Leonor from Homestead, Fla.
My father had invested $40,000 with a Black Rock trust fund that held equity securities. He lost half his investment, $20,000. This money was part of his retirement.
Bill from Albany, N.Y.
I left active duty as a Navy Lieutenant in 1983, got an MBA from UCLA in two years and then worked on Wall Street for 20 years, while actively participating in the Navy Reserves until retirement in 2007. During my peak earning years, I saved and invested wisely. At one point along the years, I concluded that my wife and I had accumulated enough liquid assets and investments that I could leave Wall St. to take a government position and that my wife (then an active Navy officer) could retire herself.
Then came the Market Crash of 2008! Despite professional diversification and nimble maneuvering to reduce exposure to the declining markets, our savings have become significantly depleted and our dreams of complete retirement before turning 60 and private college for our two pre-teen children have been all but dashed. Now we are simply trying to cope with diminished expectations and protecting our considerably twice decimated life savings from crossing below the projected value of our mortgages and anticipated expenses.
Talk about a rapid transition from comfortable and confident to nervous and wary!
CM from Indianapolis
I plan on retiring at the end of Jan. 2009, and right now it's a very scary thought that there might not be any money left in my 401K, much less what little money is left from a previous job. We just now found out that a progressive increase in health care with our company for retirees is going to a total of $500-plus a month in five years. Ridiculous. Who could afford that?! Might as well go with nothing because you sure could not eat, have a roof over your head and pay for medical insurance. It's a very sad situation that even in retirement we won't be able to relax (if you don't have a big sum of money put away) and enjoy life a little.
Brew from Greenwood, Ind.
By golly, I am right there with everyone. Should of left my money in PERF. I have lost 10 grand since the first of the year with my investments. Worked hard to get it and watched it go up in smoke in one day. My other investments are in the wind, too. I would have thought after 9-11 that was the worst that could happen. What a wake up call after last Monday. Guess I will be working the rest of my life also.
Kathy from Iowa>
I would have had my house paid off by retirement and I am 59. I had to refinance another 30 years so my payment would be low enough so I could eat and go to work.
Diane from Orlando, Fla.
I lost my home a few years ago after divorce. Living paycheck to paycheck, barely hanging on and sharing a home with family to keep up what lifestyle we are hoping to maintain -- we all need each other. One lost income and we are in deep trouble. Robbing Peter to pay Paul; trying to keep up on bills after feeding and housing family and the creditors keep calling.
I am eligible to retire in one year, but there is no way I could afford it. I only have SS to live on (was counting on selling my home at retirement age and that would have been feasible to make do) and SS won't be enough, nevermind that I wouldn't have insurance coverage for 4 years until Medicare kicks in (WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE ANYWAY? Who came up with that idea? How does a senior make it without health coverage from 62 until 65/66?) I've worked hard for 42 years, paying taxes, with nothing to show for it. It appears I will be working as long as my body holds out just to live.
Who is going to bail ME out? I don't need millions or billions; a few hundred would make me do cartwheels and a few thousand would get me out of debt. Seems like only the rich get bailed out, CEOs, even those that fail, still get huge bonuses and the slowly deteriorating middle class pay taxes on their bail-outs.
I'm totally disgusted with the current leadership. I don't feel anyone in the government really cares for the individual except from a political standpoint and their huge egos. They are all just out for themselves. I hope Obama is given a chance. As far as I'm concerned, I would prefer to roll the dice on an unknown then to keep going the way we are. I'm worried about the future of my children and grandchildren. Thanks for the chance to vent!
Barbara from La Mesa, Calif.
I have been in San Diego since 1966 and my husband since 1955. We owned our home in Lemon Grove for 30 years. Two years ago we decided to move as the neighborhood was not as quiet as in the past, so we purchased a home in La Mesa for about the price we thought we could sell our old home for, but we did not realize that the market was failing and we could not sell. So we have been forced to rent it out and hope for the market to recover so we can continue with our plan.
In the meantime, with the failing economy, gas prices and now these corporations outsourcing work out of the country, my job is threatened as I work at the Hartford in Santee and they are doing this outsourcing.
I think that these companies that send the jobs out of the country should be taxed and taxed big. Maybe they will think about what they are doing to the American people and our economy. They need to be taxed because they will be increasing the unemployment and they should be made to pay not us. I call it treason and it all comes from greed.
These companies should be trying to strengthen the economy by keeping the people working. I have seen quite a few of my friends lose their jobs at the Hartford due to this outsourcing, and these are long time employees that have been there 15 to 30 years and now they are not good enough and some close to retirement but not close enough. What kind of message does that send?
Are we going to have our senior citizens living on the streets because these companies no longer care about long time employees? They only want to be the employer of choice for 2 years and I have been told that my 13 years there means nothing.
I am very worried with only 5 1/2 years left to retire -- will I make it? What will I do if they get rid of my job? How will I survive? Who would want to hire me at my age? Will I lose my home that I have worked hard all my life for?
Rex from Monroe, Wis.
I was looking at my wife's retirement statement and it dropped $3,000.00 ... how nice, not! The current financial state of this country is the direct cause of that happening. Gas prices: What a joke! If the feds don't get their greedy hands off of that surplus we have stored, open it up and ease the price per gallon, this country will seize up like machinery parts with no grease. When the middle class stops driving, buying and going, there's trouble. The middle class pays the lion's share all around to keep this country strong. Buying a new car? Not here. My wife's car has 300,000 miles on it; mine has 200,000. They nickle and dime us when they break down, but we continue with them because who can afford payments or the gas that goes in them? Then I hear yesterday that "industry anyalists" say gas could reach between $7 and $10 a gallon soon. Walking is looking really good all of a sudden. Food prices are nuts! A gallon of milk here is $3.10 for skim! Corn and wheat products are high. They say it will get worse. Perhaps if the government would quit giving all of our tax money to other lands to help them out, they could spare some time to give it's own people a hand.
Kate from Chicago:
My 401K has pregressively fallen. In April of 2007, it was $500 MORE than what it is currently worth now (even though there has been almost $5K in deposits in that span of a year). I am about to dump all of it into the fixed investment because 1% is better than -5%. At the rate things are going I will never be able to even contemplate retirement.
My husband and I want to sell and move the NW Indiana, but it will take way too long to sell the house and we won't get what it is worth.
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