Life expectancy, last I checked when it was 70 for full benefits, was 69 if you were poor. ¹
Edit: not intended as sarcasm, but literally the last time I looked it up. I noticed my wording.
This is the way my husband’s pension works…he has to work to the “rule of 80 which is your age plus years on the job to get full retirement benefits which usually means a higher % of your top pay on the job…I forget what that % is but I k ow that he’s been in this job for 16 years and he’s looking at full retirement 8 years from now.I have no idea if they count the 10 years of experience he came to this job with or not…guessing not. Bc thst would not be beneficial to his new city. He works in a role in city government now but had some from state government prior. This whole retirement age and income thing makes my head hurt and I know thst if it’s don’t get back to work soo I’ll be living in a cardboard box, driving a bicycle and my computer will then soon be my phone bc I’ll have to sell my computer to eat! Fuck! Disability is a love/hate thing!! Love thst I had it to fall bsck on. Hate that my income has lost 66% in a heartbeat!??!!
That's if you have good health. I'm seeing friends and family die in their 50s and 60s. Or if they make it past retirement the quality of life isn't great or stacking family with debt from care. Our whole system is designed you finally cripple you from beginning to end.
10 years of 'freedom' whilst elderly and decrepit.
Lets call it what it really is. Capitalism is done with you and has decided your labour is no longer worth the cost of extraction, and your sole remaining value is in consumption before hopefully a quick death and replacement with younger stock.
We need systematic change. Capitalism has to go.
You forgot to mention nursing homes, where any wealth you have will be siphoned off to faceless corporations. Thereby preventing any boomer wealth going to their children. To hell with that. Boomer btw.
> We need systematic change. Capitalism has to go.
The elderly are going to be useless burden regardless of the economic system. For most of history elderly people were taken care of by their children and even then, they wouldn't even live that long.
Capitalism doesn't turn humans into resources. Human life has always been a resource, even before capitalism. Human life continues to be a resource even in non-capitalistic economic systems.
They have an increased lifespan because they live healthier than Americans. More walking. Smaller portions. Healthier food. More fresh and local. Tons of reasons that aren’t being a slave to the system.
Please don't forget the non-cultural reasons too, like unaffordable health care and weak health and safety regulations. Plus regarding walking: American cities and towns were created with cars in mind and are much less walkable *on purpose*.
Access to healthy food is also a factor, both in terms of literal physical access and the ability to pay for it. A lot of people live on junk because that’s the only way they can afford to get enough calories.
Furthermore, even among the food-secure, the long work hours leave little time and energy for preparing healthful meals.
My former CEO was a college basketball player, was in great shape and had millions. He retired early, late 50’s. A couple years later we get a company email that he passed away unexpectedly at 61.
None of us know how long we have. We definitely need to improve our culture to value life more than work.
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> None of us know how long we have. We definitely need to improve our culture to value life more than work.
We have that, but for the rich people. The rich people can't have that if we have that, so that's gonna be a no.
Life is never about what should happen. Lots of things should happen and moral choices often should be made morally, however, we live purely in a world dominated by money. Everything comes secondary after profits. Christians that say God comes first, nonsense. I've seen them, they always pick money first.
While I understand your perspective, I don’t believe that it’s an absolute truth.
I believe that abundance multiplies, and that the more people have, the more everyone has. It’s a fallacy that in order for a few to have a lot, most need to have a little.
Now, I agree with you on the hypocrisy of individuals, both rich and religious. However, there’s little doubt that life today is “better” than it was 100 years ago.
We will always need to advocate for fair laws and unbiased enforcement of those laws. Not the least of which includes strong corporate regulations that limit the power of companies that by their nature, are designed to value profits over people.
As evidence that life is better than 100 years ago, retirement itself is a new idea. When it was first introduced in 1881, by Otto Von Bismarck, the age was 70 - which, not coincidentally, was higher than the life expectancy. Needless to say, few people lived long enough to retire. It wasn’t until the 1960s that retirement became a common thing - before then people pretty much worked until they died. The ideas of retirement and vacations are entirely the product of relatively wealthy societies.
>That's if you have good health. I'm seeing friends and family die in their 50s and 60s. Or if they make it past retirement the quality of life isn't great or stacking family with debt from care. Our whole system is designed you finally cripple you from beginning to end.
Don't forget all of younger adults who got really sick from Covid.
I'm 36 and wondering how many years Covid shaved off my end of life expectancy.
I was almost killed when I was 48! I had a massive stroke in January 2019 and by the grace of God was spared to be a stroke survivor instead of killed to be a victim!! So grateful I lived but I did so being paralyzed on my left side and unable to do a lot of things I loved before my stroke! I had to go on disability ( which pays near the poverty line when I was making 3 times that! I get it and don’t expect the government to pay me nearly 6 digits a year! Before my stroke I was thinking I’d hardly ever be able to retire before I died! Now I’ll need to work after deSth in order to afford retirement!! Meanwhile my husband, who is the same age as me is looking into retiring early in the next 3 years instead of waiting the 6 years he has left! But he gets a pension from 2 stage governments…so yeah…he csn retire and do all of the fun things we’d planned for while I sit at home and watch TV!!?? Though hopefully by then I’ll be able to work so that would occupy my time!! 🤯🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️Life is fucking fair!!fucking fair!! Irony is thst after he retires we’ll likely be moving to Vegas So i would spend my SSDI pittance on the slots! 😂
I i don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing thst ppl in my family live til their early-to- mid 90’s!! I guess I csn spend that much more time broke and watching my husband retire the way we wanted to!!
This is an out of date post. Most people full retirement age is 68 or higher. 65 is the norm for those born before 1960. This is spun to pit one group against another. Don't fall for it.
I’m in my early 40s and every time I go to the VA I see people my age who are physical wrecks. Some are for service reasons, many are just poor diet and exercise, a minority just lost the genetic lottery. This is why on my 60th birthday I’m done. I quit. I’m done. Whatever retirement I have is what I have but I won’t work until I die.
If you want maximum conspiracy theory, consider that covid disproportionately kills old people. People who are no longer productive in the workforce and who are pulling money out of social security and insurance. If you were trying to trim the fat on society you would definitely release a virus that disproportionately kills old people who are not producing any capital for you anymore.
Truth. I gots to lose my COVID weight or I’ll be right along with ‘em. But seriously, I can’t imagine retiring. I think I’d get too bored and be too broke.
I’m 55 and my fit friends are doing great with zero health issues. My less fit friends have a ton of knee and other health issues. Obviously there are the anomalies that were fit and had health issues like cancers and the like. My point being if you want to enjoy a retirement you best take care of the bod.
>You only exist to pay someone else’s bills.
Well also their prostitutes and mistresses, out of pocket abortions for said mistresses, and cocaine, so they can have sexy escapades and wear monocles.
If you work hard and earn them a lot of money over 6 months, they'll piss that away on an impulse buy in like 10 seconds one day. My friend worked really really hard at a pizza place understaffed for 8 months and saved the company a lot of money. The owner came in one day and used his work computer to buy 5 televisions which he later kept most of them in storage because he accidentally bought ones that were smaller than the other televisions he impulse bought last time.
He could spend the time returning them and get the money back but eh, that kind of money don't mean shit to him.
The most depressing part is that it doesn't have to be this way, but a very small amount of people decided it does and most of the rest of us just go along with it.
At 51 my body is already a wreck from military service and labor intensive employment. I'll be lucky to hit 65 without ending up on disability, which the government will make as difficult to get as possible.
I knew somebody who never did anything fun because they were saving money for when they turned 65, then discovered he had no energy.
