An honest look at the personal finance crisis
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0:02 - 0:03You know me.
-
0:04 - 0:09I am in your friendship circle
hidden in plain sight. -
0:09 - 0:11My clothes are still impeccable --
-
0:11 - 0:14bought in the good years
when I was still making money. -
0:15 - 0:17To look at me you would not know
-
0:17 - 0:21that my electricity was cut off
last week for nonpayment, -
0:21 - 0:25or that I meet the eligibility
requirements for food stamps. -
0:25 - 0:27But if you paid attention,
-
0:27 - 0:29you would see that sadness in my eyes --
-
0:29 - 0:34hear that hint of fear
in my otherwise self-assured voice. -
0:34 - 0:38These days I'm buying
the $1.99 trial-size jug of Tide -
0:38 - 0:40to make ends meet.
-
0:40 - 0:43I bet you didn't know
laundry detergent came in that size. -
0:44 - 0:46You invite me to the same
expensive restaurants -
0:46 - 0:48the two of us have always enjoyed,
-
0:48 - 0:51but I order mineral water now
with a twist of lemon, -
0:51 - 0:54not the 12-dollar glass of chardonnay.
-
0:55 - 0:57I am frugal in my menu choices.
-
0:57 - 1:01Meticulous, I count
every penny in my head. -
1:01 - 1:06I demur dividing the table bill evenly
to cover desserts and designer coffees -
1:06 - 1:09and second and third glasses
of wine I did not consume. -
1:10 - 1:15I am tired of trying to fake appearances.
-
1:16 - 1:19A friend told me that I'm broke not poor,
and there is a difference. -
1:19 - 1:22I live without cable, my gym membership
-
1:22 - 1:23and nail appointments.
-
1:23 - 1:25I've discovered I can do my own hair.
-
1:26 - 1:27There is no retirement savings,
-
1:27 - 1:28no nest egg.
-
1:30 - 1:32I exhausted that long ago.
-
1:32 - 1:35There is no expensive condo to draw equity
-
1:35 - 1:37and no husband to back me up.
-
1:38 - 1:43Months of slow pay and no pay
have decimated my credit. -
1:43 - 1:45Bill collectors call constantly,
-
1:45 - 1:48reading verbatim from a script
-
1:48 - 1:51before expressing
polite sympathy for my plight -
1:51 - 1:55and then demanding payment
arrangements I can't possibly meet. -
1:55 - 2:00Friends wonder privately
how someone so well educated -
2:00 - 2:02could be in economic free fall.
-
2:03 - 2:07I'm still as talented as ever
and smart as a whip, -
2:07 - 2:08but work is sketchy now,
-
2:09 - 2:12mostly on and off consulting gigs.
-
2:12 - 2:16At 55 I've learned how to fake cheeriness,
-
2:17 - 2:21but there are not many
opportunities for work anymore. -
2:22 - 2:25I don't remember exactly when it stopped,
-
2:25 - 2:27but I cannot deny now having entered
-
2:27 - 2:31the uncertain world
of formerly and used to be. -
2:32 - 2:34I'm not sure anymore where I belong.
-
2:35 - 2:39What I do know is that dozens
of online job applications -
2:39 - 2:42seem to just disappear into a black hole.
-
2:42 - 2:46I'm wondering what is to become of me.
-
2:46 - 2:49So far my health has held up,
-
2:49 - 2:52but my body aches -- or is it my spirit?
-
2:53 - 2:56Homeless women used to be invisible to me
-
2:56 - 2:59but I appraise them now with curious eyes,
-
2:59 - 3:02wondering if their stories
started like mine. -
3:03 - 3:05I wrote this piece a year ago.
-
3:05 - 3:09It's a composite of my story
and other women I know. -
3:09 - 3:11I wrote it because
I was tired of pretending -
3:11 - 3:13I was all right when I wasn't.
-
3:14 - 3:16I was tired of faking normal.
