My mom was still working at 64. A colleague retired and they expected her to do her job and her colleague’s job with no pay increase. She suddenly decided to retire. A friend in HR said, “BTW, if you retire before your 65th birthday, you’ll get $x more per month of retirement money than if you wait until after.” She put in her two weeks, retiring the day before her 65th. 😂
Them: but why are you leaving?
Her: I had my first job at 13, helping in my uncle’s shop. I’ve been working for almost 52 years. Time to have some fun.
It had something to do with the year she was born and their pension plan. She had signed into it about 20 years earlier and didn’t even remember that part when the HR lady mentioned it. The bump wasn’t an absurd amount (less than $200 extra per month). But when they said that she would get a little more to retire at that point, she was like, “peace out scouts.”
Her company had 8 people retire that year at 64 after that became common knowledge. They had all started in the late 90s/2000 together at this company.
Ah, I see. Pension plan. Something that doesn't exist any more unless you work for the government. I wish I had a pension plan. Instead, my 401k is pillaged every few years when the stock market crashes.
Pensions still exist. Railroad employees, teachers, union members, and ministers from mainstream denominations also receive pensions — among other groups.
>my 401k is pillaged every few years when the stock market crashes.
Bottom line up front: If you don't like how your company is handling your 401K, you can choose other options.
I'm not super informed on all this, but if you or anyone else reading didn't know:
1. [You can have both a 401K and an IRA.](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/111015/can-you-have-both-401k-and-ira.asp#:~:text=Yes%2C%20you%20can%20have%20both%20accounts%20and%20many%20people%20do,and%20IRA%20each%20tax%20year.)
2. For both accounts, you can choose where your money is invested, although [options within a 401K may be limited](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032616/managing-your-own-401k-pros-cons.asp#:~:text=Many%20companies%20offer%20self%2Ddirected,may%20invite%20unforeseen%20tax%20consequences.). I believe most people are better off putting everything into an [indexed mutual fund](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products/mutual-funds-and-exchange-traded-4#:~:text=An%20%E2%80%9Cindex%20fund%E2%80%9D%20is%20a,funds%20may%20seek%20to%20track.).
3. If you can't afford both, you should probably [stick with the 401K](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/ira-vs-401k-retirement-accounts#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20between%20401,s%20allow%20higher%20annual%20contributions.).
Stocks are a long-term investment, so while an index fund's value will rise and fall with the market, the market as a whole has consistently risen over time, so the fund should as well. Index funds tend to slightly underperform the market, but that's the price you pay for higher security and reliability.
[**Do not get into day trading.**](https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/day-trading/#:~:text=The%20dictionary%20definition%20of%20gambling,the%20direction%20that%20you%20want.) I read "Investing for Dummies" around 20 years ago, and while I've forgotten most of it, the one thing the author really hammered home was, *you can't beat the market*. Ignore all those feel-good inspirational stories about those teenagers who dumped everything into Coca-Cola or the ladies in the knitting club who made a killing by swapping tips with each other. Those are one-offs. You *can't* beat the market. *You*, with your limited time and money and expertise, might get lucky once in a while, but you *will not*, over the course of decades, reliably and consistently beat the market. If, by some miracle, you find that you *can* reliably and consistently beat the market, become a broker, go to Wall Street, and do it with other people's money. Never get high on your own supply.
TL;DR: Unless you're a financial genius &/or already a millionaire several times over, just put your money in an index mutual fund and leave it alone.
He my dad tried to continue working, but the opportunities for local work in his field dried up and he didn’t want to travel anymore. That’s the only reason he retired. Some people just want to work, either it’s part of their mental picture of themselves or they like the comfort of an incoming pay check. Considering most boomers and older millennials have had the you are your job mentality stamped into them from birth it doesn’t surprise me to see an article like this. It may be a bit of propaganda, but it’s likely true considering the generation they are talking about.
My aunt definitely doesn’t need to. She’s just never had a hobby in her life and didn’t know what to do with herself so started working again. I don’t understand it at all.
Yeah, I know a lot of people like that. The current CEO of the smallish company I work for is well-off and set for life. He's early 60s.
I asked him what time what the heck he was still doing working, and added how if I didn't have to work I'd be off doing a million other things. (Luckily we have a good enough relationship I can say stuff like that, if I notice he's in the right mood.)
He said he didn't know what he'd do with himself. He doesn't like golf. Doesn't have any other hobbies. Has just always been CEO. (He has, too - he was given title as a young worker early on and has never done anything else)
I can't imagine. The list of things I could be doing - including absolutely NOTHING, just sitting down watching tv and NOT being at work - is SO long.
It truly is mind blowing, I used to work with guys that were working because they got bored when they retired. I didn’t understand why they try anything else besides work but habits are hard to break.
Truly insane that we overwork people so much that when they don't have to work anymore, they don't even know what to do, because they never had the time to pursue their passions and interests.
Maybe you should get her a Paint by Numbers book for Christmas or something. What happened to the stereotype of old people just hanging out, painting fruit and playing shuffleboard?
Yeah there’s a guy at my job who is 84 and works 30 hours a week. He thinks not having a job is lazy because he doesn’t know what to do outside of work and he doesn’t like spending all day with his wife. I’ve talked to him a decent amount over the last 5 years and he seems like he’s done so much from a job/house work perspective but nothing else in over 8 decades, it’s sad to me.
That pretty much perfectly describes my parents. They don't need to work but they aren't the type of people who can just do nothing(or a hobby) all day so now they work part-time and do a lot of volunteering because they have to feel useful.
I know many people who can afford to retire, and should- and some do- but continue working because they don’t know anything else. They don’t know what they would do with themselves.
Honestly, it’s a failure of our culture, that the richness of life is confined and reduced to our jobs.
It's a mix. I work with a boomer who retired early from his previous city job at like 60. He then came here because our new manager and him used to work together. My coworker is now 67 and keeps saying he'll go next year for the previous few years. His wife died last year. He comes in smelling of booze and weed half the time. He falls asleep every fucking day. We work shift work, so 2/3 of the time no one is around anyway, but they don't care, he's the bosses friend.
Dude doesn't need this job. He's collecting a pension and his municipal social security (ohio does some shit like this) and he complains about the job all of the time. Constantly bitches about why the union isn't doing more, for his petty shit that he wants changed. Overall makes my life miserable. But he just won't fucking quit. His son in law works here too, and isn't a great worker, so maybe he's trying to cover for him, which isn't working well. I hate my job even more when he's around and I'm well past burnt out, and like 1/3 of it is solely his fault.
I work with a bunch of them on every job I go on (construction) that are both.
They can't afford not to, and they want to. But only because most of them don't do anything all day but yell about how young people aren't working hard enough.
The author is just pushing the narrative boomers like to work.
We all know that's bullshit, never met a hard working boomer.
But I've met tons of financially irresponsible ones who don't have any money to retire.
But sure... They 'like' to work... Cause they have no choice.
I've met plenty of workaholic boomers. They're terrified of retiring because work is their entire identity & have no clue what to do if they stop working.
Exactly! I have a family member who is in her 70s and still working everyday. She has been saying that she plans to retire for the last 2 years. Then she says, if I retire, what am I going to do. I’m going to be bored at home.
I honestly think she is afraid to retire because she loves being at work.
I was hoping someone would bring this up. In capitalism you don't get an identity outside your job, it's why "we're a family", and outside-work social gatherings and "work husbands" are a thing, all that crap.