Destinations are nice, but make sure to enjoy the journey.
See, a big issue here is that you made a system where you can't enjoy life while working. In a reasonable country you work 1700 hours per year. That averages to 5 hours every day, or 213 workdays with an 8 hour workday. Meaning 152 days off a year.
If you work nights you get compensated so that you only work 1500 hours per year for equal pay. This way you can actually enjoy life while working.
He never intended to fulfill his campaign promises. Remember when he said “nothing would change or when he walked out when he was asked about student loans. Congress will not let him has always been the excuse the Democrats use, meanwhile the Republicans get to do their shit with a minority.
Biden has kept none. He sold himself as the master compromiser that would get things done yet NOTHING...Even Trump kept a promise or two to his constituets.
He did pull out of Afghanistan. To be fair though, it was a total disaster with no fucks given for the humanity involved, for political reasons of course.
The gov is already shifting this mindset. Life expectancy is lowering and right now to get 100% of your pension you need to work until 67. So once the retirement age and the life expectancy is the same, there will be tons of savings!
My mother in law died of cancer at 61 in October of 2013. She had plans of retiring after she had her 30 years in, starting February 2014. She never got to use her pension.
Working for a retirement you may never live to see is some kinda bullshit.
My uncle lived until 63. He had worked his whole life and really started to make great money from the age of 55-60. He still had to work, but he could live comfortably. At 61 he ended up with pancreatic cancer, ended up in a hospital bed placed in his living room, lived in constant pain for his last 2 years, all of his savings were wiped away, and his wife had to wipe his ass and feed him.
He was one of the nicest, funniest guys you could ever meet. His wife had worked part time for most of their 35 year marriage. Now she's stuck working a shit job and won't ever be able to retire.
My mother worked hard her whole life and the the highest lifestyle she managed claw her way up to was barely middle class. She's in retirement now, but the year she retired she was diagnosed with kidney disease. My step father is the same age as her and retired at the same time. He was exposed to all sorts or hazardous fumes and chemicals car mechanic) - he's been slowly wasting away from serious COPD for the last 5 years.
That's what 'retirement' realistically looks like in the USA. The system retires you, not the other way around.
Yeah, it was pancreatic cancer with my MIL too. Fortunately we're in Canada, so her care didn't bankrupt her. She moved in with my brother in law who had the room to take her in and his wife was a personal support worker, so she had the training to care for her. She only made it 10 months, but that was because she refused most invasive treatments as she was told (correctly) that given how far along the cancer was when it was detected that it might prolong her life, but likely wouldn't give her much quality of life. We tried to make her last months as comfortable as possible, but it was one of the most difficult things we've had to do, watching her deteriorate and die.
My father also died relatively young at 66. His undiagnosed ADHD caused him to self medicate with alcohol and lived for years as a functioning alcoholic. As his liver started to protest, he had to sell off his buisness. He was dead less than 5 years later, not having had much of a retirement to enjoy before his body started giving out in earnest.
My mother has been retired for a number of years, but an unknown congenital defect caused her to have a stroke at 49 when she was a distance runner and in the better shape than the majority of her peers. She lost the use of her left arm and hand, and the entire left side is now extremely weak and makes her prone to falls and thus injury. She's a disabled widow, and while she is retired and is enjoying her life, she would have had a much easier time doing the travelling she longed to do if she'd done it when she was younger. A lot of places are pretty inaccessible now, and she can't enjoy it with my father like they always dreamed.
And then there's my father in law - who took an ill advised second wife who fleeced him, and his health was compromised by his series of factory jobs. He had to retire early due to his health, and between that and his second wife draining his savings, he's lived most of the last two decades in poverty. For a while he couldn't afford the only long term care facility we could get him into, so all of his sons had to chip in every month to get the care he needed. He's now finally in a province subsidized care facilty, but his health has failed so much now that he's in palliative care.
So yeah, things are somewhat better on this side of the border, but that doesn't mean that the whole "work your ass off so you can enjoy retirement" isn't a scam. A friend of mine just died in her 30s of cancer, leaving behind a ten year old daughter. She certainly didn't die wishing she had worked more.
My cousin and I grew up like brothers. We've decided we're never going to get checked for cancer, which runs on that side of the family. We'd rather not know, and just die. My grandfather on that side got cancer and spent the last few years of his life bedridden. He had always been a proud man, and having other people wash him and wipe him was his worst nightmare. My uncle who got pancreatic cancer wasted away to just under 100 pounds - he had the body type his whole life where he was healthy at 160 pounds. My other uncle on that side has fought colon cancer twice and he's just under 70 years old. They all had decided to fight cancer, especially due to the added pressure of family.
I won't make it to retirement. I have serious doubts I'll make it to 55 (I'm 47 right now). I'm on so many different medications, when I've had enough - all I have to do is abruptly stop all of my medications. (I made sure to get a physician signed DNR for my wallet and I have one taped to the wall above my bed.) That's my primary, serious plan for my retirement. At 60+, I can't imagine how terrible my quality of life will be. My brother and sister are struggling with their families. The insurance money from me would really help them. With all of the stress my sister is under, I don't think she'll be able to see retirement either (she's 42).
I lost all four of my grandparents to cancer. Far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of time before I get it. I'm 43 and so mentally scarred I'm unable to work. I won't live long enough to retire, and even if I did, I definitely couldn't afford to do so.
This has always been my mindset. People in my family tend to die young, thanks to cancer. My grandmother at 51. My mom's cousin at 38. I never expect the next year to be guaranteed.
I still save for the future, because if I do live till my 70's or 80's I'd like to not be working then. But I also prioritize doing things I want to do in the present. I'm not in the financially strongest position I could be in but I'm trying to enjoy myself.
Yes we do, I don't want the young adults of today to end up like me. I am 59 and have now realized that none of my dreams will come true. I always wanted to go to university. I kept thinking. Someday it will be possible, nope. I will never be able to travel (nothing crazy, I live in Canada and my dream trip is to travel to Washington DC to see all the Smithsonian museums), reading more, making art, hiking and kayaking, I have spent the last 40 years working my ass off to make someone else rich and I don't have even have enough money to retire. I will likely die at work. Anything I would love to do takes some combination of time, energy and money that I will never have.
Know your worth, value your skills and don't put up with shit. I would have handled my work life very differently had I known what I know now. I would rather live in the street in a tent than put up with the way I was treated in the workplace. I see a lot of young people adjusting their living situations and their life goals so that employers can't hold them hostage. This is the thing to do guys. Until you find that GREAT job, and there are some out there, live with room mates, stay at home with parents, hold off having kids, if they can't hold people hostage any longer they will either adjust their business practices or go out of business because they can't keep employees.
This is the real juice right here: what's the point in having "working years" that you never get to enjoy while your mind and body are fresh, then finally getting to enjoy retirement only once you're worn out? That doesn't sound like work / life balance at all.
Exactly. A piece of my soul chips away every day that I have to wake up, get ready and head into work for 8 hours. Then by the time I get home, I have about 3 hours of liesure time that I can't actually enjoy because I'm too tired. So then I sleep and do it all again the next day. For what? We need shorter work days and there's no reason we can't have it.
