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Postponing Retirement … For The Long Haul

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A new study from  the Society of Actuaries says that a third of adults do not expect to retire. Not so surprising. But, what is is that this number is up 29% from two yeas ago and, yes,  this increase is significant.

Many people, more than 4 in 10 say that they cannot retire because they need the bucks and, in many cases, the employer benefits.

Uncertainty – about life-expectancy and the money required to cover long-term living expenses –  also plays a major role in per-retirement planning.

“Current trends in retirement indicate that people may need to work longer than they originally planned,” said actuary and retirement expert Carol Bogosian, ASA. “Individuals often have a difficult time estimating how long they can expect to live, how much they will earn on their investments and how much they can spend each year to avoid running out of money. In fact, many people are just guessing about how much money they will need in retirement.”

There is, of course, another reason. We might not want to stop working.

3 Baby Boomer Presidents And Marijuana IS Still Illegal – Huh?

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Legalize marijuana, right? Wouldn’t you have thought that Clinton / Bush / Obama would have figured this one out? Isn’t this why we HAVE Baby Boomer presidents?

That’s what many of us wanted and thought. But, it seems that in addition to our presidents, not all of us actually do. According to a poll by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research:

“The poll found that respondents identifying themselves as Republican and over 65 years old were more likely to support using federal resources “to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws*. ” More than 80 percent of the youngest respondents, voters under 34, favored “respecting state medical marijuana laws.”

*These are the same people, mostly Republican, that preach that individual states should have the right to pass their own laws as in less federal government – like they scream it. That is, I guess, unless, they don’t like pot.

Want more? Read Kush (yes there is a Kush Magazine.)

Are You Middle Class?

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middle class

We are going to spend the next few months arguing over the middle class. What’s good for them and what’s not. Who are they? Where do you fit?

In 2011, 50.7% of adults (ages 18 and older) lived in middle-income households. That’s 117 million adults out of the U.S. household population of 231 million adults.

 

 

I Don’t Want To Live Forever

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David Ewing Duncan discusses the opportunity and issues surrounding our increasing life expectancy in “How long do you want to live?” that’s running in today’s New York Times.

Here is the comment I posted on the Times site:

“I am just now finishing writing the book, “Boomercide: From Woodstock to Suicide” in which I discuss my decision to use suicide as a life planning tool. In my research, I have discovered that I am not the only Baby Boomer thinking this way.

Mr. Duncan mentions some of the issues that will confront society if people have extended life expectancies. For me the biggest issue of them all is — who is going to pay for all of these extra years? Retirement funds won’t last; Social Security can’t last; Medicare will end as you know it today (it will end as you know it any way) and your kids probably don’t want you and your spouse, and maybe the in-laws too, mooching for another 50 years.”

How long do you want to live? I agree with most people that 80 years sounds about right.