How 2024’s Record Retirement Numbers Could Spark a Recession | WSJ

I think the retirement crisis will get even worse. A lot of people can’t save because of low paying jobs, inflation, and insane rental rates. And now that home ownership is out of reach for middle class Americans, they won’t have a house to retire with either.

I was told in two economics classes that I shouldn't expect social security so I had to save up for retirement. I still have to pay into it though...

I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards financial freedom and early retirement, but the economy so far since the pandemic has eaten away most of my portfolio, what I want to know is this: Do I keep contributing to my portfolio in these unstable markets or do I look into alternative sectors.

Most Americans find it hard to retire comfortably amid economy downtrend. Some have close to nothing going into retirement, my question is, will you pay off mortgage as a near-retiree, or spread money for cashflow, to afford lifestyle after retirement?

people are focused on paying the now $1674 rent for a 1 bedroom when 3 years ago it was $720 a month

There is potential for considerable wealth increase with the correct strategy. I want to know; How can one take advantage of compound interest and potentially grow your retirement savings/net-worth to about $3M over time?

Nobody is prepared to do anything about it because at the eleventh hour it becomes leverage for political expediency.

Planning retirement has never been this confusing! First SVB, then Signature bank and now First republic, these are all the signs of yet another 2008 market crash and recession 2.0, so my question is do I still save in the United States dollar, or could this be a good time to buy stocks? So I’m left wondering what 2023 has in store for us investors, I’ve been sitting on over $745K equity from a home sale and I’m not sure where to go from here,

I love how cutting military spending is seen as a worst case scenario lol

I remember sitting in a high school class, around 1978, and the teacher laid out the same scenario.

Bold of you to assume any of us younger generations expected to get Social Security payouts in the first place, WSJ. Hearing that it'd still be there to a large degree and things would just generally be shittier is already better news than most of us were expecting. We already knew that we were gonna be facing a tougher financial future than our parents and grandparents because we're living it now, knowing that even when the trust runs dry we'll still be able to get back a portion of what we paid in is a helluva lot better than the 3 slugs retirement plan most of us were expecting. (2 slugs of liquor, 1 of buckshot)

“How covid could spark a recession” oh never mind “how inflation could spark a recession” oh never mind “how record retirements could cause a recession” the media will keep us “on the brink of a recession” no matter the economic climate it seems

Unbelievable. This problem was perfectly clear when we were arguing about retirement security during the 1988-1989 high school policy debate season, and got even clearer after GWB spent so much of 2005 talking about it.

We avoided this in Australia by having mandatory superannuation (401k for Americans). Your employer is legally required to contribute 10%(soon to be 12%) of your wage into a managed account that you can’t touch until retirement age (65) We also have pensions for those who don’t have superannuation or retired before they came in

My high school teacher in 2013 told me to forget about my social security benefit even if I am a young student in the workforce I will probably not see the benefits. And here we are 10years later. And I’m starting to feel like legislative body is not going to do any of this

I'm 26 and I've just accepted that I'm going to have to work until I die. My plan is to get a job at a hospital where I can work 3 12 hour night shifts per week. Then just do that until I die lol

The thought of retirement makes me cry. My apologies to everyone who have retired and filing social security during this time after putting in all those years of work just to lose everything to a problem you weren't to blame for.it's especially difficult for people who are retired.

Gen Xer here. Can't help but notice that in 2034, the year SS is supposed to run out of IOUs, is the year that I become eligible for SS. Thanks, Boomers.

It would be interesting to see how much social security would be better off if wages had kept up with productivity and inflation. Would the huge gains in productivity per worker make up for the demographic shift?

People view Social Security as a retirement plan but it wasn't designed to be that. It was designed to keep the elderly people out of poverty. When it was created the average lifespan was below the age in which you could claim Social Security meaning the average person didn't get any payout. Since then, the average US lifespan has increased to ~10-15 years after one can claim Social Security meaning the average American is claiming it for much, much longer. Congress should've tracked the benefit age to slightly above average US lifespan and US education systems have failed by not teaching kids about how these programs work and how to save for retirement.