The “Myth” of the Retirement Dream

When working with people and talking with them about their finances – what is one of their top goals?

Achieving their Retirement Dream.

What is the problem with today’s retirement planning? It is all a myth. Really – just a dream.

 

If you want to define it, the audience for this blog is those out there working, building careers, building families, entrepreneurs, and the rising middle and upper middle class. Retirement is different for all, but this retirement dream is significant to these groups. You must consider who this dream is for and why it is such a big deal for individuals, families, etc.

Why is the dream of retirement such a big deal?

From our point of view, the retirement dream is a big deal because people are spending their lives working for someone else. Someone else can be a boss, a corporation, caring for a family, or even working as a stay-at-home parent. For most people, the dream of retiring comes towards the end of their lives, when they can get out of the working world and move into one of potential recreation. The opportunity to get out of the rat race. Live life on your terms, and usually one of recreation and travel.

This once-held dream is just that now, a dream.

The dream of retirement is not what it is all cracked up to be. Look at the wave of people who are retiring today. They are old, tired, and exhausted, most from spending a life working and paying their youthful energy to secure their own or someone else’s life. Then they finally reach that magic age when it is time to retire and call it quits. Retirees are waking up to boredom and loneliness, as well as the harsh reality of the crippling financial world and the lost dream of retirement they believed in.

Retirees now realize that the system they once thought would help them live comfortably after finishing their hard work is leading to a time of increased costs, expenses, and unforeseen health events. 

The cost problem is everything system-related: taxes, medical care, Social Security (i.e., insecurity), pensions, Medicare, Medicaid, and estate taxes seem designed to diminish one’s life savings and family legacy. For most middle-class retirees, these programs come at a steep cost. The same goes for trying to pass on inheritances to the next generation, which is also becoming more complex. The best example is the recent changes to the rules on inherited IRAs and the elimination of stretch IRAs.It is creating massive tax liabilities for beneficiaries. 

On top of this: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and pensions – are all broke. The ownership of building a sustainable retirement is 100% on individuals, where their 401(k)s are the primary go-to for retirement security. This model is not sustainable. Individuals cannot save enough money in a 401(k) to sustain a successful retirement. And don’t get us started on the perils of Target Date Funds.

If the old way of retirement is a dream, what does retirement look like today?

We don’t see retirement at some magical age; you should be shooting for yourself. Retirement, a sustainable retirement, is when you secure enough ongoing cash flow to cover the costs of your lifestyle. That can happen at 20, 30, 40, 50, etc., and does not have a start or end date. It is a continuation of cash flow that allows you to live the life you want and have the freedom to make any decision you wish. That is what is necessary to retire in today’s society. It allows the space to do what you want on your terms. And with this, there is a new way to see your finances and strategize your future.

By, Twin Shores Team