Retirement: Financial Shortfall
Most everyone has to ask themselves at some point in their life if they are ready to retire. There are many factors that come into play to answer that question but the biggest factor for most people is financial readiness. In 2010, Forty-four percent of U.S. workers had not saved an adequate amount to retire at the normal age for full Social Security benefits, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) model target (Pang, Warshawsky, & Watson, 2014). The SCF compares the actual household savings, expenses, and other retirement benefits with the survey targets to make this determination. What are the contributing factors that cause U.S. workers to be ill prepared financially to retire? This paper is …show more content…
Knowing how to invest or what to invest in is not knowledge that comes naturally. The terminology in its-self is like a foreign language. Words like 401k, IRA, portfolio, diversification are just a few you hear on the television, radio, and even from friends. There is also the fear of losing money invested due to Ponzi schemes, which too frequently make headline news. For example, Bernard Madoff swindled billions of dollars from investors and Dante DeMiro took approximately $10 million in his fraudulent scheme (Peterson Kramer, Bukhoff, 2012). These are just two examples that made headlines in the news, which make people leery of investing their hard-earned money. All of these things can be overwhelming and cause people to give up on the process of investing in their …show more content…
Calculating what is needed to retire is very complicated and can be easily underestimated. Inflation, life expectancy, cost of health insurance, long-term care are a few of those factors and if they are not adequately accounted for will leave a shortage of funds in retirement years. Results from the National Financial Capability Survey found that only forty-six percent of survey respondents understood how to calculate interest or inflation rates (Lusardi & Mitchell,
Most everyone has to ask themselves at some point in their life if they are ready to retire. There are many factors that come into play to answer that question but the biggest factor for most people is financial readiness. In 2010, Forty-four percent of U.S. workers had not saved an adequate amount to retire at the normal age for full Social Security benefits, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) model target (Pang, Warshawsky, & Watson, 2014). The SCF compares the actual household savings, expenses, and other retirement benefits with the survey targets to make this determination. What are the contributing factors that cause U.S. workers to be ill prepared financially to retire? This paper is …show more content…
Knowing how to invest or what to invest in is not knowledge that comes naturally. The terminology in its-self is like a foreign language. Words like 401k, IRA, portfolio, diversification are just a few you hear on the television, radio, and even from friends. There is also the fear of losing money invested due to Ponzi schemes, which too frequently make headline news. For example, Bernard Madoff swindled billions of dollars from investors and Dante DeMiro took approximately $10 million in his fraudulent scheme (Peterson Kramer, Bukhoff, 2012). These are just two examples that made headlines in the news, which make people leery of investing their hard-earned money. All of these things can be overwhelming and cause people to give up on the process of investing in their …show more content…
Calculating what is needed to retire is very complicated and can be easily underestimated. Inflation, life expectancy, cost of health insurance, long-term care are a few of those factors and if they are not adequately accounted for will leave a shortage of funds in retirement years. Results from the National Financial Capability Survey found that only forty-six percent of survey respondents understood how to calculate interest or inflation rates (Lusardi & Mitchell,