Happily Ever After - Segment 2 - 10:39
	Happily Ever After - Seg 2 (10:39) "WE CAN NEVER INSURE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE POPULATION AGAINST ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE HAZARDS AND VICISSITUDES OF LIFE, BUT WE HAVE TRIED TO FRAME A LAW, WHICH WILL GIVE SOME MEASURE OF PROTECTION TO THE AVERAGE CITIZEN AND TO HIS FAMILY AGAINST THE LOSS OF A JOB AND AGAINST POVERTY-STRICKEN OLD AGE." VO: IT WAS AUGUST 14TH 1935. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SIGNED THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT. A FEDERAL INSURANCE PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PAY RETIRED WORKERS AGE 65 OR OLDER A CONTINUING INCOME AFTER RETIREMENT. WHY DID THE COUNTRY NEED SOCIAL SECURITY? LET'S REWIND A BIT... BEFORE THE 20TH CENTURY, MOST AMERICANS LIVED AND WORKED ON FARMS. AND IF THE FAMILY OWNED LAND, THAT IN ITSELF WAS ENOUGH FOR A LIFETIME OF ECONOMIC SECURITY. BUT THEN CAME THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. AMERICANS MOVED FROM THE BIG FARMS TO THE BIG THE CITIES WHERE PROMISES OF WEALTH AND PROSPERITY IN RISING INDUSTRIES WAS TOO EXCITING TO PASS UP. IN THE 1920'S THE WORKFORCE GREW, THE COUNTRY PROSPERED, AND PEOPLE GOT USED TO LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM... MAKING AND SAVING MONEY. BUT IN 1929, DREAMS DISAPPEARED AND PIGGY BANKS WERE BROKEN WHEN THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION TOOK HOLD OF THE COUNTRY FOR OVER A DECADE. BY 1932 WITH ONE QUARTER OF THE COUNTRY'S WORKFORCE UNEMPLOYED, FDR CREATED A COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE ECONOMIC SECURITY PROBLEM AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS... AND THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT WAS BORN. IN 1940, AT THE AGE OF 65, IDA MAY FULLER, A RETIRED LEGAL SECRETARY, RECEIVED THE FIRST MONTHLY INSTALLMENT CHECK FROM SOCIAL SECURITY FOR TWENTY-TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY FOUR CENTS. IDA LIVED TO BE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD AND OVER HER LIFETIME SHE COLLECTED A TOTAL OF $22,888.92 IN SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. WHICH POSES A VERY GOOD QUESTION. IF WE ALL LIVE TO BE 100 LIKE IDA, WILL SOCIAL SECURITY BE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT US FOR ALL OF OUR GOLDEN YEARS? VO: SO NOW YOU MIGHT BE ASKING YOURSELF, "WHAT ARE THESE OTHER SAVINGS VEHICLES AND HOW DO I KEEP MY STOOL FROM FALLING OVER!" MAN ON THE STREET- 401K PLAN..IRA... MUTUAL FUNDS... .PROERTY 403B... SO ON VO: SAVING FOR YOUR FUTURE AND CREATING A WELL ROUNDED PORTFOLIO TAKES A LIFETIME TO EVOLVE. IT IS SOMETHING TO PLAN AND WORK ON WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG AS WELL AS WHEN YOU'RE OLDER. AND IF IT ALL SEEMS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING OR YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT, DON'T HIDE AWAY FROM IT. FIND OUT WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND IT. REMEMBER, THERE ARE MANY RESOURCES THAT CAN HELP. FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO YOU OWN BANK. FROM FINANCIAL ADVISORS TO INVESTMENT PLANNERS. WEB SITES, BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND A LOT OF IT IS FREE. "... WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT RETIREMENT THE KEY THING IS TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE PREPARED, THAT YOU'VE REALLY PROJECTED YOUR RETIREMENT NEEDS, UM, THAT YOU'LL HAVE ENOUGH, UH, UM, AND THAT TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF GUESSWORK, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD CALCULATORS THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE, UM, AND A LOT OF THEM ARE FREE. