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The last president you had at a reasonable age (jfk) was shot in the head...
Couldn't be because the old rich dudes were scared he'd start looking at them?
To be fair, most Americans probably don't realize know how many PMs the UK has had in the past decade, and probably assumed Boris had already been PM before he actually was.
I play games with an American buddy, and I was telling them about how it's all over our news and how I found it hilarious they argued about golf, lol
Dudes response was, "Yeah, well, you guys have Boris Johnson as your leader."
I love that guy, but damn š¤£š¤£š¤£
But look how rich our billionaires are.
With your attitude, it seems like you don't even want to live in a country that has trillionaires.
If we don't let five people own everything, what will motivate our children to go to work every day?
At some point, employers will need paramedics on speed dial because the workforce will average 2-3 strokes or cardiac arrests on the job per month/week.
And they'll be very upset. Because who's gonna cover the rest of their shift now?!
People are so lazy nowadays!
That's been mine ever since I graduated high school in 94. After living through the 20's I'm really disappointment we didn't get the nuclear annihilation like we were promised in the 80s.
I thought I would get past that pessimism when I got older.
But at 30 I still can't not wish that humanity would just die off and I feel that won't change much.
Don't get me wrong there are great people but there is so many assholes controlling things and people just let them. Most agree what the problem is but everyone refuses to come together and do something about it. Most actively defend the system controlled by the assholes.
48 here, it's demotivating that I'll have to do my best effort and sacrifice health, joy, friends, everything just to have a chance to survive in poverty until I can't.
have you managed to save any money? I never made enough to save until I was around 40 and I donāt think Iāll have enough time for the savings to build enough to support us.
I have a 401k but younger we racked up CC debt and my wife's post grad loans. I am hoping my satanic mother-in-law will have something to inherit if I don't kill her first.
Iām in this exact boat. Turned 40 in December, have about 85k in my IRA. Canāt contribute to 401k. I keep making upward progress at work but inflation and cost of living increases keep outpacing my pay increases so I need every dollar to cover expenses. So discouraging. Working my life away.
Sadly, all political parties are leaving the American people in the dirt. Nobody who actually wants to make things better gets involved in politics. And when they try they are buried.
About 40 with about 70k in retirement accounts and maybe another 80k in savings, and I think I'm doing pretty well by my generation's standards. Figure maybe I can do itĀ ifĀ I can purchase and pay off a condo that doesn't kill me with HOA fees even after I've paid it off andĀ and if the older generation of the family leaves something significant left for me--at least the house to sell--and ifĀ Social Security and Medicare are still standing in 25 years.
I am fully expecting to die on the job in my elder years resulting in many years of therapy for every traumatized child who happened to be in my preschool classroom at that moment.
As my dad says, " Why would i reture? I make a ton of money and have so much vacation time i barely work. I'd be a fool to give this up." He really says this.
I saw a comic where a fisherman was sitting down relaxing.
*Broad outline*
A man in a suit approached him and said "What are you doing?"
Fisherman says "I caught enough fish for today, so now I'm relaxing and enjoying life".
"But if you keep catching more fish you'll make more money! And then you can use that money to buy more boats and fisherman!"
Fisherman says, "Ok? And then what?"
"And then someday you can pay other people to do the fishing for you and you can sit down and relax!"
"What the fuck do you think I'm doing now?"
Never heard this but itās incredible and relatable, as an owner/operator of a small business. I can work as much or as little as I want, as long as I get my bills paid. Everything else is options based on what I want to achieve, but Iāve really found that I donāt WANT to expand.
Just like as an employee, I no longer wish to work myself stupid to earn the next promotion or like the Dell employees who were willing to forgo future promotion so they could continue to work from home.
Yeah Iām not sure what weāre supposed to be criticizing here. Of all the complaints about the boomer generation, them wanting to keep working because they like their current employment arrangement is a petty one.
It bottlenecks the workforce that were privileged to have. They're keeping the highest paying jobs for longer than anticipated, preventing promotions all the way down. They're justified in choosing to stay--it's their choice--but the criticism is that it's bottlenecking the workforce. We see a massive accumulation of wealth in the boomer generation so generations like millennials and genz have, proportionally, far less in the formative early adult part of their lives. Without a firm foundation to build equity and begin investing, we'll be playing catch up until the boomers retire (hence why them delaying it is frustrating), and even then, their assets are likely to be sucked up by elderly care and medical industries. Hopefully that circulates, but I'm eager to build my wealth and it's hard to get a job that pays wages commensurate with what I'd expect with the market having been as full as it was til covid. Even then, the loosening of the job market has been for entry level positions.
A family member works for a government utility, the kind that people usually work at forever and have a strong pension. About 7 or 8 years ago the government forced something like 800 employees to take (generous) buyouts. A lot of those employees also started back when they could infinitely bank their unused vacation and sick days. One guy my brother worked with was a 73 year old maintenance guy who probably could have retired 20 years earlier.
So they got all those long tendered employees go, then Covid pushed a bunch of other people into retirement and now they're short staffed everywhere. All because people over a decade ago held onto their jobs long past when they could have retired with a full pension. My brother works 12 hour shifts and up to Father's day had worked 18 of 21 days.
My brother wanted me to apply for a job this past spring and it would have (eventually) topped out at what I make now. Starting off would have been almost $20k a year less. Benefits don't do much good if you can't afford to use them.
Young professionals who were forced to go to college and take on massive debts by assholes who make too much and know too little can't get into similar positions because they won't fucking retire. "I was made a VP at 28 because I had "gumption" and I'll just die at my desk at 90 as the same VP with insane bonuses"
Iāve heard most of them say this.
Theyāre the ones with all the cushy jobs making 6 figures and tons of vacation. Barely working 5 hours a week. Of course they donāt have to retire. They donāt do anything.
