Good News About Your Financial Future

January 8, 2010

Interview with Jonathan Pond, author of the book You Can Do It!: The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement

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Mike Carruthers:
Baby Boomers, it's been said, have a perilous financial future because they have too much debt, not enough money saved and their retirement outlook is bleak - well, here's a different point of view…

Jonathan Pond:
Boomers are in a lot better condition than the media and the financial services industry would have it - some studies have suggested that as many as 80% of Boomers are on track to achieve a pretty good retirement.

Jonathan Pond

 Jonathan Pond, author of the book You Can Do It!: The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement

One thing that I think that people have been mislead about it is how much it's going to require to live or maintain the same lifestyle after retirement that you do before. My research and the research of others have indicated that it's not much more than 65% and given that, Social Security is going to replace it. So anywhere from 40-50% - it may not require as much as people think they need to have a decent retirement; it's certainly not a million dollars for most people.

But, we've been told that the future of Social Security is iffy and we shouldn't count on it.

But you heard it here first, Social Security is not going to go away and any surgery that will be necessary to but it on a more actual sound basis will be minor, particularly for Baby Boomers - it might affect younger generations. But Social Security will always be around - it is essential for many people.