Saturday Data: Retirement

A PEW report indicates about 1/3 of Alabama residents believe they could come up with $2,000 if unexpected expenses came up in the next month.

58% say they are participating in a work-based retirement savings plan...meaning the rest are unlikely to be saving much or any money for retirement. 

Of the Western and Southern States, Florida and New Mexico have the lowest rates of participation in a work-plan for savings, probably because there are so many people already retired there.

There is a downside to having a large retired population. Those folks tend not to vote in favor of public school funding because their children are already out of school. That may be why a request for some additional property taxes in Baldwin County Alabama was rejected recently (19% of the population is over 65)...though after 65 they are exempt from state property taxes. For comparison, 13% of the Montgomery County population is 65+.

I've always wondered why civic leaders brag when their town is ranked as one of the best locations for retirement. On top of that, we do tend to be less,er, speedy drivers after a certain age. ("Move over!") 

Read about older drivers and CDC precautions HERE.) Also: AAA offers a self-test for older drivers to judge their traffic skills.

Decades ago, in a radio interview in Birmingham, a financial expert told me I would need a reserve of a million dollars at retirement to maintain my current lifestyle after retirement. I'm been searching in storage for that money. Where did I put it?

[Saturday Data is a regular feature of www.timlennox.com]