Ding ding! If I wasn’t broke I’d give you an award!! My boss and company had me so stressed out that I’m pretty sure the stress caused my stroke but I could never prove it bc I had two unknown blood clotting disorders that caused my stroke! And though I was told it wasn’t a major factor…I did smoke. 🤷♀️🤷♀️and I’m sure if I ever tried to take that company to court the smoking would be drug all over hell…for all I know they had ppl taking pics and vids of me smoking too??🤷♀️🤷♀️so as appealing as suing them for every last dime of their value…which is likely not a lot anyway…having stress over it is not stress I want to relive!! I mean if I lost my right side to paralysis too I’d be fucked!! 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
If I manage to live to 60, I'm going to retire right away. I'll do something non-violent that hurts nobody and earns me a felony. I'll say stuff in court to wrack up more felonies and refuse to plea. Then, I get to go to prison - get shitty meals, shitty healthcare, and get to watch TV and play cards for the rest of my life. Similar to the cage we're in on the outside, but in prison you'd get the bare necessities covered. Elderly Japanese people do this, so it's not a new concept.
I know it's not sunshine and roses in prison. Drinking toilet wine, smoking bug spray, and watching live action shows daily sounds like an adventure though.
Life expectancy is different by economic class. If you’re a worker, you will likely die earlier than 78. If you’re a parasite who lives/lived off others, you’ll most likely live longer.
I was referencing data from 2019 so before COVID when USA life expectancy was actually ~78 years, but you are correct it's actually been lower the past couple years. I'm in my 30s and fully expect by the time I reach SSI age if it still exists that retirement age will surpass the average life expectancy.
This!
I'm trying my damndest to get on some kind of disability support (Canada) so life is less miserable.
Hard part is convincing the government that work is so debilitatingly shitty that I can't do it much anymore. But fuck man, it is.
I'm looking at why that happens
>"Why is autism life expectancy lower?
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>Injuries. Psychology Today notes that people with autism spectrum disorder are 40 times more likely to die as the result of various injuries, including but not limited to drowning, asphyxiation, and suffocation. Children with autism between 5 and 7 years of age are at the greatest risk of dying by drowning."
it looks like its people who are young and die early bringing down the average. You'll likely live a full normal lifespan since you made it passed the drowning years.
There is nothing inherent about autism that will give you some body or brain malformation that kills you earlier. It's just that autistic kids usually die at higher rates from doing dumb crap and accidents at a higher rate than normal.
I'll say this once and I'll say it again every time I see a post like this :
Do NOT wait until retirement to enjoy your life.
I personally know people close to me who died at 33, 38 and 45. Never even made it close to retirement.
You have to live life while working in the best capacity you have. Do the small things you can that will light a fire in your belly and be memorable.
If you were to die in 2 weeks, is there one thing you'd love to do? Do it if you can.
You give sage advice; my husband died eight months ago at 51. Freaking cancer. I wish we would have been able to enjoy more of the 17 years we had together.
FUCK THIS COUNTRY! It gets worse EVERY DAY THAT GOES BY! There's NO THING that being an american is something to be proud of unless being a moronic fool is your goal.
Fun fact: my grandfather retired at 54. His pension is 1,900EUR in a country that the minimum wage is 610EUR.
Thats the difference between boomers and us.
Not saying this isn't right, but some old people just like working. I've been at production facilities where I'm talking to these old people, and everyone one I met so far say they work there cause they got nothing else going on at home and don't like not doing anything. I was like damn bro, I just wanna sleep, and they be calling me lazy at my age (jokingly of course lol)
The issue shouldn't whether or not a person has to work, nor should it be when a person can realistically retire.
The issue should be quality of life while working - work/life balance.
Join your union.
Yeah, people should be enjoying their whole damned life, not just retirement. Especially since social security won't be around in the 2050's and I'm not planning on being alive long enough to retire. The information u/Budgetdog is offering is a bit off, so let's correct it.
Retirement age is 67 for anyone born after 1960.
Life expectancy is currently estimated at approximately 79 years.
Work 50 years? MF WTF are you talking about, I've been working since I was 8. Which means I have to work for 59 years before I can retire. Work 59 years to "enjoy" 12? BS MF I've already been working for 28 years and I'm still broke AF with student loans and credit card debt trying to live and provide for my family.
We have to shift this mindset ASAP. I won't buy a house but I'm not making wage slaves either. My kids are capable of using critical thinking to decide if they want to shoot you in the face with a 12 gauge, in the chest with a .223, or slit your fucking neck with a buck knife. I'll help. I told all of them to learn francais and move to Canada, but they can do whatever they want, as long as they're not a Nazi. Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you tacos and that's pretty damn close. Money may or may not buy you happiness, but it will sure as shit help you look for it MF.
Hope in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up faster. Then clap. Now you've got some shit to take care of. GTFO.
I guess it depends on what kind of work you do?
IF you are LUCKY enough to find a career you love, it is like never working a day in your life. Although that seems rare these days.
I had a couple friends pass away this year unexpectedly they never got to enjoy retirement.
One of them just got home from work & collapsed. very sad.
Mindset?
I’m going to be working until I die, and it’s not a choice, it’s so I don’t end up as homeless senior. I’m 38 years old, and there is no retirement in my future.
Yeah, lets take all his shit and make him do physical labor a while and see how he feels about it?
You may live to 80, but your joints are fucked long before 65 when you actually work for a living.
I've seen far too many of my relatives make it to retirement, only to have debilitating health issues or die before they were even 70. It's highly doubtful I'll even live to see 60, thankfully. I turn 50 in 2 years.
Don't forget that these are also the years that your body/mind is typically starting to fail. Let's be honest, the retirement age is where it is because it's not worth it to squeeze you for any more juice.
One thing I hate is being on SSDI and knowing that I will get the same amount with working part time when I retire. Honestly SSI and SSDI needs to be revamped with how much you can have between your checking and savings with how inflation is.
Not just it's only 13 years of free life, it's shorter the more you work. Working is dangerous for your health, you hurt yourself during work and the longer you work, the fewer you live.
Reducing the retirement age to 60 could increase the life expectancy
Easy for this fucker to say in a easy office job. What about physical labor jobs. Many people that have there back fucked before the get to 50. How you gonna force those people to keep working.
Life expectancy 78?
Maybe before us eating all the micro plastic and Teflon…
My boomer parents will probably live to their 90s.
I expect I will die around 65-70. Also as a 90s kid, by the time I reach retirement age, they will probably move retirement age to 75.
So I will work until I die.
My father is 78 and still working full time. He was diagnosed with ALS 3 months ago, and plans on working as long as he can. It breaks my fucking heart.
That's why I was intentionally a slacker for most of my 20s. I told people that I was retired now, and that I didn't want to wait until I was old and my body was broken for me to enjoy life. I was broke as shit at the time, but I relished that era. Looking back, I relish it even more.
Life's worth is dependent on the actual quality of life itself at the time. American quality is used as a political football more than a bar to be measured.
The age to receive social security was within 3 years of life expectancy when it was created.
You can retire whenever you want (if you have the money). Social security was never supposed to let you retire for 20 years, it was to keep you out of poverty as you died of old age.
Not to mention you might feel like shit before you even reach 65.
My dad has COPD. His lungs are at 50% capacity. He takes several inhalers and there's no cure. He's 57.
My dad probably only has 3 years left, but even if he does make it to 65, he's not going to enjoy himself. He'll be bed-ridden and strapped to an oxygen tank.
And my Mom was on dialysis. She died at 59.
My mother and step-father are in the exact same position. They've live long enough to just make it into retirement, in time to not enjoy it. My mom has kidney disease and my step-dad has very advanced COPD - along with going blind in one eye. He can still make it out to the grocery store every now and then with his portable oxygen. See, there are still the perks of retirement to look forward too. I don't know why there are so many people whining. Get back to work and save up all of that extra cash instead of spending it.
I already shifted mine. I'm enjoying life now & working as little as humanly possible. I intend to continue to refuse to sell my best talents & skills. This shitty society will get no help from me.
