CHAPTER THREE
Structural Risk
“Money amassed either serves us or rules us.” ~ Horace
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et’s go back to my Uncle Irwin. In retirement, my uncle loved playing golf. And why not? Irwin had a great life. When he graduated from college, he got a job with a manu- facturer, and over the next forty years he slowly climbed the cor- porate ranks from assistant to manager to division manager to vice president. At age sixty, he retired with a pension that sent him a check for $80,000 every year . . . for the rest of his life. So he didn’t have to worry if the stock market was up or down or how much money was left in his retirement account. His company guaranteed him that pension check for life. No wonder he played so much golf! You probably know people like Irwin, unless you’re under the age of fifty. Then there’s a good chance you don’t. You see, people like Irwin just don’t exist among today’s younger generation. Today’s retirement landscape is unlike any in history. And a lot of it has to do with structural risk. “Structural risk” sounds like an actuarial term, but actually it’s a simple concept: This is the risk that comes with the mechanics of saving. What are the vehicles available to you? What are the rules of the saving game? Who is going to help you save?
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