Meet the silver squatters: Adults in their mid-50s who are woefully unprepared for retirement

that's me

Paywalled

R1 Same. It's such a frightening prospect.

Paywall, nay wall

People worried about a paywall are really in for trouble!

The reality of rural America. All my relatives that are poor are taking themselves out with meth booze and fentanyl. The youngster tried to take himself out with a single car accident but ended up with a DUI. I should be able to keep what I have for myself. They have bred but the state is going to take the boy so his prospects can only improve.

[quote]they expect financial support from their family members

That usually means parents. Do they honestly expect their parents will be alive during their retirement years? What crack are they smoking?

Lost my business and home during covid. Used all my savings to get back to normal. Starting over again at 51. It’ scary. Being extra sweet to my nieces and nephews as they may have to take care of my old ass someday.

Snap out of it! ^

[quote]the median retirement savings for those in their mid-50s is just under $48,000, with 35% of 55-year-olds having less than $10,000 saved and 18% having saved nothing at all in 2023.

Eeek

Makes me feel a little better about myself. I have about $150K at 50, which is not great but apparently much better than most.

Y’all fucked!

I saved excess “cash” so that my net income from 63-70 would be the same as on my retirement date (only at 70 would I take SS and 401(k) distributions). Until then I draw down on my tax-free muni fund account (the saved cash) to keep me at the same level as the day I walked away from corporate America. So far, so good.

I’m 51, woefully unprepared aside from owning my home which I inherited.

My retirement plan is suicide.

R7 they think their kids are going to save them. Which i guess means Gen Z. Ummm yeah, good luck with that!

R13, don’t you have kid(s)? Sounds a bit brutal.

I am retired payroll and can tell you this story is 100% accurate. I've had far too many, long term employees in their mid to late 50s , stop by to discuss what they need to do to start, yes, start -their 401K contributions for their anticipated retirement at 65. These were low wage mfg jobs, so the salary was never high to begin with, so not much on the SS side. Our company held annual meet-greets with the company retirement specialist handling our plan. Free retirement planning sessions, a match up to 4%, etc. Those folks are probably still working, if their health allowed for it and the company did not lay them off. Sad, really sad.

Speaking from personal knowledge, and with hand to God, I can attest to GenX's being the most fucked cohort ever.

If you’re 51 and suddenly realize you have $0 for retirement, get a second job and bank the proceeds in a tax-resistant, untouchable fund.

[Quote] People worried about a paywall are really in for trouble!

I’m r4, I have 1.3 million dollars in 401k and pension, a $250k index mutual fund, several CDs in the aggregate value of $300k, a home worth 700k shared with my partner that’s almost paid off, and two small businesses that net about $80k a year.

And I say again, paywall, nay wall.

I forgot to add, $200k completely liquid in the bank ^^^

R19. No one likes a braggart.

Whatever, R19/R20.

[quote] That usually means parents. Do they honestly expect their parents will be alive during their retirement years? What crack are they smoking?

I was thinking that they (mid-50s people) were planning to live with their adult children.

[quote] I’m 51, woefully unprepared aside from owning my home which I inherited.

Huh? At least you were being honest about inheriting a house.

We'll all be dead from drought and hurricanes by the time mid-50's genexers retire.

I'm 53, and I love my parents, but I won't be able to retire or even own a home again until they are both no longer with us.

R26, will you get an inheritance? Is that what you mean?

I'm sure bad financial planning is behind some of this; with others it's just bad luck, getting fired/laid off for an extended period and being forced to drain your savings.

It's sad if you're waiting for your parents to die in order to fund your retirement. Anything could happen, cancer or long term care could quickly deplete a life savings...odds are high you'll have the rug pulled out from under you.

R19 are you in your early 50s or younger. If your over 55, you need to step it up.

We now bring you the newest Brazzers full length feature film“The Silver Squatters”…

R1 and R3 You may be having to work into your 80's.

R27, yes, that's what I meant. Of course, something could happen, but they're pretty well off and actually make more money now from passive income than when they worked.

What do your 80s possess, r32?

I would think waiting for your parents to die to secure your future would create an unhealthy dynamic.

I wasn’t bragging, and many on here have a lot more set aside than I do.

I was just pointing out that I can hate paywalls and not be a silver Squatter, which I was accused of.

[Quote] [R19] are you in your early 50s or younger. If your over 55, you need to step it up.

Not as badly as your grammar does.

I thought I would get 250k from my parents but my mom wanted her independence and we 5 wanted our independence so mom spent all my dad's and her own net worth paying for years of in home care. Well, it was their money to spend, not ours to inherit! Them're the breaks. I have a forever rent controlled apartment in a wealthy European city but if were to loose it during my retirement, finances will go from tight to I dunno what. Charity case and a subsided apartment if I'm healthy enough to remain independent. old folks home for the poor, if not.

With the onset of cheap, effective medications for conditions that once shortened lives, our parents may live longer lives. Plus new advances in longevity sciences (coenzymes that support cellular function and slow the breakdown of cell structures) indicate that those who live five to seven more years will likely live past 100.

Many boomers will outlive their assets. The quality of these longer lives is really uncertain. At the same time, social structures and forces of social cohesion are being eclipsed by online communities like this one. We have to be really careful not to become isolated and broke, or exploited by poorly designated trustees and caregivers. It’s pretty scary.

Most gay people I know will be well prepared for retirement, because they don’t have a family to mooch off of. Not having kids to put through college was also a big help.

[quote] I would think waiting for your parents to die to secure your future would create an unhealthy dynamic.

People aren't necessarily waiting with bated breath. However, I do think that middle-agers and older people are mentally adding their inheritance into their entire retirement fund.