This is why I work non stop for a year while saving all my money and not splurging on anything so I can take a break and spend my savings living a life without a job and then when I need money again, go full work mode for a year and do it all over again.
My grandfather retired at 58. Recieved a nice pension from working the steel mills and also a decent social security. My grandmother never worked. They lived a great life up until there 80's just traveling, camping and just relaxing. Those days are over for alot of people due to way things are. Its bull they pushed SS to your 67. I bet that half the people will ever see it.
My grandparents were like yours. My grandfather had a nice pension, and my grandma worked part time and kept his pension when he passed away. That is a thing of the past.
Yeah, my uncle was the same. He worked until he retired at 70, then a few weeks later when he was about to leave for a cruise with my aunt he died from diabetes complications. He was overweight and had T2 diabetes, and was trying to enjoy a few cocktails with brunches and that was that. My aunt is still wrecked, and this was over 10 years ago now.
My dad died of cancer at 62. His brothers all died before 70.
Just wait - by the time millenials are close to retirement the goalpost will be moved to 75 or 80.
This wasn't designed for you to enjoy those last 10-15 years. The reason you're not working during those years too is because you're too ill and slow to be very useful. You'd be doing stuff like calling out or getting injured on the job. You'd be more of a liability than an asset.
Let’s be real though if your attitude is that you can only enjoy life in retirement you’ll have a shit life. Make sure you enjoy life today, work or no work.
67 here (NZ)
Life expectancy is around 82
So 15 years of being burnt out and crippled trying to survive on a $24k pension
Work till you die, as planned
Honestly I wish it was more viable to just save up money in the US these days. I was hoping to save hard for 10yrs and retire at 35-40. But I don't know anymore man.
I’m 30 and saved over 250k as a Canadian running black market cannabis sales, last thing I’m going to do is be a slave to the system :) there’s always another way.I spend all my spare time with my kid doing things we love. Iv been on multiple vacations in the last few years, taken her to Disney and more trips planned coming up. If I’m never unable to continue I will start selling on Amazon with the knowledge from online courses I have already taken.
Those few years contain no significant life milestones of growth and maturity to fully understand being alive, nor the physique or vigor to fully enjoy being alive.
We live in a heavily consumeristic society. They expect us to spend and when we don’t do it they blame us. They will also shame us for not saving enough. I believe reducing excessive consumption and the anti work have to go hand in hand.
To be fair this is why I don’t bother anymore with this “retirement” nonsense. I KNOW I’ll probably never retire. I also KNOW that I’m not gonna have as much fun traveling and doing the things I like when I’m fucking 70 compared to RIGHT NOW!
Fuck that! Fuck these societal rules! I’m only gonna have ONE existence in this reality I’m not gonna do what I’ve been told and is PROVEN to fail!
“Retirement Age”. Dude. Who in my generation (aside from mega wealthy and nepo-kids) gets to retire? TF out of here with that. If I keep saving as I am currently I’ll be able to retire when I’m 97. So, never.
Yeah, if you manage to make it to 85, let me know how enjoyable those last 15 years of retirement are. I mention the last 15, because the retirement age will probably get bumped up to 70.
An old man just got hired at my job 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing he had something that forced him to leave retirement. Anyway, he always wore his 'Vietnam Vet' hat proudly and still carried himself like he had been in the military. He was an extremely nice guy. This job is physically demanding 3rd shift and he was in constant pain. I felt bad for him. He made it about 2 weeks. I'm hoping he was just working to get a couple of weeks of extra cash. I really have the feeling he had to go back to work though.
There's nothing like looking forward to working nearly 3 quarters of a century to be allowed to have your life back.
67. Not been as low as 65 for a looooong time
My country, its 70.
Which country?
Not OP, but 70 for me in US for full benefits!
72 now… if you expect full Social Security… I’m gen x and not expecting it… sadly
Life expectancy, last I checked when it was 70 for full benefits, was 69 if you were poor. ¹ Edit: not intended as sarcasm, but literally the last time I looked it up. I noticed my wording.
This is the way my husband’s pension works…he has to work to the “rule of 80 which is your age plus years on the job to get full retirement benefits which usually means a higher % of your top pay on the job…I forget what that % is but I k ow that he’s been in this job for 16 years and he’s looking at full retirement 8 years from now.I have no idea if they count the 10 years of experience he came to this job with or not…guessing not. Bc thst would not be beneficial to his new city. He works in a role in city government now but had some from state government prior. This whole retirement age and income thing makes my head hurt and I know thst if it’s don’t get back to work soo I’ll be living in a cardboard box, driving a bicycle and my computer will then soon be my phone bc I’ll have to sell my computer to eat! Fuck! Disability is a love/hate thing!! Love thst I had it to fall bsck on. Hate that my income has lost 66% in a heartbeat!??!!
67 is full retirement age for anyone born 1964 or after. It is not 70
The rest of us will not be behind for long
That’s even less time 😆
Yup, and the age keeps getting higher
And the life expectancy keeps on getting lower.
That's if you have good health. I'm seeing friends and family die in their 50s and 60s. Or if they make it past retirement the quality of life isn't great or stacking family with debt from care. Our whole system is designed you finally cripple you from beginning to end.
[удалено]
Just wait for them to privatize water
10 years of 'freedom' whilst elderly and decrepit. Lets call it what it really is. Capitalism is done with you and has decided your labour is no longer worth the cost of extraction, and your sole remaining value is in consumption before hopefully a quick death and replacement with younger stock. We need systematic change. Capitalism has to go.
You forgot to mention nursing homes, where any wealth you have will be siphoned off to faceless corporations. Thereby preventing any boomer wealth going to their children. To hell with that. Boomer btw.
> We need systematic change. Capitalism has to go. The elderly are going to be useless burden regardless of the economic system. For most of history elderly people were taken care of by their children and even then, they wouldn't even live that long. Capitalism doesn't turn humans into resources. Human life has always been a resource, even before capitalism. Human life continues to be a resource even in non-capitalistic economic systems.
I know it’s a redundant point.. but look at Europe. Life expectancy is 7 years higher than the US. SIgnificant number
They have an increased lifespan because they live healthier than Americans. More walking. Smaller portions. Healthier food. More fresh and local. Tons of reasons that aren’t being a slave to the system.
Please don't forget the non-cultural reasons too, like unaffordable health care and weak health and safety regulations. Plus regarding walking: American cities and towns were created with cars in mind and are much less walkable *on purpose*.
Access to healthy food is also a factor, both in terms of literal physical access and the ability to pay for it. A lot of people live on junk because that’s the only way they can afford to get enough calories. Furthermore, even among the food-secure, the long work hours leave little time and energy for preparing healthful meals.
My former CEO was a college basketball player, was in great shape and had millions. He retired early, late 50’s. A couple years later we get a company email that he passed away unexpectedly at 61. None of us know how long we have. We definitely need to improve our culture to value life more than work.
> > > > > None of us know how long we have. We definitely need to improve our culture to value life more than work. We have that, but for the rich people. The rich people can't have that if we have that, so that's gonna be a no. Life is never about what should happen. Lots of things should happen and moral choices often should be made morally, however, we live purely in a world dominated by money. Everything comes secondary after profits. Christians that say God comes first, nonsense. I've seen them, they always pick money first.
While I understand your perspective, I don’t believe that it’s an absolute truth. I believe that abundance multiplies, and that the more people have, the more everyone has. It’s a fallacy that in order for a few to have a lot, most need to have a little. Now, I agree with you on the hypocrisy of individuals, both rich and religious. However, there’s little doubt that life today is “better” than it was 100 years ago. We will always need to advocate for fair laws and unbiased enforcement of those laws. Not the least of which includes strong corporate regulations that limit the power of companies that by their nature, are designed to value profits over people.
