Help! I’m in my 60s and don’t have enough money to retire – The Wall Street Journal

Working as a newspaper reporter in my 20s in South Africa, I encountered many people with sad life stories. Some of the most heart-wrenching situations involved mature people who had lost some or all of their hard-earned savings, either through poor savings and investment choices or by being preyed on by evil people. And, worst of all, these people were too old or sickly to genuinely have a hope of finding work to make up for the losses. Being old and poor in a country without a safety net is not for sissies. These scenarios left a deep impression, spurring me on to spend inordinate amounts of time on figuring out how to save enough money to cater for my retirement. Yet, as the years have marched on, the goal of financial independence continues to appear elusive. I have lost money in disappointing investments, been hit with unexpected tax bills, found myself scraping by to put my children in private education and have generally experienced the job of saving for the long-term a case of one step forward and two steps back. I'm not alone. And, while I am not in my 60s and might have some time to regain lost ground, I worry about getting to the point when I have to stop working. The Wall Street Journal tackles the widespread fear of retiring without enough funds. – Jackie Cameron

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