-
3:17 - 3:20I wasn't seeing myself
in the popular press. -
3:20 - 3:25Nobody I knew was traveling the world
or buying a condo in Costa Rica. -
3:26 - 3:30Very few of my friends
had set aside the 15 to 20 percent -
3:30 - 3:36experts tell us we need to maintain
our standard of living in retirement. -
3:37 - 3:39My friends, many in their 50s and 60s,
-
3:39 - 3:41were looking at a downward mobility,
-
3:42 - 3:43a work-for-life proposition,
-
3:43 - 3:49just a job loss, medical diagnosis
or divorce away from insolvency. -
3:51 - 3:54We may not have hit rock bottom,
-
3:54 - 3:57but many of us saw a sequence of events
-
3:57 - 4:00where rock bottom
was possible for the first time. -
4:01 - 4:05And the truth is,
it really doesn't take much. -
4:05 - 4:07The median household in the US
-
4:08 - 4:12only has enough savings
to replace one month of income. -
4:12 - 4:14Forty-seven percent of us
-
4:14 - 4:18cannot pull together 400 dollars
to deal with an emergency. -
4:18 - 4:20That's almost half of us.
-
4:20 - 4:24A major car repair
and we're standing on the abyss. -
4:25 - 4:27You wouldn't know it to look around you --
-
4:27 - 4:30I'm not the only one in this situation.
-
4:30 - 4:34There are people in this room
who are in the same predicament, -
4:34 - 4:35and if it's not you,
-
4:35 - 4:40it is your parents or your sister
or maybe your best friend. -
4:41 - 4:43We get good at faking normal.
-
4:44 - 4:47Shame keeps us silent and siloed.
-
4:47 - 4:51When I first decided I was going
to come out with my story, -
4:51 - 4:52I did a website
-
4:52 - 4:55and a friend noticed
that there were no photos of me -- -
4:55 - 4:58it was all kind of cartoons like this.
-
5:00 - 5:02Even as I was coming out,
-
5:02 - 5:04I was still hiding.
-
5:06 - 5:12We live in a world
where success is defined by income. -
5:13 - 5:17When you say that you have money problems,
-
5:17 - 5:20you're announcing
pretty much that you're a loser. -
5:20 - 5:23When you're a graduate
of Harvard Business School as I am, -
5:23 - 5:25you're some kind of double loser.
-
5:26 - 5:31We boomers hear a lot about
how we have underfunded our retirement; -
5:31 - 5:33how it's all our fault.
-
5:33 - 5:38Why on earth would we draw down
our 401(k) plan to cover the shortfall -
5:38 - 5:41on our mother-in-law's nursing home care,
-
5:41 - 5:46or to pay for our kid's tuition,
or just to survive? -
5:46 - 5:49We're accused of being
poor planners and deadbeats -- -
5:49 - 5:53all that money we spent
on lattes and bottled water. -
5:53 - 5:57To shame and blame
is so deliciously tempting. -
5:58 - 6:00Many of us don't even wait
for others to do it -
6:00 - 6:03we're so busy doing it to ourselves.
-
6:03 - 6:05I say let's own our part:
-
6:05 - 6:07we all could have saved more.
-
6:07 - 6:10I know I could have saved more,
-
6:10 - 6:16and if you were to rifle through
my life over the last 30 years, -
6:16 - 6:19you would see more than one
dumb thing I have done financially. -
6:20 - 6:22I can't change that now
-
6:22 - 6:24and neither can you,
-
6:24 - 6:29but let's not mix up
individual, isolated behavior -
6:29 - 6:31with the systemic factors
-
6:31 - 6:37that have caused a 7.7-trillion-dollar
retirement income gap. -
6:37 - 6:40Millions of boomer-age Americans
did not land here -
6:41 - 6:43because of too many trips to Starbucks.
-
6:44 - 6:49We spent the last three decades
dealing with flat and falling wages -
6:49 - 6:50and disappearing pensions
-
6:50 - 6:52and through-the-roof cost
-
6:52 - 6:55on housing and health care and education.
-
6:56 - 6:58It used to not be like this.
-
6:58 - 7:03We all remember the three-legged
retirement income stool -
7:03 - 7:09which had the savings
and pension and social security. -
7:09 - 7:12Well, that stool has gone wobbly.