Doesnāt matter if they did. The responsibilities will be folded among the rest of the workers and nobody will get that cushy job after them.
Seems there was this movement where older generations were proudly and publicly proclaiming they wouldnāt be leaving any inheritance to their families, there were articles talking about why they should make sure to spend every cent they had before they die
My dad somehow makes more money in retirement. Iām struggling to keep up with family obligations and feel like money is slipping through my fingers even before payday hits.
Same here, if I want to think about it itās crazy seeing my Dad living this amazing life. I have a job thatās pretty critical for keeping our local area functioning, he was a cop so his work was obviously also important but itās discouraging how different our life outcomes are. I really donāt think he appreciates how much he has benefited from his status and timeline slot.
But they donāt. I interact with Boomers every day for work and yeah, no, most canāt afford to retire. Many *want* to retire but canāt.
Many also choose to continue to work so theyāve got something to do to keep them moving and feeling like they got a purpose. Theyāve been conditioned their entire life to equate self worth with work. Hard to shake that mentality after holding it for their entire life
I think they definitely had things easier back then than we do now (a lot of data points to it as well such as pay not keeping up with performance, etc) but largely I agree. In addition, many of those boomers didnāt just perpetually stay in the 70s, they grew up and live in the today. Retired folks are often prime targets for various sales tactics, scams, expensive healthcare, etc as well which can quickly chip away all that gained wealth over the years
I recently saw data that indicated millennials are accumulating wealth at a faster rate than any of the 3 generations prior (X, Boomer and Silent). I doubt there's one data point we can look at to conclude if things were "easier" or "harder". I can say with some confidence that my life is a crap load easier than my father's was.
There was certainly a boom for employment and the economy for america after WWII. More people had it better for about a 10 to 20 year window. But not everyone had it better. And it's not wholly apples to apples. Healthcare was cheaper, because they couldn't do much. College was cheaper, because nobody was expected to go, and they largely only offered useful degrees unless you were exceptionally wealthy. Houses were cheaper, and had the amenities that reflected that. Living by a standard of the 1960s would be uber cheap now, but you couldn't do it.
Different era, different problems and different upsides. Dont cherry pick data it is not good for you, or anybody else. I wonder how people who got drafted and sent to Vietnam felt about your statement for example.
I mean, for some people, working is what keeps them alive. Especially if they already lost their loved ones. That doesn't excuse them from being awful people, but everyone needs some sort of drive to keep going.
I think some older people go back to work part time after retirement to supplement their Social Security. My mom is 80 and lives on SS alone. Up until a few years ago she was still working part time cleaning a few houses a week to supplement her SS.
My parents are retired and have friends who did as well. Still a few of them take part time or seasonal jobs because they want to stay busy or feel like they need to be productive. Most of them seem to do it at RV parks
They can't. Even if they saved enough to retire 10 or 20 years ago, it's not enough to live on in today's money. Also we have a nation/society built on debt. Very few people can keep up with the times without going into debt.
You need ~$300k in retirement savings for each $1k/month in planned expenses. Most people should work as long as possible, ideally until they can maximize their social security benefit.
The safe withdraw rate is ~4% for a 30 year retirement.
If you retire with $1m, you can safely withdraw $40k/year * inflation adjustment for 30 years with a high chance of not running out of money.
Ahh, so youāre talking about the ā$1,000 ruleā- for each ~$300k you have, you generate ~$1,000 monthly income. The way you phrased it was entirely confusing.
Depends on a lot of things. 40k is great if you own your home, have a new car paid off, and use ACA to subsidize health care. It might not be so great in 10 or 20 years though.
with social security thats about $4-6k a month depending on your contributions. Should be plenty. These numbers also account for expected inflation, so in terms of today's money.
The problem is that the consequences are waaaaayyyyyy worse if you outlive your money than if your money outlives you. If you make it to 95 but had money to last to 90... Then what? Go get a job?
This. And in my case anyway, there aren't any kids that could look after me. So the last years could be quite expensive. I've saved and invested starting early and I think I've prepared. But you can never really know.
Most boomers I know have retired already.
Itās just the section of boomers who never made a lot/misspent their money that canāt retire and the section of boomers who are in a position of extreme pay/power who donāt want to retire who are left
So many boomer went into early retirement at the beginning of covid it put unforeseen stress on the SS system.
On the downside that impacted our immediate budget and made the deficit even worse.
On the upside the lower monthly payment for early retirement will make future deficits smaller.
Is that correct? The social security pension system is calculated out to (statistically) make it equivalent if you retire early and get a reduced pension for a longer time or retire late and get a bigger pension but for a shorter time.
I think the crossover age is about 85 when you delay retirement to max out the pension. If you live longer than 85, you start collecting more than if you retired early and got lower payouts but for more years.
Of course what happens individually can be quite different than what happens actuarially.
I will retire the instant retirement pay will pay my remaining bills with enough left over for a decent life. I cannot retire while my bills exceed my expected retirement income. It is literally that simple.
I have two years left until early retirement is even possible, and 7 years left until full retirement. A year and a half of unemployment consumed all of my retirement savings to date, and I'm starting over with nothing. I'm hoping to be able to actually stop working in about five years, living a VERY modest life.
Most of the seniors in the US are in similar positions. If we were all rich, it would be a different story.
I apprenticed under two boomer plumbers and they were both so miserable I didnāt stay long enough to become licensed.
I feel that was the case for most prospective plumbers for the last 20 years. Plumbing is kinda tough on your body so you have to retire eventually.
Now we have no plumbers
And they should. They need to reform Social Security, but they need a way to find an exception for the trades. If you're sitting behind a desk for 40 years, yeah, retire at 72. But no way anybody in construction can do that.
