Its a tale as old as time.
You’re fresh out of college and trying to figure out what to do with your life. There are a lot of opportunities, but you follow your parents advice and decide to get a nice, secure, government job.
So you put in your 30 years with the government. Yeah, it was a rough time, but now that you have a guaranteed retirement it sure looks like it was worth it.
Big question though, is that retirement income really guaranteed? It appears not.
Just today California’s retirement fund, Calpers, issued a statement saying it was going to cut retirement benefits by over 60% for 191 people.
Stop and think about this.
You thought you were going to have an income of $100,000 a year when you retired. . . but you get a letter in the mail saying instead you will only receive $40,000. The back story is the government agency that these people worked for didn’t make a payment to Calpers and so Calpers cut the benefits. Here’s the press release about the slash in retirement pay.
What does this mean to you? Don’t rely upon your employer providing the retirement income they guaranteed you. You never know what is going to happen to your employer. If you want to be able to retire with financial dignity it really is up to you to make sure you have, and control, your retirement savings.
Consider establishing a self directed retirement plan. With a self directed IRA you control how the money is invested. You control how much risk you take on. You control your future.