-
7:12 - 7:13Take savings -- what savings?
-
7:13 - 7:15For many families,
-
7:15 - 7:18there's just nothing left to save
after the bills have been paid. -
7:19 - 7:22The pension leg of the stool
has also gone wobbly. -
7:22 - 7:25We can remember
when many people had pensions. -
7:25 - 7:31Today only 13 percent of American workers
are employed by companies that offer them. -
7:32 - 7:33So what did we get instead?
-
7:33 - 7:36We got 401(k)-type plans
-
7:36 - 7:40and suddenly responsibility
for retirement planning got shifted -
7:40 - 7:42from our companies to us.
-
7:42 - 7:46We got the reigns
but we also got the risk, -
7:46 - 7:50and it turns out that millions of us
just aren't that good -
7:50 - 7:54at voluntarily investing over 40 years.
-
7:54 - 7:59Millions of us just aren't that good
at managing market risk. -
7:59 - 8:01And really the numbers tell the story.
-
8:01 - 8:07Half of all American households
have no retirement savings at all. -
8:07 - 8:08That would be zero.
-
8:08 - 8:11No 401(k), no IRA, not a dime.
-
8:12 - 8:16Among 55-to-64-year-olds
who do have a retirement account, -
8:16 - 8:22the median value of that account
is 104,000 dollars. -
8:22 - 8:26Now, 104,000 dollars
does sound better than zero, -
8:26 - 8:30but as an annuity,
it generates about 300 dollars. -
8:30 - 8:34I don't have to tell you
that you can't live on that. -
8:34 - 8:37With savings down,
-
8:37 - 8:40pensions becoming a relic of the past
-
8:40 - 8:44and 401(k) plans
failing millions of Americans, -
8:44 - 8:47many near-retirees
are dependent on social security -
8:47 - 8:49as their retirement plan.
-
8:50 - 8:51But here's the problem.
-
8:51 - 8:56Social security was never supposed
to be the retirement plan. -
8:56 - 8:57It's not nearly enough.
-
8:57 - 9:00At best it replaces
something like 40 percent -
9:00 - 9:02of your pre-retirement income.
-
9:04 - 9:05Things have changed a lot
-
9:05 - 9:10from when social security
was introduced back in 1935. -
9:10 - 9:14Then, a 21-year-old male
had a 50 percent chance -
9:14 - 9:17of living until he was 65.
-
9:17 - 9:20So he retired at 60,
-
9:20 - 9:23did a little fishing,
kissed his grandkids, -
9:23 - 9:24got his gold watch --
-
9:24 - 9:28he'd be dead within five years
of receiving benefits. -
9:29 - 9:31That's not the pattern today.
-
9:31 - 9:33If you're in your late
50s and in good health, -
9:33 - 9:38you're going to live easily
another 20 or 25 years. -
9:38 - 9:40That's a really long time
to make ends meet -
9:40 - 9:42if you are broke.
-
9:42 - 9:45So what's the play if you've landed here
-
9:45 - 9:48and you're 50 or 55 or 60?
-
9:49 - 9:52What's the play
if you don't want to land here -
9:52 - 9:55and you're 22 or 32?
-
9:55 - 9:58Here's what I've learned
from my own experience. -
9:59 - 10:00The cavalry's not coming.
-
10:01 - 10:03There is no big rescue,
-
10:03 - 10:04no prince charming,
-
10:04 - 10:07no big bailout in the works.
-
10:07 - 10:12To have a shot at something other
than being old and poor in America, -
10:12 - 10:16we're going to have to save
ourselves and each other. -
10:17 - 10:21I've had to come out of the shadows,
-
10:22 - 10:26stand here openly,
-
10:26 - 10:29and I'm inviting you to do so as well.