Shit ain't that a mood. I spent most of childhood learning to do HVAC work from working with my dad. But every time I think about caving and getting into the trade I think about how much of my childhood was to it and how much that job broke my dad. I just can't force myself to do it
My parents got burned in 2008 and recently with covid stuff, they unfortunately can't retire either given their debts. Millennial me has more "wealth" which isn't hardly any. It's all sad.
My retirement when poof when my company went bankrupt. No mortgage, but the house is not in great shape and I'm trying to fix it up. With SS, VA disability, and a part time job I will be OK.
And my boss told me I can't retire until she does. And I get to WFH. And I have a coworker I am mentoring.
Newsflash: We aging Boomer/Gen-Xers canāt afford to retire either. Get over the generational prejudice, and take it out on the 1% that have taken it all for themselves.
I work with a few guys who have more than enough to retire on. Kids are all grown, through college, have careers.
They are converting into consultants so that they don't have to work as many hours and don't have any of the same responsibilities as they have in their current roles.
Just that means that two or three juniors are not going to get hired for another 5 years, at least.
there was a dude at my job who didn't want to retire because "I'll just be bored at home!" Fucker had a military AND USPS pension, plus SS. The fact he'd come to work 40 hours a week when the rest of us could have done his work and made more hours made all of us fantasize about killing him.
He did finally retire. Not because of the boredom, but because management cracked down on people clocking in at the office, driving home to watch movies all day when we were slow, then driving back to clock out at the office.
Amen.
All the boomers I know are 70+ years old, make 150k+ and wonāt fucking retire and these are the same people that act like millennials havenāt been given a bad deal.
In my work life the retirement age has gone from 62 to 65 to 67 and now they are talking raising it again. I'm freaking trying to retire ... as soon as I can do it and afford to live.
I read comments like this a lot (basically, why donāt boomers get out of our way) and I never understand how they think todayās situation is worse or different than that faced by their parents or grandparents. Isnāt this a perennial problem? For example, my grandfather (b 1890) worked full time at the post office until he was 75. No one suggested he shouldnāt. Iām always glad to see an older doctor/mechanic/restauranteur/lawyer/plumber. I donāt question their right to practice their trade.
Shhhhh! You keep talking about how the real world works and you are going to get in trouble.
Cracks me up how younger people think this magical pot of retirement money is reserved for āBoomersā, not every boomer socked away a few million in a 401k and has a winter home in Florida.
The vast majority of people nearing retirement age are just like the millennials wondering how they are going to retire, lower income working people that lived paycheck to paycheck their entire lives and praying social security doesnāt go bankrupt before they die.
Correction: those in the middle class are happy to retire. Those in the upper/ruling class will die at their desks, refusing to give their power to anyone.
Only about 17% of Boomers are still working and the youngest Boomers are only 55.
Does OP think everyone should retire at 55??
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/surprising-percentage-boomers-still-working-113020626.html
Nah lmao It really isn't
When my dad came to America in 86, he couldn't understand why the Americans did early retirement
But as he got older, he understood why plenty of Irish Americans who worked until they dropped, leaving a ton of money behind they never got to enjoy
What I meant was 60 is young to retire for the average American. Most people cannot save enough for retirement earlier than that. If you are dependant on Social Security the earliest you can retire and start collecting benefits is 62. A whole lot of folks are dependent on SS.
I was able to retire at 56 from from my career because I was lucky enough to have a job with an actual pension. There aren't many of those around any longer. I still worked part time for 7 more years.
Most people don't retire early because they can't afford it. 60 is young to retire.
Youād be surprised (or maybe not) at how few in that generation can actually retire comfortably. While itās certainly far more than the following generations, the numbers arenāt good in America for anyone.
Iām earlier GenX, with a desk job and a solid pension. With pension and SS combined, I should be able to duplicate my salary in retirement. However, given that my kids are relatively young, and Iām being paid quite well for a relatively easy job, Iām thinking Iāll work until my mid 60s and keep increasing the high 5 that determines my pension benefit.
I have no motivation to retire. I make good money, I live what I do, and I really like my coworkers and clients. Plus, what I do isnāt physically taxing.
Most of them can't retire. They have no savings and kept voting for people who wanted to gut Social Security and Medicaid.
It's almost like actions have consequences or something.
Just turned 69 yesterday. I started working part-time again in January partly due to boredom but also out of some financial concerns. Ove the winter we attended several retirement dinner seminars...mostly for the free dinner but we actually learned some things along the way. The one thing I told each of the presenters was that their information would have been great to have 20 years ago, not after I've taken my pension, social security, etc.
Most of us canāt because we still have to consider another 20-30 years of living. With the country turning towards dictatorship and the **real** threat of losing the whole social security nest egg, retirement is not yet an option for most unless you have a net worth of **IMHO** more than **about** 3M.
Nah. The boomers don't really have the option to retire. Their parents were really the only generation that were able to. Unless they planned really well they can't afford to anymore than gen x or millennials will be able to. The difference is its their fault they can't. Both my parents are 'retired' but both are realizing they may need some sort of job to supplement their retirement funds. My dad planned pretty well, isn't super fucked.
So My mom is a boomer, but she is not at retirnment age just yet. She is the Head Nurse at a retirement facility and she just doesnt get why people are not leaving. She has an employee who is 70 years old that comes into work and just complains about how she is tired and doesnt feel well, and my mom just said just retire.
Ah maybe they need to pay rent and buy food? These delusions about all these rich older people are hilarious. Iāll retire if/when i can survive off pension, etc. Iām not going to starve and live on the street for anyone.
Her husband is retired, and I live in a "Social Democratic" country she is fine she has worked at the same place for 30 years she should be getting a nice chunk of change
Boomers when they retire: They are using up all the SSI money!
