Quote:
Originally Posted by ratbastid
That's really the thing, for those of us under 40 or so. The economy WILL recover, and even if it takes a decade or two, we'll come out of it strong by the time we're retiring.
It's the folks in their late 50s like my parents that are in real trouble.
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My dad is apparently older than your dad.
At any rate, my parents are on the verge of retirement. But they've got most of their money tied up in real estate that, contrary to the current market, is retaining or gaining value. Their only major investments are a series of CDs. Their retirement is guaranteed by the State of Washington, one of the benefits of being a public employee in these times. The only thing that's going to hurt is the decreased value of their IRA, but that was supposed to be their extra fun money anyways, and most of it is an inheritance from my grandfather.
So Dad is going to work another year, which increases his retirement payment, and further closes the gap between retirement and collecting a Social Security check. His only worry is selling his current house, but they're quite content to wait out the market and sit on it a few years, as the second house (the house I'm in) is easily rentable, given its location in a college town and proximity to the university itself. It also gives them more time to put more "sweat equity" into their current home.