Generation X Pessimistic About Ability to Retire

According to a news story published by Reuters on April 14, 2008, two-thirds of the members of Generation X don't think they will be able to retire. The information is the result of a survey by Scottrade and BetterInvesting. These young people, age 27 to 42, believe it will be impossible to accumulate enough money to retire at any age.

According to the article, champions of the Social Security system say that financial problems for the system will not arise until at least 35 years from now. Even if that were true, a debatable proposition, thirty five years is right in the eye of the retirement storm for Generation X.

Historical market returns show that money invested conservatively in the market over the 35 to 40 years of a person's working life would permit accumulation of significant retirement income. Raising the tax on wages or raising the amount of wages subject to the tax will not solve the problem but will only defer it.

This is really important.

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Social Security Trustees Report

For those of you who may be interested, the Trustees of Social Security have published their annual report. It can be found at http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/TR08/tr08.pdf You can copy and paste the address to navigate to the report. As in past years, the Trustees once again raise concerns about the funding issues and the ability of the programs to pay promised benefits in the future.

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