Retirement Uncertainty

I am a retired (Deep State person) as Trump has trumpeted. Most of us much older than 60 are worried that President Greedypants will diminish our retirements and force us to throw ourselves off of tall bridges. Don't quit your job and read everything (I mean everything).

I think you might gain some insights from this podcast. The president's disastrous policies have shaken the prospects of everyone, especially retirees and those planning on retiring soon. And no, you can't survive on Social Security alone but it has been a reliable supplement for many of us. It's future prospects are now in some doubt – which would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

I have a relative that I helped that lives off disability/social security. He makes under $1,700 a month. He does have some savings (less than $5k). He was gifted a car.

I was able to help him secure low income housing where he pays 30% of his monthly income. It is not a private apartment, but a shared type of housing with a private room; it is almost impossible to get low income housing with the country being overwhelmed with immigrant homeless families, and like you are mentioning people retiring with only social security, it has honestly overwhelmed housing for everyone. He also gets some sort of assistance for food.

It was not easy to get even this shared housing, waitlists are years (I've heard over 10 years for many) both state and federal. Add in having a mental disability and being a senior makes it very overwhelming to do all the research, complete all the applications. I have no idea how someone in a situation like this is able to navigate the systems.

My advice, if you want to retire on only social security, try to apply now as you likely won't be able to get housing assistance for more than a decade. The downside though is you are supposed to have under a certain amount of income to qualify so if you are working full time, you might not be able to apply and get waitlisted. The whole affair is a mess.

Why I am thankful, I have a retirement program outside of social security. If someone is working full time even part time, they should be putting away for retirement, do not count on social security.

A financial advisor stated the following concerning my case:

"I think that one thing you did good is that you saved some emergency funds in the bank. This way, you may have ways to invest money in other places."

Here is my reply to the advisor:

Yes, I have emergency money in my savings account. However, this alone does not solve my future housing concerns. You talked about investing.
I have never invested in anything, and thus know nothing about it.

I will make my final decision on Friday concerning the 401k retirement plan. I may or may not join my company's 401k plan. To be honest, I also don't think that joining a 401k plan considering my age and salary as a security guard will secure future housing for me.

The harsh reality of not saving retirement money back in my 20s and 30s hits me like a ton of bricks each passing day. I turned 60 on April 5. I have more years of life behind me than ahead. My current job does not offer a pension.

It appears that the only source of income that I will have in my retirement years is social security and my savings. Unfortunately, I will not be able to retire at 65 like most people. Maintaining good health will keep me employed on a full-time basis for another 10 years.

According to the social security website, the projective amount that I will have by age 70 is greater than $2,000 a month. Of course, this is only a projective amount. The uncertainty of my future financial status stresses me out daily.

I've read through this thread and am a bit surprised.

Aren't superannuation plans a requirement in America? Here they are compulsory and everyone who has a job has a super fund. The payments are made by the employer and are on top of the wages paid.

That's done in quite a few countries, some of which wouldn't even be considered "advanced economies". Some businesses offer this for employees in the USA but the only time it's considered as a universal program here is when conservatives want to use it to replace our Social Security system (not enough to live on). It's a constructive idea, and firms that offer that benefit (which is voluntary) have pretty good participation – the companies will often chip in a percentage themselves and workers love it. But it's not a universal program and many low-wage workers don't have this option. "Compulsory" anything is a hard sell in this declining state.

Your company's 401K, does it match your contribution? Most companies do this, for example if you contribute 5% of your income, the company will also contribute 5%, that 5% is free money. At your age, it won't make you a millionaire but that is 5% that you did not have before.

To add to this, the return on retirement investments is likely to be better than return on a standard savings account these days.

My company does not match the contribution.

My company does not match the contribution. Great company I work for at 60 years old, huh?

The company I worked for matched, but only so much. I believe it was $300.00

Retirement is getting harder and harder as the years go by.

I was just thinking what other resources you may have at little or no cost. From my experience helping my relative, it is not easy but there are resources. I reached out everywhere, I know your situation is not the same, but because he qualified for both elderly and disable services, I reached out to everything I could find.

One that might be of help is if there is a local senior services. I know that you said you spoke with a financial advisor. A local non-profit or government senior services may be able to hook you up with little or no cost with a financial advisor. Also, do not forget about your mental health. There is a lot of stress around this, we can all hear it even in what you write. Senior services may also be able to hook you up with some mental health therapy or even a group. There are resources out there, it can just be difficult to find. Having a senior services resource can help take much of burden you are feeling and having to deal with.

I do not have mental issues. No one is perfect. My post is about retirement not mental problems. Wanting to know what the future will be like for me in the golden years has NOTHING to do with lack of mental health.

I was concerned about your stress as you stated this stresses you out daily. Sorry I may have not worded things correctly. It was not intended to mean you have mental issues. It was meant to find ways to help your daily stress.

As we age, life becomes very uncertain. It angers me more than anything else that at 60 years old I find myself in a scary situation that may lead to another 10 years of employment before retiring with only social security payments. To be honest with you, I no longer have the same energy that I once had. So, yes I am worried about what my life will become when I am not able to physically work anymore. I worry about not having a roof over my head in the later years.