Golden Years Tarnished

Although gold is not supposed to tarnish, apparently it does when you find the median savings in a 401K is only around 18K and 40% of 401Ks have less than $10,000. Why are so many people having trouble saving for retirement? Most would blame the economy but the answer lies deeper. In the past, a retirement plan did not include having to budget for smart phones, cable television, fast Internet and an abundance of techno-gadgets to support our addictions. Sure the phone company would always get you but rabbit ears were cheap and the luxury of a car phone was an expense most did not have to contend to.

To make matters worse, traditional pensions are becoming rare and those that thought they could count on them are finding now they cannot. With child care for working parents and other costs still rising, will the dream of retiring disappear completely? Today, even a million dollars is no guarantee one can safely retire. Fortunately, we're living longer so we get to enjoy those golden years more as we hyperventilate through our breathing tubes and curse out those not responding to our computer-assisted voice boxes!