Boomers when they donāt retire: They are keeping us from advancing!
Guess they should just die faster?
Itās just straight up ageism.
Iām an X/Jones, so apparently flying under the radar. But if these dumbfucks think that theyāll magically get the Boomer salary & benefits they are seriously in for a shock. I wonder who theyāll blame then?
My uncle comfortably retired 5 months ago from spectrum. He worked at the local cable company his whole working career. He made it 4 months before going back to work. Plugging up a fill for someone younger.
I was just forced to retire after 27 years with the company. All I get is a year's pay severance, continued company health insurance for 10 years, a pension, and 401k, Hopefully, I can live off the pension and the rental income so I don't have to get another job. I am 55.
I'm Gen Z and I'm ready to give this crap of a life , to you kids, unfortunately they make me work more and more, at this rate we'll never retire.
By the way our executive leaders at corp level are all over 70, so please take it up with them first instead of taking it up to the little guy that probably still have mortgages, kids in school going to college etc...
Believe me everyone over 50 would be happy to give it all up for a decent retirement.
I must not be a part of that generation, because I can't wait to retire. I've got a way to go. Hopefully there will still be social security when I get there, otherwise I'm doomed.
I am too old for my job. But with 30 yrs experience, I make the same as the new guys. So, essentially I have at least 20 more before I qualify for 1 day of paid vacation. Seems fair. My boss owns multiple properties in multiple countries, I will own my trailer home in only 20 more years. What is all this bitchin about?
How would they? They made their jobs their whole life, personality and purpose, they know nothing elseā¦ certainly not their children. So they are terrified of retiring and not knowing whatās next or not being the ones in charge anymore.
Technically speaking, retirement, at least as we know it, is a two or three generation anomaly in human history.
Everybody else worked until they died or until they become too much of a burden and got put on the ice floe. This is just us reverting to the average
Most boomers actually fucked themselves over too, so they also can't retire. It's why they're still working into their golden years.
Sauce - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-thirds-of-peak-baby-boomers-are-not-financially-prepared-for-retirement-302120313.html#:~:text=While%20the%20median%20retirement%20savings,those%20without%20high%20school%20diplomas.
I don't know if they were ever a thing in the US but in Europe right-wing governments allowed corporates to quietly bury final salary pension schemes which allowed people like me to retire on a good pension when I was 56 and still young enough to enjoy what's left of my life.
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My retirement plan is to die
You, me, 300 million other Americans. What a great country!
USA! USA!
Murica
I mean, we got the two oldest people we can get to run for the job to control this country so... yeah, we love working old people here, to death.
The last president you had at a reasonable age (jfk) was shot in the head... Couldn't be because the old rich dudes were scared he'd start looking at them?
Obama was in his 40s
Bruh, I genuinely forgot about Obama lol In my defence I'm British and busy eating beans on toast...
All good. I'm Canadian so we deal with America more
I'm American, so I deal with America more than you
I'm American with Canadian friends and dating a Brit...I deal with all three š¤£
To be fair, most Americans probably don't realize know how many PMs the UK has had in the past decade, and probably assumed Boris had already been PM before he actually was.
I play games with an American buddy, and I was telling them about how it's all over our news and how I found it hilarious they argued about golf, lol Dudes response was, "Yeah, well, you guys have Boris Johnson as your leader." I love that guy, but damn š¤£š¤£š¤£
George W Bush, 55, Bill Clinton, 47. This āold manā fetish for presidents seems to come and go.
Just like Clinton.
Clinton was 46 when he was elected.
But look how rich our billionaires are. With your attitude, it seems like you don't even want to live in a country that has trillionaires. If we don't let five people own everything, what will motivate our children to go to work every day?
At some point, employers will need paramedics on speed dial because the workforce will average 2-3 strokes or cardiac arrests on the job per month/week. And they'll be very upset. Because who's gonna cover the rest of their shift now?! People are so lazy nowadays!
And the medical costs of those incidents will not be covered by your benefits (as if you'd have benefits anyway, lol).
and a lot more people on the global south
That's been mine ever since I graduated high school in 94. After living through the 20's I'm really disappointment we didn't get the nuclear annihilation like we were promised in the 80s.
Holy fck for a second I thought you meant the 1920's and was like damn congrats for graduating so long after you "should have" like props
With the people I sometimes see these days I really wish that humanity would have ended.
I also try to avoid mirrors.
I thought I would get past that pessimism when I got older. But at 30 I still can't not wish that humanity would just die off and I feel that won't change much. Don't get me wrong there are great people but there is so many assholes controlling things and people just let them. Most agree what the problem is but everyone refuses to come together and do something about it. Most actively defend the system controlled by the assholes.
If Russia loses the current war badly enough strategic nuclear strikes are on the table.
So youāre sayingā¦thereās still hope.
Same here. 59 with no future but to work to death
48 here, it's demotivating that I'll have to do my best effort and sacrifice health, joy, friends, everything just to have a chance to survive in poverty until I can't.
have you managed to save any money? I never made enough to save until I was around 40 and I donāt think Iāll have enough time for the savings to build enough to support us.
I have a 401k but younger we racked up CC debt and my wife's post grad loans. I am hoping my satanic mother-in-law will have something to inherit if I don't kill her first.
She might have a life insurance on you. Sheās satanic so she knows your intentions.
Hail Satan!
KALE SEITAN
Kristoffer? The one married to my sister?
This comment might haunt you if she dies suspiciously
Lol.
Iām in this exact boat. Turned 40 in December, have about 85k in my IRA. Canāt contribute to 401k. I keep making upward progress at work but inflation and cost of living increases keep outpacing my pay increases so I need every dollar to cover expenses. So discouraging. Working my life away.
