-
David Kirsch, 64, worries that in a few years he won’t have enough money to retire comfortably.
-
He is one of thirty million Americans known as “peak boomers,” a group born between 1959 and 1964.
-
Many of these boomers are concerned about whether they will have enough to retire from work and cover their expenses.
David Kirsch hopes he can retire at the age of 70.
He is 64 years old and his dream is to buy a gently used sailboat, sell most of his possessions and spend his golden years traveling the Caribbean and South America.
But Kirsch, a resident of Hill, New Hampshire, feels like his sailboat is drifting further and further away. He has an IT job and makes $64,805 a year, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. He said he has IRA accounts and is putting money into his 401(k), but he still isn’t confident he has enough saved for retirement.
Kirsch hopes to start cashing Social Security checks in a few years, just before his 67th birthday. The extra money would allow him to put more of his professional income into retirement accounts during the final years of his career, he said.
“My biggest fear is standing at the door at Walmart at 75 and greeting people as they come in,” he told BI.
Kirsch is not alone. He is one of 30 million Americans known as ‘peak boomers’, a group of baby boomers born between 1959 and 1964 who will turn 65 this year and are on their way to retirement. However, many of these boomers are concerned about having enough money to stop working completely and cover their living expenses.
The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey shows that more than half of Americans are older than 65 have an annual income of $30,000 or less. And according to an April report from retirement research firm Alliance Lifetime Income’s Retirement Income Institute, 52.5% of boomers have assets of $250,000 or less.
For many, Social Security will not be enough to fill the gaps. As of March 2024, the Social Security Administration said the average monthly check sent to recipients is $1,774.83. And if lawmakers don’t act, the U.S. Social Security Fund will allow to dry out by the end of the 2030s.
This group of boomers is feeling the effects of the US’s switch from an employer-funded pension to the employee-funded 401(k) system in the 1980s.
Even if he saves aggressively, he is not sure about the future
Kirsch’s concerns about retirement have fluctuated throughout his career. He has experienced several periods of unemployment that made saving difficult, and his previous employers did not always offer retirement benefits. He has been in his current job for the past 12 years and is now using “very aggressive” retirement contributions to achieve his goals, he said.
He said his main expenses right now are his car payment, gas money and housing and utility costs. Kirsch is in good health, but is concerned about paying for medical care if that changes.
He also said he is not confident he will be able to return to work after retirement because of discrimination in hiring older adults.
“If I’m alone, over-competitive, need money, in my 70s and have health problems, life will be worthless, that’s my fear,” Kirsch said.
Kirsch wishes more people understood that some older adults are unable to properly prepare for retirement due to their life circumstances. He also wishes that the government’s safety net programs for affordable housing and health care did not wait until people reached “critical status” and were “destitute” before providing assistance.
Although he hasn’t given up on his sailboat dream, Kirsch says he’d like to have enough to live comfortably in 10 years. He often tells his young adult son to think about early retirement.
“Start saving and do it as aggressively as you can,” he said. “And if you can’t be aggressive, keep something anyway.”
Are you concerned about your financial preparation for retirement? How do you prepare? Share your story with this reporter allisonkelly@insider.com.
Read the original article on Business Insider