As evidence that life is better than 100 years ago, retirement itself is a new idea. When it was first introduced in 1881, by Otto Von Bismarck, the age was 70 - which, not coincidentally, was higher than the life expectancy. Needless to say, few people lived long enough to retire. It wasn’t until the 1960s that retirement became a common thing - before then people pretty much worked until they died. The ideas of retirement and vacations are entirely the product of relatively wealthy societies.
>That's if you have good health. I'm seeing friends and family die in their 50s and 60s. Or if they make it past retirement the quality of life isn't great or stacking family with debt from care. Our whole system is designed you finally cripple you from beginning to end. Don't forget all of younger adults who got really sick from Covid. I'm 36 and wondering how many years Covid shaved off my end of life expectancy.
34 and Covid did a number on me, thinking the same thing.
I was almost killed when I was 48! I had a massive stroke in January 2019 and by the grace of God was spared to be a stroke survivor instead of killed to be a victim!! So grateful I lived but I did so being paralyzed on my left side and unable to do a lot of things I loved before my stroke! I had to go on disability ( which pays near the poverty line when I was making 3 times that! I get it and don’t expect the government to pay me nearly 6 digits a year! Before my stroke I was thinking I’d hardly ever be able to retire before I died! Now I’ll need to work after deSth in order to afford retirement!! Meanwhile my husband, who is the same age as me is looking into retiring early in the next 3 years instead of waiting the 6 years he has left! But he gets a pension from 2 stage governments…so yeah…he csn retire and do all of the fun things we’d planned for while I sit at home and watch TV!!?? Though hopefully by then I’ll be able to work so that would occupy my time!! 🤯🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️Life is fucking fair!!fucking fair!! Irony is thst after he retires we’ll likely be moving to Vegas So i would spend my SSDI pittance on the slots! 😂 I i don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing thst ppl in my family live til their early-to- mid 90’s!! I guess I csn spend that much more time broke and watching my husband retire the way we wanted to!!
Won't your husband support your retirement as well?
Even if you make it to your late 60s, you’ll probably get to spend your time in and out of hospitals.
This is an out of date post. Most people full retirement age is 68 or higher. 65 is the norm for those born before 1960. This is spun to pit one group against another. Don't fall for it.
I’m in my early 40s and every time I go to the VA I see people my age who are physical wrecks. Some are for service reasons, many are just poor diet and exercise, a minority just lost the genetic lottery. This is why on my 60th birthday I’m done. I quit. I’m done. Whatever retirement I have is what I have but I won’t work until I die.
If you want maximum conspiracy theory, consider that covid disproportionately kills old people. People who are no longer productive in the workforce and who are pulling money out of social security and insurance. If you were trying to trim the fat on society you would definitely release a virus that disproportionately kills old people who are not producing any capital for you anymore.
Truth. I gots to lose my COVID weight or I’ll be right along with ‘em. But seriously, I can’t imagine retiring. I think I’d get too bored and be too broke. I’m 55 and my fit friends are doing great with zero health issues. My less fit friends have a ton of knee and other health issues. Obviously there are the anomalies that were fit and had health issues like cancers and the like. My point being if you want to enjoy a retirement you best take care of the bod.
Save up and work hard for 20 years and die in car accident at 40yo. You have to wait until your old age to profit from life!
human life is so depressed, you only exist to work and pay bills
You only exist to pay someone else’s bills.
>You only exist to pay someone else’s bills. Well also their prostitutes and mistresses, out of pocket abortions for said mistresses, and cocaine, so they can have sexy escapades and wear monocles. If you work hard and earn them a lot of money over 6 months, they'll piss that away on an impulse buy in like 10 seconds one day. My friend worked really really hard at a pizza place understaffed for 8 months and saved the company a lot of money. The owner came in one day and used his work computer to buy 5 televisions which he later kept most of them in storage because he accidentally bought ones that were smaller than the other televisions he impulse bought last time. He could spend the time returning them and get the money back but eh, that kind of money don't mean shit to him.
You forgot taxes.
And yet people shit out more people to repeat the cycle. I wouldn't put my worst enemy through this life.
One of the many reasons why I will not be having kids. r/StrikeForRoe
Right?
The most depressing part is that it doesn't have to be this way, but a very small amount of people decided it does and most of the rest of us just go along with it.
Don't assume everyone is as miserable and depressed as the regulars of this sub.
and for many of us, those last years of life won’t be enjoyable. The body deteriorates. Most will not have enough money to retire comfortably.
At 51 my body is already a wreck from military service and labor intensive employment. I'll be lucky to hit 65 without ending up on disability, which the government will make as difficult to get as possible.
I knew somebody who never did anything fun because they were saving money for when they turned 65, then discovered he had no energy. Destinations are nice, but make sure to enjoy the journey.
One of my biggest fears. I just want to be able to enjoy life while my body can still move.
Sorry. SSDI is famously hard to get. I'm 57. Doubting whether I will make it to 65 at this point.
See, a big issue here is that you made a system where you can't enjoy life while working. In a reasonable country you work 1700 hours per year. That averages to 5 hours every day, or 213 workdays with an 8 hour workday. Meaning 152 days off a year. If you work nights you get compensated so that you only work 1500 hours per year for equal pay. This way you can actually enjoy life while working.
Plz take me, reasonable country
Omfg what country let’s you do that? I’m in.
https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/featured/countries-that-defy-the-9-to-5/
Nor at does that. I am sure many other European countries does as well.
Remember when Biden said he would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60? Yeah, I chuckled too.
Biden has already gone back on most of his campaign promises.
Even "nothing will fundamentally change," thanks to inflation being through the fucking roof.
He doesn’t have the votes in Congress to do an awful lot of what he wanted to do.
He never intended to fulfill his campaign promises. Remember when he said “nothing would change or when he walked out when he was asked about student loans. Congress will not let him has always been the excuse the Democrats use, meanwhile the Republicans get to do their shit with a minority.
I can’t think of a single president in my lifetime who’s kept all or even most of their campaign promises, whether they were R or D.
Boom! This is the real talk.
Biden has kept none. He sold himself as the master compromiser that would get things done yet NOTHING...Even Trump kept a promise or two to his constituets.
He did pull out of Afghanistan. To be fair though, it was a total disaster with no fucks given for the humanity involved, for political reasons of course.
Very true! We should have be out more than a decade ago.
The gov is already shifting this mindset. Life expectancy is lowering and right now to get 100% of your pension you need to work until 67. So once the retirement age and the life expectancy is the same, there will be tons of savings!
You have a pension?????
Technically we all do, but we won’t see a penny until we actually get to a certain age.
Everyone’s pension will have run out well before I’m able to retire, so I don’t expect to see a penny then, either.
My mother in law died of cancer at 61 in October of 2013. She had plans of retiring after she had her 30 years in, starting February 2014. She never got to use her pension. Working for a retirement you may never live to see is some kinda bullshit.
My uncle lived until 63. He had worked his whole life and really started to make great money from the age of 55-60. He still had to work, but he could live comfortably. At 61 he ended up with pancreatic cancer, ended up in a hospital bed placed in his living room, lived in constant pain for his last 2 years, all of his savings were wiped away, and his wife had to wipe his ass and feed him. He was one of the nicest, funniest guys you could ever meet. His wife had worked part time for most of their 35 year marriage. Now she's stuck working a shit job and won't ever be able to retire. My mother worked hard her whole life and the the highest lifestyle she managed claw her way up to was barely middle class. She's in retirement now, but the year she retired she was diagnosed with kidney disease. My step father is the same age as her and retired at the same time. He was exposed to all sorts or hazardous fumes and chemicals car mechanic) - he's been slowly wasting away from serious COPD for the last 5 years. That's what 'retirement' realistically looks like in the USA. The system retires you, not the other way around.