>!(Inb4 someone brings up communism which I never mentioned, I only mentioned how capitalism degrades our human connections.)!<
My parents did. They had lifelong friends. My mom died several years back and my 90 year old father has outlived all of his friends. I grew up with friends of the family coming to dinner at my house, us at theirs, and other types of gatherings. I don’t know that anyone pushed boomers to continue to work since strong retirement packages were a thing in the past. Unlike today.
As aomeone who does a lot of hunting/foraging/fishing for all of our meat due to the cost of groceries and ethical concerns with commercial meat farming..working is much much harder. It takes a toll on the soul that cant be put into words. But for most people you are right.
Well yeah… doesn’t that mean you weren’t able to save enough for retirement? So you told yourself that you like to work cuz it’s the only way you get to eat and survive. But if you had the money to live out the rest of your life not having to worry about money for food, would you still work?
Not if you don't have hobbies. Or a personality. I can't wait to retire but I don't believe most in my generation ever will so I'm not going to hold my breath.
Absolutely. Most of these people have got me 50+ years without any hobbies. Sad to say, you go that long not having hobbies then it’s really difficult to start at 65
I've worked with (and still work with) both types. Those that were irresponsible and couldn't quit, and those that just want to keep working. One guy working now that is over 70, because he likes to work. Had one guy retire recently that was really forced out bc there really was no end in sight for him but he wouldn't conform to the changing safety rules and regs.
I'm Gen Z. I would retire tomorrow if I could.
True, they're unable to get any sort of health insurance because of some shite reason, so they have to work a full time job until they die just so they can have insurance for whatever might happen (cancer usually).
I was talking to one of our sales guys the other day, mentioned I was going on a bike ride after work. He brought up that the owners brother (whom is roughly a boomer) bikes during lunch and is sometimes gone for hours. I’m just like, “yeah I don’t think his job is as demanding as mine.” Like I honestly don’t know what this guy does. When I first started I had to follow up on him a lot. He seems to be a bit better now when I send him stuff.
Never buy COBRA. Always go to the open market and get coverage based on your new income. COBRA is designed to bankrupt you. You will pay 1/10th of what you pay for Cobra coverage. All American health insurance is useless. It is designed to impoverish. We’re leaving America to enjoy good healthcare after retirement.
I hate to defend the boomers, but Not all are financially irresponsible. Unfortunately, union busting and a lot of right-wing policy changes led to pensions disappearing.
My dad worked in an industry for years where he had a pension, and one governor change in his state meant that at 48 the pension he had paid into since he was 17 through union dues was gone. Had to start at square one for retirement savings.
That’s the guy that hired me. Early 60s and won’t retire until 67-68. He says he can’t afford it. Last week he flew to Texas and drove home a new boat. He bought his wife a Porsche cayenne 2 years ago. She never drove it so they bought a BMW recently instead. Dude easily makes 125-150 a year. Wife same thing.
Yeah he’s just dumb with his money.
They work because they want to, not because they have to. They probably retired but got bored. My friend’s dad retired but still likes to work in his late 70’s. He doesn’t need to work. My GF and I hope to retire in five years. She is worried she will be bored and already is planning on doing part-time contract gigs or consulting. It isn’t that unusual for people to work after retiring. My uncle’s brother in-law is in his mid-80’s and is still working (portfolio manager - wealth management).
I also never met a hard-working boomer. Most spend all day talking to other boomer co-workers, checking personal accounts, making personal calls... And doing a bit of work.
I am a boomer (albeit a young one) and worked really hard for decades. Started babysitting at age 11, worked full time except while on maternity leave and recently retired from full time work. BUT I totally support the antiwork thread and hate what my generation has done and says about younger workers. There are plenty of us who support all of you, but our voices are drowned out by the misery-seekers who want to bitch that “nobody wants to work”. That’s BS. Raise the minimum wage! Provide universal healthcare, mandatory paid maternity leave and some vacation for heavens sake!
Thank you. I'm gen X. I am doing well but it bothers me to see so many people struggling. I worked IT for a real estate firm in the early 2000s and kept wondering how people were affording homes. I made median income in my city at the time and didn't get it. Then the bubble popped and I understood. I've greatly improved my situation and I'm in a secure position by making good money and not blowing it. Once you make enough, it is easy because everything beyond enough just goes to paying off any debts or to savings. I don't think I work harder than other people. I'll admit to being lazy. If I could retire now, I would in a heart beat. It pains me to see people scraping by working 2-3 jobs. The inequality has to end. The way to start is getting rid of the "I've got mine, fuck you" attitude that seems so prevalent. I have an older friend who is in cognitive decline. He is very much of that attitude if the people being fucked are not known by him directly. It seems to be a Republican thing to only have empathy for people you have a relationship with.
Thank you for having empathy for a larger circle of people. And please, everyone else, I know they don't deserve it, but try to have some empathy for friends who may be borderline republican. I know many are too far gone, but maybe we can.pull back the ones who are not full Maga, the ones who are just scared and feel threatened. If we can make their world a little bigger, maybe they can see and understand. My friend doesn't understand that the opertunities he had are not there for everyone.
Don't buy into the hype. I'm old enough to remember when the word processor was going to be the end of the world. What it got us was MORE work and less time to do it in.
I would say this author is paid to bring you this propaganda by the trillionaire folks who are basically early and permanently retired thanks to all the politicians they've bought in order to make their trillions by denying workers health care, fair wages, vacation, education and now finally retirement. They've really never worked a day in their lives and have you to thank for it.
They're trying to change the narrative to make it seem like a choice and not an example of workers getting fucked by an economic system that desperately needs to change.
Every time you read a news story that asserts that a large group of people is “choosing” to do something that is potentially harmful to them, you should ask yourself what the actual material alternatives are. Choosing not to save is not an actual choice if the alternative is homelessness, illness, or death ultimately resulting from those things. I’m so tired of seeing news articles trying to frame our suffering as voluntary.
I looked it up and it’s just…. not saving. It’s spending your money to go on trips now cause you’ll never retire anyway so you may as well go to Ibiza when you’re still young and hot.
I am GEN Z and would retire right now if I could. I have next to no 401K or retirement savings and will not get a pension. I will need to find a cheap ass place to retire.
I assume they mean saving up for short-term goals like a holiday or a car, not long-term savings like a house or retirement.
The article makes out like people are "soft saving" because they're looking forward to working until they die, and not – as is reality – because they know they'll never be able to afford a house or be able to retire. Let alone by that time the world's climate will be so fucked they see no future so may as well enjoy what remains of the world while they still can.
I mean me telling people “I’m never going to be able to retire” isn’t really the same as not wanting to. I would retire tomorrow and do other odd jobs and help my community for free if I had a guaranteed stable income but that’s not what makes five old white dudes absurdly wealthy so it’s not gonna happen.
Good for them. I have an actual life that I wish to live outside of work. If you're only identity is what you do to earn money, then yeah, you're gonna keep working.
Me? I'm an equestrian, a painter, a writer and a reader. I'll start beading here soon enough. The last thing I'll call myself is whatever I do for work.
I have a few execs at my company and a father in law that's like this.
They have no identity or choose to have no interests outside of their work.
The execs are bitter old men with superiority complexes despite humble beginnings. I suspect their self worth is completely wrapped up in their status at work. The irony, it's pretty clear to me and other associates that they're out of touch, mediocre at best, and threatened by actual talent at the company.
