Age of Retirement

Here in the states 65 is the age most think of to retire. But i was thinking myself and it seems a bit old. Id honestly want to stop pulling 40 hour weeks long before then. Whats the concensus in othwr parts of the world? Is age more a factor or finances?

Here in U.S, it is sometines hard to retire even at 65. Many don't have a retirement nest egg stored uo you have to keep working. I'm not sure about other parts of the world. Just play the lottery, your dreams my come true early.

I would think that it wouldnt be too difficult depending on your living expenses. I think the more rural areas would be more cost effective

In some ways I think retirement is like a big f*ck you. It's like..okay, now you're done, you don't have to work anymore, you can do all the things you dreamed of doing..but you're too old to do most of them, and the ones you can do are lessened due to advanced age.

Yeah, it's entirely finances. Sure, you have people who go stir crazy and continue to work long after they need to. But most would retire at like 50 if they could. The additional problem is that people tend to fill out their income, so to speak. I can live off of maybe 30K a year, no problem, with my current lifestyle. But if I suddenly made 6 figures, would that lifestyle change? Or would I just bank 70k or more a year? For many, it's the former.

Plenty of people don't understand retirement planning, though, or their basic living expenses and low income don't allow them to save enough. Lots of people are on the "work until I can't, then hope the State can take care of me until I die" plan.

Originally posted by Digi
Yeah, it's entirely finances. Sure, you have people who go stir crazy and continue to work long after they need to. But most would retire at like 50 if they could. The additional problem is that people tend to fill out their income, so to speak. I can live off of maybe 30K a year, no problem, with my current lifestyle. But if I suddenly made 6 figures, would that lifestyle change? Or would I just bank 70k or more a year? For many, it's the former.

Couple of the guys i work with are past retirement age. I ask them all the time y do they do it? And they say y not? To sit home and watch tv all day? They say they would go insane

Well sure, if all I did was watch TV, I'd agree. So it depends on how active you are outside of work.

Originally posted by Digi
Plenty of people don't understand retirement planning, though, or their basic living expenses and low income don't allow them to save enough. Lots of people are on the "work until I can't, then hope the State can take care of me until I die" plan.

That is correct. I know many senior citizens in my community that had nothing saved for retirement. They lived paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to controbute to 401k or some IRA account without giving up basic necessities. They survive solely on Social Security benefits.

Much of the problem is the rising cost of living while wages stay roughly the same

Originally posted by Tattoos N Scars
That is correct. I know many senior citizens in my community that had nothing saved for retirement. They lived paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to controbute to 401k or some IRA account without giving up basic necessities. They survive solely on Social Security benefits.

Much of the problem is the rising cost of living while wages stay roughly the same

This. I think a mandatory Ira account for all workers would greatly benefit people.

Originally posted by Sin I AM
This. I think a mandatory Ira account for all workers would greatly benefit people.

Who's paying into it though? Employers, who would have to compensate by offering lower wages? Or workers, who can't afford it in the first place.

The actual answer here is increased financial literacy. It doesn't help current adults, but we could reverse the problem in, say, 15-20 years with basic education for kids in financial practices and retirement planning. Even things as simple as keeping a monthly budget would be HUGE for the underprivileged.

So, for a great example, my sister just turned 30. Smart, hard-working, successful girl. She went to school for a while to get some advanced degrees, so she's still paying off student debt. But she's also doing well for herself, and will soon have a lot of investing options. And, no joke, I just had a conversation with her a couple months ago, explaining to her what a Roth IRA is. She had no clue. Sh*t like that is the difference between her retiring in luxury at 60 or with a lot less saved at 65. She'll be ok regardless - and many other won't be, it should be noted - but the difference of maybe five years and likely hundreds of thousands of dollars (at least tens) is nothing to sneeze at.

Problem is here in the U.S. you have to have a certain number of work quarters in order to receive a descent retirement from Social Security. Also, the older you choose to retire the higher your SS income will be assuming you have all your work quarters completed.