LUMPENPROLETARIAT—There are some things you don’t learn in school, which we wish somebody taught us earlier.  Maybe folks tried, but the immature mind cares little for the future.  Maybe cultural differences matter when developing financial literacy.  Now, some of us are old and broke.  We did our best.  Life is hard. Fortunately. t’s never too late to get in the game, or to try again.

I tell you what some people got everything

Some people got nothing

Some people got hopes and dreams

Some people got ways and means

—Bob Marley, from “Survival”

Some of us have some rainy day savings.  A few of us have some retirement savings.  A few of us have wealth we plan to leave behind in a will.  But, for most of us, American working class life means, more often than not, we’re only a few paychecks away from homelessness, or one economic downturn away from our mom-and-pop small businesses failing and losing everything.  Working class life, under capitalism, means constant struggle.  Working class life doesn’t always mean preparing for a decent retirement.  Why not?

Messina

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CNBC—[10 NOV 2020]  Retirement usually involves giving up your annual salary, but you will still need an income to survive.

While Social Security will cover a part of your budget, the rest of your money will most likely need to come from your savings and investments.

And for older Americans, that may be a problem.

The median baby boomer’s 401(k) plan has a total balance of $69,900, according to Fidelity. Assuming they withdraw 3% of their savings per year, they would be left with a total of less than $2,100 to spend.

If you want bigger drawdowns, you’ll need to save up a much larger nest egg before you retire.

—snip—

Learn more at CNBC.

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“How can you be sitting there telling me that you care, when every time I look around the people suffer?”

“Survival” by Bob Marley & The Wailers

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[11 NOV 2020]

[Last modified on 11 NOV 2020 at 06:30 PST]