I got a SS statement in the mail last week (it was a nice newsletter type)and in it it states that at age 70 we will be able to collect $1,248 a mth. Thats 21 yrs away for me. I just might be able to pay for gas in my truck with that amount 21 years from now. Also it says that 2016 more will be paid out then coming in and in 2038 the trust funds will be exhausted and only enough payroll taxes will be collected to pay just 73% of benefits owed. Needless to say I am not counting on getting much of anything from the government.

Now my question is what is everyone doing to protect themselves against not having enough to live on when you reach 65,70,80 yrs old? My wife and me don't plan to actually retire but we are looking at buying a hardware store later on and using that income as our retirement income sort of speak. Our retirement house/property is paid for so that is not a concern but even with that, I just don't think 1,248 dollars a month 21 yrs. from now is going to be enough.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), December 12, 2001

Answers

Tom, try getting by on $21.00 a day now as practise!! As I do now.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 12, 2001.

Tom you are right in not depending on SS for your total retirement income. However keep in mind that the next 20 years you will make more money than the last 20 years and will therefore receive more than the current estimet. Also there is usually a small cost of living increase each year. That will be added also. So your monthly income will be quite a bit larger than stated. Social Security was not intended to fully support the retiree but to suppliment other income. Back when SS was put in, almost no one saved for their retirement. They just moved in with their kids. (Re: Waltons.)

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), December 12, 2001.

Sir, I am not a financial expert, but I do know that if someone is waiting for their SS retirement stipend to live on; they had better start looking to rent a cardboard box with coleman stove, igloo ice box and an a warm coat after retirement. (sorry) I might suggest that you look into a Roth IRA, you and your spouse could put in a max. of $3,000. per year ($2,000. for single {I do believe that the rate will increase). Index funds are good at the moment, a mutual fund with a no-load is a good option, gold, It all depends on what you want to do and since time is the leverage, you will need to start soon to accumulate a nice nest egg. I would suggest that you search for a good financial planner and just discuss at firat your option and what is out there, (then get a second, third, fourth opinion) real estate is good (full of headaches too.), rental properties etc. A traditional IRA to coincide with a Roth IRA is a good stategy, since you are looking for long term (21 yrs) atable producers would be a best bet, with the risky ones only if you can afford to possibly lose it. Diversification is key, many eggs in many baskets. AS I said I am not a financial wiz, have a hard time myself being self employed with a small income and larger expenses. These are thigs that I have been looking into. Do check with the experts as they would know the ina-and-outs of the issue at hand. Hope that this long winded suggestion will help you look towards a more secured future than what SS has in store for you. -J

-- Jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), December 12, 2001.

Mitch, I feel for you and unless you have everything paid for (house,car,etc.) I don't see how you can make it very well on 21 dollars a day.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), December 12, 2001.

Of the world’s 6 billion people, more than 1.2 billion live on less than $1 a day. Two billion more people are only marginally better off.

I accept that does not make your situation any easier to bear Mitch but it sure should be food for thought.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), December 12, 2001.

I don't think Mitch was complaining. If you're self-sufficient and no debt(home paid off, etc), $21/day is living pretty good.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), December 12, 2001.

Social Security as it stands now will pay about 40% of a persons income during their retirement on average. Like many government programs, it is weighted toward the low earner, so they get more than 40% and the high earners get less than 40% from SS.

-- fred (fred@mddc.com), December 12, 2001.

OK, sorry Mitch if I misread you.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), December 12, 2001.

If it were me I would be pursuing some type of retirement investment for when you do retire. Such as stocks, business, etc. I personally don't think social security is going to be there for us when we, the baby boomers retire. Just take a look around you, there is not the supply of work force to contribute, many folks don't choose to work for various reasons, some because of welfare. Not offending anyone there, some really NEED the help. Some baby boomers are reaching retirement now. But they will ride on the skirts of what the rest of us pay for now. I always thought that this was unfair and that the govt would do better to just plain ole' put the funds into individual accounts. And another thing, the govt borrows from the SS funds when they need to, recall hearing that on tv and when Bill Clinton was pres and tried to re vamp the system.

Also, Mitch, we lived on 400.00 a month back 8 yrs ago when we lived in western NYS, many agencies, factories, etc had left and so there was a high ratew of unemployment where we lived. I look back and wonder how we ever made it. Hubby was laid off, i was not working except for subsitiute teaching since I was going to graduate school.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 12, 2001.

Occasionally people willl send fake letters - as if they came from official sources, but in fact aiming to discredit the officials. I'm somewhat suspicious of this one - I think it might be counterfeit. See how many other people say they got it too. If not many, then I'd guess fake. Of course, that would be a crime, but the sort of people who send this sort of manure don't think about that. It would probably count as mail fraud, and be worth I don't know how many decades in gaol (or jail in your case), but they don't think about that either.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 13, 2001.

It doesn't seem suspicious to me. The SSA mails them out annually to people they have addresses for. You can also go to www.ssa.gov and request one.

I don't even consider SS to be part of my future in 40+ years. I've just looked at it like another tax, money thrown away. I haven't had to pay SS or their 'self-employment' tax for quite a few years and would like to keep it that way. Anyone with a few decades before retiring shouldn't consider SS as a part of their retirement funds. If it is still around, it'll be extra money for you. Don't depend on the government to look out for your best interests.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), December 13, 2001.