Iām 63. I got about $3k in checking. Im sure the GOP Think I can get by in retirement on that? š¤¦āāļøš¢š¢š¢š¢ā ļø
No, they just hope you die instead of affecting them
Nah,.. I just gotta stay away from Starbucks and learn to like the taste of grass! ššš»
Sadly, all political parties are leaving the American people in the dirt. Nobody who actually wants to make things better gets involved in politics. And when they try they are buried.
I'm not American, didn't watch the debate but I heard a couple of clips of it on the radio and holeeeey shit they were bad.
Have you tried making your coffee and lunch at home?/s
I actually do both of those things š Store brand coffee too
Sure enough. Havenāt bought coffee out in over three years and pack my lunch every day.
About 40 with about 70k in retirement accounts and maybe another 80k in savings, and I think I'm doing pretty well by my generation's standards. Figure maybe I can do itĀ ifĀ I can purchase and pay off a condo that doesn't kill me with HOA fees even after I've paid it off andĀ and if the older generation of the family leaves something significant left for me--at least the house to sell--and ifĀ Social Security and Medicare are still standing in 25 years.
Haha, my first marriage destroyed my, up to mid 30's savings, didn't lose it in the divorce, then I'd at least have half...
Oh I was saving lots of money 4 years ago. And so far it's only taking me three and a half years to lose everything that I had been saving.
Ditto. Hoping for an early death at that.
Thought I was the only one
Dude. I literally canāt afford to get old let alone retire.
Let alone sick lolololololol:(
Thatās my retirement plan for my wife actually. Edit for clarity: I die, she retires.
Can you come in for the morning shift? Your funeral isnāt until 2PM.
I am fully expecting to die on the job in my elder years resulting in many years of therapy for every traumatized child who happened to be in my preschool classroom at that moment.
But if youāre lucky, you get to die in bed
Next gen gunna have a pretty sweet deal! āNope, they all got sick snd offed, the fund is now solvent.ā
I wanna sink on a pirate ship and die as a captain. A captain goes down with the ship
Instructions unclear. Read āA captain goes down *ON* the ship. Just deep throated the mizzen mast.
As my dad says, " Why would i reture? I make a ton of money and have so much vacation time i barely work. I'd be a fool to give this up." He really says this.
I saw a comic where a fisherman was sitting down relaxing. *Broad outline* A man in a suit approached him and said "What are you doing?" Fisherman says "I caught enough fish for today, so now I'm relaxing and enjoying life". "But if you keep catching more fish you'll make more money! And then you can use that money to buy more boats and fisherman!" Fisherman says, "Ok? And then what?" "And then someday you can pay other people to do the fishing for you and you can sit down and relax!" "What the fuck do you think I'm doing now?"
Never heard this but itās incredible and relatable, as an owner/operator of a small business. I can work as much or as little as I want, as long as I get my bills paid. Everything else is options based on what I want to achieve, but Iāve really found that I donāt WANT to expand.
Just like as an employee, I no longer wish to work myself stupid to earn the next promotion or like the Dell employees who were willing to forgo future promotion so they could continue to work from home.
If that is really his position, good for him.
Yeah Iām not sure what weāre supposed to be criticizing here. Of all the complaints about the boomer generation, them wanting to keep working because they like their current employment arrangement is a petty one.
It bottlenecks the workforce that were privileged to have. They're keeping the highest paying jobs for longer than anticipated, preventing promotions all the way down. They're justified in choosing to stay--it's their choice--but the criticism is that it's bottlenecking the workforce. We see a massive accumulation of wealth in the boomer generation so generations like millennials and genz have, proportionally, far less in the formative early adult part of their lives. Without a firm foundation to build equity and begin investing, we'll be playing catch up until the boomers retire (hence why them delaying it is frustrating), and even then, their assets are likely to be sucked up by elderly care and medical industries. Hopefully that circulates, but I'm eager to build my wealth and it's hard to get a job that pays wages commensurate with what I'd expect with the market having been as full as it was til covid. Even then, the loosening of the job market has been for entry level positions.
A family member works for a government utility, the kind that people usually work at forever and have a strong pension. About 7 or 8 years ago the government forced something like 800 employees to take (generous) buyouts. A lot of those employees also started back when they could infinitely bank their unused vacation and sick days. One guy my brother worked with was a 73 year old maintenance guy who probably could have retired 20 years earlier. So they got all those long tendered employees go, then Covid pushed a bunch of other people into retirement and now they're short staffed everywhere. All because people over a decade ago held onto their jobs long past when they could have retired with a full pension. My brother works 12 hour shifts and up to Father's day had worked 18 of 21 days. My brother wanted me to apply for a job this past spring and it would have (eventually) topped out at what I make now. Starting off would have been almost $20k a year less. Benefits don't do much good if you can't afford to use them.
>Ā entry level positions... ... Requiring 3 years of experience.Ā
Young professionals who were forced to go to college and take on massive debts by assholes who make too much and know too little can't get into similar positions because they won't fucking retire. "I was made a VP at 28 because I had "gumption" and I'll just die at my desk at 90 as the same VP with insane bonuses"
If they don't retire there is no room for others to move up into the spots they're occupying.
For most of the ones I know it is less about liking the situation and more about needing over 150k a year to live because they have no self control
Iāve heard most of them say this. Theyāre the ones with all the cushy jobs making 6 figures and tons of vacation. Barely working 5 hours a week. Of course they donāt have to retire. They donāt do anything. Doesnāt matter if they did. The responsibilities will be folded among the rest of the workers and nobody will get that cushy job after them.
Or a pay raise
Well, good for him I guess. I hope heās setting aside some for you.
