Senior Software Engineer wrote:
"and whatever the compound value of saving 10%+ of my income for a working career is on that date, that I'll be better than fine."
That last line sounds like you expect the government to preserve your savings. During a currency crisis or outright default, most savers lose everything because they hold currency, bonds, and or the wrong stocks. They are debasing the dollar and you are losing value as I write this, although it still is not perceptible to you at this time.
I am not losing value however since I own the right things:
http://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=GC&p=w1And no, it's not a bubble. The general public is not even there. Only 0.8% of funds are invested in this sector. It used to average 20% for over a 100 years. Think of the dollar as opposite of that chart... I expect that chart to rise increasingly faster over the next 1-2 years.
I'm just not that pessimistic. I don't own individual stocks, but I'm balanced in a blend of funds, including a little real estate, bond, and international. If ALL of that goes belly-up, then no matter what your investments are in, you're screwed, because the top 200 companies in America have gone out of business and we're all chasing our own groceries. My statement "whatever the compound rate is" reflects the uncertainty of the current situation. I rather doubt the market will return 10-12% on average for the remainder of my working lifetime (20-25 years), but there was a time back when that would have seemed mild indeed. Either way, being an above-average saver can't hurt, and what I'm saving is not causing any appreciable lifetsyle pain on this end regardless.