Mission Retirement 3 - 5:19
	SEGMENT 3: LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE NARRATOR: IT WOULD BE A LOT EASIER TO SAVE FOR RETIREMENT IF YOU KNEW EXACTLY HOW YOUR LIFE WAS GOING TO PLAY OUT… BUT, OF COURSE, LIFE IS FULL OF UNEXPECTED BUMPS AND SHOCKS… WHETHER IT'S LOSING A JOB… A DIVORCE… AN ACCIDENT… OR SUDDENLY DISCOVERING A MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEM… SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT IS HAVING A BIG ENOUGH NEST EGG TO HANDLE THE UNEXPECTED… Gil Thibeau in the a.m. …having breakfast with his wife and heading out to another day of work… arriving at Aetna office and working the phones… FIVE YEARS AGO, GIL THIBEAU GOT A SHOCK, THE COMPANY HE PLANNED TO RETIRE FROM DOWNSIZED… AND THIBEAU, A HIGHLY TRAINED ENGINEER WITH AN M.B.A MAKING NEARLY $100,000 A YEAR WAS OUT OF WORK… AT AGE 60… Gil Thibeau And I, at the time thought with my background, my education, my degrees I should be able to land another job that was going to pay about the same, same salary, maybe a little less. // And after 2 years and not having much luck and running out of medical, medical benefits, I had to bite the bullet and take the first another, a job that came along that I normally wouldn't have taken. //It was only paying $30,000 a year so. I went from 90, 95,000 down to 30,000 as far as job salary goes. A HUGE CUT IN PAY… BUT THIBEAU GOT A JOB AND HEALTH COVERAGE… AS A CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE FOR AETNA INSURANCE… IN THEIR 30's AND 40's, THE THIBEAUS WEREN'T FOCUSED ON RETIREMENT… THEY WERE BUSY RAISING A FAMILY… BUT ONCE THE KIDS LEFT HOME, THE IDEA OF SAVING FOR RETIREMENT BEGAN TO SINK IN… Gil Thibeau I was 50 in 1991 and I knew I only have maybe 14, 15 more, 15 more years to work before I could retire. And didn't have a very big nest egg at that point in time. So I was it was time to get on the ball and start doing something about it. Thibeau at home on his computer… researching stocks and funds… THIBEAU TOOK TO THE CHALLENGE… HE TOOK FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES HIS COMPANY OFFERED… HE MAXED OUT ON 401(k) CONTRIBUTIONS AND BOUGHT SOME COMPANY STOCK OPTIONS… HE FOLLOWED HIS INVESTMENTS CLOSELY AND HE DID WELL… OVER 15 YEARS, HE'S BUILT UP RETIREMENT SAVINGS OF MORE THAN $400,000… AND, MOST IMPORTANT, HE PROTECTED THOSE SAVINGS, EVEN DURING DIFFICULT TIMES… Gil Thibeau When I got laid off, I didn't take that out of the account. I stuck to my guns and knew I'm going to need it when I retire. Matt Greenwald Gil Thibeau is following a very smart strategy. He is not drawing down his nest egg. He has not lost his health insurance. He is not endangering his future financial security. Gil Thibeau did not get defeated. Back to Thibeau at Aetna… working the phones Gil Thibeau Probably if I had started back when I was 30 when I got laid off in 60, I might have if I had enough money in there, I may have thought about retiring out. But now here I am have to work an extra seven years from that point. Sequence of Millie at work… and shopping at the grocery store… NARRATOR: MILLIE KIRKWOOD IS WORKING MORE THAN SHE EXPECTED TO… FOR MANY YEARS, MILLIE STAYED AT HOME TO RAISE HER KIDS, TAKING ONLY AN OCCASIONAL JOB… BUT AT 49, MILLIE'S LIFE TOOK A DRAMATIC TURN… SHE GOT DIVORCED… Millie Kirkwood At the point that I was divorced even yeah I just felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I was starting from ground zero. // My biggest fear was that of many women of that age at the time was I didn't want to be a bag lady so I had to, to start worrying about the future which at that point was just mostly depending on social security although I know it really wouldn't hold me through retirement. MILLIE UNDERSTOOD THE REALITY THAT MILLIONS OF AMERICANS FACE. Dallas Salisbury For a middle-class American, a person at the average wage, those individuals, from Social Security, in the future will get about 37 percent of their final pay. // And most people, that type of a cutback in lifestyle is just not something they're going to be prepared to do. SO MILLIE SET HER SAVINGS GOALS… SHE MAXED OUT HER 401(k) AND MADE SURE SHE SET ASIDE 15% OF HER INCOME. WHEN SHE GOT A RAISE, IT ALL WENT TO SAVINGS… Millie Kirkwood I only have one credit card and I pay it off every month. If I can't afford to pay for it this month, I don't buy it. I've just learned how to do without a lot of things that other people consider necessities. MILLIE PLANS TO KEEP WORKING A FEW MORE YEARS BEFORE SHE STARTS DRAWING SOCIAL SECURITY… SHE'S STEADILY ADDING TO THE NEST EGG SHE'S NOW BUILT OF $210,000… CAREFULLY PROTECTING HERSELF AGAINST THE UNPREDICTABLE Kirkwood Things change. Stock market crashes. You may depend on a child, that child may go bankrupts, maybe killed in a car accident. You never know. So you really need to plan for yourself and get your plan out and just start putting money in the bank.