TheThree-Legged Stool of Retirement Doesn’t Work Anymore

Author: Andrew Meadows / 30 Sep 2017 / Personal Finance

Have you ever heard of the three-legged stool of retirement? Back in our parents’ and grandparents’ time, this is how the sources of retirement income were explained: Social Security, pensions, and personal savings.

While this model may still be floating around in personal finance textbooks, it’s as outdated as a 1970s leisure suit. The truth of the matter is two of these three stool “legs” are not as supportive as they once were and most savers today cannot rely on them for their retirement success. To make matters worse, the remaining leg of the stool is failing people left and right because they don’t realize the other two legs don’t exist anymore.

So what happened to the stool to make it a pogo stick – and a very unstable one for many people, particularly Gen-X and Millennials?

1.     The future of Social Security is not in “our” hands

The first leg of the stool that is uncertain is Social Security.

Younger generations may think they can rely on Social Security based on what is taken out of their paychecks each pay period, but the system is looking sparse due to a large number of Baby Boomers filing for Social Security – in fact, 10,000 Boomers per day.

As it stands, Social Security is projected to be insolvent by 2034. Ultimately, the lifespan of a supportive Social Security system remains a political hot potato.

2.     Company Pensions won’t save you

Only a few lucky individuals can look forward to receiving a pension once they retire. In fact, only one in five private sector employees has access to a defined benefit pension plan. Even successful companies such as Boeing, Clorox, and Lockheed Martin have either frozen this benefit or trimmed it completely out of their budgets.

This leg has basically been nonexistent for years as more and more companies swap out a defined benefit plan in favor of a defined contribution plan – putting the onus of retirement income squarely on your shoulders.

3.    Personal savings are woefully inadequate

The last – and only somewhat-reliable – leg of the stool left are personal savings.

Unfortunately, many people don’t plan accordingly for this new reality. Unlike the other two legs on the stool – which, as we already covered, are pretty much non-existent anyway – personal savings is not something that another person or entity is responsible for providing. This is the leg of the stool that you alone must plan for.

You can only control the controllable, and that starts with your personal savings strategies. Don’t wait for the Social Security system to fix itself and employee pensions to make a comeback (Spoiler alert: That’s never happening). Your future is in your hands!