-
10:29 - 10:32I'm not going to tell you
that it's not easy. -
10:32 - 10:35I ventured though to tell my story
-
10:35 - 10:40because I thought it would make it
a little easier for people to tell theirs. -
10:40 - 10:43I think it's only through
our strength in numbers -
10:43 - 10:48that we can begin to change
the national "la-la" conversation -
10:48 - 10:51that we are having
on this retirement crisis. -
10:51 - 10:57With so many of us shell-shocked
and adrift about what has happened to us, -
10:57 - 11:01we're going to have to build up
from the grassroots, -
11:01 - 11:04forming what I think
are resilience circles. -
11:04 - 11:08These are small groups
of people coming together -
11:08 - 11:11to talk about what has happened to them,
-
11:11 - 11:14to share resources and information
-
11:14 - 11:16and to begin to figure out a way forward.
-
11:17 - 11:21I believe from this base
that we can find our voices again -
11:21 - 11:23and sound the alarm --
-
11:23 - 11:27start pushing our institutions
and policymakers -
11:27 - 11:31to go hard on this retirement crisis
with the urgency it deserves. -
11:32 - 11:33In the meantime --
-
11:33 - 11:36and there is an "in the meantime" --
-
11:36 - 11:40we're going to have to adopt
a live-low-to-the-ground mindset, -
11:40 - 11:44drastically cutting back on our expenses.
-
11:44 - 11:48And I don't mean
just living within our means. -
11:48 - 11:51A lot of people are already doing that.
-
11:52 - 11:55What is called for now is to,
-
11:55 - 11:57in a much deeper way,
-
11:57 - 12:00ask ourselves what it really means
-
12:00 - 12:04to live a life
that is not defined by things. -
12:04 - 12:06I call it "smalling up."
-
12:07 - 12:10Smalling up is figuring out
what you really need -
12:10 - 12:14to feel contented and grounded.
-
12:14 - 12:19I have a friend who drives
really beat-up, raggedy cars, -
12:19 - 12:24but he will scrimp and save
15,000 dollars at one point -
12:24 - 12:26to buy a flute
-
12:26 - 12:28because music is
what really matters to him. -
12:29 - 12:30He smalled up.
-
12:31 - 12:34I've had to also let go
of magical thinking -- -
12:34 - 12:38this idea that if I just
was patient enough -
12:38 - 12:39and tightened my belt
-
12:39 - 12:41that things would go back to normal.
-
12:41 - 12:46If I just sent in one more CV
-
12:46 - 12:49or applied to one more job online
-
12:49 - 12:52or attended one more networking event
-
12:52 - 12:55that surely I'd get the kind of job
I was used to having. -
12:55 - 12:58Surely things would return to normal.
-
12:59 - 13:03The truth is I'm not going back
and neither are you. -
13:04 - 13:07The normal that we knew is over.
-
13:08 - 13:10In this new place that we are,
-
13:10 - 13:13we're going to be asked to do things
that we don't want to do. -
13:13 - 13:16We're going to be asked
to take assignments -
13:16 - 13:20that we think are beneath
our station and our talent -
13:20 - 13:21and our skill.
-
13:21 - 13:24I have had to get off my throne.
-
13:25 - 13:28Last year, a good friend of mine
asked me if I would help her -
13:28 - 13:30with some organization work.
-
13:30 - 13:32I assumed she meant community organizing
-
13:32 - 13:37along the lines of what
President Obama did in Chicago. -
13:37 - 13:40She meant organizing somebody's closet.
-
13:40 - 13:41I said, "I'm not doing that."
-
13:41 - 13:44She said, "Get off your throne.
Money is green." -
13:46 - 13:50It's not easy being part
of the advance team -
13:50 - 13:54that is ushering in this new era
of work and living. -
13:54 - 13:56First is always hardest.
-
13:56 - 13:59First is before there are networks
-
13:59 - 14:03and pathways and role models ...
-
14:03 - 14:09before there are policies
and ways to show us -
14:09 - 14:10how to go forward.
-
14:11 - 14:14We're in the middle of a seismic shift,
-
14:14 - 14:18and we're going to have to find
bridgework to get us through. -
14:19 - 14:22Bridgework is what we do in the meantime;
-
14:22 - 14:23bridgework is what we do
-
14:23 - 14:26while we're trying
to figure out what is next. -
14:26 - 14:29Bridgework is also
letting go of this notion -
14:29 - 14:34that our worth and our value
depend on our income -
14:34 - 14:36and our titles and our jobs.
