What is going on with Americans?  Seriously I ask this question, as I read an article about a survey done about American’s views on retirement.  43% of Americans have less than $10k saved for retirement.  While 54% have less than $25k saved for retirement.  This seems totally surreal to me.  I mean wow.

Financial planners say you need at least 80% of your income in retirement to live.  These same planners are also saying that people can include Social Security and a PENSION to make up this income.

Personally I don’t count on either. I will not get a pension, nor will I likely qualify for social security in 40 years.  So that means I need to be saving entirely my 80%!  Okay, that sounds like a reasonable expectation.  But if I need to live on say $80k/year that means I need $2 million dollars saved with a 4% withdrawal rate.  Assuming an 8% withdrawal rate, so that I would spend everything before I die, means I only need $1 million.

How could anyone afford that?  Sounds impossible, but then again I thought it impossible that nearly 50% of Americans have only saved $10k for retirement. Don’t get me wrong, people my age 30 and younger are obviously weighing down the average.  When you are starting out, it’s likely you have saved nothing.  But shouldn’t people who are 30-50 have a lot more saved?  Especially since pensions have disappeared?

I wonder what while happen to the economy as people begin retiring with less than $10k or $25k saved?  Do you think it’s really due to the recession?  Or is it just an affirmation of Americans’ disregardnfor the future.

Again Grace at Graceful Retirement asks a great question, are we failing if we aren’t gazelle intense?  It simulated a lively discussion about debt.  She mentions two very different scenarios, one someone spending money on a vacation when they have consumer debt.  However the offendee (Beks) says it only delays her debt pay off by 4 months.

The other is Single Guy Money is financing a computer on 0% financing, only has mortgage debt, and I’m guessing cash in the bank to pay for said computer.  It’s more a trying to leverage his money thing than really accumulating debt.  But I haven’t read the post personally.

So what’s my take on gazelle intensity?  From reading about people who practice the Dave Ramsey plan is that it works.  But it DOESN’T work for people who are in relationships and both people aren’t on board.

So unfortunately I am more of a realist.  And my thinking is more in line with Suze Orman, people first, then money.  Unless you are living under a rock or in a cave, debt repayment usually involves more than one person.  And unfortunately if you both aren’t shoveling with the same intensity, it won’t last.

Yes debt is bad.  And yes you should be intense about getting out of debt.  Unfortunately not everyone is, and I think debt repayment or lifestyle change can only occur at the level with the less intense person.

So no it’s not a bad idea to use say a extra cash for some luxury versus debt repayment.   In life nothing is always fair and perfect.  Thus sometimes you have to compromise to stay happy.  I can honestly say I’m not gazelle intense, but I try my best.

I’m sure anyone reading this blog has been following the national healthcare debate.  Also if you read this blog, I mentioned that my cheap insurance company refuses to COVER my breast pump.  But I have been hounding them because they SHOULD.  Out of principal hell yes they should.  We pay premiums, we follow their damn rules, and yet they do everything in their power to get out of paying something they SHOULD cover.

But what irks me?

Well I was perusing my bills for my recent labor and delivery.  Want to know what was paid out by my insurance company?  Not what was billed, but paid out?  Well $30k was paid out for just a portion of my labor and delivery.  Not all my bills have shown up yet, only the first hospital admission.

In case you were curious I am only supposed to pay $400 of that as my deductible, with $150 going to my ob/gyn and $250 for my hospital stay.  Yep, that’s right I’m going to pay $400.  Sweet plan, but hey my DH works hard for his company and this is their perk.  And my ob/gyn only collected $4750 out of that $30k.  Ouch.

This does not include my baby’s hospital stay.  That I have no idea yet what it’s going to cost, but way, way more.  She was in the NICU and admitted separately after I was discharged.  Soo, expect massive bills, and why I’m pissed about the breast pump.

So yes they are covering all our hospital bills, but they are nickel and diming us about a breast pump. Something yes I can afford, but what pisses us off?  Well the fact that they are being jerks about coverage.   The fact that they only cover direct bills from a hospital or doctor, but if you wanted something covered get ready for a fight.

Not to mention the nasty calls we’ve gotten from our insurance company over our baby.  Fun fact, that you can’t add someone onto a plan until they are born.  Unfortunately everything then has to be done retroactively, although the billing starts the moment they are born.  Lucky us we have coverage, unlucky for all those people who don’t.  I don’t suppose someone will be arguing $$$ in the middle of a treatment?  Guess shopping around and asking for a cash discount isn’t going to happen.