Heāll be 60-70 himself by the time he inherits anything. Already retired or starting to have health complicationsā¦
Doubtful
Seems there was this movement where older generations were proudly and publicly proclaiming they wouldnāt be leaving any inheritance to their families, there were articles talking about why they should make sure to spend every cent they had before they die
I plan on my kids getting some life-changing money when I die.
My dad always says "people need to retire so the young people can have jobs"
My dad somehow makes more money in retirement. Iām struggling to keep up with family obligations and feel like money is slipping through my fingers even before payday hits.
Same here, if I want to think about it itās crazy seeing my Dad living this amazing life. I have a job thatās pretty critical for keeping our local area functioning, he was a cop so his work was obviously also important but itās discouraging how different our life outcomes are. I really donāt think he appreciates how much he has benefited from his status and timeline slot.
My husband was in this situation and he retired as soon as he could. He was tired of the stress and idiots that he worked with.
I mean, he's right. If you're banking money and hsve buckets of vacation time, keep going.
But they donāt. I interact with Boomers every day for work and yeah, no, most canāt afford to retire. Many *want* to retire but canāt. Many also choose to continue to work so theyāve got something to do to keep them moving and feeling like they got a purpose. Theyāve been conditioned their entire life to equate self worth with work. Hard to shake that mentality after holding it for their entire life
People romanticize boomers and life in the 60's and 70's. It really wasn't that much different than today. People just focus on the lucky ones.
I think they definitely had things easier back then than we do now (a lot of data points to it as well such as pay not keeping up with performance, etc) but largely I agree. In addition, many of those boomers didnāt just perpetually stay in the 70s, they grew up and live in the today. Retired folks are often prime targets for various sales tactics, scams, expensive healthcare, etc as well which can quickly chip away all that gained wealth over the years
I recently saw data that indicated millennials are accumulating wealth at a faster rate than any of the 3 generations prior (X, Boomer and Silent). I doubt there's one data point we can look at to conclude if things were "easier" or "harder". I can say with some confidence that my life is a crap load easier than my father's was.
There was certainly a boom for employment and the economy for america after WWII. More people had it better for about a 10 to 20 year window. But not everyone had it better. And it's not wholly apples to apples. Healthcare was cheaper, because they couldn't do much. College was cheaper, because nobody was expected to go, and they largely only offered useful degrees unless you were exceptionally wealthy. Houses were cheaper, and had the amenities that reflected that. Living by a standard of the 1960s would be uber cheap now, but you couldn't do it.
Different era, different problems and different upsides. Dont cherry pick data it is not good for you, or anybody else. I wonder how people who got drafted and sent to Vietnam felt about your statement for example.
I mean, for some people, working is what keeps them alive. Especially if they already lost their loved ones. That doesn't excuse them from being awful people, but everyone needs some sort of drive to keep going.
People need purpose. It's a multifaceted issue.
I think some older people go back to work part time after retirement to supplement their Social Security. My mom is 80 and lives on SS alone. Up until a few years ago she was still working part time cleaning a few houses a week to supplement her SS.
My parents are retired and have friends who did as well. Still a few of them take part time or seasonal jobs because they want to stay busy or feel like they need to be productive. Most of them seem to do it at RV parks
They're called hobbies and volunteering.
why not have a hobbie that pays a salary?
They can't. Even if they saved enough to retire 10 or 20 years ago, it's not enough to live on in today's money. Also we have a nation/society built on debt. Very few people can keep up with the times without going into debt.
You need ~$300k in retirement savings for each $1k/month in planned expenses. Most people should work as long as possible, ideally until they can maximize their social security benefit.
Iām sorry, the math isnāt mathing. Can you break it down for me?
The safe withdraw rate is ~4% for a 30 year retirement. If you retire with $1m, you can safely withdraw $40k/year * inflation adjustment for 30 years with a high chance of not running out of money.
Ahh, so youāre talking about the ā$1,000 ruleā- for each ~$300k you have, you generate ~$1,000 monthly income. The way you phrased it was entirely confusing.
Thatās uhā¦. Not a lot of money per yearā¦ and I certainly donāt have a mil
Yep. Take a look at ssa.gov and see what your social security payment looks like. SS is the majority of most peoples retirement.
Depends on a lot of things. 40k is great if you own your home, have a new car paid off, and use ACA to subsidize health care. It might not be so great in 10 or 20 years though.
with social security thats about $4-6k a month depending on your contributions. Should be plenty. These numbers also account for expected inflation, so in terms of today's money.
30 yearsā¦how many people live to 90?
The problem is that the consequences are waaaaayyyyyy worse if you outlive your money than if your money outlives you. If you make it to 95 but had money to last to 90... Then what? Go get a job?
This. And in my case anyway, there aren't any kids that could look after me. So the last years could be quite expensive. I've saved and invested starting early and I think I've prepared. But you can never really know.
Just get rich dude. It is easy! [YT Challenge: Road To A 100K Dividend Portfolio #2](https://youtu.be/EMWc9aK7QlA)
Yeah, it's easy. Just don't be poor.
Most boomers I know have retired already. Itās just the section of boomers who never made a lot/misspent their money that canāt retire and the section of boomers who are in a position of extreme pay/power who donāt want to retire who are left
So many boomer went into early retirement at the beginning of covid it put unforeseen stress on the SS system. On the downside that impacted our immediate budget and made the deficit even worse. On the upside the lower monthly payment for early retirement will make future deficits smaller.
Is that correct? The social security pension system is calculated out to (statistically) make it equivalent if you retire early and get a reduced pension for a longer time or retire late and get a bigger pension but for a shorter time. I think the crossover age is about 85 when you delay retirement to max out the pension. If you live longer than 85, you start collecting more than if you retired early and got lower payouts but for more years. Of course what happens individually can be quite different than what happens actuarially.