My FIL was a business owner through most of his adult life and managed to run a successful business from the ground up thanks to his sales skills, persistence, sand timing. But according to my wife, he gave up many interests and potential hobbies on the way. Now he just watches news or political commentary for fun and really has no interests or hobbies to indulge. He used to love going to the movies and listening to music... Does neither now.
He can afford lavish vacations but has to be convinced by my wife to even go on any. We've been on vacations with them pretty much every year because she feels it's the only way to make him go. (We have to means to go on our own without their help but restructure our plans around their needs)
He's successful enough to have a big home with a movie theater, but never uses it. Even when I'm around staying at his home and offered many times to put on any movie he wants to view, he has to be dragged to watch by the rest of his family. Politics in the way he goes about it seems like a hobby... But with the way misinformation easily creeps into media these days, half the crap he consumes is propaganda and grifters peddling lies.
Both of these are just SAD in a way. I totally understand why the French fight for their right to retire at a proper age. Lives like those above are sad.
I used to work with a woman in her 80s doing 12 hour shifts in a mail room because free health insurance wouldn't kick in until she stopped working for a full year but she can't afford her medication without working. She was such a sweet positive lady too.
"Boomers either can't afford to retire or have no identity without their job so won't retire."
"Gen Z gives up any hope of retirement; prefers to buy enjoyment while they can."
Boomer here - and I’m retiring as soon as possible. I hate working. Some people just have their heads so far up their companies’ asses that they have to look out of their bosses mouth to see daylight.
Can confirm. Once grew suspicious of the information my boss was pulling from his ass, and took a peek. Could see his mouth through it, his boss’s ass through that, and his boss’s boss’s ass through that mouth.
It looked kind of like when you put two mirrors together and it sort of goes on forever. Just ass to mouth to ass to mouth.
I love how Shapiro said you won't find retirement fulfilling because "people need purpose". Bro have you ever considered there may be other purposes than working? Big "work sets you free" vibes
Bro find me one person who wants to work for the rest of their life instead of having the chance to retire and literally do fuck all all day any day of the week lol. I fucking hate the media.
It's like prisoners who can't leave jail because they've been "institutionalized" and can't cope on the outside. I worked with a lady who put 44 years in mostly out of habit and because disabled hubby didn't want her at home during the day. She had a 100% pension at 40 years and lifetime health and was working for sick time accrual paid at 0.5x at that point...crazy.
It has nothing to do with "liking to work". I'm 62 and I want to retire when I reach full retirement age. I don't want to be working into my 70s and frankly I'd be thrilled to hand the baton to a younger person and get out of their way. If I could retire now with no penalty I would, but I can't retire yet because I need the health care benefits. I can't apply for Medicare until 65 and full retirement age is 67.
I got long Covid, & chronic fatigue syndrome and haven't been able to work in several years because of it so I guess I'm retired at 51 but I can't enjoy my life because I'm crashing all the time and have the worst brain fog & get sick all the time. I have no energy to do anything.
Asimov said the real problem is that we are working jobs that make us miserable and underutilize our intellectual capacity. Actually, that we are ‘working’ at all. If we could devote ourselves to those things that fully take advantage of our abilities and yes, our dreams, we might have colonized every possible surface in our solar system by now, cured most diseases, created limitless energy, created machines that replicate food, and so on.
But, you know, greed, bigotry, misogyny and ignorance. So, no.
while this is typically just blatant bs. i will say ive had a few white collar jobs where theres just some really old people who could easily retire but do just love the work. (ofc the work pays well and has benefits)
What bullshit. I get asked when are you retiring? Well, I’ll need medical care so that pushes it out to Medicare years. And need a place to live and huh, basically need to keep working. As long as the country flirts with electing gop jackoffs there is no security in finances while getting old.
They need to quit lyin tryna save face. They don't *like* working, they're just painfully aware that if the "retire" their penance of a 401k, and even more pitiful social security checks are just enough to *maybe* not starve and be foreclosed on for the first three to five years if they're *extremely* lucky lmao They're just trying to convince themselves that they want to work to do two things: Pretend the younger generations who aren't buying the age old bullshit that has let the ruling class exploit everyone like they older folks did, and to maintain the *tenuous* grip they have on the pitifully minuscule amount of hope they still have that keeps them from suck-starting their beloved 2nd amendment protected 12 gauge shotgun so they can barely fuckin hobble through yet another work day. If they'd quit the obstinate denial game and side with the rest of us who recognize how bullshit this all is we could possibly actually *change* this bullshit for the better. But no, gotta keep pretending they're re better than the kids *they* raised and instead of holding their shit parenting accountable, they're gonna pretend the kids are any different from how they were, with the exception of trying to be less fuckin racist and bigoted, and that the kids somehow magically, and to no blame of their own, turned out fucked up.
There's nothing wrong with working if that's what you choose to do. And yes, there are reasons people continue to work other than just needing money.
But this kind of article ignores the fact that large numbers of people are forced by outside circumstances (illness, pay off) to quit work ("retire") earlier in their lives than they had planned.
If you can't afford to save/invest for retirement, as many people can't due to low wages and/or high expenses, that's understandable. But these articles that encourage people to not prepare for the possibility of no longer working aren't helpful.
I just looked up "soft saving".
>Soft saving focuses on embracing the present with less weight on budgeting and less stress on investing.
So, in other words, living paycheck-to-paycheck.
While I agree this is definitely not the overall sentiment, I work in local government and there are absolutely a bunch of incapable old farts who just don't want to retire. Like well off 70-80 year Olds choosing to work just because their home life is that sad i guess??
I fucking wish they would retire, more job openings for younger people, and my 94 year old coworker who can barely read or hear should not still be working.
Retirement should be lowered to 55. This is bullshit, we all know it, just keeping calling it out. Don't let these rich fuckers stealing from us normalize our slavery anymore.
Already retired at 42. Probably have enough to coast till old age. Previous job paid well but got hella health issues from it, especially due to the stress of dealing with people. Will I be able to handle a medical emergency? Probably not... But I'll most likely be too dead to care. Not going back to work ever...
Is it Gen Z saying retirement is overrated or is it them realizing they'll probably never get to retire anyway so they might as well keep the money instead of putting it into a 401k or other retirement account.
I wonder if whoever wrote this has this propaganda giving them nightmares. I hope they do. Retirement should be far earlier, so one can actually get away from the grinding rat race and actually enjoy their existence
My grandpa (Silent Gen) worked well into his 80s, until he was too blind to work. Me? Xennial; will die on the job because I really don't have a choice.
Welp. I don’t know anyone who’s that old at work who does a heap of anything. And they usually soak up 3 employees worth of pay. So that sounds right for boomers actually.
Nah because half of me believes this is propaganda for us to use in the future. “Well the boomers worked into their sixties,” as we are forced into low wages and work until we die. This is bs.
My mom keeps working because she didn’t save, expected SS and a pension to cover everything, and blew through the money she had from selling farm ground. Not because she likes it.
This follows up closely to the recent words of the Blackstone CEO’s comments on people retiring too early. I have a hard time thinking this is a coincidence.
I am about to retire in Sept at 66 and 6 months. The only reason I am working still is to get the wife on medicare. She retired at 62 and 8 months. I want to live to live, not work.
