Count The Money For Retirement Now

In the U.S., living like a king - for most folks, a king well beyond his means - isn't as easy as it was a decade ago. We know economic times are tough these days. It's especially rough for those starting their careers as members of Generation Y, the children raised in prosperous Boomer households.

How rough is it? For starters, a Bloomberg Business Week article on retirement planning notes that the average salary for workers aged 25-34 has DECLINED 19% over the past thirty years to $35,100 after adjustment for inflation. Gen Y is already saddled with plenty of student debt and an unemployment rate over 15% for its younger members. No wonder retirement and the need to prepare for it doesn't seem to register with this group. More frightening, is the fact that Gen Y folks will be the first "do-it-yourself retirement generation." Those old defined benefit plans from a lifetime of work with one employer are history.

I think this article speaks to far more than just younger workers. How many readers were actually aware of the steep decline in average salaries over the last generation? I would have guessed stagnation or a much smaller decline. It seems the great American economic engine that produced a remarkably prosperity for two generations following World War II (1945) may indeed have peaked. This raises a host of questions for Americans as the nation moves into post -industrial maturity and, some would say, the inevitable decline of aging nations.

But who is to say this is a time for despair? Not I. Though this nation and its people are bound to change over time, we still have opportunities to make the right choices. For younger workers, the Bloomberg Business Week provides some basic information and sound advice: 1. pension plans are history; and 2. open and contribute to a retirement savings today.

Thanks to Instapundit for the tip.