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A news story has popped up in my newsfeed multiple times this past week, as different outlets picked up on it. A study released recently found that retirees fear running out of money more than death. When I first saw that headline I thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, duh!"
In the US running out of money in older age is a real, legitimate concern. We are nearly alone among G20 nations for our weak social safety net. We're at least better at supporting the elderly poor than the poor of any other age. We have Social Security and Medicare. Though Social Security a) generally only provides subsistence level living expenses and b) is based on how much a person paid into the system through payroll deductions during their working years— so people who had lots of low wage work, or had trouble finding/performing work, get a smaller benefit. That's a double whammy because such people are also the most likely not to have any personal savings for retirement.
Running out of money in retirement is my biggest retirement concern, too. It's a way more remote possibility for me because I'm comfortably well off right now, but stuff can change. The US is practically alone among the G20 in that "medical bankruptcy" is a thing here. Because of our costly health care system and all the gaps in coverage, people who suffer a major long-term illness can find themselves spending $50,000, $100,000, or more a year just to survive.
I don't fear death. When I'm dead I'm gone. What I do fear is dying slowly in a way that leave me bankrupt. Imagining the choice between living out my days in poverty or accepting a preventable early death terrifies me.
In the US running out of money in older age is a real, legitimate concern. We are nearly alone among G20 nations for our weak social safety net. We're at least better at supporting the elderly poor than the poor of any other age. We have Social Security and Medicare. Though Social Security a) generally only provides subsistence level living expenses and b) is based on how much a person paid into the system through payroll deductions during their working years— so people who had lots of low wage work, or had trouble finding/performing work, get a smaller benefit. That's a double whammy because such people are also the most likely not to have any personal savings for retirement.
Running out of money in retirement is my biggest retirement concern, too. It's a way more remote possibility for me because I'm comfortably well off right now, but stuff can change. The US is practically alone among the G20 in that "medical bankruptcy" is a thing here. Because of our costly health care system and all the gaps in coverage, people who suffer a major long-term illness can find themselves spending $50,000, $100,000, or more a year just to survive.
I don't fear death. When I'm dead I'm gone. What I do fear is dying slowly in a way that leave me bankrupt. Imagining the choice between living out my days in poverty or accepting a preventable early death terrifies me.
