Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

The point I was making is that I won’t rely on anyone except me when it comes to retirement. I make my choices based on what I can do. Pepsi had great benefits back in the day but their pay was junk. I was money ahead to take a higher paying job with worse benefits and fund things myself.

I’d also be curious how many drivers from a large company that do participate roll their accounts over when they change jobs versus cashing out what they can, paying the insane taxes, and spending it on toys.

 

Personally, I'd rather be this guy.
He is the guy that is really free.

 

No argument with your point, but now we have to mention the elephant in the room: how many truckers have the financial discipline to save for retirement outside of a forced savings plan like a 401K?

 

Not very many. Even with a 401k a lot of employees will have the minimum deducted. It's interesting to watch those guys when they hit fifty years old and realize that maybe they're going to retire after all. All of a sudden they're in the HR office changing their contribution to maximum.

 

Welp, we’re heading to the Onaway Big Rig Challenge in the morning!

 

I'd bet not too many.... And I'm not picking on anyone here, but I'd hazard a guess that probably 90% of the owner operators/lease operators probably don't save for retirement.
I know a guy, he ran his own truck from '81 until about 5 years or so ago. He is a company driver now, he's got no retirement. Just Social Security to look forward to. He inherited his family farm, and ended up selling that because he couldn't afford the taxes. Now he's paying capital gains tax on the farm he sold, and the truck and trailer he sold when he started diving a company truck. Poor fellow is 65 years old and probably will die in debt. One of the nicest guys you'd ever meet, too. The kind that would give you the shirt off his back if he was frozen.

But the sad part of it all? He relied on his mom to pay the bills. He made the money, and she did all his bookkeeping. When she died, he had no idea what to do, so his sister stepped in and basically milked him dry. He owns a small apartment building, and recently his sister kicked him out of the bigger apartment so her daughter would have more room. Now he's in a one bedroom apartment barely big enough to move around in, and stuck paying for everything. The niece in the big apartment pays nothing. It is truly sad.

 

I would bet more than 50% of truck drivers over 50 years old have ZERO dollars in their 401k and dont have an ira either.

Nationally, we have about an 80% participation rate in 401k plans. Transportation has a 75% rate, while companies with less than 100 workers only have a 60% rate - and I don't know if that's "plan is available and used" or "all workers compared to those who have a 401k". Either way, it looks like large amounts of drivers have no plan other than social security.

Then there is the oft quoted stat that 1 out of 3 people borrow from their 401k - don't know how true that is. And all the "finance bros" who say a 401k is a bad investment. And the large percentage of drivers who continuously take cash advances. And the ridiculous number of drivers in their 70s that can't afford to retire.

All that tells me that truck drivers have the financial discipline of a drunk toddler.

 

I rolled mine into my new company. I don't have any toys either.

 

As Janice said "Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose."
So true.