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE'S A WEBS, WEBSITE CALLED CHOOSETOSAVE.ORG AND THAT HAS A LOT OF REALLY HELPFUL CALCULATORS. PEOPLE WILL SEE IF THEIR MONEY WILL LAST." "... MAKE IT PART OF YOU PLAN. DON'T PUT IT OFF. DON'T PROCRASTINATE. DON'T SAY, YOU KNOW, 'OH, ONE DAY I'LL GET TO SAVING FOR RETIREMENT' CAUSE YOU MAY WAKE UP AND YOU'RE 60 AND YOU'LL HAVE A LOT OF GROUND TO MAKE UP. VO: NO ONE KNOWS MORE ABOUT GROUND TO MAKE UP THAN MR. DARRYL DILLINGHAM. I NEVER CONSIDERED MYSELF FRUGAL OR THRIFTY OR ANY OF THE OTHER ADJECTIVES THAT CONNOTE BEING ABOUT TO SAVE MONEY, UH, AND BEING REASONABLE ABOUT MONEY. I HAVE NEVER, UH, BEEN GOOD WITH MONEY. VO: AT 67 YEARS OLD, DARRYL DILLINGHAM FINDS HIMSELF STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MET AND HAS LEARNED FIRST HAND WHAT IS LIKE NOT TO HAVE SAVED ENOUGH FOR HIS LATER YEARS. BORN IN 1936, DARRYL GREW UP IN SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA. AFTER HIGH SCHOOL HE SPENT FOUR YEARS IN THE NAVY AND FOLLOWED THAT UP BY GRADATING FROM FERNANDO VALLEY STATE COLLEGE WHERE HE RECEIVED A DEGREE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. SO FAR SO GOOD. AS A YOUNG MAN HE BECAME ATTRACTED TO THE WORLD OF MEDIA AND STARTED WORKING FOR RKO RADIO. HE MOVED ON TO BECOME THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS AT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTING. UP TO THAT POINT, UH, MY THOUGHTS ON MY FINANCIAL FUTURE UP TO THAT POINT WERE, I WON'T SAY NULL AND VOID, BUT I DIDN'T GIVE MUCH THOUGHT TO IT. YOU KNOW, I WOULD, MY, UH, MY ENERGY, MY FOCUS WAS ON GETTING AHEAD. UH, I ALWAYS FELT THAT, UH, WITH THE TALENT THAT I HAD, THAT I WOULD GET TO THE POINT WHERE I REALLY WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, THAT I WOULD BE MAKING 6 OR 7 FIGURES, AND THAT ALL OF THAT WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF, VO: DARRYL DECIDED THAT HE WAS GOING TO ACHIEVE HIS FINANCIAL GOALS BY CREATING HIS OWN TELEVISION PRODUCTION COMPANY. AND LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESSES, IT HAD HIS UPS AND DOWNS. BECAUSE OF THIS, THIS OVERRIDING PASSION THAT I HAD FOR OWNERSHIP AND MY OWN COMPANY, I WAS PLOWING ALL THIS MONEY, OR THE MONEY THAT I WAS MAKING IN THE COMPANY, BACK INTO THE COMPANY. AND SO AS A CONSEQUENCE, IN ORDER TO, TO LIVE I HAD TO TAKE A PART-TIME JOB; BARTENDING ON THE SIDE. AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, AT THIS POINT, I HAD NO THOUGHT, UM, OF INVESTMENT OR WHATEVER BECAUSE I REALLY DIDN'T HAVE THE CAPITAL AT THAT POINT TO INVEST VO: AFTER 10 YEARS, DARRYL'S FINANCIAL BURDENS BECAME TOO MUCH AND HE WAS FORCED TO CLOSE THE DOORS OF HIS COMPANY FOR GOOD. AFTER WORKING AS A FREELANCE CONSULTING FOR A FEW MORE YEARS DARRYL MADE THE BIGGEST DECISION OF HIS LIFE. HE DECIDED TO RETIRE. IRONICALLY, HE