Yahoo finance today discussed the film “Broken Eggs”.The 80 minute film covers the looming retirement crisis in America, primarily affecting Baby Boomers -US!
Daily, roughly 10,000 baby boomers are stepping into retirement, reaching their retirement years. Many are not adequately prepared and are primarily relying on income from their social security.
According to experts, retirement should be funded via 3 primary vehicles:
- Social security
- Pensions
- Personal savings
Experts in the film compared this 3 pronged approach to a 3 legged stool. Sturdy and solid until you take one of the legs away and the stool will shake, tumble and eventually collapse.
Social Security
Most experts predict that social security will not last and is headed toward bankruptcy. The prediction is that this will happen sooner than later and some say that the system already is bankrupt!).
Pensions
Pensions in general are slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past. While some baby boomers will retire with a pension, many will not.
Some retirees had planned on relying on their pension as part of their retirement. Unfortunately, some lost this part of their retirement when the company they worked for went under or made changes to their pension program, leaving retirees empty handed.
Personal savings
For a variety of reason the sad reality for many baby boomers is that they don’t have much when it comes to personal savings.
- Many 401Ks took a massive tumble in the recession shrinking 401K holdings for many.
- Many have been or are affected by personal or family illness placing a huge drain on their finances. We may have all sorts of fancy health care/sick care technology but it is very, very expensive! (A different story for a different time…)
- Changes in the economy and in the job market have been many and are ongoing. It’s not as easy finding employment when you’re in your 50s and 60s than it was in your 20s, would you agree?
Well… this doesn’t look so good, does it now?
With advances in health care and increased life expectancy, many baby boomers can expect to live an additional 30 to 40 years in retirement.
The question is: “Are baby boomers financially prepared to support themselves during those years?”
All our retirement projections are based on assumptions from years past: how much we used to pay for housing, food, fuel, insurance, healthcare, etc. However, we are dealing with the future here. Nobody can predict what’s going to happen with any of the above. So who knows what it really will take to support ourselves during our retirement years.
Perhaps what we need as a society is question the very notion of retirement.
After all, 65 today is not what it was 30 or 20 years ago.
I just turned 60 myself and really can’t picture myself “retiring”. Doing something different that what I am currently doing – yes, but not stop working altogether.
Just like many others my age, I have so many things I want to do and still accomplish. At this point in my life, retirement is just not in my frame of reference.
I know at some point that will change and I will be ready to retire and stop working. Will I be ready then? I sure do hope so.
Will you be ready when it’s time for you?
Go check out the film “Broken Eggs” for yourself. I’ve enjoyed it, learned a few things and as a result will make some adjustments in my retirement planning.
Check it out here: www.brokeneggsfilm.com – and wait, don’t’ forget the popcorn.