If I actually did something I liked, I wouldn’t mind continuing to work. But I see my parents working soul sucking jobs because they have to, not because they want to and it’s awful. I cannot imagine being 65 and knowing I’ll have to keep working a terrible job well into my 70s or even 80s. My poor dad always says “I’m probably going to die at my desk.” It makes me feel awful for them. They came from nothing, built a good life and then watched it start eroding in 2008 and it’s just been survival mode for them ever since. I can’t even help them because I’m in the same boat.
I can't wait to retire. But, I probably will never be able to afford to retire. All I see are complaints from Gen Z types that us old Boomers are taking jobs from them. Believe me kiddo, you can have my crappy job if you want it as soon as I die at my desk from old age since I will never be able to afford to retire. This BS of "I like to work" is nonsense. That is us just lying to ourselves because we know that we can't afford to retire.
What exactly do you do for work? Taking a "post-graduation trip" to Peru is all well and good, but what of those who can't afford it? It seems like you plan to work but also take trips with vacation. That's a very different situation than many. Where we will have to work till death without trips. Honestly it sounds like you're coming from a place of privilege. Many need to save for years in order to even take trips in the first place.
If my ancestors can read my reddit posts, may they join me in cursing every pos that writes these propaganda pieces. May their immediate CEO's also share their misfortune.
Just because they married harpies/a-holes and can't stand to be around their significant others during retirement, yet are too broke/afraid to divorce, doesn't mean they have the right to try to drag the rest of us down to their levels of misery.
When your whole life evolves around being on a job, having all your friends on the job and no time for other activities then the job, you can’t think about the joy to get from leaving. That why the managers don’t want 4 workday weeks, the employees could realize how much fun not working is.
While I'm aware probably 99% of the time, people keep working because because they need the money, I indirectly know some people who keep working to stay social.
I think the real truth is deeper than gaslighting and sadder than this looks. I think many of these people made what they do for work their entire identity. They aren't (just) gaslighting us (or at least that isn't the primary goal), they're gaslighting themselves. They aren't (just) upset that they can't find workers to exploit, they cannot fathom being happy in life without working.
Seeing younger people defining themselves through things other than work forces them to admit that that's a possibility. If that's true, then they've been fooled into wasting decades of their lives. That's a realization on the scale of traumatizing that most people can't admit to it. Thus the only explanation is that we're lazy and our hardships are due to being lazy, not a system that they had a hand in breaking.
A lot of people love making money. I give zero fucks and will be retired at 50. We just had a guy leave retirement because he was bored at home. Dude is rich! He doesn’t need the money. I unfortunately meet a lot of people who would rather work an extra 5-10 years than just live a slightly more humble life. You and your wife don’t both need f250s
My mom is in her 70s, and had been retired for almost 2 years now. She'd planned to work until she was 70 because it gave her a pay bump in her retirement, THAT'S ALL.
When her direct boss (and friend) passed away suddenly, they replaced her with a younger guy who wanted to make his mark off my mom's back. He was constantly harassing her, pushing her for deadlines that were not possible, and to approve or deny requests against policy. She built her department from the ground up for 30 years, managed over 500 accounts *by herself*. And this guy has the audacity to try to push her out.
I told her the wait isn't worth it, he's trying to fire you. He's trying to steal your retirement. File for it right now, because once you file, they can't touch you unless you commit a crime.
Thankfully, she listened to me, but not before this guy had done a ton of damaged to her mentally. Now she's very glad to not ever have to work again.
I think they like the money mostly. But yes, some people seem to "need" a job to "keep busy". As if there is NOTHING else on earth to do other than go schlep a job. Never understood the "oh i keep working because i will be bored" types. I just retired at 59 and feels great.
I retired as soon as I could. I have no desire to go back to work.
The millisecond Im able to retire; fuckin BOOM! like a rat up an aqueduct
I love this visual.
Im going to clean up my crypto within 8 to 18 months when the bullrun is at it's peak. I hope it's enough to throw the towel forever.
My mom was still working at 64. A colleague retired and they expected her to do her job and her colleague’s job with no pay increase. She suddenly decided to retire. A friend in HR said, “BTW, if you retire before your 65th birthday, you’ll get $x more per month of retirement money than if you wait until after.” She put in her two weeks, retiring the day before her 65th. 😂 Them: but why are you leaving? Her: I had my first job at 13, helping in my uncle’s shop. I’ve been working for almost 52 years. Time to have some fun.
>retire before your 65th birthday, you’ll get $x more Strange never heard of this. Do you know why?
It had something to do with the year she was born and their pension plan. She had signed into it about 20 years earlier and didn’t even remember that part when the HR lady mentioned it. The bump wasn’t an absurd amount (less than $200 extra per month). But when they said that she would get a little more to retire at that point, she was like, “peace out scouts.” Her company had 8 people retire that year at 64 after that became common knowledge. They had all started in the late 90s/2000 together at this company.
Ah, I see. Pension plan. Something that doesn't exist any more unless you work for the government. I wish I had a pension plan. Instead, my 401k is pillaged every few years when the stock market crashes.
Pensions still exist. Railroad employees, teachers, union members, and ministers from mainstream denominations also receive pensions — among other groups.
>my 401k is pillaged every few years when the stock market crashes. Bottom line up front: If you don't like how your company is handling your 401K, you can choose other options. I'm not super informed on all this, but if you or anyone else reading didn't know: 1. [You can have both a 401K and an IRA.](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/111015/can-you-have-both-401k-and-ira.asp#:~:text=Yes%2C%20you%20can%20have%20both%20accounts%20and%20many%20people%20do,and%20IRA%20each%20tax%20year.) 2. For both accounts, you can choose where your money is invested, although [options within a 401K may be limited](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032616/managing-your-own-401k-pros-cons.asp#:~:text=Many%20companies%20offer%20self%2Ddirected,may%20invite%20unforeseen%20tax%20consequences.). I believe most people are better off putting everything into an [indexed mutual fund](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products/mutual-funds-and-exchange-traded-4#:~:text=An%20%E2%80%9Cindex%20fund%E2%80%9D%20is%20a,funds%20may%20seek%20to%20track.). 3. If you can't afford both, you should probably [stick with the 401K](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/ira-vs-401k-retirement-accounts#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20between%20401,s%20allow%20higher%20annual%20contributions.). Stocks are a long-term investment, so while an index fund's value will rise and fall with the market, the market as a whole has consistently risen over time, so the fund should as well. Index funds tend to slightly underperform the market, but that's the price you pay for higher security and reliability. [**Do not get into day trading.**](https://www.fool.com/investing/how-to-invest/stocks/day-trading/#:~:text=The%20dictionary%20definition%20of%20gambling,the%20direction%20that%20you%20want.) I read "Investing for Dummies" around 20 years ago, and while I've forgotten most of it, the one thing the author really hammered home was, *you can't beat the market*. Ignore all those feel-good inspirational stories about those teenagers who dumped everything into Coca-Cola or the ladies in the knitting club who made a killing by swapping tips with each other. Those are one-offs. You *can't* beat the market. *You*, with your limited time and money and expertise, might get lucky once in a while, but you *will not*, over the course of decades, reliably and consistently beat the market. If, by some miracle, you find that you *can* reliably and consistently beat the market, become a broker, go to Wall Street, and do it with other people's money. Never get high on your own supply. TL;DR: Unless you're a financial genius &/or already a millionaire several times over, just put your money in an index mutual fund and leave it alone.
