So, I had four points to my retirement plans:
1. Social Security
2. IRA via workplace
3. Personal savings
4. Home equity
I'll say right up front, that my personal savings is pretty much a joke. But it has provided me with a nice cushion for emergencies so I don't have much debt, and my credit card debt is low ($400).
My IRA via the workplace was nice until I was forced several years ago to choose a stock plan instead of the straight savings account I wanted it to be. Then you know what happened with that. Even though I chose the safest, most stable stock package offered, almost half my money was -poof!- gone.
I had planned when I turned 50 (last year), I would sell my house, use the equity to buy a small condo on a 15 year mortgage, have it paid off by 65 and be sitting on the entire value as equity. Poof! That's all on hold indefinately.
That left me with Social Security, my rock, my anchor that I could count on against the storms of economic forces that batter we middle class wage earners.
Poof! If the GOP gets to put through its plan, that will be gone five years before I can retire.
So now, I'm scrambling, trying to look at numbers, increasing what I can increase, decreasing what I can decrease, but the plain fact is that I don't make enough money to make up what I've lost before I retire. Not unless I go live under a bridge now instead of when I'm 67.
If there is no social security or Medicare, I will not be able to maintain any sort of life style. What little I do scrounge up won't last me through one hospital stay.
Well, I suppose I could just kill myself when I turn 67, save society the burden.
The boyz say: Don't worry, we'll hunt food for us to eat!
5 comments:
Having made the mistake of owning a condo, please investigate that before you make the leap. So many things are outside your control in that environment.
Carla
No worries - the world is going to end on the 21st anyway! That solves it all :))
Hope you had a good birthday!
I elected to start receiving my soc sec when I turned 62 last year.....it's a little less than it would have been had I waited but I thought the money may be gone by then......or I'd be dead......I admit it's fun to see that automatic deposti every month......yes I know I earned it but it's still nice.
Pam, South Bend
WHY is it more people don't understand what they are doing and WHY isn't there an absolute revolt against this? Even the protection of the oil companies' subsidies apparently doesn't get there attention. Worse than lemmings. Auntie Anon
Thanks for the posst
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