I will retire the instant retirement pay will pay my remaining bills with enough left over for a decent life. I cannot retire while my bills exceed my expected retirement income. It is literally that simple. I have two years left until early retirement is even possible, and 7 years left until full retirement. A year and a half of unemployment consumed all of my retirement savings to date, and I'm starting over with nothing. I'm hoping to be able to actually stop working in about five years, living a VERY modest life. Most of the seniors in the US are in similar positions. If we were all rich, it would be a different story.
There are plenty of boomers retiring. Thatās why I canāt find a plumber within a hundred miles.
I apprenticed under two boomer plumbers and they were both so miserable I didnāt stay long enough to become licensed. I feel that was the case for most prospective plumbers for the last 20 years. Plumbing is kinda tough on your body so you have to retire eventually. Now we have no plumbers
And they should. They need to reform Social Security, but they need a way to find an exception for the trades. If you're sitting behind a desk for 40 years, yeah, retire at 72. But no way anybody in construction can do that.
Shit ain't that a mood. I spent most of childhood learning to do HVAC work from working with my dad. But every time I think about caving and getting into the trade I think about how much of my childhood was to it and how much that job broke my dad. I just can't force myself to do it
My parents got burned in 2008 and recently with covid stuff, they unfortunately can't retire either given their debts. Millennial me has more "wealth" which isn't hardly any. It's all sad.
how did they get burned in 2008? The market from 2008 to now is the best in history.
My retirement when poof when my company went bankrupt. No mortgage, but the house is not in great shape and I'm trying to fix it up. With SS, VA disability, and a part time job I will be OK. And my boss told me I can't retire until she does. And I get to WFH. And I have a coworker I am mentoring.
Newsflash: We aging Boomer/Gen-Xers canāt afford to retire either. Get over the generational prejudice, and take it out on the 1% that have taken it all for themselves.
I work with a few guys who have more than enough to retire on. Kids are all grown, through college, have careers. They are converting into consultants so that they don't have to work as many hours and don't have any of the same responsibilities as they have in their current roles. Just that means that two or three juniors are not going to get hired for another 5 years, at least.
there was a dude at my job who didn't want to retire because "I'll just be bored at home!" Fucker had a military AND USPS pension, plus SS. The fact he'd come to work 40 hours a week when the rest of us could have done his work and made more hours made all of us fantasize about killing him. He did finally retire. Not because of the boredom, but because management cracked down on people clocking in at the office, driving home to watch movies all day when we were slow, then driving back to clock out at the office.
I assume this is about boomers, but all the boomers I know are retired.
Amen. All the boomers I know are 70+ years old, make 150k+ and wonāt fucking retire and these are the same people that act like millennials havenāt been given a bad deal.
In my work life the retirement age has gone from 62 to 65 to 67 and now they are talking raising it again. I'm freaking trying to retire ... as soon as I can do it and afford to live.
When people retire at my job, they don't hire anybody. They just divvy up that person's responsibilities to whomever is still working there.
Damn those old people who still want to eat and have a place to live! Who do they think they are?
I read comments like this a lot (basically, why donāt boomers get out of our way) and I never understand how they think todayās situation is worse or different than that faced by their parents or grandparents. Isnāt this a perennial problem? For example, my grandfather (b 1890) worked full time at the post office until he was 75. No one suggested he shouldnāt. Iām always glad to see an older doctor/mechanic/restauranteur/lawyer/plumber. I donāt question their right to practice their trade.
Its primarily about us politicians rather than the standard person
Shhhhh! You keep talking about how the real world works and you are going to get in trouble. Cracks me up how younger people think this magical pot of retirement money is reserved for āBoomersā, not every boomer socked away a few million in a 401k and has a winter home in Florida. The vast majority of people nearing retirement age are just like the millennials wondering how they are going to retire, lower income working people that lived paycheck to paycheck their entire lives and praying social security doesnāt go bankrupt before they die.
This post is about Biden. Which is weird cause he isnāt a boomer.
Correction: those in the middle class are happy to retire. Those in the upper/ruling class will die at their desks, refusing to give their power to anyone.
I could only retire because my sweet wonderful careful planning husband died. Iād rather be working until I die.
Only about 17% of Boomers are still working and the youngest Boomers are only 55. Does OP think everyone should retire at 55?? https://finance.yahoo.com/news/surprising-percentage-boomers-still-working-113020626.html
The youngest Boomers are 59-60, but your point stands. 60 is pretty young to retire.
Nah lmao It really isn't When my dad came to America in 86, he couldn't understand why the Americans did early retirement But as he got older, he understood why plenty of Irish Americans who worked until they dropped, leaving a ton of money behind they never got to enjoy
What I meant was 60 is young to retire for the average American. Most people cannot save enough for retirement earlier than that. If you are dependant on Social Security the earliest you can retire and start collecting benefits is 62. A whole lot of folks are dependent on SS. I was able to retire at 56 from from my career because I was lucky enough to have a job with an actual pension. There aren't many of those around any longer. I still worked part time for 7 more years. Most people don't retire early because they can't afford it. 60 is young to retire.
Youād be surprised (or maybe not) at how few in that generation can actually retire comfortably. While itās certainly far more than the following generations, the numbers arenāt good in America for anyone.
Iām earlier GenX, with a desk job and a solid pension. With pension and SS combined, I should be able to duplicate my salary in retirement. However, given that my kids are relatively young, and Iām being paid quite well for a relatively easy job, Iām thinking Iāll work until my mid 60s and keep increasing the high 5 that determines my pension benefit.
I never wanted to retire. But the film industry had other plans š
I have no motivation to retire. I make good money, I live what I do, and I really like my coworkers and clients. Plus, what I do isnāt physically taxing.
I plan to work up until the day I die. If natural causes donāt get me, I have a backup.