RETIRED BECAUSE HE NEEDED THE INCOME. I RETIRED WHEN I WAS 62, I RETIRED EARLY BECAUSE I NEEDED THE MONEY. I RETIRED AT 62, UH, BECAUSE YOU CAN RETIRE EARLY WITH SOCIAL SECURITY... YES YOU CAN RETIRE EARLY WITH SOCIAL, UH, SECURITY, YOU JUST GET LESS MONEY... PICK UP... . I RETIRED AT AGE 62 AND I, AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT, THE BENEFIT I WAS GETTING WAS NOT ENOUGH TO, BASICALLY TO MEET MY NEEDS, SO I HAD TO GET A PART-TIME JOB... VO: DARRYL AND HIS WIFE OF 10 YEARS OWN A HOME IN WASHINGTON DC. . HE STILL WORKS PART TIME IN A HOTEL RESTAURANT TO MAKE ENDS MEET. HE'S NOT THRILLED ABOUT THE WAY THINGS WORKED OUT, BUT HE'S LEARN TO DEAL WITH IT. IT REALLY HIT ME PRETTY HARD, UH, LET ME BACK UP... THE IDEA THAT I HAD SQUANDERED ALL THIS TIME AND NOT, HAVING NOT THOUGHT ABOUT MY FINANCIAL SECURITY... GO TO 02:11:50 I THINK, UH, A LOT OF THIS COMES FROM HOME, A LOT OF THIS COMES FROM, UH, THE PARENTS, YOU KNOW, HOW WELL DO THEY, DO THEY SAVE... . WORKING FAMILY, UH, A FAMILY THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MOTHER AND FATHER WORKED E-EXTREMELY HARD, UH, TO MAKE ENDS MEAT, UH, AND IT WAS DIFFICULT AT TIMES... . MY MOTHER OR FATHER NEVER SAID, HEY, YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA PUT THIS IN THE BANK, YOU KNOW, THEY NEVER BOUGHT, YOU KNOW, I NEVER HAD A PIGGY BANK... .GO TO 02:18:43... IF I WENT BACK, IF I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO BACK FORTY YEARS, UH, TO WHEN I WAS 27 YEARS OLD THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT, UH, I WOULD BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT MY FINANCIAL FUTURE. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT, UH, I WOULD LOOK SERIOUSLY, UH, AT, AT, THAT PARTICULAR POINT, AND BACK IN HISTORY PUTTING MONEY IN THE BANK. VO: BUT CERTAINLY DARRYL IS NOT ALONE IN THE WORLD AND ACCORDING TO THE PROFESSIONALS, THERE ARE STILL THINGS HE CAN DO TO SAVE FOR HIS FUTURE BECAUSE IT IS NEVER TO LATE TO START SAVING. WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND FOR HIM IS TO REALLY, UM, LOOK AT HIS BUDGET, UH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SCALE BACK ON SOME EXPENSES THAT HE DOESN'T NEED, AND TAKE THAT MONEY AND CONTINUE TO INVEST IT BECAUSE HE'S 67, HE COULD HAVE MANY MORE YEARS OF LIFE, UM, YOU KNOW, AND THERE ARE STILL INVESTMENTS. HE'LL WANNA MODERATE, YOU KNOW. HE'LL NOT WANNA GO OUT AND PUT EVERYTHING IN JUNK BONDS AND HIGH-TECH STOCKS AND REALLY, UH, TAKE A LOT OF RISK WITH THAT MONEY. HE CAN STILL TAKE SOME APPROPRIATE RISK AND, AND INVEST IN, UM, APPROPRIATE VEHICLES, UH, AND THAT CAN STILL BE A STRATEGY FOR HIM TO, TO PRODUCE AN INCOME." I THINK THERE'S A POSSIBILITY I MIGHT HAVE TO WORK UNTIL I'M 72, 70 OR 72 UNLESS I WIN THE LOTTERY. VO: DARRYL MAY NOT BE LUCKY WHEN IT COMES TO WINNING THE LOTTERY BUT HE IS LUCKY WHEN IT COMES TO HIS HEALTH. HE IS NOT ONLY IN GOOD HEALTH WITH NO FORESEEABLE PROBLEMS, BUT HE ALSO COVERED MEDICALLY BY THE VETERNS ADMINISTRATION FROM HIS TOUR OF DUTY. IN ADDITION, BECAUSE HE IS OVER 65, HE IS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF HEALTH COVERAGE THROUGH SOMETHING CALLED MEDICARE. WHAT IS MEDICARE AND HOW DOES IT PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE... WE'LL FIND OUT WHEN WE COME BACK.