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Jamie Dimon says, “The American dream is disappearing—and half the public no longer believes in it”.
Soaring costs of housing, child care, education, and health care are making it harder than ever for the middle class to achieve their dream. Pew research study found that while 64% of upper-income Americans say the American dream still exists, 39% of lower-income Americans say the same – a gap of 25 percentage points. About two-thirds of adults ages 65 and older (68%) say the American dream is still achievable, as do 61% of those 50 to 64. By comparison, only about four-in-ten adults under 50 (42%) say it’s still possible for people to achieve the American dream.
Many in their fifties are part of the “sandwich” generation, supporting their children as well as their parents or other elderly relatives. This takes a toll on their career, income levels and savings for retirement. Health care and long term care costs are constantly rising. How could they hope for a dream retirement?
Even if one had diligently saved and invested over the years, unknown events can derail a retirement. A serious market downturn could affect you financially. It is not all about money, though. Serious health issues, loss of a spouse, divorce, children needing financial help, and many other unforeseen events can set back a happy retirement.
While I have done a fair bit of thinking and preparation to have a happy retirement, nothing is certain. Evaluating potential unforeseen risks has been a challenge.
How do you define your dream retirement? How will you prepare for it? Or just do the best you can, be flexible and go with the flow?
I’d like to advocate for a better “T.A.D.” that looks beyond the money we each have, how many houses, what kind of car, pension or not, where we’re traveling to, what age we retire, what Medicare plan we have, etc. These things won’t matter much if we remain deeply embedded what feels like an ever-expanding tinder box of domestic and global instability and resulting insecurity (which comes in many forms, including $35T in U.S. national debt and growing with no turnaround in sight). Indeed, there’s no other country I’d rather be a citizen of, I pretty much know what I can and can’t control, etc. This bigger picture concerns me far more for the generations to come and what realities they will face, regardless of their dream, wherever they live. So, to all those out there that are trying to make a positive difference today or any day, my gratitude to you and your efforts and results.
Apologies for starting your week with a bit of a rant. We now return you to our regular program. How ‘bout those Lions…..errr…SS COLA increase?
I share your concerns especially for my children and grandchildren. But HD is directed more toward personal financial matters.
I’d love to see a study that compared what a “Dream Retirement” has been 1/4 century at a time.
The lead-in to this essay was about “the American Dream”. MS Copilot was able to identify for me some elements commonly attributed to the American Dream–home ownership, equitable economic opportunity, and a sense of financial security. It seems to me that those like me who are now approaching retirement–the last of the Boomers–enjoyed advantages over those coming after because we were more likely to have had jobs providing defined benefits (even if mixed with defined contributions), and because decently paid trade jobs were more widely available. The millennials and Gen Z see the economy they’re coming up in as more of a casino, and I can’t tell them they’re wrong. Currently, having even the possibility of security in retirement requires more discipline and savvy at an early age compared to previous decades.