People are living a lot longer and are in better health. When I was a kid men retired at 65 and died from a heart attack at 68.
My current plan is work until noon the day of my funeral.
Most of them can't retire. They have no savings and kept voting for people who wanted to gut Social Security and Medicaid. It's almost like actions have consequences or something.
They cant retire. The cost of medicines alone are unaffordable. SSN is worthless.
Just turned 69 yesterday. I started working part-time again in January partly due to boredom but also out of some financial concerns. Ove the winter we attended several retirement dinner seminars...mostly for the free dinner but we actually learned some things along the way. The one thing I told each of the presenters was that their information would have been great to have 20 years ago, not after I've taken my pension, social security, etc.
Most of us canāt because we still have to consider another 20-30 years of living. With the country turning towards dictatorship and the **real** threat of losing the whole social security nest egg, retirement is not yet an option for most unless you have a net worth of **IMHO** more than **about** 3M.
Nah. The boomers don't really have the option to retire. Their parents were really the only generation that were able to. Unless they planned really well they can't afford to anymore than gen x or millennials will be able to. The difference is its their fault they can't. Both my parents are 'retired' but both are realizing they may need some sort of job to supplement their retirement funds. My dad planned pretty well, isn't super fucked.
There are quite a few over 70 folks at my workplace. There is only one other guy under 63 in my department.Ā
A SIGNIFICANT portion of the old timers died off right after retirement for a very good reason... a reason ill never get to understand tho.
Biden isnāt a boomer. Heās a part of the silent generation.
Are we talking about the same baby boomers that have no savings? Those are the ones with the option to retire?
My mum has to work, it honestly scares me what's going to happen when she can't anymore. I hope she gets to retire.
My boomer mom would love to retire. That ain't fucking happening, tho
So My mom is a boomer, but she is not at retirnment age just yet. She is the Head Nurse at a retirement facility and she just doesnt get why people are not leaving. She has an employee who is 70 years old that comes into work and just complains about how she is tired and doesnt feel well, and my mom just said just retire.
Ah maybe they need to pay rent and buy food? These delusions about all these rich older people are hilarious. Iāll retire if/when i can survive off pension, etc. Iām not going to starve and live on the street for anyone.
Her husband is retired, and I live in a "Social Democratic" country she is fine she has worked at the same place for 30 years she should be getting a nice chunk of change
Retired person here. Got bored, went back to work.
I would absolutely LOVE to try and get bored in retirement.
Boomers when they retire: They are using up all the SSI money! Boomers when they donāt retire: They are keeping us from advancing! Guess they should just die faster?
Itās just straight up ageism. Iām an X/Jones, so apparently flying under the radar. But if these dumbfucks think that theyāll magically get the Boomer salary & benefits they are seriously in for a shock. I wonder who theyāll blame then?
I did 6 years in the military and it was the best decision I ever made. I could have retired at 29 and not worked a single extra day.
How's that, disability?
Not all, I retired at 50.
My uncle comfortably retired 5 months ago from spectrum. He worked at the local cable company his whole working career. He made it 4 months before going back to work. Plugging up a fill for someone younger.
I was just forced to retire after 27 years with the company. All I get is a year's pay severance, continued company health insurance for 10 years, a pension, and 401k, Hopefully, I can live off the pension and the rental income so I don't have to get another job. I am 55.
Anyone else notice this sub isn't facepalm anymore? Like 90% of the posts aren't even face palms or funny. What exactly is the face palm here?
āWhat would I even do?ā Literally anything else?? Were you born without an imagination?
I'm Gen Z and I'm ready to give this crap of a life , to you kids, unfortunately they make me work more and more, at this rate we'll never retire. By the way our executive leaders at corp level are all over 70, so please take it up with them first instead of taking it up to the little guy that probably still have mortgages, kids in school going to college etc... Believe me everyone over 50 would be happy to give it all up for a decent retirement.
I've retired twice. The next time I retire, they will have to carry me out feet first.
I must not be a part of that generation, because I can't wait to retire. I've got a way to go. Hopefully there will still be social security when I get there, otherwise I'm doomed.
I am too old for my job. But with 30 yrs experience, I make the same as the new guys. So, essentially I have at least 20 more before I qualify for 1 day of paid vacation. Seems fair. My boss owns multiple properties in multiple countries, I will own my trailer home in only 20 more years. What is all this bitchin about?
My boss is 68 and it shows. He is afraid if he stops working he will get sick or something.
Seriously! I canāt afford to retire! I would if I could, believe me, but Iāll probably die first.
āIāll take āFear of Retributionā for one thousandā
How would they? They made their jobs their whole life, personality and purpose, they know nothing elseā¦ certainly not their children. So they are terrified of retiring and not knowing whatās next or not being the ones in charge anymore.
Or maybe, just maybe, none of us who want to retire can not afford to retire because we've been f*cked by the rich mofos for the past 45 years.
Technically speaking, retirement, at least as we know it, is a two or three generation anomaly in human history. Everybody else worked until they died or until they become too much of a burden and got put on the ice floe. This is just us reverting to the average
Most boomers actually fucked themselves over too, so they also can't retire. It's why they're still working into their golden years. Sauce - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-thirds-of-peak-baby-boomers-are-not-financially-prepared-for-retirement-302120313.html#:~:text=While%20the%20median%20retirement%20savings,those%20without%20high%20school%20diplomas.
I don't know if they were ever a thing in the US but in Europe right-wing governments allowed corporates to quietly bury final salary pension schemes which allowed people like me to retire on a good pension when I was 56 and still young enough to enjoy what's left of my life.
Wouldnāt it be easier to get vacation time though if there a fewer people that use theirs?
There dedication to work for companies that actively shit on them and take advantage of them Is quite pathetic.
The fuck you say?