why should we save for retirement?

My father, like many others in my community, worked 3 jobs most of his life, his wife brought to him a "sort of" dowry (2 acres of land from her father who was a coalminer and carpenter and had 12 kids), and dad had savings from a business he owned and money from his father to build his own home, and then they had renters upstairs who helped pay for the house so the double story house plus huge basement was paid off early in their long marriage. And although there were unions in my area I'm not sure if the workers in my area were union workers or not all I know is that they worked very hard and skrimped and saved, and there was a good and steady wage. Back then the companies he worked for supplied good insurance coverage with little if any out of pocket. We grew some of the food we ate, and the things we did were inexpensive and we were tight with our money. That's how people back then saved for retirement, and then passed some (what was left after paying all the elderly illness bills) to their children.

A lot of people 70 and over are only on SS, and it depends on what they did during their lives to earn that SS and of course who they married. My grandmother got a very small amount of SS and i suspect that was because all her sons worked, and two were once in the military, but it was meager and the rest of the family pitched in money to help pay for the grandparents as they aged. But anyway some people on SS get only a couple of hundred dollars a month from the government plus food stamps, and others can get like up to $1,000 or more a month because they worked maybe 40-45 years and paid into SS. Seniors also pay monthly for Medicare just like they would pay for any other health insurance. Those who can't afford to live are also on welfare.

Sure elderly people has died as a result of not saving for retirement. And society helps with that, they slow down feeign someone when they are ill and eventually they die. The hospitals and nursing homes are businesses and need to fill those beds with paying customers. There is a paupers field in every city where people who can't pay and street people are buried at a cost to the city, usually no one goes to their funeral because if there are known relatives they fear they will have to pay for that elder person's bills so they shy away. These people die quietly or are allowed to die. Even today there was a warehouse storage facility that found a deceased relative in there, she was in there because the family didn't have money to bury her. I knew of a guy once who was saving his mother's cremains in the living room because he didn't have the money to bury her.

I don't know if your grandparents saved for retirement, but I'm guessing I'm older than you are and my grandparents did. They lived in the days before Social Security and Medicare. They also lived in the days when a person worked until they died, neighbors and family looked out for each other, and doctors accepted chickens as payment.

That's not the way things are these days. I'm in the middle group where I've been told for at least the past 30 years that Social Security and Medicare are going broke and not to rely on them being there, made other investments and saw some of them go down the toilet.

Its become very complicated.

If a person never worked and didn't pay into Social Security, I imagine they would live a minimal existence, not that much different than the life they've lived by never working.

Yes, most people save, including our grandparents. The difference is back then most companies offered pensions. That's a rarity now. Nor can you live off of social security alone. Usually you'll get $600 to $1000 a month which may be enough to "get by" depending where you live, but certainly not enough to be comfortable. Personally, I don't want worry everyday whether or not I can spend an extra $10 at the grocery store. Medicare certainly doesn't rescue people either. It's still insurance and doesn't cover everything. Why do think people have to get supplemental insurance?

If a person does not work or pay in to the system, they don't receive social security. They may be eligible for some sort of disability or medicaid in order to go in to a nursing home. If that happens then any income they did receive goes directly to the nursing home and medicaid pays the rest. They then receive a $50 allowance each month. Is that the ideal situation you would want to be in?

Basically, take care of your health and save because if you are young, you're nuts to think you're ever going to see a dime from social security. Work hard, continue saving, educate yourself and don't expect anyone to take care of you or give you handouts, especially the government.

Dear Smartass or BK,

It is more about living within One's means instead of using the credit card now. I am a grandparent & I did save & invest for my retirement. My parents did the same on a limited budget. My grandparents had small savings and a paid up home, no debt and died early. I doubt that any of the current generation will die early and living poor late in life is a very hard life.

Over 70 - Best is to be in good health - physically & mentally. Have sufficient means for needs and a few wants. Having loving friends & family. Worst is being alone, broke, unhealthy enough to suffer & not to die.

death w/o saving for retirement? YES - Have you ever seen the local skid row in any large city? Check the morgue.

Medicare is fairly recent in US history. If Romney & the GOP restructures the program, a voucher will allow for minimum coverage.