-
14:36 - 14:40Bridgework can look crazy or cool
depending on how you were rolling -
14:40 - 14:43when your personal financial crisis hit.
-
14:43 - 14:47I have friends with PhDs
who are working at the Container Store -
14:47 - 14:49or driving Uber or Lyft,
-
14:49 - 14:53and then I have other friends
who are partnering with other boomers -
14:53 - 14:57and doing really cool
entrepreneurial ventures. -
14:58 - 15:01Bridgework doesn't mean that we don't want
-
15:02 - 15:04to build on our past careers,
-
15:04 - 15:07that we don't want meaningful work.
-
15:07 - 15:09We do.
-
15:09 - 15:12Bridgework is what we do in the meantime
-
15:12 - 15:15while we're figuring out what is next.
-
15:16 - 15:20I've also learned to think
strategy not failure -
15:20 - 15:25when I'm sort of processing
all these things that I don't want to do. -
15:26 - 15:27And I say that that's an approach
-
15:27 - 15:30that I would invite you
to consider as well. -
15:30 - 15:35So if you need to move in
with your brother to make ends meet, -
15:35 - 15:36call him.
-
15:36 - 15:41If you need to take in a boarder
to help you pay your mortgage -
15:42 - 15:43or pay your rent,
-
15:43 - 15:44do it.
-
15:44 - 15:47If you need to get food stamps,
-
15:47 - 15:49get the darn food stamps.
-
15:49 - 15:54AARP says only a third of older adults
who are eligible actually get them. -
15:55 - 15:59Do what you need to do
to go another round. -
15:59 - 16:03Know that there are millions of us.
-
16:03 - 16:05Come out of the shadows.
-
16:05 - 16:07Cut back,
-
16:07 - 16:08small up;
-
16:08 - 16:10think strategy, not failure;
-
16:11 - 16:13get off your throne
-
16:13 - 16:18and find the bridgework
to get your through the lean times. -
16:19 - 16:22As a country, we have achieved longevity,
-
16:22 - 16:28investing billions of dollars
in the diagnosis, treatment -
16:28 - 16:29and management of disease.
-
16:30 - 16:34It's not enough to just live a long time.
-
16:34 - 16:36We want to live well.
-
16:37 - 16:42We haven't invested nearly as much
in the physical infrastructure -
16:42 - 16:44to ensure that that happens.
-
16:45 - 16:49We need now a new way of thinking
-
16:49 - 16:52about what it means to be old in America.
-
16:53 - 16:58And we need guidance
and ideas about how to live -
16:58 - 17:00a richly textured life
-
17:00 - 17:02on a much more modest income.
-
17:03 - 17:06So I am calling on change agents
-
17:06 - 17:08and social entrepreneurs,
-
17:08 - 17:10artists and elders
-
17:10 - 17:12and impact investors.
-
17:12 - 17:16I'm calling on developers
and disrupters of the status quo. -
17:17 - 17:20We need you to help us imagine
-
17:22 - 17:27how to invest in the services
and products and infrastructure -
17:27 - 17:30that will support our dignity,
-
17:30 - 17:33our independence and our well-being
-
17:33 - 17:36in these many, many decades
that we're going to live. -
17:37 - 17:41My journey has taken me
from a place of fear and shame -
17:41 - 17:45to one of humility and understanding.
-
17:45 - 17:49I'm ready now to link shields with others,
-
17:49 - 17:51to fight this fight,
-
17:52 - 17:54and I'm inviting you to join me.
-
17:54 - 17:55Thank you.
-
17:55 - 17:59(Applause)
- Title:
- An honest look at the personal finance crisis
- Speaker:
- Elizabeth White
- Description:
-
Here's a secret: Millions of baby boomers are moving into their senior years in severe financial crisis. And right behind them is a younger generation facing the same challenges. In this deeply personal talk, author Elizabeth White opens up an honest conversation about financial trouble and offers practical advice for how to live a richly textured life on a limited income.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 18:12
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis | ||
Leslie Gauthier edited English subtitles for An honest look at the personal finance crisis |