And the survey says....

How did I get here from there? Perhaps it was dumb luck. Or maybe it was thoughtful rationality towards saving and planning, although in all honesty I can’t really give myself credit in that respect.

I have to come to the conclusion that, after working for 15 years, I took a modest plunge into my employer’s 401(k). I had no oversight from the company and surely no guidance from my parents. Dad was a farmer. Although he worked long and hard days and at times in the dark of night to maintain his dad’s and granddad’s many years of building the family assets, profitability was much less than it had been during the past generations. In part, our family’s financial security was reliant on the glory years for small farmers.

I am now semi-retired, having made an early exit from the stresses of dealing with a corporate mindset that takes a good chunk out of personal tranquility. Rather than accept a monthly retirement check, I made the choice for a full payout of all of the moneys due me. There was no dipping into the funds for some frivolous spending. An agent with Raymond James provided me with a variety of options for investment. I felt comfortable with all of his recommendations as I pointed out my financial goals. His assurance that they were attainable as he explained the choices gave me comfort that I could realize a sense of security as I grew older. A quick call to the agent to review the investments would result in a little tweaking in the direction of

During the same period in time, I was able to make the final payment on the mortgage of my home with the help of an inheritance from both of my parents’ deaths some 10 years prior. The sum was not huge considering the five children in the family but I had made sure not to squander the funds.

Rather than taking pride in the achievement of being nearly debt-free, it was a feeling of relief knowing the largest financial weight was off my back. Sister Sue commended me with the statement, “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have a mortgage.”

For the time being living in Spring Hill, FL, in a new home after having sold the home in Orlando, squeaking by financially as my budget has been redirected from some discretionary spending due to rising prices of the basics of life as we know it in America. There’s some minor debt but nothing that can’t be resolved in a reasonable amount of time with some thanks for the 1.99% interest fee on a credit card. It’s always those unexpected expenses that lead to the temptation, and eventual use, of plastic money.

With all of this taken into consideration, I don’t feel secure in my long-term financial reckonings. The investments of the past five years have done very well, ranging from 12% to 20% of increased moneys. The downturn in the economy has eaten away a good chunk of those earnings but the overall picture still finds me with reasonable gains.

So, with my modest acquisition of savings and investments, including an annuity that will never loose value (really?), I find myself in a unique and disbelieving situation where I am in a class with the so-called well-to-do citizens in these United States. I am among the segment of 12% of the population with the most funds for retirement.

These figures present the findings of the 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey are extremely alarming for the majority of Americans. Roughly 61% have less than $50,000 in funds. In 2007, the figure was somewhat less at 58% and 2006 showed 65%. Today, a whopping 69% of existing retirees fit into the same category.

In spite of what appears to be my relative “wealth”, I place myself among the 21% of workers who are “Not Too Confident” of having enough money to life comfortably throughout retirement. 43% are somewhat confident and a mere 18% are very confident.
The remainder who are not at all confident is 16% - realism makes me believe perhaps I should be among this group of citizens.


This website will give you a multitude of survey results:
http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/EBRI_IB_04-2008.pdf