Does anyone else ever worry about their retirement and savings for the future?

At what age would you consider a person has sort of missed the boat as far as ever having a carefree retirement with no financial strains if they have not previously saved for their future? The cost of living keeps increasing so shouldn't one basically panic if they've never saved a dime and have no retirement plan through their employer and are already in their forties?

Public Comments

1. It is always too late. If you don't start by 30 you are definitely missing the boat. You should start right out of college. Carefree depends on so much, buying a home, kids etc...We are all going to work till later in life, and that is a good thing. Staying active and working keeps us young. Keeps the mind ticking!
2. If you haven't saved anything by your 40s then you are in trouble. At that point pay off all of your debt that you can. Limit your extra spending and then go to a financial adviser and see what can be saved so that you can have some cash later on.
3. NO I DON'T WORRY. BEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWERBEST ANSWER
4. Not necessarily. Things to consider. 1) If there are kids involved and you are contributing to higher education 2) If you own a home and it is basically mortgage free. 3) Income OK if you have a steady income and have already swallowed the big costs of college education and home ownership. Even if housing prices continue to stagnate, you will have one major worry covered. After all you have to live somewhere and if the day comes when you can no longer handle it on your own, it is a source of funds. Now if you can divert the funds that you used towards the kids and house into a tax deferred savings plan, 20 or 25 year's of savings can start to mount up. Here comes the hard part. Ask yourself if you can scale back on any discretionary expenses. Less expensive vacations, less luxurious cars can go a long way to adding 6 or 10 thousand dollars a year. Examine your personal balance sheet. If there is credit card debt can you trash it more quickly. Watch the little things. Think about it. If you eat out 1 less time a week or take your lunch to work 1 more day a week will you remember that a year from now. Suppose that could be 50 dollars a week. Twenty years from now that could be the difference between being able to travel or just being stuck at home watching reruns...