After our experience?  Well I have to say it’s awesome to have insurance.  It would suck to not have insurance and be on the hook OOP for this.  And there was no predictable way to manage the costs.

I’m probably a classic example of why insurance companies hate covering maternity for childbearing women.  I did not have a c-section, am a super healthy30 year old woman, and yet there were complications.

As for me and the baby?  We’re fine, but we just used all our premiums we paid into the pot and more.

I have to say, even with our awesome coverage I still think healthcare reform is necessary.  I am still a proponent of socialized care.  After all if we weren’t on top of our insurance, I can easily see how the insurance company would eat us alive.

An interesting article on US News was titled “forget the mortgage, I’m paying my credit card bill…“  A recent study by transunion credit company showed that out of Americans who are current on their credit card bills, and increased 6.6% of them fell behind on their mortgage.  And the number of consumers behind on their credit cards but current on their mortgage decreased from 4.1% to 3.6%.

Thus it appears that consumers are prioritizing debt differently.  Previously people would prioritize the mortgage and avoiding foreclosure.  Now they are prioritizing their credit cards over their homes.  But why?

Previous generations would do anything to stop foreclosure.  But it appears with this housing bust, people no longer view houses as “homes”.  Rather they are more like rentals which people just will walk away from.

This compounded by a lack of equity in homes, either by the falling homes prices or lack of a down payment; really does make it like “renting” rather than owning.  The repercussions are mostly the same whether you default on your mortgage or credit cards.  But if you default the CC you’ll still owe them money when you lose the home.  But if you default on the mortgage, it’s possible that you may be able to pay off the CC and walk away scot free.

Plus CC are used to survive, by buying food, clothes, utilities, etc.  A mortgage while it gives you a place to live, you still need to eat, drive a car, etc.  So it might be possible for someone to default on  a mortgage, pay all their necessities and then catch on the mortgage before foreclosure occurs.  Forclosures after all usually take 6-18 months, unlike CC which might immediately turn it over to a debt collector.

Personally I think it makes sense.  I think people see their homes as worthless, and instead are scrambling to salvage any cash.  They are using their CC to live on either buy buying food or utilities and trying to stretch their cash for say an apartment rental.  I also think some people are already headed to forecloeure because the house they bought just was too expensive for their income period.  Even fully employed they couldn’t afford it really.

I wonder if we shouldn’t have stricter credit and bankruptcy and foreclosure laws?

I have been renting a hospital grade breast pump for a month now.  I like it a lot, it’s been awesome.  However my monthly rental is up and I am debating continuing, as it’s not cheap, about $75-90/month. I’m shopping around for the best price.

But it’s would only be $200-300 to purchase a breast pump of a lower grade, but a major pro is it is a portable breast pump.  The hospital grade really isn’t portable.

However, I have tested a portable pump (Ameda Purely Yours) from a friend and honestly I don’t really like it.  I can see the benefits, but I guess I’m really spoiled with the hospital pump.  The Ameda Purely Yours works great, but it takes a long time and doesn’t do I think the same job as the hospital pump.

Should I just continue renting and pay the money or should I invest in a breast pump that is $200-300?  I’ll easily spend more renting a pump for 6 months, around $400.  But that’s a fraction of the cost of purchasing a hospital grade pump.

Due to circumstances I can borrow my friend’s pump and attach my own pumping kit, so I really don’t have to even purchase a pump.  This is was I initially planned on doing.  But due to circumstances I needed a higher grade rental pump.

I wonder what the best option is?  I wish my insurance company would cover the cost of a breast pump.

Grace from Graceful Retirement wrote an interesting post about it’s a good time to be poor.  She talks about her friend who is discussing how much easier it is to be poor or retired living on a fixed income now, rather than say 10 years ago when her sister retired.  Now everyone is living on a fixed income or worrying about money.  Thus people are all participating at being frugal.  People are living on a lot less, or they are worried about their jobs and money in general.

I was chatting with a friend yesterday whose been on furlough for 2 years for the state of California.  She said come July they will be off furlough and getting back their 15% paycuts.  They will however be still having a 5% paycut after the furlough that is permanent.  The 5% paycut will  be going to pay for the state’s pensions or something like that.  She isn’t really sure, but is happy to be getting back the money she was supposed to be making 2 years ago.

