5 Retirement Risks and How to Manage Them

Are We to Believe this Fear-Mongering?

This type of article (or something like it) comes out about once a week, with the intent of scaring the heck out of all those planning to retire. Then every newspaper, blog and ezine picks it up stirring everyone up into a frenzy. But, if you think about it, if what they claim is true, then only millionaires will be able to retire.

The trouble is that there aren't that many millionaires in the world. According to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini World Wealth report, only 8.73 million people globally have at least one million dollars or more in financial assets (excluding the value of their primary residences), and only about 2.7 million of them live in North America (the U.S. and Canada).

But right now there are plenty of retirees in America and most aren't millionaires. According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security is currently the major source of income for almost two-thirds of America’s retirees. For one-third of retirees, it is in effect the only source of income. The average Social Security retirement benefit was about $1,000 per month per person ($24,000 for a couple).

Sure, that's a tight budget for those who live in expensive locales like Los Angeles and New York City (where many financial "experts" live), but in many places in the U.S. you could squeek by with that kind of money (some people actually prefer beans and rice over being a wage-slave their whole life).

So are we to believe the fear-mongering? I say no. A successful retirement is about finding a retirement lifestyle that fits your budget. Most people will retire with less money than they had hoped (most people want to be thinner and better-looking too), but it doesn't mean you can't retire unless you have millions. That's not to say that bad things won't happen to some people. Unfortunately, some people may have real trouble in retirement. But if you try to plan for every contingency that you can come up with, you'll never have enough to retire.

Thankfully, Americans are clever and creative people and they'll figure out a way to retire with the resources they have and, hopefully, we'll help out those who aren't so lucky.

Jonathan Edelfelt

Author of Who Said You Need Millions? Retirement Strategies for the Rest of Us

Good Article

Emily:

Good Article. Those are important factors for every one to consider, and plan for, when they plan their retirement.

Jonathan:

You are absolutely correct. Although, I don't believe this article, made any claims that you need to be a millionare. Most Americans, are mis-led into believing that they need more retirement savings, than they actually do in order to retire.

The problem is that traditional retirement planning calculates the amount of savings, you need for retirement based on the "Consumption Assumption", method of calculating retirement savings. This is the assumption that, you will need 70%-80% of your current earnings, to pay for your consumption in retirement.

The "Consumption Assumption", grossly over-estimates the amount of savings, you actually need for retirement. There is an alternative, Green Retirement Planning, retirement planning based on conservation not consumption.

Green Retirement Planning is a new method of retirement planning, one that uses a person's spending in retirement not their current earnings, to determine the amount of retirement savings required.

Yes, people are afraid, and traditional retirement planning is un-realistic, but there is now an alternative. One that enables people to retire with less savings, retire years earlier, and help save the planet.

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Retirement

If you own your own home, free and clear, then retirement becomes feasible; but to maintain your standard of living, you should plan to have enough income to replace 60% or more of your pre-retirement income up to age 90 +. This may include a pension(s), Soc. Sec. and/or savings/investments.

Average Life expectancy in the U.S. population is increasing about 1.5 years every decade -- age 90 may be a realistic goal for currently healthy people born in 1943 (65 in 2008), but may understate future life years for people born in 1980.

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retirement

the major problem no one addresses in retirement is the loneliness. Many women are alone and retirement causes them to withdraw more from social contacts. look at retirement homes they just sit and watch tv. If you have money and a partner retirement can be good but if you alone retirement is just waiting for death to catch up with you.