Don, This is not a hoax the Social Security Administration sends these letters out on a regular basis.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), December 13, 2001.

I make it on an average of 31 bucks a day (wife, me and kid). And I have a house payment, so I guess its all relative.

-- poor and not tellin who=) (NO@Dontemailme.com), December 13, 2001.

Tom, I have always saved. And saved, and saved. I haven't considered Social Security as part of my retirement income for the last ten years or more, because it seems so shaky. If it's there when I retire, fine, if it isn't, that's ok, too. Well, I'll be angry that I've been taxed 15% for every dollar I milk out of a cow my whole life, but that's about it. There are no pensions for the farmer (or any self employed) so you'd better be looking out for yourself ahead of time. As I understand it, btw, Social Security was NEVER intended to be your whole retirement income, just a help to supplement your own retirement income. People make the mistake of thinking that it's meant to support you entirely in retirement. It's not.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 13, 2001.

Good post TomK, I am also looking for ways to retire comfortably.

The baby boom generation will retire within the next 10 - 25 years; without major overhaul, I don't see Social Security happening for me, a nearly 40 year old. I can't COUNT on SS being there for me; like many of you have mentioned, the only way to be sure there is something for your 'rocking chair' years is to save now. That means not only stop incurring future debt, that means getting rid of things that we WANT, and concentrate on what we will NEED.

My own plan is to avoid all debt and live within my means. The Jones be damned; they aren't paying the bills. Luckily, both my wife's and my parents never spent money foolishly. We had good examples to curb our appetites for the Good Life. We aren't living like Franciscan monks or anything; just practice good spending habits.

Frankly, I think the politicians are waiting for a crisis before the overhaul occurs; they are too interested in keeping their jobs, vs. ticking off their constituents now.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 13, 2001.

There is only one person who cares how your investments do. I think you can guess who that is. You can go to www.vanguard.com and there is a whole bunch of investment education there and that is a very good no load company. Also on Sat and Sun evenings at 4 Pm central time on the radio is a program with Bob Brinker that is very educational financially. The station I get it on is 890 AM WLS out of Chicago but a lot of stations carry it. Most load ivestment brokers will get about 5% right off of the top. There is a lot of good no load companies so don't give your money to a broker. Learn a little and save a lot.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), December 13, 2001.

I don't know if SS will be around for us either...sure hope so...what happened to all our money then ??? We all know where it actually went. My husband has a Union Pension Plan that can be used now at any time for us. He has the time in the unions and now the age. If anything happens to his life it would come to me either in a lump sum or in payments...think I would take the lump sum...Anyone have any advice on that ??? SS I would take half of my husbands as mine will come close to his half but his is still a few dollars more than mine so I'll take his. Now don't get confused here...he gets his full amount of SS and I get a separate check that equals half of his without taking away from his money in any way. I often meet women who are working like slaves to up their SS and don't know about the husband half deal. If I have this wrong please let me know. Our homestead will be paid for...we will probably still work a day or two here and there. We went a few years back to an investment firm... IRA idea...and we would have to have invested over $300 a month to come to a return monthly on what we earn today over the next 15 years. Needless to say...we didn't think we could or want to work more hours to hopefully live to enjoy a few more bucks in our old age. I guess we will just have to really buckle our belts in our old age but what I think about is the health insurance and just staying healthy in our older ages. Have family both in Canada and England and I don't care what some people say about their health programs but none of my family can say enough good about their insurance and doctors care. I think we should pay our doctors when we are well and not when we are sick !! We live within a couple of hours from Canada and I sometimes see in the paper that the elderly hire a bus and go over the border with prescription to fill at a lower cost to them. Guess they have a doctor that can prescribe in Canada drug stores too. But mostly we work as if the future depends on us and Pray knowing that it is all in God's hands to care for us.

-- Helena (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), December 13, 2001.

Before your invest in stocks and bonds, please read a book called "Liar's Poker" by a former Wall St. stockbroker (sorry, book is at home, I'm at work, can't remember his name).

Back in the late 70's, when I was a single mom raising 4 kids, one year I only had $4,000 taxable income. But we stayed together, made it, and even had some fun! (One memory is of NIGas coming to shut off my gas - my boys watched what they did, and promptly turned it back on when the gas co. left. I don't remember what happened after that, but I never went to jail....)

I'll be 62 next year and plan to take what SS I can get. A friend and I went to the SS office a month ago, to see what she'd get at 65, and the guy said, "We can GIVE you..." She said, "Give NOTHING!! I EARNED THAT!!!"

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), December 13, 2001.

Hubby just got a $30 a month raise. The announcement came in the mail today. I will receive my first benefit check on Jan 9. I agree, It is OUR MONEY. I am just sorry you all have to work so hard to pay for our benefits because they long ago spent the money that we put into the system. I wish we had been given a choice back 40 years ago whether or not to participate. I understand most people will not 'save' anything unless they are forced. I, on the other hand have no problem saving. I hate spending. Don't worry about the economy, Hubby is seeing to it that our money stays in circulation.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), December 13, 2001.