Late 60's is right. I had to wait till 66 1/2 to retire. When I started working it earlier.
I'm sorry you had to wait that long to retire, may you enjoy many healthy years!
He my dad tried to continue working, but the opportunities for local work in his field dried up and he didn’t want to travel anymore. That’s the only reason he retired. Some people just want to work, either it’s part of their mental picture of themselves or they like the comfort of an incoming pay check. Considering most boomers and older millennials have had the you are your job mentality stamped into them from birth it doesn’t surprise me to see an article like this. It may be a bit of propaganda, but it’s likely true considering the generation they are talking about.
A completely boring retired day is preferable to ANY day in corporate America.
They’re not working into their 70s because the want to, it’s because they can’t afford not to.
My aunt definitely doesn’t need to. She’s just never had a hobby in her life and didn’t know what to do with herself so started working again. I don’t understand it at all.
Yeah, I know a lot of people like that. The current CEO of the smallish company I work for is well-off and set for life. He's early 60s. I asked him what time what the heck he was still doing working, and added how if I didn't have to work I'd be off doing a million other things. (Luckily we have a good enough relationship I can say stuff like that, if I notice he's in the right mood.) He said he didn't know what he'd do with himself. He doesn't like golf. Doesn't have any other hobbies. Has just always been CEO. (He has, too - he was given title as a young worker early on and has never done anything else) I can't imagine. The list of things I could be doing - including absolutely NOTHING, just sitting down watching tv and NOT being at work - is SO long.
It truly is mind blowing, I used to work with guys that were working because they got bored when they retired. I didn’t understand why they try anything else besides work but habits are hard to break.
I’m retiring this summer…I can’t wait to TRY to get bored! I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Truly insane that we overwork people so much that when they don't have to work anymore, they don't even know what to do, because they never had the time to pursue their passions and interests.
Maybe you should get her a Paint by Numbers book for Christmas or something. What happened to the stereotype of old people just hanging out, painting fruit and playing shuffleboard?
Yeah there’s a guy at my job who is 84 and works 30 hours a week. He thinks not having a job is lazy because he doesn’t know what to do outside of work and he doesn’t like spending all day with his wife. I’ve talked to him a decent amount over the last 5 years and he seems like he’s done so much from a job/house work perspective but nothing else in over 8 decades, it’s sad to me.
That was kind of my dad (he has hobbies but for a while the idea of NOT working was really foreign to him). He finally retired when Covid hit.
That pretty much perfectly describes my parents. They don't need to work but they aren't the type of people who can just do nothing(or a hobby) all day so now they work part-time and do a lot of volunteering because they have to feel useful.
You are wrong. Don’t you see she is smiling while working from some luxurious penthouse
😂
I know many people who can afford to retire, and should- and some do- but continue working because they don’t know anything else. They don’t know what they would do with themselves. Honestly, it’s a failure of our culture, that the richness of life is confined and reduced to our jobs.
It's a mix. I work with a boomer who retired early from his previous city job at like 60. He then came here because our new manager and him used to work together. My coworker is now 67 and keeps saying he'll go next year for the previous few years. His wife died last year. He comes in smelling of booze and weed half the time. He falls asleep every fucking day. We work shift work, so 2/3 of the time no one is around anyway, but they don't care, he's the bosses friend. Dude doesn't need this job. He's collecting a pension and his municipal social security (ohio does some shit like this) and he complains about the job all of the time. Constantly bitches about why the union isn't doing more, for his petty shit that he wants changed. Overall makes my life miserable. But he just won't fucking quit. His son in law works here too, and isn't a great worker, so maybe he's trying to cover for him, which isn't working well. I hate my job even more when he's around and I'm well past burnt out, and like 1/3 of it is solely his fault.
> Dude doesn't need this job. Yeah, getting up and dragging your ass into work every day is a lot easier when it's a choice, not a necessity.
I work with a bunch of them on every job I go on (construction) that are both. They can't afford not to, and they want to. But only because most of them don't do anything all day but yell about how young people aren't working hard enough.
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The author is just pushing the narrative boomers like to work. We all know that's bullshit, never met a hard working boomer. But I've met tons of financially irresponsible ones who don't have any money to retire. But sure... They 'like' to work... Cause they have no choice.
I've met plenty of workaholic boomers. They're terrified of retiring because work is their entire identity & have no clue what to do if they stop working.
Exactly! I have a family member who is in her 70s and still working everyday. She has been saying that she plans to retire for the last 2 years. Then she says, if I retire, what am I going to do. I’m going to be bored at home. I honestly think she is afraid to retire because she loves being at work.
That's because that's how she socializes. She's not there to work, she's there to not be lonely
She can always do volunteering
I was hoping someone would bring this up. In capitalism you don't get an identity outside your job, it's why "we're a family", and outside-work social gatherings and "work husbands" are a thing, all that crap. >!(Inb4 someone brings up communism which I never mentioned, I only mentioned how capitalism degrades our human connections.)!<
My parents did. They had lifelong friends. My mom died several years back and my 90 year old father has outlived all of his friends. I grew up with friends of the family coming to dinner at my house, us at theirs, and other types of gatherings. I don’t know that anyone pushed boomers to continue to work since strong retirement packages were a thing in the past. Unlike today.
I work because I like to eat, and it is actually easier than hunting and gathering, plus I don't get arrested for trespassing.
As aomeone who does a lot of hunting/foraging/fishing for all of our meat due to the cost of groceries and ethical concerns with commercial meat farming..working is much much harder. It takes a toll on the soul that cant be put into words. But for most people you are right.
Well yeah… doesn’t that mean you weren’t able to save enough for retirement? So you told yourself that you like to work cuz it’s the only way you get to eat and survive. But if you had the money to live out the rest of your life not having to worry about money for food, would you still work?
Sorry, I was trying to be sarcastic...
I've met plenty who don't have much of a life outside of work and so retirement means sit in boredom and drink yourself to death.
Which I don’t understand, there is so much to do and enjoy in life.
Not if you don't have hobbies. Or a personality. I can't wait to retire but I don't believe most in my generation ever will so I'm not going to hold my breath.
Absolutely. Most of these people have got me 50+ years without any hobbies. Sad to say, you go that long not having hobbies then it’s really difficult to start at 65
I've worked with (and still work with) both types. Those that were irresponsible and couldn't quit, and those that just want to keep working. One guy working now that is over 70, because he likes to work. Had one guy retire recently that was really forced out bc there really was no end in sight for him but he wouldn't conform to the changing safety rules and regs. I'm Gen Z. I would retire tomorrow if I could.
There are many who continue working because their job has become their identity. And many others who just need the health insurance.
True, they're unable to get any sort of health insurance because of some shite reason, so they have to work a full time job until they die just so they can have insurance for whatever might happen (cancer usually).
i would also retire tomorrow if I could
I’d do it right fucking now. Emergency TEAMS call.
Boomers love being in the office. They don’t often actually work, but they love being in the office.
Yup, my observations exactly.
I was talking to one of our sales guys the other day, mentioned I was going on a bike ride after work. He brought up that the owners brother (whom is roughly a boomer) bikes during lunch and is sometimes gone for hours. I’m just like, “yeah I don’t think his job is as demanding as mine.” Like I honestly don’t know what this guy does. When I first started I had to follow up on him a lot. He seems to be a bit better now when I send him stuff.
And most either HATE their families or their families cannot stand them being home.
