money no enough?

probably many of us will have caught jack neo's movie, money no enough which was released to local cinemas on may 7, 1998 during the period of the infamous asian financial crisis*.

money has always been a subject that is close to any person's heart and for the masses of people, money or the lack of it is definitely no enough. i have just read a rather sobering study conducted by Employee Benefit Research Institute which confirms that most americans won't be able to afford retirement until age 80.

Americans earning between $31,200 and $72,500 will need to work to age 72 just to have a 50 percent chance of retiring, and those earning more than $72,500 can expect to reach age 65 to have a 50-50 shot of funding retirement, MarketWatch reports.

and it gets worse.

Many who are unable to retire will be forced to look for second jobs to make ends meet.

"Even those older Americans who are still working are looking for ways to make additional monies," says Art Koff, founder of RetiredBrains.com, which seeks to find work for older workers.

Americans should continue to save after age 65, as doing so better ensures at least some duration of a retirement.

"One of the factors that makes a major difference in the percentage of households satisfying the retirement income adequacy thresholds at any retirement age is whether the worker is still participating in a defined contribution plan after age 65," the report says.

Others agree on the need to save.

"A large proportion, certainly of baby boomers and maybe Gen Xers, are already going to be in a situation that is extremely perilous in terms of running out of money," says Jack VanDerhei, Employee Benefit Research Institute research director and co-author of the study, according to U.S. News and World Report.

"As depressing as the numbers are in my report, they would be a lot worse" if government retirement and healthcare benefits were reduced.

*from wikipedia:

The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of Asia beginning in July 1997, and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion.

The crisis started in Thailand with the financial collapse of the Thai baht caused by the decision of the Thai government to float the baht, cutting its peg to the USD, after exhaustive efforts to support it in the face of a severe financial overextension that was in part real estate driven. At the time, Thailand had acquired a burden of foreign debt that made the country effectively bankrupt even before the collapse of its currency. As the crisis spread, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and other asset prices, and a precipitous rise in private debt.[1]

Though there has been general agreement on the existence of a crisis and its consequences, what is less clear are the causes of the crisis, as well as its scope and resolution. Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines were also hurt by the slump. The People's Republic of China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam were less affected, although all suffered from a loss of demand and confidence throughout the region.

my comments:

if u accept the latest report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, is there any reason/s to believe that the situation in our tiny red nation to be any different from the usa?

the truth of the matter is, our consumers have generally shown an almost indifferet attitude in terms of actually planning for their retirement and that's why it is my challenge and mission to 'convince' the people i meet to do so, and the earlier the better.

and the double whammy from the lack of retirement planning comes in the form of ever longer and longer life expectancy.