I’m 51 years old and financially I’m nowhere even close to being able to retire. I know I’m not the only one in this situation, and it sucks. The question being put out there is, “Is Retirement a Fantasy?” for those of us who didn’t “play the game” and end up in management or C Suite jobs.

Working and Saving

I have the experience and skillsets. That’s not the problem. There are only so many management positions in the working world. I found myself in positions where I was expendable. And I know. EVERYONE is expendable in the working world. I’ve been working since I was 14. That is 37 years. In 37 years I’ve worked 14 jobs. Of those 14 jobs, I was laid off from four of them. In 14 jobs, only three paid me a livable wage that I could put money away in a 403b or 401k. Even with the education, experience, and skill sets, I was underemployed. i.e. not paid what I was worth. So I couldn’t afford to put money away for retirement.

Is Retirement a Fantasy?

What will I do? Well, that is the million-dollar question. I joke with a long-time friend, telling her that she’s my backup retirement plan, knowing one thousand percent that she is fine with me moving in whenever I need to. I know I’m one of the lucky ones in that respect. A support system that I can turn to in my older age between family and friends. But is retirement a fantasy?

I think so. If I move into my friend’s home, or my son has a mom “shed” in the backyard, I’ll still need to pay my own expenses. With the income I’ve had in the past, obviously, not a lot went into social security. And not to be morbid, but the women in my family don’t tend to make it out of their 60s. I plan to start collecting my social security fairly early. In the end, whether you collect early or wait until the latest, you’ll get roughly the same amount. A smaller amount is collected over a longer time, or a larger amount is collected over a shorter time. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Our Golden Years

Even when you start collecting social security, you can’t survive on it alone. Especially if you’re a single person. So, sure, I absolutely can “retire”. But I’ll still have to work. IF I’m able to. I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) a couple years ago. This is a non-curable disease. Even now, I need medication to keep my quality of life better than it was. I had trouble just getting up and to work each day, it was that bad. I’m afraid to think what it will be like in 10 – 15 years. Unfortunately, it is pretty much every man/woman for themselves pulling in income during their “golden” years. There may be assistance available for lower-income households, but why should we put all that on the government? We work for businesses. They should be accountable for making sure people who put a large portion of their lives into working for them, will be able to retire comfortably. Some companies still do this, (my current company being one of them.) I’m back in a position that I’m making enough to put away into a 401k. But some companies don’t. There was a shift in the early 1990s. Corporations are out for the bottom line, which, they should be! But not at the expense of their employees who help make that bottom line a success.

After working our entire adult lives, and making someone else’s dream a success, we should be able to retire without having to put our hands out for government assistance. So, I’ll ask again. Is retirement a fantasy for a good percentage of the American people? Comment below or on my Facebook page!