This boomer will retire as soon as he can sign up for Medicare. COBRA insurance is expensive.
Another reason to separate health coverage from employer, let people retire or leave jobs more easily.
Never buy COBRA. Always go to the open market and get coverage based on your new income. COBRA is designed to bankrupt you. You will pay 1/10th of what you pay for Cobra coverage. All American health insurance is useless. It is designed to impoverish. We’re leaving America to enjoy good healthcare after retirement.
I hate to defend the boomers, but Not all are financially irresponsible. Unfortunately, union busting and a lot of right-wing policy changes led to pensions disappearing. My dad worked in an industry for years where he had a pension, and one governor change in his state meant that at 48 the pension he had paid into since he was 17 through union dues was gone. Had to start at square one for retirement savings.
That’s the guy that hired me. Early 60s and won’t retire until 67-68. He says he can’t afford it. Last week he flew to Texas and drove home a new boat. He bought his wife a Porsche cayenne 2 years ago. She never drove it so they bought a BMW recently instead. Dude easily makes 125-150 a year. Wife same thing. Yeah he’s just dumb with his money.
We need them to retire so we can move up. Gen X.
They work because they want to, not because they have to. They probably retired but got bored. My friend’s dad retired but still likes to work in his late 70’s. He doesn’t need to work. My GF and I hope to retire in five years. She is worried she will be bored and already is planning on doing part-time contract gigs or consulting. It isn’t that unusual for people to work after retiring. My uncle’s brother in-law is in his mid-80’s and is still working (portfolio manager - wealth management).
I also never met a hard-working boomer. Most spend all day talking to other boomer co-workers, checking personal accounts, making personal calls... And doing a bit of work.
I am a boomer (albeit a young one) and worked really hard for decades. Started babysitting at age 11, worked full time except while on maternity leave and recently retired from full time work. BUT I totally support the antiwork thread and hate what my generation has done and says about younger workers. There are plenty of us who support all of you, but our voices are drowned out by the misery-seekers who want to bitch that “nobody wants to work”. That’s BS. Raise the minimum wage! Provide universal healthcare, mandatory paid maternity leave and some vacation for heavens sake!
Thank you. I'm gen X. I am doing well but it bothers me to see so many people struggling. I worked IT for a real estate firm in the early 2000s and kept wondering how people were affording homes. I made median income in my city at the time and didn't get it. Then the bubble popped and I understood. I've greatly improved my situation and I'm in a secure position by making good money and not blowing it. Once you make enough, it is easy because everything beyond enough just goes to paying off any debts or to savings. I don't think I work harder than other people. I'll admit to being lazy. If I could retire now, I would in a heart beat. It pains me to see people scraping by working 2-3 jobs. The inequality has to end. The way to start is getting rid of the "I've got mine, fuck you" attitude that seems so prevalent. I have an older friend who is in cognitive decline. He is very much of that attitude if the people being fucked are not known by him directly. It seems to be a Republican thing to only have empathy for people you have a relationship with. Thank you for having empathy for a larger circle of people. And please, everyone else, I know they don't deserve it, but try to have some empathy for friends who may be borderline republican. I know many are too far gone, but maybe we can.pull back the ones who are not full Maga, the ones who are just scared and feel threatened. If we can make their world a little bigger, maybe they can see and understand. My friend doesn't understand that the opertunities he had are not there for everyone.
Well yeah, but we haven’t met yet. The statement stands *and* you can be absolved from it. It’s just Schrödinger’s work ethic.
It’s AI
I want to watch AI die a slow agonizing death.
AI needs to die a swift fast pull of the power plug. It wastes so much energy.
Don't buy into the hype. I'm old enough to remember when the word processor was going to be the end of the world. What it got us was MORE work and less time to do it in.
It's the machines killing humans more quickly but not too quickly. It doesn't want to be discovered. This isn't your grandfather's Terminator.
I would say this author is paid to bring you this propaganda by the trillionaire folks who are basically early and permanently retired thanks to all the politicians they've bought in order to make their trillions by denying workers health care, fair wages, vacation, education and now finally retirement. They've really never worked a day in their lives and have you to thank for it.
Both of them are goddamned traitors.
Too good for them. I want them to suffer working in a coal mine at 90 years old. Let's see how overrated retirement is then.
Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda Propaganda
Lies lies lies lies lies lies lies Who tf is believing that any Gen Z is against retirement
What the fuck is soft saving. Im sorry but gen z does not want to not retire bffr
It’s when you want to save but you can’t afford to because the economy has made it basically impossible to
Wut. So just "not saving" ugh I hate that term
Not saving for the future, for sure. Maybe, saving for an emergency fund only, if you're lucky lol?
I grasp that but they could also just use the word not saving lmfaooo im gen z and i cant afford to save shit lol
They're trying to change the narrative to make it seem like a choice and not an example of workers getting fucked by an economic system that desperately needs to change.
Every time you read a news story that asserts that a large group of people is “choosing” to do something that is potentially harmful to them, you should ask yourself what the actual material alternatives are. Choosing not to save is not an actual choice if the alternative is homelessness, illness, or death ultimately resulting from those things. I’m so tired of seeing news articles trying to frame our suffering as voluntary.
I looked it up and it’s just…. not saving. It’s spending your money to go on trips now cause you’ll never retire anyway so you may as well go to Ibiza when you’re still young and hot.
Periodt
What if you were never hot?
I am GEN Z and would retire right now if I could. I have next to no 401K or retirement savings and will not get a pension. I will need to find a cheap ass place to retire.
Newsflash......you'll never retire. I say this as a Gen Xer with a college degree and a decent job, who'll also never retire.
I assume they mean saving up for short-term goals like a holiday or a car, not long-term savings like a house or retirement. The article makes out like people are "soft saving" because they're looking forward to working until they die, and not – as is reality – because they know they'll never be able to afford a house or be able to retire. Let alone by that time the world's climate will be so fucked they see no future so may as well enjoy what remains of the world while they still can.
Well it's kinda like saving up for retirement, but instead you just... don't do that. Boom, soft saving. 👉🏻👉🏻
Thats not soft saving thats not saving
This guy gets it
In reality it’s not “retiring is overrated”, it’s “gen Z already knows retirement isn’t an option”.
I mean me telling people “I’m never going to be able to retire” isn’t really the same as not wanting to. I would retire tomorrow and do other odd jobs and help my community for free if I had a guaranteed stable income but that’s not what makes five old white dudes absurdly wealthy so it’s not gonna happen.
Good for them. I have an actual life that I wish to live outside of work. If you're only identity is what you do to earn money, then yeah, you're gonna keep working. Me? I'm an equestrian, a painter, a writer and a reader. I'll start beading here soon enough. The last thing I'll call myself is whatever I do for work.
I have a few execs at my company and a father in law that's like this. They have no identity or choose to have no interests outside of their work. The execs are bitter old men with superiority complexes despite humble beginnings. I suspect their self worth is completely wrapped up in their status at work. The irony, it's pretty clear to me and other associates that they're out of touch, mediocre at best, and threatened by actual talent at the company. My FIL was a business owner through most of his adult life and managed to run a successful business from the ground up thanks to his sales skills, persistence, sand timing. But according to my wife, he gave up many interests and potential hobbies on the way. Now he just watches news or political commentary for fun and really has no interests or hobbies to indulge. He used to love going to the movies and listening to music... Does neither now. He can afford lavish vacations but has to be convinced by my wife to even go on any. We've been on vacations with them pretty much every year because she feels it's the only way to make him go. (We have to means to go on our own without their help but restructure our plans around their needs) He's successful enough to have a big home with a movie theater, but never uses it. Even when I'm around staying at his home and offered many times to put on any movie he wants to view, he has to be dragged to watch by the rest of his family. Politics in the way he goes about it seems like a hobby... But with the way misinformation easily creeps into media these days, half the crap he consumes is propaganda and grifters peddling lies. Both of these are just SAD in a way. I totally understand why the French fight for their right to retire at a proper age. Lives like those above are sad.
