That ain't even the beginning of the fun. For starters, the median retirement account balance for households near retirement is $12k. Median. A grand a month. So... lose everything out of your median 401k and you've lost about 10 weeks of median expenses. But okay, we've got social security. Except we don't. Sure, SSI has been raided but that's just jiggery pokery math; fundamentally, money needs to come in so that money can go out. Assume it was "fully funded" or whatever. But that's okay, right? 'cuz wages are - ...well but we've got pensions! And retirement plans! For all the wonderful government employees! ...that are all guaranteed, right? I mean, I've been getting things in the mail that tell me that I'm entitled to 15 cents on the dollar if my pension goes into receivership... assuming there's any money left after everyone else's pension goes into receivership. But they've got the house. They can sell the house. To those... same kids that aren't getting paid and have to support half a retiree each on their wages. Mmmmyeah maybe that won't work out so great either. So let's review. They don't have any retirement funding to begin with. Social Security doesn't have enough workers to feed it. The pensions are all doomed and the only people who can purchase their assets have no money. On the plus side they don't have to move to Florida; Florida is coming to them and they won't have to worry about bugs because they're all dead. The bugs, I mean. The bugs are all dead. I totally mean the bugs.
Some financial wag or other recommended reading Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels to understand the modern Trump voter. I tried. I really did. Hell's Angels is fundamentally Hunter S. Thompson slagging on everyone for not loving petty hoodlums with hygiene issues. He never gets around to the basic issue - they suck at life so they hate everyone. They're REBELS! Not losers. There's some very real sour grapes there. Your retirement fund is empty, your job is shit, everyone with two neurons to rub together has fled for the coast and oxycontin is about all the fun you have anymore but if you dedicate your free time to "owning the libs" you're not a loser, you're a REBEL.
Holy crap that's terrifying. That says most people won't be retiring. They'll have to work until they're medically unable to.For starters, the median retirement account balance for households near retirement is $12k. Median.