Retire with Dignity

I think one of the goals in retirement planning is to be able to retire with dignity. So what is dignity? According to the definition provided by Mirriam-Webster it is “the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed”. In other words, to retire with dignity is to retire with more than just the minimum needed to get by. Here's a stat that might surprise you: Nearly half of our nation's 41 million seniors are economically vulnerable, meaning their income is less than two times the supplemental poverty threshold. Benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare would severely impact these seniors' ability to afford health care, food and other basic living necessities, according to a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study.

With all of the advancements made in our society, we are faced with a concerning problem; dismal savings rates, longevity increases that might lead to people spending more time in retirement than they did working, and a lack of financial education and literacy. There is an elephant in the room and we cannot ignore it anymore. We must create a national awareness and initiative to change the current retirement planning models used today.

The reality is that we have a retirement crisis. After a lifetime of hard work, people deserve the opportunity to live their retirement years with dignity and financial independence. But for most of the middle class, this dream of a safe retirement has become a nightmare. This nightmare will impact not only the retirees, who most likely will outlive their retirement savings, but their family members who will have to bear the burden since our government is incapable of providing decent retirement with the mandatory taxation of our wages to fund Social Security which is now bankrupt. Many analysts and lawmakers have pointed to 20 years of alleged solvency as an excuse to delay meaningful Social Security reform. However, if history is any guide to future solvency, the Social Security program could become insolvent much sooner than 2033. See also the report issued by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees. We do not have Social Security, we have Social Insecurity!

As older Americans transition out of the workforce, either voluntarily or involuntarily, many will find that they cannot afford basic living expenses. They will be forced to make the difficult choice between putting food on the table and buying their medication. The retirement crisis will put an enormous strain on our families, our communities, and our social safety net. We must focus on saving and developing true wealth and stop playing get rich quick gimmicks, stop hoping that the government will take care of us during retirement and stop playing the stock market casinos. The financial advisory industry has spent a lot of money and time to make Americans investors, instead of making them savers and truly prepare them for their retirement years.

I think this is one of the most important social and public awareness and transformation of our society. Regardless of who you are, where you work, or what title you hold, it is your responsibility to share this awareness campaign and through this process we will transform our retirement process and savings and achieve retirement with dignity.