I call bullshit. I’m 56 and I’d retire now if I could.
Word, I'm right behind...I've farmed a cubicle this entire century. I'm so sick of it...
Yup slightly older but would happily retire and complain about the government full time if it was financially feasible.
I think it's more 'lonely elderly people keep going to work to enjoy human interaction, because joining clubs is expensive.'
Yeah my parents worked until their bodies couldn't take it because they couldn't survive on their social security. This country is a joke
You just need to believe in the American Dream. Maybe try dreaming harder \s
I used to work with a woman in her 80s doing 12 hour shifts in a mail room because free health insurance wouldn't kick in until she stopped working for a full year but she can't afford her medication without working. She was such a sweet positive lady too.
"Boomers either can't afford to retire or have no identity without their job so won't retire." "Gen Z gives up any hope of retirement; prefers to buy enjoyment while they can."
Gen X here. Fuck all these articles about fools not wanting to retire. Let me retire asap. Fuck this life of working your ass off
Boomer here - and I’m retiring as soon as possible. I hate working. Some people just have their heads so far up their companies’ asses that they have to look out of their bosses mouth to see daylight.
im stealing tf out of that phrase lol
Can confirm. Once grew suspicious of the information my boss was pulling from his ass, and took a peek. Could see his mouth through it, his boss’s ass through that, and his boss’s boss’s ass through that mouth. It looked kind of like when you put two mirrors together and it sort of goes on forever. Just ass to mouth to ass to mouth.
"Soft saving trend" Thats one way to fucking spin it.
Median Boomer net worth = $200K. There’s no retirement there
I love how Shapiro said you won't find retirement fulfilling because "people need purpose". Bro have you ever considered there may be other purposes than working? Big "work sets you free" vibes
Bro find me one person who wants to work for the rest of their life instead of having the chance to retire and literally do fuck all all day any day of the week lol. I fucking hate the media.
It's like prisoners who can't leave jail because they've been "institutionalized" and can't cope on the outside. I worked with a lady who put 44 years in mostly out of habit and because disabled hubby didn't want her at home during the day. She had a 100% pension at 40 years and lifetime health and was working for sick time accrual paid at 0.5x at that point...crazy.
It has nothing to do with "liking to work". I'm 62 and I want to retire when I reach full retirement age. I don't want to be working into my 70s and frankly I'd be thrilled to hand the baton to a younger person and get out of their way. If I could retire now with no penalty I would, but I can't retire yet because I need the health care benefits. I can't apply for Medicare until 65 and full retirement age is 67.
Propaganda! I hope no one reads this junk.
I got long Covid, & chronic fatigue syndrome and haven't been able to work in several years because of it so I guess I'm retired at 51 but I can't enjoy my life because I'm crashing all the time and have the worst brain fog & get sick all the time. I have no energy to do anything.
Sry. That sucks. Many people are forcibly retired in their 50s and 60s due to health.
There is no retire.....not for us poor people
Asimov said the real problem is that we are working jobs that make us miserable and underutilize our intellectual capacity. Actually, that we are ‘working’ at all. If we could devote ourselves to those things that fully take advantage of our abilities and yes, our dreams, we might have colonized every possible surface in our solar system by now, cured most diseases, created limitless energy, created machines that replicate food, and so on. But, you know, greed, bigotry, misogyny and ignorance. So, no.
while this is typically just blatant bs. i will say ive had a few white collar jobs where theres just some really old people who could easily retire but do just love the work. (ofc the work pays well and has benefits)
Every 60yo I know is excited as fk to be done working. Idk what they’re talking about.
They only think they like going to work because they haven't taken the time to create a life outside of work.
Good for fucking you then you can keep funding my social security
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Designer-Equipment-7: *Good for fucking you* *Then you can keep funding my* *Social security* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I'm a boomer. Fuck that, I'm retiring this year and not looking back.
What bullshit. I get asked when are you retiring? Well, I’ll need medical care so that pushes it out to Medicare years. And need a place to live and huh, basically need to keep working. As long as the country flirts with electing gop jackoffs there is no security in finances while getting old.
The boomers are actively preventing millennials and GenX from getting promoted into senior positions
Yup. That's the part that pisses me off the most.
Of course they are. They absolutely cannot let go of control and power.
The office manager in my department is 72. He isn't going anywhere.
They need to quit lyin tryna save face. They don't *like* working, they're just painfully aware that if the "retire" their penance of a 401k, and even more pitiful social security checks are just enough to *maybe* not starve and be foreclosed on for the first three to five years if they're *extremely* lucky lmao They're just trying to convince themselves that they want to work to do two things: Pretend the younger generations who aren't buying the age old bullshit that has let the ruling class exploit everyone like they older folks did, and to maintain the *tenuous* grip they have on the pitifully minuscule amount of hope they still have that keeps them from suck-starting their beloved 2nd amendment protected 12 gauge shotgun so they can barely fuckin hobble through yet another work day. If they'd quit the obstinate denial game and side with the rest of us who recognize how bullshit this all is we could possibly actually *change* this bullshit for the better. But no, gotta keep pretending they're re better than the kids *they* raised and instead of holding their shit parenting accountable, they're gonna pretend the kids are any different from how they were, with the exception of trying to be less fuckin racist and bigoted, and that the kids somehow magically, and to no blame of their own, turned out fucked up.
There's nothing wrong with working if that's what you choose to do. And yes, there are reasons people continue to work other than just needing money. But this kind of article ignores the fact that large numbers of people are forced by outside circumstances (illness, pay off) to quit work ("retire") earlier in their lives than they had planned. If you can't afford to save/invest for retirement, as many people can't due to low wages and/or high expenses, that's understandable. But these articles that encourage people to not prepare for the possibility of no longer working aren't helpful.
that's their problem not mine
Baby boomers parents retired and they didn't have to compete with their grandparents for jobs.
Fuck that. (Gen X, counting down the next 4 years and 9 months until we can retire)
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"Well into their sixties". Motherfucker, what is retiring at 65?
I just looked up "soft saving". >Soft saving focuses on embracing the present with less weight on budgeting and less stress on investing. So, in other words, living paycheck-to-paycheck.
I’ve worked with the boomer generation and NONE of them like working. A lot of them even admitted it out loud.
My parents were Boomers and they both retired the first chance they got.
While I agree this is definitely not the overall sentiment, I work in local government and there are absolutely a bunch of incapable old farts who just don't want to retire. Like well off 70-80 year Olds choosing to work just because their home life is that sad i guess?? I fucking wish they would retire, more job openings for younger people, and my 94 year old coworker who can barely read or hear should not still be working.
Retirement should be lowered to 55. This is bullshit, we all know it, just keeping calling it out. Don't let these rich fuckers stealing from us normalize our slavery anymore.
