Quote:
Originally Posted by jcommin
I struggle with this. I am one month short of 65. What I thought my retirement would look like at 50 is totally different today. At 50. I thought I would still be married, saving, investing in my IRA looking to retire early. What happened: My company eliminated retire medical benefits. Pension is all but gone. The dot com crashed destroyed my savings. I got divorced in 2006 and wasn't pretty), the recession came and my house lost 30% of its value, my son had a drug problem
I have lost so much money from 2000 - 2010 - I can honestly say my 50 to 60 yrs on this earth was the darkest days of my life. did I plan this?, no did I see this coming ? no. I adjusted. Lucky for me, I had money to sustain every ugly event during this decade. The problem: I have no time to recover. I have no savings or home. My retirement Savings is a fraction of what I want. I will work longer than t want to. I can't afford to live in Chicago in retirement years.
I can dwell on the past but that doesn't help me going forward. I will adjust - there is no choice. In spite of what I don'rt have, I'm probably better than 95% of the population. I don't count money or wealth any more. In a wink of an eye, we are one catastrophic event away that can change your life.
Don't brag to me of how much you have or it will never happen to you - cuz in a moment, it can change. The question is: can you adapt?
My biggest fear: health care costs. I can budget everything but that. Healthcare in this country just sucks and that is before Obamacare.
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Good luck Jim. At least you have your health.
My story, The divorce happened when I was 37. Fast forward 13 years and I feel I should be a lot further along than I am. Oh well. Just keep going I guess.
What else can you do?