As the tax season progresses and I talk to more clients, I am finding that more and more people are not saving anything. Those that are saving are only making minimum payments to their 401K plans and little to nothing else.
It seems we are feeling trapped and cannot seem to find a way out. The value of our homes are less then we paid for them or completely under water with a negative basis. Also, any existing savings have not yet recovered to their pre-recession levels.
As the Baby Boomers put off retirement and Generation Y enters the workforce, we continue to live paycheck to paycheck looking for jobs or better opportunities to replace those lost. We need to develop budgets, plans and goals to solve this problem. We need to set up our priorities or return to the days of old where retirement is only for those of the upper class or affluent.
This concept is amusing since a number of people who consider themselves middle class are affluent by IRS standards (AGI over $100,000).
It can be done. It just takes hard work and effort.