Planning to Retire

Survey: Americans Changing Their Retirement Plans Because of the Economy

By Emily Brandon

Posted: October 8, 2008

Americans are changing their retirement plans because of recent changes in the economy. A new AARP survey of workers age 45 and up found that if the economy does not improve significantly, most will probably spend less in retirement (69 percent) and delay retirement and work longer (65 percent). Fewer Americans (37 percent) said they will save more for retirement.

Saving more is considered out of the question for many families who are already strapped for cash. The telephone survey of 1,628 workers in September by AARP and International Communications Research showed that many older Americans have found it more difficult to pay for necessities like food, gas, and medicine (56 percent), helped a family member pay bills (47 percent), and found it hard to pay for utilities like heating, cooling, and phone services (45 percent) in the past year. To cope with rising costs, some workers have increased the number of hours they work (20 percent) and stopped contributing to their retirement accounts (20 percent).

Tell us: Have you changed your retirement plans?

Retirement as History

I smelled trouble when I got dozens of spam email a day on my AOL account for mortgages and refinancing. Every website I'd visit had adds to refinance with wiggling and annoying antics and promises of huge loans for monthly payments inordinately small comparatively. I saw housing go sky high. I saw exotic mortgages running rampant. I smelled trouble. So, I did refinance, but not to get cash out. I got a 15 year mortgage at 5.125% to replace the last 22 years of my 30 year note at 7.25%. I put all my 401k into cash and bonds in September 2007. I have maxed out my 401k contributions for about the last 5 years. So, I'm whole. I'm retiring in 2 years and 10 months (am I counting down the days? You BET.) I drive a 1999 Cadillac, I live in a modest home with my retired husband. I owe nothing on credit. Do I have all the toys and trips and clothes I would like? Nope...but, I'm pretty well off in spite of that. I have $30,000 in savings other than my 401k and I'm not wasting it. Am I a financial planner? No...I'm in IT. Do I think what I did was a miracle? No...but, I do think I pulled my head out of the sand to look around and see what was happening and took appropriate action. So, why do I have to pay for the failure of others who played? Isn't that the whole ant and grasshopper story we've heard since childhood? It's not fair. But, it's how it is. I'm taking care of me and my own. I am sorry for those who are hurting, but, it's what we have to go through in order to get to the other side of this.

Sally Suburbanite in COLO of CO @ Mar 02, 2009 13:41:43 PM

Defined benefit pension plan

This economic crisis is a hard problem for each one. A great problen has employer's that keeps the defined benefit pension plan and has to make cash contribution to mantain funded this plan. Is an ERISA requirement to keep funded plan. But how much time could survive these employers. Although with a frozen defined benefit pension plan exists the funded required.

Tonia Martin @ Oct 27, 2008 18:34:38 PM

Defined benefit pension plan

This economic crisis is a hard problem for each one. A great problen has employer's that keeps the defined benefit pension plan and has to make cash contribution to mantain funded this plan. Is an ERISA requirement to keep funded plan. But how much time could survive these employers. Although with a frozen defined benefit pension plan exists the funded required.

Tonia Martin @ Oct 27, 2008 18:33:37 PM

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Planning to Retire

Planning to Retire

Reporter Emily Brandon tells you how to get ready financially for retirement and to make your golden years the best they can be.

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