My parents died relatively young, before I could even start thinking about inheriting anything from them. I did inherit something. (I have lots of siblings, so we had to split it up.) However, if they had lived longer, I do think I would be mentally adding my prospective inheritance to my overall financial situation.

R37 Your proofreading will be of little help when you’re out of $. It’s inevitable that you’ll be disappointed. Any executor will be at its wits’ end.

Feel better?

I’m caregiving solo for years for long-lived and unwell parents, and it’s been draining on many levels including financially as far as helping to pay for services and needs beyond what in-place eldercare supports I’ve been able to get to help with them. Then in turn this has taken a toll on my ability and wish to advance more at work, missing out at promotion opportunities because of focus and balancing with time out for parental healthcare emergencies and appointments, etc. It. Never. Ends. And saving more will never be enough, anyway, because things just continue to become expensive, COLA and benefits don’t keep up likewise, and it’s only unlike that for the so-called 1% who never end up needing to worry about that.

I am 45 and have 165K in my 401K and that is 1/2 of what I should have.. These stories horrify me and also make me feel not as bad. Wow

how would you invest 150k? put in CDs? Treasury bills?

What stocks to invest if trump or kamala wins?

R43, can you find a support group? I was my mom's caregiver and she wasn't even doing that bad (she could walk and go to the bathroom on her own). Yes, it's tiring. A LOT of other people are going through what you're going through. You're not alone out there. I went to a support group and it helped a lot.

How old are you? The younger you are the more you should buy stocks or ETFs with $150K. If you’re not so young, mix and match with longer term CDs or similar. If you’re older, invest in tax-advantaged shorter term investments (as in a muni bond fund with tax-exempt status in your state, if possible). Or die now—someone else will thank you for the gift.

R47- WHO THE FUCK are you speaking to? Other than that, I am looking into your advice now--

There will be no retirement for most people aged 55 and under.

The person above investing 150K. Who the fuck else?

See r45

There is no retirement for people aged 55 and under who don’t work in public safety.

FIFY

R50- I'm sorry, baby. I am too stupid to live, basically.

Thank you :)

I retired several years ago at 50 with $2 million.

I enjoy reading articles like these while I pinch my nipples and whisper my own name.

You get yourself off?! ;)

I am just shy of a million dollars saved as I prepare to retire, and I'm worried that it's not enough. I'm thinking of working for another two years on top of a side freelance job I have that I am not going to give up even when I retire.

Do you sit on a traffic cone at the same time R53? All the way down?

Gen Z won’t even make it to old age what with taking drugs, fake hormones, school shootings, suicide, etc.

I'm just hoping to live on my pension and keep my retirement savings for emergencies. It will continue to grow, too, if I'm not spending it from 65 to 80, for example. My maternal side lives into their 90s and usually pretty healthy.

R53, that’s not a lot to live on.

You have a pension R58? You can't be 55 and under because pensions no longer exist for this age group.

Smells like Elderly Homelessness

Get out of the US, do not retire in this country.

Perhaps I'm not the other person you think I am, r60. I am in my early 60s and still working in Europe - univ prof and yes I will have a pension. Teachers in USA still have pensions, don't they?

Whatever Suze / R59.

I’ve got two paid off homes, no debt and I’m drawing down $6000/month from my savings, dividends, REIT payments and interest until I can access my retirement accounts and SS in several years.

I’m good.

Again, as life expectancy increases and you’re worried about money:

1) Get a job if you’re able and healthy

2j If employed and healthy, get a part-time job if able

In my office, our Executive Assistant is 75…she manages our office functions, is skilled to step into virtually any position in the case of sickness or absence, and she maintains our web site.

She says if she retired, she’d quickly become depressed, lose her mental sharpness, and would gain 20 lbs.

R63 public safety and other governmental workers, and union employee—almost always YES. The rest of us —NO.

R65- Your post gave me hope. i am not even 45 but know that I always want to work.

Lyle Menendez has entered the chat at r26!

The linked article from Stanford should give GenXers like me hope, but its prescriptive tone just makes me want to eat a box of cookies:

Is it just me or does anybody else notice that the majority of the new homeless are Gen Xers? There are just tons of down and out people in their 40's and 50's

May retire next year. I have about $1 million saved (IRA and brokerage account) along with another $100,000 cash in the bank. I will have a modest Social Security monthly income. I don't think it's all that much, but that's what I have. I own my own condo, no mortgage. It's still scary. I may work for another couple of years, save my salary and just live off SS.

That’s not a lot unless you plan to die within a decade.

How much will you get monthly from SS R71?

You're in a much better financial position than the vast majority.

R73. $3600

Scary. The only plan is to keep working as long as possible so that Social Security payments increase. Have a partner or a roommate and put as much as possible in the Market now. As a teacher I always had a meh salary and retired at what college students probably start at now. But my pension is actually more than my salary now. I’m one of the lucky ones.

If in your 40s, try to get a government job. You may be vested after 10 years and get a decent pension when you retire

Ooh I've got a retirement plan but thats between me and my god and non of your goddam business. You will find out soon enough how well your plan has worked. Enjoy your moment of virtue signaling but remember the reaper is always waiting patiently. The uninvited guest comes for everyone in his time. He won't be consulting you about your schedual preferences .Save your money if you want to and leave there rest of us to choose what were gonna do with our time.

R45, just invest alot of it into a no load fund mutual fund that buys the whole market. . Also some stock that is safe and pays a good dividend. Talk to someone at Fidelity for advice. You can buy bonds too for a more conservative approach.

Don’t get hung up on who wins the election, A friend sold all his stocks when Trump won in 2016. A big mistake. The market has done great under Trump and Biden.