(Not) Random Thoughts on Retirement and THE SCARY CHART of the Year So Far

How Bad Could This Get? https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2025/04/how-bad-could-this-get/. I’ve lived through several stock market crashes. And to think I started the day reading up on the latest U of Michigan healthy aging poll.

National Poll on Healthy Aging home

Working adults age 50 and older commonly reported these reasons for working as being very important:

  • Have financial stability (78%)
  • Save for retirement (65%)
  • Get access to health insurance (59%)
  • Support family members financially (52%)
  • Maximize Social Security benefits (46%)

Link: https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/

How about adding these bullet points to the list:

  • Working past age 50 enables you to weather stock market volatility better
  • Working past age 60 enables you to have financial stability when the stock portion of your retirement portfolio loses value
  • Working past age 70 enables you to say I’m glad to be still working when the stock portion of my retirement portfolio loses value.

Disclaimer: the additional bullet points are fictional and not related to the real poll questions or answers.

Monday should be a very interesting day in the stock market. Stocks appear to be headed towards a fire sale. Time to buy!

12 thoughts on “(Not) Random Thoughts on Retirement and THE SCARY CHART of the Year So Far

  1. It is very disconcerting! I made most of my RMD in early March. But I still have some more to do. I’m hoping in the next nine months things may rebound a bit.

    No peeking for now!

    Your life expectancy information helped me with the decision to annuitize an annuity to provide me with a fixed stream of income. I chose 10 years. So I figure if Social Security, VA disability, and or military retirement are affected, I still have this guaranteed income for 10 years

  2. It’s just so depressing thinking about a portfolio that took me over 50 years to accumulate evaporating practically overnight. I know things will actually turn around eventually, but at this point in my life, I don’t know that I will live to see it.

  3. I still haven’t looked and don’t plan to for a while. I think it’s all planned. I think they’re purposely creating this recession so the billionaires can buy up a bunch of companies and real estate cheaply and make a bunch of money once things rebound.

      • And my prediction is that he will reverse things in about a year, just in time for midterms. And take credit for any improvement. Whereas in reality, even with a rebound, it probably will not get anywhere near the great economy we had when Biden left office.

  4. It’s not rocket science.

    I heard a commentator compare Trump’s playing golf with the Saudi’s at his ugly ostentatious club claiming he won, while the middle class watches their hard earned savings evaporate, to Marie Antoinette saying: let them eat cake.

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