Kevin O'Leary offers important advice on Social Security and retirement, ‘Throw out your plan for freedom at…'
Kevin O'Leary, the prominent entrepreneur and Shark Tank's star investor, has shared an important message on Social Security and the amount of revenue people need in retirement along with the federal program's monthly checks. He has highlighted that 'Social Security payments were never designed to fully support retirees as their sole source of income.'
With the average monthly payment of $1,900, it doesn't ensure a comfortable retirement for the senior citizens that they want. To have a financially stable future, workers often turn to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans that allow them to make annual contributions up to a specific limit and invest that money for their later years after working days are over. It has added company-matching contributions which offer an added incentive.
In the plan, traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) are made with pre-tax dollars, so retirees owe taxes on withdrawals during retirement. However, Roth IRAs require taxes to be paid upfront on contributions, which allows retirees to make tax-free withdrawals later in life.
O'Leary has provided additional guidance on Social Security checks and other income during retirement, saying, 'First of all, you need less than you'd imagine, and panicking helps nothing. The best antidote to panic is realism. If you hit the age of sixty-five in good health, life is just going to be a lot cheaper to live. If you're realistic.'
In O'Leary's book 'Cold, Hard Truth on Men, Women & Money,' he cited experts who suggested that retirees need about 65% of their gross salary after retirement. For instance, if an individual earns $100,000 annually, they would require $65,000 in the first year of retirement to cover their expenses. As the average annual Social Security benefits are about $23,000, any retiree would require an additional $42,000 per year to sustain their comfortable retirement, assuming that one will want to maintain roughly the same standard of living that they enjoyed before retiring.
O'Leary said, 'Of course, you ate out a lot, bought hardcover books to read on the subway, and got a brand-new coat every winter. But in retirement, you won't need to finance your lifestyle in the same way. There will be no commuting, fewer lunches out, and lower dry-cleaning bills.'
'If you don't think you can go days without spending money on useless crap like magazines, gum, or coffee, then you're going to be in trouble a few years into retirement,' he added. 'If you're healthy and happy, being old is cheap. Walking, working part-time, and living a life of purpose and meaning don't require a lot of money, just planning and discipline.'
O'Leary also pointed out the importance of getting out of debt before retiring, saying, 'If you're heading toward retirement with debt, now's the time to budget like you've never budgeted before. I mean it.'
He added, 'Don't retire until you can afford it. Throw out your plan for freedom at fifty-five or even sixty-five. If you have debt, you need your job, so you have to do everything in your power to keep it. Get a part-time job, too, while you're at it and while you're still spry enough to handle it.'
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Time of India
an hour ago
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Economic Times
an hour ago
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Rising concerns over privacy and oversight Live Events Fallout after Musk's departure from DOGE Legal battle over Government transparency (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The US Supreme Court on Friday sided with the Trump administration in two critical decisions involving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The rulings allow DOGE broad access to personal records held by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and delay enforcement of transparency rules sought by a government watchdog a 6-3 vote, the conservative-majority court granted DOGE permission to access sensitive SSA databases containing the personal details of millions of Americans. This includes financial, educational and medical court also paused a lower court's ruling requiring DOGE to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), allowing the administration to withhold internal documents about DOGE's Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented sharply, writing: 'This court has now greenlit unfettered data access to DOGE regardless—despite its failure to show any need or any interest in complying with existing privacy safeguards, and all before we know for sure whether federal law countenances such access.'Her concerns were echoed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Together, they warned that the court's action posed 'grave privacy risks' to millions of SSA holds data on anyone with a Social Security number, Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income. It administers $1.5 trillion in federal payments annually, distributing benefits to over 70 million Altman, president of Social Security Works , said, 'There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.'Elon Musk, who once led DOGE, formally cut ties with the agency on 30 May. His split with President Trump became public shortly after, igniting tensions on social media. The two previously worked closely, with Trump assigning DOGE and Musk to investigate fraud within February, SSA's acting commissioner Michelle King resigned after refusing to provide DOGE staff access to personal records. She stepped down after 30 years in government service, citing concerns over data misuse.A day later, the White House said it had appointed a temporary 'anti-fraud expert' to oversee SSA. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, 'They haven't dug into the books yet, but they suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.'Leavitt added the mission was to, 'Number one, to identify duplicate payments and to end them. Number two, to identify payments that are going to deceased people who are no longer living and should no longer be receiving that number three, to protect the integrity of the system for hardworking Americans who have been paying into it their entire lives.'In a separate ruling, the court also halted an order from Judge Christopher Cooper, who had instructed DOGE to comply with FOIA requests. The suit, filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), sought records about DOGE's internal decision-making, particularly its role in mass federal layoffs and argues that DOGE functions as a de facto government agency and must follow federal transparency laws. The administration insists DOGE is merely an advisory body and is therefore Cooper previously concluded that DOGE likely exercises 'substantial independent authority' and ordered a deposition of DOGE official Amy Gleason. 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However, critics argue that unchecked access and lack of oversight could result in lasting harm to public trust and data security Maryland District Judge Ellen Hollander, whose SSA data access restriction was overturned, earlier warned that DOGE's search for fraud was a 'fishing expedition.' Her order allowed only limited access to anonymised data unless DOGE could demonstrate a specific Friday's rulings, the future of DOGE remains uncertain. With Musk gone and legal scrutiny intensifying, its role in reshaping federal oversight continues to spark debate over accountability, privacy, and the limits of executive power.
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