But she tells me, she isn’t really counting on the money.  What?  Well the thing is she really wonders if the state can afford to pay them full salary?  If this furlough isn’t going to turn into something more permanent?  That they will have a new state budget and “extend” the furlough?  The truth is that because of inflation, she’s making a lot less than she used to be and “should” be making.  Yet she said, her and everyone else she works with is just grateful to have a job.  It could be worse, they could have layoffs instead of salary cuts.

Thus this cut in salary she tells me has forced many people she works with, including herself to be a lot more frugal.  To budget more and be more careful about her spending.  She’s decided to keep driving her car, even though it’s a 1996 Camry with over 200k miles; because it’s cheaper since it’s paid in full , than a new car.  She’s also not moved because her apartment while pricey, is a worth it to her to live alone versus roommates.   But other coworkers have pulled their kids out of private school and moved to cheaper homes or rentals.

And definitely she noticed that people are inviting her out to happy hour less.  Personally I noticed that people are going out less.  That people are watching their pennies more carefully.  And I can’t help but notice that people are keeping their cars it seems longer than buying a new car, even us.

So it appears we’re all participating in living a simpler, more frugal lifestyle.  That we’re all preparing more for the worse, even if we aren’t there yet.

What do you think?

The winners of the turbotax giveaway is Harriet, Kimberly and Me In Millions!  Please contact me with your name and contact info.

Thank you to everyone for entering.

Is it time to convert old IRAs, 401ks, etc to a Roth IRA?  2010 is the only year where there is no income limit on converting your old accounts into a Roth IRA.

Let’s start with what’s a Roth IRA?  It’s a retirement account which any individual with earned income can open.  For couples, even if one partner doesn’t work, contributions can still be made for both people.  Currently there are limits on the contributions, such as an annual limit of $5k for people under 50 and $6k for people over 50 to “catch up”.  When contributing to a Roth IRA, after tax dollars are used.  Thus when the money is withdrawn in retirement, the Government has allowed the money to be withdrawn tax free.  Obviously this is a huge benefit, since the retirement savings has been allowed to grow and compound for years tax free.

The other limit on the Roth IRA, has been the people who can contribute to it.  Individuals who make below $105k are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, as well as married couples who earn below $166k.  A phase out occurs for those earning between $105-120k for individuals and $166-176k for married couples.  This of course is your modified adjusted gross income, which is your gross income after pre-tax deductions.  A final income limit, is that anyone making over $100k cannot “rollover/convert” their retirement contributions from a traditional IRA or 401k into a Roth IRA, after paying taxes on the amount.

However, in 2010, a loophole has arisen to erase the income limits on who can “rollover or convert” their old retirement accounts into their Roth IRA.  The question is, is it worth it?

It’s hard to judge.  There are a few factors involved in making a decision, such as age, amount rolled over, and current savings.  One benefit also available in 2010, is that the tax burden for converting your IRA or 401k to a Roth can be spread out over 3 years.  The Government is allowing people to pay taxes over 3 years instead of the traditional tax burden of the year you convert.

This benefit could be useful if you know or think your income may drop in 2011 or 2012.  Also it allows people to have the opportunity to pay a small lump sum in taxes from the conversion instead of all at once.

So is it worth converting your old accounts into a Roth IRA?  I would say yes for most people.  It is definitely worth considering if you are younger than 40 and have another 20 years until retirement.  This is a great opportunity to grow your retirement money tax free!

Are you doing it?  Personally we’re considering it and will be running the numbers as we do our taxes this year.

Don’t forget to email me with the secret word from the RSS feed for an extra chance to win a free copy of TurboTax.  Also leave a comment on the post here.

You are able to contribute up to $5k/year to a flexible spending account.  This is different from a health savings account, which you own and are able to accrue money in tax free for medical premiums and expenses for your life.  What you put in grows tax free, but usually is with taxed money.  Then when you withdraw it for qualifying health expenses, it’s tax free.  Typically these types of accounts are used in conjunction with high deductionble, high premium insurance policies.

But a flexible spending account is an account, typically through an employer, where you can contribute up to $5k/year for medical expenses.  Unfortunately it’s a use it or lose it scenario.  Thus the money contributed is tax free, but if you don’t use it by the end of the year, you lose it.  Therefore it’s better to undercontibute than overestimate and lose the money.

For us, we typically are able to predict our medical expenses.  But this year I have no idea what we’ll be spending. I have no idea what extra expenses a baby adds, except obviously a lot of co-pays from going to the pediatrician.  But how much more?  This would be a great year to take advantage of the tax break, but what if we don’t use the contributed money?

How do you estimate your family’s medical bills and expenses?  Do you have a rule of thumb?