PigsDad
TUG Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2006
- Messages
- 10,082
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- Location
- Colorado and SW Florida
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC Elite: SeaWorld, Surf Club, Charter Club, Valdoro
I'm with you, Geekette. Yes, there are many GenX'ers that may have not saved enough and will have to work beyond retirement, but IMO they have no one to blame but themselves in most cases.Guess again, Amy. I am genX, one of the oldest, and am on track to depart cube life in 2025. Of course, I started saving and investing in my 20s which maybe many of my age did not. I graduated at recession so there weren't any gifts on silver platters, just decades of scrimping and saving so I could quit working before age 70.
I'm 51 and from the very beginning of my working career I knew I needed to start saving for retirement. I knew SS might be a crapshoot (would probably still be there, but benefits would likely be curbed) and it was clear, even 30 years ago, that one should not rely on a company pension, etc. I needed to be responsible for myself, and I saved accordingly. I started out on the bottom rung and had student loans like most others. We didn't buy the biggest house we could have afforded, we didn't buy fancy cars every 2-3 years, etc. I invested aggressively and never panicked when the markets had setbacks because I knew in the long term, the markets always performed. In fact, when the stock market crashed in 2008, we stayed in the market, tightened our belts and increased our saving contributions -- turned out to be the best move ever! I never tried to time the market; I'm sure some people make money doing that, but history and statistics say most will not.
All of that paid off very well for me, I'm happy to say. I'm on track to retire in 7 years. I probably could do it a bit sooner, but I don't want to retire before my daughter is out of college as that is an unknown expense at this time. I'm sure I have had some good luck along the way, but anyone who starts thinking about saving for retirement at the beginning of their career will have a high probability of success. Those who just assume the government or their company would take care of them in retirement are fools, and I don't particularly feel that sorry for them.
Money Magazine had a decent article in this month's issue profiling three families and their plans to retire early. It was a good read, and comparing their situation to mine made me feel good about my progress, as I was way ahead of all of the examples in the article. Now I find myself planning my retirement activities.
Kurt