Tenchusatsu, RE: "Amy, A forced savings (investment) program, could possibly fix this. I agree, but here's the catch: Social Security was supposed to be this program. I still remember what they taught in school, that SS takes part of your paycheck, saves the money for you, then pays it back when you retire. Tenchusatsu"
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SS is no different than the pension funds that were raided by corporate America when I was a child.
The best person to trust with your money is you. Not the government.
I'd like to see forced savings into an account the government can't touch, nor the individual - until a certain age.
Here's a story: there's an Admin that works in Palo Alto at a Fortune 500 who was able to put aside $1,150/month - around $14k per year. Which is pretty remarkable given she wasn't earning a huge salary.
But what did she do with the money? She said she spends it entirely on a horse! And has no savings! Hello? Am still having a hard time understanding how horse upkeep could cost $14k per year - she broke down the figures for me and it sounded like she was getting ripped off by the boarder. When I had just moved to Redmond, I initially wanted to do a lot of horseback riding, but rather than paying money to own a horse, simply visited a horse breeder after work one day and had the guts to offer assistance to them, on their horses after work for about two evenings per week when in town. So I never paid a dime to be around some of the most beautiful horses. Why spend money or sell stock?
If she instead saved $14,000 per year, over a course of her working career, she would have $1,454,000 at age 65 in today's dollar (already correct for inflation.) She is obviously a perfect candidate for forced savings, and could be so much better off in life as a result.
Regards,
Amy J |
