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Wednesday, 13 January 2010 |
By Warren Little
Retirement & Bankruptcy
The combination of accessible credit to anyone, with or without good credit, and our consumer culture of overindulgence is a recipe for financial disaster. There were more than 2 million bankruptcies filed last year. Of these bankruptcies nearly 35 percent were filed by people under the age of twenty-five. Think about it-just as a young couple start out with the future and all its possibilities ahead of them, they file for personal bankruptcy.
Not only are individuals both young and old accumulating enormous debt, but the average personal savings has fallen dramatically in recent years. The net household savings rate average is below two percent. That is down from 10 percent in the 1980s. This is the lowest savings rate since the Great Depression. For adults in their late fifties, the median savings is less than $10,000 ( How much YOU have in your savings account).
Furthermore, fewer than half of those now entering retirement have $50,000 available to them.Many retirees have no retirement savings at all.Without saving more and planning ahead, families will have to work more years |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 January 2010 )
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