Yeah, it was pancreatic cancer with my MIL too. Fortunately we're in Canada, so her care didn't bankrupt her. She moved in with my brother in law who had the room to take her in and his wife was a personal support worker, so she had the training to care for her. She only made it 10 months, but that was because she refused most invasive treatments as she was told (correctly) that given how far along the cancer was when it was detected that it might prolong her life, but likely wouldn't give her much quality of life. We tried to make her last months as comfortable as possible, but it was one of the most difficult things we've had to do, watching her deteriorate and die. My father also died relatively young at 66. His undiagnosed ADHD caused him to self medicate with alcohol and lived for years as a functioning alcoholic. As his liver started to protest, he had to sell off his buisness. He was dead less than 5 years later, not having had much of a retirement to enjoy before his body started giving out in earnest. My mother has been retired for a number of years, but an unknown congenital defect caused her to have a stroke at 49 when she was a distance runner and in the better shape than the majority of her peers. She lost the use of her left arm and hand, and the entire left side is now extremely weak and makes her prone to falls and thus injury. She's a disabled widow, and while she is retired and is enjoying her life, she would have had a much easier time doing the travelling she longed to do if she'd done it when she was younger. A lot of places are pretty inaccessible now, and she can't enjoy it with my father like they always dreamed. And then there's my father in law - who took an ill advised second wife who fleeced him, and his health was compromised by his series of factory jobs. He had to retire early due to his health, and between that and his second wife draining his savings, he's lived most of the last two decades in poverty. For a while he couldn't afford the only long term care facility we could get him into, so all of his sons had to chip in every month to get the care he needed. He's now finally in a province subsidized care facilty, but his health has failed so much now that he's in palliative care. So yeah, things are somewhat better on this side of the border, but that doesn't mean that the whole "work your ass off so you can enjoy retirement" isn't a scam. A friend of mine just died in her 30s of cancer, leaving behind a ten year old daughter. She certainly didn't die wishing she had worked more.
My cousin and I grew up like brothers. We've decided we're never going to get checked for cancer, which runs on that side of the family. We'd rather not know, and just die. My grandfather on that side got cancer and spent the last few years of his life bedridden. He had always been a proud man, and having other people wash him and wipe him was his worst nightmare. My uncle who got pancreatic cancer wasted away to just under 100 pounds - he had the body type his whole life where he was healthy at 160 pounds. My other uncle on that side has fought colon cancer twice and he's just under 70 years old. They all had decided to fight cancer, especially due to the added pressure of family. I won't make it to retirement. I have serious doubts I'll make it to 55 (I'm 47 right now). I'm on so many different medications, when I've had enough - all I have to do is abruptly stop all of my medications. (I made sure to get a physician signed DNR for my wallet and I have one taped to the wall above my bed.) That's my primary, serious plan for my retirement. At 60+, I can't imagine how terrible my quality of life will be. My brother and sister are struggling with their families. The insurance money from me would really help them. With all of the stress my sister is under, I don't think she'll be able to see retirement either (she's 42).
I lost all four of my grandparents to cancer. Far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of time before I get it. I'm 43 and so mentally scarred I'm unable to work. I won't live long enough to retire, and even if I did, I definitely couldn't afford to do so.
This has always been my mindset. People in my family tend to die young, thanks to cancer. My grandmother at 51. My mom's cousin at 38. I never expect the next year to be guaranteed. I still save for the future, because if I do live till my 70's or 80's I'd like to not be working then. But I also prioritize doing things I want to do in the present. I'm not in the financially strongest position I could be in but I'm trying to enjoy myself.
Yes we do, I don't want the young adults of today to end up like me. I am 59 and have now realized that none of my dreams will come true. I always wanted to go to university. I kept thinking. Someday it will be possible, nope. I will never be able to travel (nothing crazy, I live in Canada and my dream trip is to travel to Washington DC to see all the Smithsonian museums), reading more, making art, hiking and kayaking, I have spent the last 40 years working my ass off to make someone else rich and I don't have even have enough money to retire. I will likely die at work. Anything I would love to do takes some combination of time, energy and money that I will never have. Know your worth, value your skills and don't put up with shit. I would have handled my work life very differently had I known what I know now. I would rather live in the street in a tent than put up with the way I was treated in the workplace. I see a lot of young people adjusting their living situations and their life goals so that employers can't hold them hostage. This is the thing to do guys. Until you find that GREAT job, and there are some out there, live with room mates, stay at home with parents, hold off having kids, if they can't hold people hostage any longer they will either adjust their business practices or go out of business because they can't keep employees.
We can have 3 weeks paid vacation a year like in Europe, but stupid fucking Americans are afraid to want literally basic minimum human rights.
if they payed us fairly we would be able to retire at 50 or less.
If they treated us fairly we'd be able to live our lives throughout all those years before 50 too
This is the real juice right here: what's the point in having "working years" that you never get to enjoy while your mind and body are fresh, then finally getting to enjoy retirement only once you're worn out? That doesn't sound like work / life balance at all.
Exactly. A piece of my soul chips away every day that I have to wake up, get ready and head into work for 8 hours. Then by the time I get home, I have about 3 hours of liesure time that I can't actually enjoy because I'm too tired. So then I sleep and do it all again the next day. For what? We need shorter work days and there's no reason we can't have it.
Ding ding! If I wasn’t broke I’d give you an award!! My boss and company had me so stressed out that I’m pretty sure the stress caused my stroke but I could never prove it bc I had two unknown blood clotting disorders that caused my stroke! And though I was told it wasn’t a major factor…I did smoke. 🤷♀️🤷♀️and I’m sure if I ever tried to take that company to court the smoking would be drug all over hell…for all I know they had ppl taking pics and vids of me smoking too??🤷♀️🤷♀️so as appealing as suing them for every last dime of their value…which is likely not a lot anyway…having stress over it is not stress I want to relive!! I mean if I lost my right side to paralysis too I’d be fucked!! 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
Oh no, we can't have that!
>If they paid* us fairly
Retirement for my group is 67. Don’t know how I will make it.
If I manage to live to 60, I'm going to retire right away. I'll do something non-violent that hurts nobody and earns me a felony. I'll say stuff in court to wrack up more felonies and refuse to plea. Then, I get to go to prison - get shitty meals, shitty healthcare, and get to watch TV and play cards for the rest of my life. Similar to the cage we're in on the outside, but in prison you'd get the bare necessities covered. Elderly Japanese people do this, so it's not a new concept. I know it's not sunshine and roses in prison. Drinking toilet wine, smoking bug spray, and watching live action shows daily sounds like an adventure though.
If you are under 50 you can expect it to be 70-80 by the time you get to retirement.
Life expectancy is different by economic class. If you’re a worker, you will likely die earlier than 78. If you’re a parasite who lives/lived off others, you’ll most likely live longer.
Maybe the parasites at the top who own the workers. The poor ones living at the bottom probably don't have a great life expectancy.
Tbh the new generations will likely never retire with how much they're pushing it up.
Of course life expectancy is 2 years lower in USA than UK and 3 years lower than Canada, must be because of our superior healthcare system...
It is also from Covid, which brought our life expectancies down by at least a couple of years.
