Golden years? That's rich

They were just three guys eating lunch at Panera Bread at Alderwood mall Monday.

But to me, the three co-workers at a Bothell health-care company were the money minds of middle-class America.

Here was Justin Faires, 34. He's putting money into his 401(k). Invests in the stock market. Drives an Audi.

"I'm an optimist," he said.

Of course he is. He's got decades to prepare for retirement.

Here was Vic Dugal, 55. He's trying to help two recently graduated kids with their college loans while putting one more through the University of Washington. And he just paid for his daughter's wedding.

"We ran out of money after that," he said with a weak chuckle.

And here was Chuck Tarvin, 62. He read about the Ernst & Young study released Monday that said Americans will have to "drastically" reduce their standard of living before retirement to live comfortably — or avoid destitution.

"I'm scared to death," Tarvin said. "I'm old enough that I don't have a lot of time left."

So Tarvin is scrambling to make his golden years as green as possible.

He moved from a 2,200-square-foot home on Bainbridge Island proper to a smaller place in Kingston. He walks to the ferry instead of driving on.

"I max out my 401(k) ... ," he said. "I was hoping not to have to work past 63, but not now.

"Being a greeter at Wal-Mart is something that has been discussed at our house."

Dugal, not far behind his co-worker, nodded along. He and his wife don't go out to dinner or vacation as much as they used to, and she recently started working again.

The Ernst & Young study sent a shiver across the country, as did the run on the IndyMac Bancorp in California on Monday. People compared it to the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life."

We just don't know if we're going to be singing at the end.

The study also estimated that three out of five middle-class retirees will probably run out of money if they maintain their pre-retirement lifestyles.

You hear that and wonder: What lifestyle? Most people I know are spending their paychecks in the process of earning them: Gas, food. Even Metro fares are up. We're just not getting anywhere.

And once we get there, well, there's no guarantee that there will be anything left of the Social Security we've been putting into all these years.

What, me worry? You bet.

Karen Sanders, who is also 35 and lives in Edmonds, is more worried about the economy in the short term.

"I'll say I am a little more cautious than I used to be," she said, then smirked. "I say this while I am heading to Starbucks for my Frappuccino."

Allow her that much, during this, the Summer of Less: less spending, less traveling, less feeling that American-style optimism that has gotten us through so much.

So what to do?

Listen to John Croley, 63, who retired five years ago from DuPont in Virginia. He's here visiting from Florida with his wife, Liz, 57, who is a traveling nurse.

"I'm good, not worried at all," Croley told me. "But getting that takes cautious planning, discipline and courage. Don't try to save it all at once."

More than anything, he said, ask yourself: Do you have what you want, or what you need?

"No, there will never be enough," he said. "But is there enough? Yes."

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

But is she bitter? Nah.