I have to say that I have been putting this blog off for as long as I could because I just don't feel educated enough in Economics to discuss it intelligently. I have thought about ways to get around this and I just can't so I am going to talk about what I do know. My predicament in life as it pertains to my own economic situation.
First, let me say that I have lived in Alaska for 38 years and I have seen so many ups and downs in Alaska's economics it has seemed like a roller coaster at times. I enjoyed the boom in the earlier 70's and even got one of the first PFD's. But I also weathered the bust in the 80's when many of my neighbors simply walked away from their homes because they had lost everything. I bought a townhome in '89 for half of what it was originally sold for ten years before. Then ten years later I sold it for double my mortage. I have bought and sold ten homes in Anchorage and mostly was blessed to benefit from roller coaster home market. I have a nice piece of equity in my home now, but all it will take is another market drop like in the 80's to wipe all that out.
Back to my dilemma. I am a 62 year old woman who began teaching when I was 41. Divorce and loss of 1/2 my income forced me into the workforce after 2 decades of being a stay- at- home- mom. So I went back to school and got my teaching degree and stsrting teaching in '91. I am soooo ready to get out of teaching,even though I love the "teaching"part of it. The problem is that even if I moved to Texas where the housing is dirt cheap, my retirement will not support me. And because of the Windfall Act I will be denied all but a pitance of the Social Security money I paid into the system before teaching, I have a small savings that I have held onto and not invested for years because I am so scared that I will lose it to another stock market disaster. I watched my son lose almost all of his 401 K account in the last stock market disaster. I know the old saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained", but I am afraid that it is too little too late to start investing now.
What I want to know from any of you young Econ geniuses is " Can I retire before I'm eighty, or am I doomed to be that little old lady at the Walmart saying "Welcome to Walmart" because I waited too late to invest?
Peggy Marron
I wish I could say everything will be ok, that your hard work will be enough to see you through financially. Economic times are volatile and unpredictable, and many of us are in the same boat. Perhaps retirement as we know it is becoming less possible. Historically, older people moved in with their kids and helped with the grandchildren. Will this become the norm?
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