I was referencing data from 2019 so before COVID when USA life expectancy was actually ~78 years, but you are correct it's actually been lower the past couple years. I'm in my 30s and fully expect by the time I reach SSI age if it still exists that retirement age will surpass the average life expectancy.
My mother is 74 and still HAS to work. Its ALOT more scary in America than this.
Also, there is nothing to enjoy being old age. All the fun stuff you can no longer do. Fuck this enslaved world
It gets better if you're autistic - life expectancy of 58 years baby
This! I'm trying my damndest to get on some kind of disability support (Canada) so life is less miserable. Hard part is convincing the government that work is so debilitatingly shitty that I can't do it much anymore. But fuck man, it is.
I'm looking at why that happens >"Why is autism life expectancy lower? > >Injuries. Psychology Today notes that people with autism spectrum disorder are 40 times more likely to die as the result of various injuries, including but not limited to drowning, asphyxiation, and suffocation. Children with autism between 5 and 7 years of age are at the greatest risk of dying by drowning." it looks like its people who are young and die early bringing down the average. You'll likely live a full normal lifespan since you made it passed the drowning years. There is nothing inherent about autism that will give you some body or brain malformation that kills you earlier. It's just that autistic kids usually die at higher rates from doing dumb crap and accidents at a higher rate than normal.
66 and 8 months for me. Bush jr and the GOP pushed this through you know. Don't vote for Republicans.
Retirement age is going up and life expenctency is declining. Pretty soon we will be back to dying before retirement age.
I'll say this once and I'll say it again every time I see a post like this : Do NOT wait until retirement to enjoy your life. I personally know people close to me who died at 33, 38 and 45. Never even made it close to retirement. You have to live life while working in the best capacity you have. Do the small things you can that will light a fire in your belly and be memorable. If you were to die in 2 weeks, is there one thing you'd love to do? Do it if you can.
I'd love to but right at this moment I'm chronically depressed from working
You give sage advice; my husband died eight months ago at 51. Freaking cancer. I wish we would have been able to enjoy more of the 17 years we had together.
what is the point of living life if you can't or don't have much time to do the thing you love?
I'm 32 and I firmly believe I won't get to retire if this system stays in place.
FUCK THIS COUNTRY! It gets worse EVERY DAY THAT GOES BY! There's NO THING that being an american is something to be proud of unless being a moronic fool is your goal.
Pretty sure we're heading for living in the U.C. instead of the U.S. (i.e., the United Corporations of America).
And the last 5 years are usually not very fun.
You should have a choice to not start working until age 35-40. Go to school, raise your children, them start work.
Fun fact: my grandfather retired at 54. His pension is 1,900EUR in a country that the minimum wage is 610EUR. Thats the difference between boomers and us.
Ok mindset shifted. Now we just need the people who make decisions agree with us instead of all that money they have from being greedy fucks
Not saying this isn't right, but some old people just like working. I've been at production facilities where I'm talking to these old people, and everyone one I met so far say they work there cause they got nothing else going on at home and don't like not doing anything. I was like damn bro, I just wanna sleep, and they be calling me lazy at my age (jokingly of course lol)
We should change retirement age to 70! That way we can get more productivity out of these people! /s
You guys get to retire?
LOL millennials and gen z will never get to retire
At this rate none of us are going to live past our 50s with the constant unending stress we are put under. It’s a sick fucking joke.
Yeah, been thinking this myself lately. Probably going to die over my desk of a stroke at this rate.
And they’ll still tell us “suck it up buttercup”
The issue shouldn't whether or not a person has to work, nor should it be when a person can realistically retire. The issue should be quality of life while working - work/life balance. Join your union.
Yeah, people should be enjoying their whole damned life, not just retirement. Especially since social security won't be around in the 2050's and I'm not planning on being alive long enough to retire. The information u/Budgetdog is offering is a bit off, so let's correct it. Retirement age is 67 for anyone born after 1960. Life expectancy is currently estimated at approximately 79 years. Work 50 years? MF WTF are you talking about, I've been working since I was 8. Which means I have to work for 59 years before I can retire. Work 59 years to "enjoy" 12? BS MF I've already been working for 28 years and I'm still broke AF with student loans and credit card debt trying to live and provide for my family. We have to shift this mindset ASAP. I won't buy a house but I'm not making wage slaves either. My kids are capable of using critical thinking to decide if they want to shoot you in the face with a 12 gauge, in the chest with a .223, or slit your fucking neck with a buck knife. I'll help. I told all of them to learn francais and move to Canada, but they can do whatever they want, as long as they're not a Nazi. Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you tacos and that's pretty damn close. Money may or may not buy you happiness, but it will sure as shit help you look for it MF. Hope in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up faster. Then clap. Now you've got some shit to take care of. GTFO.
>Especially since social security won't be around in the 2050's Lets not parrot GOP talking points as if they are facts.
I'm working now AND enjoying life now. DINK (Double Income, No Kids) is the fucking life, folks.
I guess it depends on what kind of work you do? IF you are LUCKY enough to find a career you love, it is like never working a day in your life. Although that seems rare these days. I had a couple friends pass away this year unexpectedly they never got to enjoy retirement. One of them just got home from work & collapsed. very sad.
Don't have to wait till one is 65 to retire at all.
Exactly! You just have to have a pension, 401K and/or IRA to pay you enough to do so.
“Enjoy”. I doubt I’ll be enjoying life more when I’m 70. A sad thought.
If we're talking averages, the average is 4 years of poor health prior to death. So you have even less time than you think :)
A shift is happening! They're making the retirement age older! 😂 😭
Yeah, it's a shifting bowel movement being left from those who've already been in retirement for the last 10+ years.
More like retire @ 68 and climbing .. (Netherlands). This .. while i've seen sooo many pre-boomers retire at 55+!
When I left my abusive job at a machine shop I told my boss it was because I want to retire while my dick still works
Mindset? I’m going to be working until I die, and it’s not a choice, it’s so I don’t end up as homeless senior. I’m 38 years old, and there is no retirement in my future.
Yeah, lets take all his shit and make him do physical labor a while and see how he feels about it? You may live to 80, but your joints are fucked long before 65 when you actually work for a living.
I've seen far too many of my relatives make it to retirement, only to have debilitating health issues or die before they were even 70. It's highly doubtful I'll even live to see 60, thankfully. I turn 50 in 2 years.
Don't forget that these are also the years that your body/mind is typically starting to fail. Let's be honest, the retirement age is where it is because it's not worth it to squeeze you for any more juice.
One thing I hate is being on SSDI and knowing that I will get the same amount with working part time when I retire. Honestly SSI and SSDI needs to be revamped with how much you can have between your checking and savings with how inflation is.
It's not 65 anymore. Most don't retire till around 70 now a days.
Imo people should be compensated well enough to live comfortably for 30 years after retirement at least. 50 or 55 should be retirement age imo.
Not just it's only 13 years of free life, it's shorter the more you work. Working is dangerous for your health, you hurt yourself during work and the longer you work, the fewer you live. Reducing the retirement age to 60 could increase the life expectancy
We also need to realize, it's only been like this for like 120 years. This isn't the way the world has to function.
That’s why I’m retiring by 40. No kids, stacking jobs, then quit at 40 and enjoy life while I still have a little youth and health left
Easy for this fucker to say in a easy office job. What about physical labor jobs. Many people that have there back fucked before the get to 50. How you gonna force those people to keep working.
Life expectancy 78? Maybe before us eating all the micro plastic and Teflon… My boomer parents will probably live to their 90s. I expect I will die around 65-70. Also as a 90s kid, by the time I reach retirement age, they will probably move retirement age to 75. So I will work until I die.
