Summary
Faced with inflation, taxes and concerns over the size of Social Security benefits, most Americans are more afraid of going broke in retirement than they are of death.
In total, 64% of respondents across generations said they are more stressed about running out of funds in their golden years than the prospect of death.
Americans say they need $1.26 million to finance a comfortable retirement, yet the median amount saved is $87,000. “Certainly for boomers…inflation is a big deal.”
This is one of the things I’ve hated most about this country for as long as I can remember. “Poor” is worse than “dead.” Not just because of the stigmas American society places on destitution, but because money equals value.
In the United States you have to be able to afford dignity. If you’ve got enough money when you die, you can die with dignity. But when you’re poor, you’re forced to live without dignity and are made to die without dignity.
A dead person with money is still a person. But a poor person, living or dead, is a lazy drug-addicted insect.
I think it’s more about having a roof over your head while you are in the physically hardest years of your life. You’re more vulnerable, have aches and pains, can’t go out and get a good paying job. It’s about feeling safe and secure in your last couple decades.
Yes, this is it. I worked at the same aerospace company for 40 years and retired this past January. As an engineer, I had done lots of spreadsheets and analysis to make sure I had some confidence that my wife and I could live the rest of our lives without being a burden on anyone. Now, just a few months later, my 401k and IRA are in the toilet, below the worst case of my worst case analysis, the administration is working to dismantle the social security and medicaid that I haven’t yet applied for, and my anxiety is through the roof.
I’ve never really been anxious about death. I mean, I’m not looking forward to it and I try to live in a way that puts it off, but every life ends eventually and I’m at peace with the fact that mine isn’t an exception. But what happens if I run out of money before then? How do I live? I’ve never been rich, but I’ve been super lucky to have a good enough income to feed myself and my family for 40 years. We had a couple times when unforseen issues made me worried about being able to pay our bills, but we were able to get through those times with some belt tightening. But now? I’ve never been so anxious in my life.
If I were you, I would just move out and retire in a country where your money goes farther.
People say that, but it’s much easier said than done. You can’t just decide to move to a country and go. Like the US, you have to apply. Many want proof that you have a useful skill. In some cases the application is expensive.
Also, we have kids and family. If I had to give up seeing them easily to live, I guess I would, but that thought is stressful too.
I get it because family is important. That is what keeps me here as well.
I had a grandparent commit suicide due to being broke.
They were in relatively good health and had family nearby that could take care of them. However, it meant living at a lower quality of life, including withdrawing from some organizations because they couldn’t pay their dues any more. Their partner had also passed a few years prior, so it wasn’t like they were living for their spouse.
They probably could have lived for several years if they chose to and had the resources to do so. However, they chose that the reduction in quality of life wasn’t with it.
Can’t physically fix things you used to be able to fix on your own and have to rely on outside (and not always honest) help. So many elderly folks taken in by contractors, scammers, thieves…it’s really sad.
This chillingly reminds me of the quote in The Hurt Locker.
“I either defuse the bomb or it’s not my problem anymore.”
If you die, it really isn’t your problem anymore. But if you’re alive, then you have to have food, shelter, and all that annoying stuff.
I don’t agree with you at all that the problem most Americans have with poverty is that it intrinsically removes your worth as a person. The problem we have is that being homeless is absolutely heart wrenching to watch and we cannot even imagine how difficult that would be to experience.
Edit: so everyone seems willing to believe people are vapid and soulless when there exists a very compelling alternative explanation. I guess humanity is as shit as it seems, guys.
Are you living in a different America than me? There are many many people around me who wouldn’t lift a finger to help someone they don’t know. “I would give him money but he would use it for drugs” and “i don’t want them becoming dependent on handouts” are both quotes i’ve heard from very otherwise charitable people while in a church. The very core of this culture has been infected with a deep malignant selfish fixation on money
Now conservatives are the only ones who count. Ok.