good point, what are we suppose to do and who will show us the retirement choices that are available to us?
ReplyDeleteI think this article lends itself to a bigger societal issue which is historically low personal savings rate in the United States. Currently, household saving rates in the U.S. are between 3 and 4 percent. The majority of European countries have household saving rates of above 10 percent. The U.S. economy has been built on consumption since the post WWII era of mass consumption. However, as Social Security appears to be on the verge of insolvency due to widespread looting to fund other deficits and the retirement of the Baby Boomers, our generation will have to look to other programs to secure our retirements.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if some sort of informal education or easy to access information would help out with this problems. It seems like very few people who graduate are already thinking of life savings or college saving plans for their children. Feel free to point out if you feel differently, but I don't know many people who are likely to save right out of college, and the time in your life that you chose to begin saving makes a substantial difference in the future. Yet even with people who are not fresh out of college, like Ryan points out, have bad savings habits that are not beneficial for the country as a whole. Would easier access to information be enough?
ReplyDeleteRyan makes a great point, it seems that the american culture puts less of a significance in saving. The culture encourages these families to spend their money in order put money back into the economy. This downturn is frightening for our generation because it means we can no longer rely on our social security upon retirement. Our generation will need to be more conscious about saving for the future.
ReplyDeleteDuring my internship, I sat through a new employee orientation where they gave the new employees information on the 401k plans for the hospital. So many people left with questions and felt that they didn't receive enough information. I think a more intense educational program from employers or a consultant is a good idea. An individual session for all new employees seems like a good plan.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the problem Rachel. People have a basic understanding of the 401k plan, but seem to not be able to figure out how they can personalize the plan to their income. In most cases, many individuals seem to be still left in the dark.
DeleteWith the way the economy is right now there are very few people that can retire at a reasonable age unless they have been saving carefully for many years. I feel as though, if there is one thing we can be thankful for about the financial-economic crisis of 2008-09 occurring during our lifetime, we (students) will be better prepared and smarter (hopefully) with our spending/saving should something like this happen again. People who were born and lived most of their lives during a time of economic growth and prosperity probably worried less about the need for saving. With the way it is right now, many people who are in the later stages of their careers would almost have to live like they did not make any money in order to save for the kind of retirement many of us hope for.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike that i will be conscious of my retirement but it will be very tough to do. This will be the first time that i have had steady income and it will be tough to try and save it for later use. I know it will be in my best interest to save for the long run but it will be hard not to buy a new truck once i get those first few pay checks
ReplyDelete