Harsh Realities About Retirement for Remodelers and Their Employees
The harsh reality I am pointing out in this blog post is the fact that for most remodelers and their employees a comfortable retirement is really just a fantasy.
For these individuals, ignoring this fact so far during their careers is the reason they are lacking adequate funds to retire and my prediction is that they will continue to ignore this fact. However, remodelers are not alone. Most Americans are in this same predicament. When they reach retirement what will their lives be like and who is going to pay for their living and medical expenses? One answer; the next generation of working tax payers, assuming they have jobs. With such a financial burden on the next generation, they too may be destine for the same harsh reality.
Business owners are obviously too busy running jobs to even think retirement. Employees are often living and thinking day-to-day, often working for cash. This is a huge mistake. While you may love what you do, your body may not allow you to do it forever. Consider the day when you will no longer be physically able to work in the field and or your declining physical abilities will result in lower productivity and therefore reduced compensation.
Just the facts
Here are some harsh facts that I hope will wake up those who are currently sleeping when it comes to retirement planning. These facts and others can be were found in an article on the Fiscal Times web site titled “5 Shocking Predictions about Retirement in America”
- In the U.S. seventy-seven million baby boomers are slated to retire in the next 20 years, with approximately 10,000 reaching retirement age every day. At the same time 401(k) accounts have been drained by the recession, pension systems are strained, and Social Security coffers are near a breaking point.
According to a study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies 54 percent of workers in their 60s said they haven’t saved enough to sustain themselves for the rest of their life.
- The Employee Benefit Research Institute recently found that just 14 percent of those surveyed were very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. Even more shocking, sixty percent of workers reported that the total value of their household’s savings and investments (not including the value of their home and any official retirement benefit plans) was less than $25,000.
- Another report from the financial industry think tank LIMRA, found that 49 percent of Americans aren’t saving for retirement at all.
- The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) reports that for those who are 10 years away from their planned retirement age, more than a third have saved less than $25,000. That’s $875K away from the EBRI’s suggested $900,000 that a typical person would need to live out his or her years.
Will your children be able to support you?
Oh, and if you are assuming that the government will be footing the bill for your retirement, that doesn’t look very good either. The latest annual trustees’ report for Social Security predicts that the program’s trust fund will be depleted by 2033, three years earlier than they estimated last year. When the fund runs dry, the government will only be able to pay 75 percent of the promised benefits to retirees. This of course assumes our children will have jobs and earn enough to generate the taxes the government will need to meet the 75%.
Are you confident in your abilities to earn enough for your own retirement?
- Are you confident that the government will be able to finance the lifestyle you want to live when you can’t work any longer?
- Are you motivated to do something before its too late?
Don’t fall into the trap of running your business to the point that it runs you and your employees into the ground!