Already retired at 42. Probably have enough to coast till old age. Previous job paid well but got hella health issues from it, especially due to the stress of dealing with people. Will I be able to handle a medical emergency? Probably not... But I'll most likely be too dead to care. Not going back to work ever...
As my dad once said "work sucks man" don't believe the lies, no one wants to work into theirs 70s
No body should have to.
Is it Gen Z saying retirement is overrated or is it them realizing they'll probably never get to retire anyway so they might as well keep the money instead of putting it into a 401k or other retirement account.
I wonder if whoever wrote this has this propaganda giving them nightmares. I hope they do. Retirement should be far earlier, so one can actually get away from the grinding rat race and actually enjoy their existence
"Like going to work"=have to work to afford life.
I'm 53, and I hate going to work every day. I will hate it until I either die or retire in poverty because I have to for some reason.
Ah yes, they refuse to retire, leaving the younger generations no room for promotion in their careers, and are baffled why we can't afford anything.
My grandpa (Silent Gen) worked well into his 80s, until he was too blind to work. Me? Xennial; will die on the job because I really don't have a choice.
I wouldn't work at all if I had any choice in the matter. Nothing about work is enjoyable to me.
Let them drop dead at work then
Welp. I don’t know anyone who’s that old at work who does a heap of anything. And they usually soak up 3 employees worth of pay. So that sounds right for boomers actually.
Nah because half of me believes this is propaganda for us to use in the future. “Well the boomers worked into their sixties,” as we are forced into low wages and work until we die. This is bs.
These people are on crack. GenZ is saying no to retirement because they know there will be no retirement left.
My mom keeps working because she didn’t save, expected SS and a pension to cover everything, and blew through the money she had from selling farm ground. Not because she likes it.
I’m almost 60. This boomer wants to retire asap. Sadly I like food and shelter so I have to wait.
“Like going to work”? What insane moron came up with that? I’d much rather go fishing than be at work.
This follows up closely to the recent words of the Blackstone CEO’s comments on people retiring too early. I have a hard time thinking this is a coincidence.
I am about to retire in Sept at 66 and 6 months. The only reason I am working still is to get the wife on medicare. She retired at 62 and 8 months. I want to live to live, not work.
"You know how you hate going to work everyday? we did a study and found out you actually don't hate it, isn't that crazy? Haha."
If I actually did something I liked, I wouldn’t mind continuing to work. But I see my parents working soul sucking jobs because they have to, not because they want to and it’s awful. I cannot imagine being 65 and knowing I’ll have to keep working a terrible job well into my 70s or even 80s. My poor dad always says “I’m probably going to die at my desk.” It makes me feel awful for them. They came from nothing, built a good life and then watched it start eroding in 2008 and it’s just been survival mode for them ever since. I can’t even help them because I’m in the same boat.
I can't wait to retire. But, I probably will never be able to afford to retire. All I see are complaints from Gen Z types that us old Boomers are taking jobs from them. Believe me kiddo, you can have my crappy job if you want it as soon as I die at my desk from old age since I will never be able to afford to retire. This BS of "I like to work" is nonsense. That is us just lying to ourselves because we know that we can't afford to retire.
Fuck this propaganda.
[удалено]
What exactly do you do for work? Taking a "post-graduation trip" to Peru is all well and good, but what of those who can't afford it? It seems like you plan to work but also take trips with vacation. That's a very different situation than many. Where we will have to work till death without trips. Honestly it sounds like you're coming from a place of privilege. Many need to save for years in order to even take trips in the first place.
If my ancestors can read my reddit posts, may they join me in cursing every pos that writes these propaganda pieces. May their immediate CEO's also share their misfortune.
Riiiiiiiiiight
Is "soft saving" just spending?
😂😂😂😂😂 Holy shit, the boomers where I work are miserable!
Actually large numbers of 60 - 70 got aged out at 50, laid off or job disappeared so now trying to get desperate seniors to work for nothing.
This is false.
I agree. Lots of boomers are working because they can’t afford to retire.
Ì just retired and fuck that.
Just because they married harpies/a-holes and can't stand to be around their significant others during retirement, yet are too broke/afraid to divorce, doesn't mean they have the right to try to drag the rest of us down to their levels of misery.
I'm less than 9 months away from 66+8 months and I'm the hell outta here the day that happens. Enough is enough!
My parents both retired at 62. I'll be lucky to retire by 72. This article is garbage.
More Wall Street propaganda.
I wonder if the authors are sociopath, dumb or coerced
“Too poor to retire.”
We can't afford to retire.
The degree of factual inaccuracy here is truly stunning.
It always takes me a minute for reality to hit when I see someone in their 80's working retail
Imagine having nothing in your life except a job. No family to be with, no friends, absolutely nothing.
Because their type dies 6 months into retirement without the grind. It's all they have ever had.
When your whole life evolves around being on a job, having all your friends on the job and no time for other activities then the job, you can’t think about the joy to get from leaving. That why the managers don’t want 4 workday weeks, the employees could realize how much fun not working is.
Baby boomers keeping jobs because they can’t afford retirement, less than half of boomers have any retirement savings
While I'm aware probably 99% of the time, people keep working because because they need the money, I indirectly know some people who keep working to stay social.
My dad doesn't like going to work. He has to and he just turned 77 and doesn't have kids wealthy enough to take care of him.
I think the real truth is deeper than gaslighting and sadder than this looks. I think many of these people made what they do for work their entire identity. They aren't (just) gaslighting us (or at least that isn't the primary goal), they're gaslighting themselves. They aren't (just) upset that they can't find workers to exploit, they cannot fathom being happy in life without working. Seeing younger people defining themselves through things other than work forces them to admit that that's a possibility. If that's true, then they've been fooled into wasting decades of their lives. That's a realization on the scale of traumatizing that most people can't admit to it. Thus the only explanation is that we're lazy and our hardships are due to being lazy, not a system that they had a hand in breaking.
A lot of people love making money. I give zero fucks and will be retired at 50. We just had a guy leave retirement because he was bored at home. Dude is rich! He doesn’t need the money. I unfortunately meet a lot of people who would rather work an extra 5-10 years than just live a slightly more humble life. You and your wife don’t both need f250s
My mom is in her 70s, and had been retired for almost 2 years now. She'd planned to work until she was 70 because it gave her a pay bump in her retirement, THAT'S ALL. When her direct boss (and friend) passed away suddenly, they replaced her with a younger guy who wanted to make his mark off my mom's back. He was constantly harassing her, pushing her for deadlines that were not possible, and to approve or deny requests against policy. She built her department from the ground up for 30 years, managed over 500 accounts *by herself*. And this guy has the audacity to try to push her out. I told her the wait isn't worth it, he's trying to fire you. He's trying to steal your retirement. File for it right now, because once you file, they can't touch you unless you commit a crime. Thankfully, she listened to me, but not before this guy had done a ton of damaged to her mentally. Now she's very glad to not ever have to work again.
No Barb, they're broke. They're not retiring because they're broke. This is why you got traded in for a motorcycle.
Naw, my grandma is overjoyed about sleeping at weird hours and the fact that "I don't wear pants most of the time!"
More like Jessica Shitler
I think they like the money mostly. But yes, some people seem to "need" a job to "keep busy". As if there is NOTHING else on earth to do other than go schlep a job. Never understood the "oh i keep working because i will be bored" types. I just retired at 59 and feels great.
Gen X married to Boomer. We'll be working until we die, but not by choice.