• OpticalMoose
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    4 months ago

    I just came across an alarming statistic: 1 in 4 Americans don’t know how much they have saved for retirement.

    Just last week I was talking to my sister-in-law. She’s a teacher and contributes to a 403b, but doesn’t know what’s in it. I have more research to do, but I’m pretty sure there’s an account somewhere she can log into and see what’s going on. It would suck to reach 65 and learn that you’ve been invested in treasury bonds for the last 40 years.

    I get the feeling that people think late 40’s-early 50’s is the time to start planning for retirement. I’ve been talking to my nieces and nephews about opening IRAs and I just get that deer-in-the-headlights look from them.

    • FancyPantsFIRE@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      I encountered a small scale version of this situation a few years back — my dad’s wife had a 403b that had been in cash or cash equivalents for the better part of a decade. This was mostly during the bull market too. Even investing conservatively it would have been double the value. It really drives home how important sane defaults like a target date fund can be. And also default opt in/increases/etc.