Are you seriously saving for retirement, or relying on the government?

I wish that I could, but since I have to pay so much for health care right now, I don't have any money left at the end of the month to save for anything.

Our country has a retirement money saving organization name EPF for citizen.Every month 9-11% amount of our salary,will be deducted and deposit to our EPF account.Employer are compulsory to deposit 12% amount of employee's salary to EPF account too,this system let us at least saving 20% of our salary by monthly.But be honest,with yearly inflation,money still not enough to survive if we might living until 90+.

My mom gets a state pension in the United Kingdom and it is not very much money at all. When she was younger she worked as a librarian. She retired when she became sixty five years old. She lives in a terraced two bedroom bungalow in a nice area. I spend most of my money on traveling. I haven't got a plan for when I retire. I guess I should start saving for my pension. I have short comings in my funds for a United Kingdom pension. That is due to my traveling and being out of the country for so long.

I have a 401k account but, to be honest, I still probably won't be able to retire comfortably on it. I think that an early awareness is very important where this is concerned. I didn't start a retirement account until I was in my late 20's and wasn't giving enough to it then. I couldn't. I had children to feed and every dime mattered. I really tried though and in a few more years...I may be able to start putting in more. I am hoping to have my house paid off before retiring though and that may help some. Great discussion.

I couldn't agree more. Anyone that depends on the government to support them in retirement is in for a very rude awakening. People should start planning on fending for themselves and set up a savings and retirement account and the sooner they start the better. Young people especially should start now and invest even a small portion of their money into a plan. If the employer offers a 401K or similar plan, take full advantage of it to the max. If not, start your own IRA or get into DRIP investing. It's much easier and less painful to your wallet if you pay a little into it over a long period of time rather than trying to save a lot later. Starting early will let the power of compounding work for you during your lifetime and you'll end up with a tidy sum when you are ready to retire. Always watch out for yourself. NEVER depend on the government for your well-being.

I am 27 right now and I am not yet saving for my retirement. I do contribute through Social Security System. My employer deducted my contribution for that. I don't really worry about that and it doesn't come into my mind until I read this discussion.

Hi Taskr, Think it is the same the world over, I am in UK and there isn't enough left to live comfortably when I retire so I have other plans in place. I have one more month to qualify for 1000 free shares in a company I am a partner off which will be worth over £8000 so I will invest these in some way and also premium bonds is another way of saving too. I would encourage anybody to start young putting extra away from the moment they start work. Huggles. Ellie :D

Retirement...what's that? LOL Seriously...yes we save for it but with the current ecomonic downturn in the past few years we are not saving as much as we used to. I am hoping we can change that soon. I think depending on SS to be there when we retire is not looking like a probability. I am just mad we are paying into something we will probly never get back. We would rather opt out and put the money in our own retirement plan.

My husband and I have always lived as if social security doesn't exist, so we won't rely on it. He's 28, I'm 23. We currently have a combined salary of $17,000 per year, and while I've saved up a little over $8000 for retirement thus far, he has a 401K with his work that was worth over $10,000 before the economy went downhill, and it's worth about $8000 now. Also, I own a real estate business and never truly plan on retiring, since being a landlord leaves you many options with your work--repairing things is rare unless your property is falling apart, and also, many things can be done by hiring someone else if you're unavailable, although that is a last resort (but an option once I'm elderly and want to relax!). You say the average monthly payment from SS is $1230, which would honestly be more than enough for my husband and I to live on. We have always lived extremely frugal, hence why we save on average $1000 per year on our low salary and have also paid off 20% of our home within three years of marriage. Our home is a perfect little two bedroom that is easy to clean and cheap to maintain, plus our mortgage actually was just raised $60 because of higher insurance rates, and still is only $491 per month. Nonetheless, I have no faith in the social security system and would opt out if I could. It's mostly a slap in the face to see money going to the system from my husband's comparatively measly check and knowing it will most likely never benefit us. I agree with you that younger people need to take a closer look at their retirement, but to be honest, I've seen a much larger problem with middle-aged people. My father-in-law has come to my husband and I to ask whether he should start saving for retirement or for his younger children's college...and he's twice my age! Those who are in their forties or over and haven't started saving are really in trouble; they're much closer to the realization of the problem, and the SS system is so shaky I'm not sure it'll even be there for them.

Luckily, my employer handles my retirement. Take not, they don't deduct a portion of it from our salary.. i just dont know where and how the get it from.

As of right now I am not even planning on retirement. I know it is still a good 30 years away for me, but with the way things are, and the way things seem to be going, it just does not seem to be plausible. I will just work until I die. I guess that is the way its been done since the beginning of time for most people. Sometimes I really think our society should be further along with issues like these, but apparently we just can't figure out how to make it work for everyone. I know you can say its all up to personal responsibility and it is for the most part. Lets just face it though many people are not that responsible. Many people just have bad things that come across their paths that kill all their finances that they were going to use for retirement. As far as the government. I do not trust them to much on anything right now. Then again I do not trust to much of anyone anymore, so it is just not them. A self evaluation for the whole country is needed in my opinion. That is for the public and private sector. We always like to blame the government, but we are the ones that put the government in place. Apparently change has to come from the people and until they are ready to make the necessary sacrifices it is always going to be business as usual.

Better we have to care us first, don't wait the helps from Social security. I hope i could do save more money for my retirement, but it seems hard now. Goods prices are increased, so that my income just enough for my currently living, i do save, but not much. I am really worry about it.

Yeah! I have heard and seen stories of people who did not save for their retirement. The history and mistake about people not planning their retirement keeps on reoccurring. It is like a chronic disease in younger people not to save. As for me, I am really planning ahead for such cases and situations. My goal is to retire early and enjoy life during retirement. I can only do that if I am already financially free/stable. So my main target as of now is to reach that kind of status and hope that I can bring it on until my retirement stage.

I don't save-as of now. I don't have a full-time job yet, and I'm still studying. From my part-time job, what I earn is just enough for putting money aside to move out from my parents' flat, some entertainment (i'm not depriving myself of theatre and other hobbies of mine) and buying gifts for my family. When I've moved out, and I have a job, I'm going to start putting aside.