Today's Social Security benefits are too small to give retirees financial stability

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

49. And if you retire into a rising market, you need to understand

that at some point the market will pull back.

As someone whose pension is less than 1/3 of what it should be (the company I worked for was able to get out from under its (underfunded) pension obligation in a bankruptcy or two) I have far less faith in pensions than I do in things like a 401k. Putting aside money and investing it sensibly is the way to go. I know, some companies require you invest in their stock, which is a truly hideous choice. Enron, anyone? Especially if you're a couple and your significant other works for the same company. Not enough diversification.

I am fortunate. I have a tiny pension (remember it's less than a third of what it should be, but fortunately I never expected it to be even as much as it currently is), Social Security, two annuities (and annuities get an undeserved bad rap), and I also take out money every month from my investments. I actually have a larger income now than I've ever had. I'm not only paying my bills (which include a mortgage), living reasonably well on a day to day basis, but I'm saving money. Lucky me.

People sometimes post as if 401k plans are not much better than Russian Roulette. You need to do the appropriate research on the choices available. You might need to move money around. But trust me, a 401k can be enormously better than a pension. Notice that I've mentioned my pension is less than 1/3 of what it should be. The people in my former company who were truly screwed were the ones who worked 30 years and honestly thought that pension would be there for them. It should have been double their SS amount, maybe even a bit more. Instead, it's less than half of their SS amount. Do the math. The average Social Security check is something like $1400/month. Not enough to live on in most places. If that were my total income I'd be living with my sister or on the street. If I thought I was going to have $3,000/month from my pension, and it's now $870/month, well you can do the math here as well.

Here's the thing about the stock market. It periodically posts new highs. It never posts new lows. So if you're buying and selling trying to time the market, well, not to put too fine a point on it, you're an idiot. Find good funds or good stocks and stick with them. Don't sell because the market goes down. That's a time, if you have extra cash, to buy.

Being invested for the long run is a good thing.

I first started buying stocks in the late 1970s. I've been through a lot of ups and downs and they've mostly been ups, Yeah, I got hurt in the tech bubble in 2000, but simply by staying put I did okay.

People here worry about a stock market crash as if it will be 1929 all over again. That is so unlikely to happen that I can't fully express the unlikelihood. To repeat myself. The stock market posts new highs on a more or less regular basis. It never posts new lows. Last week when I was talking to my financial guy and said that to him, he was thunderstruck. He'd never thought about it that way. But you should.