Soc Sec has only been around since FDR thought it might help as a supplement to One's rretirement savings, never as a retirement savings replacement. SocSec may be gone in a few years if the GOP has its way. GWB did not use any of that surplus from 2000 to shore up SocSec and everyone got $600 (your share of the surplus) to invest or spend.

There is always Salvation Army or some other charitable org, perhaps the Mormons that might help you. I am not certain since I am not familiar with the need.

Rescued? Check with the GOP or a Christian organization and see what they have to say. Only Communist or Socialist countries provide for everyone is what I had learned in school but even they expect everyone to do their share. No free lunch....

Do you want to live or merely exist? Do you want to have to choose between medications and food or between having food everyday or just every other day? Those people you hear about that freeze to death under an over pass are likely the ones that didn't work and pay into SS. How many older people have you heard of that lose their homes because they couldn't come up with the money to pay the property tax? I'll bet you that if you don't save for retirement you will damned well wish you had.

I notion I was saving ample but as I appear at my portfolio every year i am precise it is not adequate. The last 2 years I've taken a 30% hit on 2 bills. My PERF account is the one one that hasn't taken a significant hit. Hubby misplaced his job when the organization outsourced to Mexico and different international locations. We went for an awfully long time with most effective my meager paycheck. We went by way of all of our financial savings and what we might managed to save for our ladies education simply to stay in our residence. Today things are a bit of higher but no longer much. Happily we never lived the high existence when he did work so we're thankful for what we've. I even have a quality Rep for my Annuity fund. Prefer one wisely as it could actually fee you dearly when they are only there for their commission and now not your fine interest.

Well I can only talk about my grandparents. My granddad worked for Shell and had a company pension as well as his state pension. My nan was also entitled to a state pension and both had a little bonus because they served in the second world war. In countries like the US where state pensions are not adequately provided it is very important that people save for their retirement. By the age of 60 most people have probably paid for their homes but they need enough money to cover their food, energy bills, medical bills etc to cover them for at least 15 years. Many elderly people in the US die every year because they can't afford heating, food, medical bills etc

My grandparents HAD to save for retirement because back then there wasn't the safety net of SS or Medicare.

Today, people SHOULD save for retirement because there's no guarantee that you can rely on the government for monthly checks, and SS was never intended as anyone's sole means of support..

Although my grandparents worked, they only made minimum wage so they only got the minimum in Soc. Sec., which wasn't enough to subsist on so their kids always sent money every month. They couldn't pay their rent, food, utilities, and medicals on just their SS check--and they weren't able to save much because they raised 10 kids. If a person never worked (and they didn't have a spouse that worked), then they get NO government support. Like anyone else, they can try to get general assistance from the government but there are a hell of a lot of people already on gen'l assist., on government supported housing, etc. and most governments these days are getting to the point where they are going bankrupt and cannot afford to support everyone anymore. So thinking that you can always fall back on government support is lining yourself for trouble. Not saving for your retirement is lining yourself up for trouble because soc. sec. is going broke. Some elderly who haven't saved enough end up living with their children, if they are that lucky. Others end up living in poverty, digging though garbage to find whatever they can eat, living on the street, dying prematurely, getting beat up, etc. Freezing to death in their apartments because they couldn't afford heat. Starving to death. Living without running water or electricity. Even people who worked hard all their lives, because they didnt' save enough, because their soc. sec. doesn't cover everything, because they fell and broke their leg and getting the fixed sucked up all of their savings. Or some d**khead scammed them out of their life's savings; some banker stole all their money, etc. You may know people who go around finding elderly people in desperate need and "adopt" them for the remainder of the elderly's life, paying for all their needs, giving them at least a secure and subsistence life, but I don't. I don't know of any church who is willing to do that. I don't know of anyone or anything that will do that. Many elderly people have died because they ran out of money. Sec. sec. was instituted because so many elderly were dying and having to live, literally, on dog food (back when dog food was cheap) in wretched conditions because they didn't have enough money to live any better.

In case social programs are eliminated is why you should save for retirement.

For people who did not work or pay into SS, they may be eligible for SSI.

What is the point of your question?