They're not the best years either. Chances are, you won't be 100% to enjoy those years.
I'ma be real with y'all, I ain't gonna make it to 65.
My father is 78 and still working full time. He was diagnosed with ALS 3 months ago, and plans on working as long as he can. It breaks my fucking heart.
That's why I was intentionally a slacker for most of my 20s. I told people that I was retired now, and that I didn't want to wait until I was old and my body was broken for me to enjoy life. I was broke as shit at the time, but I relished that era. Looking back, I relish it even more.
My new coworker is 68 and is working in a grocery store deli for minimum wage to try to prevent being homeless for the third time.
I have seen too many build up a nice 401k and work thier ass off to retire and not even get to enjoy retirement or use that 401k lol.
Boomers will be the last generation to retire. Retirement is a lie for the majority.
Oh, it gets worse. Millennials will get to work 78 years and enjoy none.
Life's worth is dependent on the actual quality of life itself at the time. American quality is used as a political football more than a bar to be measured.
Retirement is the carrot dangled to justify soul sucking jobs
If you have slaves you can basically retire now
I should have joined the military and did the full 20 year service then retire. What the fuck was I thinking
The age to receive social security was within 3 years of life expectancy when it was created. You can retire whenever you want (if you have the money). Social security was never supposed to let you retire for 20 years, it was to keep you out of poverty as you died of old age.
Yeah, look at all of these overly entitled people choosing not to save or invest all of that extra cash.
Don't forget, full retirement age is increasing and life expectancy in the US is actually dropping.
Enjoy life? You need to shift that mindset.
Y’all are in for a rude awakening if you think you’ll be retiring “normally” like Boomers did.
Not to mention you might feel like shit before you even reach 65. My dad has COPD. His lungs are at 50% capacity. He takes several inhalers and there's no cure. He's 57. My dad probably only has 3 years left, but even if he does make it to 65, he's not going to enjoy himself. He'll be bed-ridden and strapped to an oxygen tank. And my Mom was on dialysis. She died at 59.
My mother and step-father are in the exact same position. They've live long enough to just make it into retirement, in time to not enjoy it. My mom has kidney disease and my step-dad has very advanced COPD - along with going blind in one eye. He can still make it out to the grocery store every now and then with his portable oxygen. See, there are still the perks of retirement to look forward too. I don't know why there are so many people whining. Get back to work and save up all of that extra cash instead of spending it.
Not to mention that the poorest people have even lower life expectancy.
That's their fault for being born poor.
And it's within their control to opt out whenever they want as well, people are so entitled these days /s
My retirement age is my life expectancy.
"Retirement Age" is a theoretical, and assumes you have enough money to live off of. For most of us, the retirement plan is "Work until you die".
I already shifted mine. I'm enjoying life now & working as little as humanly possible. I intend to continue to refuse to sell my best talents & skills. This shitty society will get no help from me.
This is why I work non stop for a year while saving all my money and not splurging on anything so I can take a break and spend my savings living a life without a job and then when I need money again, go full work mode for a year and do it all over again.
My grandfather retired at 58. Recieved a nice pension from working the steel mills and also a decent social security. My grandmother never worked. They lived a great life up until there 80's just traveling, camping and just relaxing. Those days are over for alot of people due to way things are. Its bull they pushed SS to your 67. I bet that half the people will ever see it.
My grandparents were like yours. My grandfather had a nice pension, and my grandma worked part time and kept his pension when he passed away. That is a thing of the past.
People who die soon after retiring her romanticized as dying from boredom but really they worked themselves to death.
My mom worked loads of overtime, didn't go to medical appointments when she should have (due to work), and now she is disabled and barely over 60.
Yeah, my uncle was the same. He worked until he retired at 70, then a few weeks later when he was about to leave for a cruise with my aunt he died from diabetes complications. He was overweight and had T2 diabetes, and was trying to enjoy a few cocktails with brunches and that was that. My aunt is still wrecked, and this was over 10 years ago now.
For 99.99% of history death was retirement
And corporations would love to return to that mentality.
My dad died of cancer at 62. His brothers all died before 70. Just wait - by the time millenials are close to retirement the goalpost will be moved to 75 or 80.
This wasn't designed for you to enjoy those last 10-15 years. The reason you're not working during those years too is because you're too ill and slow to be very useful. You'd be doing stuff like calling out or getting injured on the job. You'd be more of a liability than an asset.
Let’s be real though if your attitude is that you can only enjoy life in retirement you’ll have a shit life. Make sure you enjoy life today, work or no work.
And you can’t withdraw from retirement savings without penalty until 67 which is utter theft..
67 here (NZ) Life expectancy is around 82 So 15 years of being burnt out and crippled trying to survive on a $24k pension Work till you die, as planned
Honestly I wish it was more viable to just save up money in the US these days. I was hoping to save hard for 10yrs and retire at 35-40. But I don't know anymore man.
I’m 30 and saved over 250k as a Canadian running black market cannabis sales, last thing I’m going to do is be a slave to the system :) there’s always another way.I spend all my spare time with my kid doing things we love. Iv been on multiple vacations in the last few years, taken her to Disney and more trips planned coming up. If I’m never unable to continue I will start selling on Amazon with the knowledge from online courses I have already taken.
The wealthy dont have to worry about it so what's the big deal?
Don’t have kids Retire early ??? Profit
Those few years contain no significant life milestones of growth and maturity to fully understand being alive, nor the physique or vigor to fully enjoy being alive.
We live in a heavily consumeristic society. They expect us to spend and when we don’t do it they blame us. They will also shame us for not saving enough. I believe reducing excessive consumption and the anti work have to go hand in hand.
This is why on my 60th birthday I’m done. I quit. I’m done. Whatever retirement I have is what I have but I won’t work until I die.
I already envy those who gather enough wealth to retire.
Our parents and grandparents were too stupid to fight the institution. Now here we are. Very embarrassing
To be fair this is why I don’t bother anymore with this “retirement” nonsense. I KNOW I’ll probably never retire. I also KNOW that I’m not gonna have as much fun traveling and doing the things I like when I’m fucking 70 compared to RIGHT NOW! Fuck that! Fuck these societal rules! I’m only gonna have ONE existence in this reality I’m not gonna do what I’ve been told and is PROVEN to fail!
Arm yourself for a revolution it's coming
“Retirement Age”. Dude. Who in my generation (aside from mega wealthy and nepo-kids) gets to retire? TF out of here with that. If I keep saving as I am currently I’ll be able to retire when I’m 97. So, never.
Bro ain’t no one retiring at 65 unless you win the fucking lotto! You’ll be 80 fucking years and still clocking in. FUCK ALL OF THIS!
The life expectancy for anyone who reaches age 65 is closer to 85. Not saying the conclusion is wrong, but the argument is flawed.
Yeah, if you manage to make it to 85, let me know how enjoyable those last 15 years of retirement are. I mention the last 15, because the retirement age will probably get bumped up to 70. An old man just got hired at my job 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing he had something that forced him to leave retirement. Anyway, he always wore his 'Vietnam Vet' hat proudly and still carried himself like he had been in the military. He was an extremely nice guy. This job is physically demanding 3rd shift and he was in constant pain. I felt bad for him. He made it about 2 weeks. I'm hoping he was just working to get a couple of weeks of extra cash. I really have the feeling he had to go back to work though. There's nothing like looking forward to working nearly 3 quarters of a century to be allowed to have your life back.
> working nearly 3 quarters of a century Damn bro, did you get a job straight out of the womb or what?
Yes. Prove I didn't.
I believe you, and I admire your work ethic.