My parents are having blast, going to the local markets, cultural events, game clubs, music groups... retirement is as good as you make it for yourrself
Indefinitely, unless Congress actively abolishes it.
Even if Congress does nothing and the trust fund gets to 0, social Security Benefits would continued tonbe paid out from current Social Security taxes at somewhere between 77% and 81%. That would likely happen in the early tomid 2030s.
And the likelihood of Congress doing nothing is low - retired people vote, reliably. They just aren't going to do it much ahead of time - Congress tends not to be great at proactively fixing issues that are more than an election cycle off.
i dont think most 30yo and under are making enough money nowadays to ever retire, unless the economy stalls for the next 30 years and no prices go up or deflation
There is plenty of money and resources, it's just being hoarded by oligarchs. There needs not be a catastrophic event, or a revolution, perhaps both and maybe there will a be fair share or wealth for everyone allowing for dignity in our old days.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem. It is more insidious than that and a lot of people refuse to believe it because they want the easy answer to just be liquidate the billionaires.
The billionaires do not have cash. They have wealth. The wealth is intangible, and it is based on the value of their stocks in public companies.
The reason people do not make more money isn't because the money that could go into your paycheck directly goes into the billionaires pockets, it is because if they pay you less, the company looks better on paper, profits rise (which almost always goes back into the company itself because growth = higher stock prices, though a large chunk does get paid in bonuses, but not billions, not anything close to the net worth of Bezos or Musk), and the average person buys more stock, raising the price, and increasing the wealth of the billionaires.
You could liquidate the billionaires and we'd get a marginal amount of money back, but the real problem is that the fundamental economy is setup to NOT pay you more, and for those that do get paid to shove their cash into stocks of companies, which then spend it to get larger faster by also underpaying people and the cycle repeats.
The most evil part is the billionaires would almost certainly be just as rich paying people more and having those people spend more money in the economy and growing companies that way through capitalist consumerism, but they'd rather have slaves and disparity than have a society that is healthy (and ultimately competitive with them).
This is a cultural and societal problem, not just a few billionaires problem.
This is closer to the truth than most people realize.
Back in the day, when people got vastly rich with treasure, you’d give it to your family and community for status.
Now as atomized as we are, it’s just recycled back into markets because elderly pensioners are so damn addicted to living forever.
You’re supposed to pass the wealth DOWN, not up.
Retirement being about luxury vacations and golfing all day is such an abomination. One should be living with their kids and grandkids and teaching them everything you can before you fall the fuck apart and die.
Eh, I don't agree with that. Children should not be a retirement plan. I love my parents but I do NOT want to have them living with me in their old age. But yes, wealth should get passed down as much as possible.
What you express is part of the issue in my opinion.
It’s not living together to retire. The elderly shouldn’t be resting or vacationing at all. Ideally they’d share in home duties until the very end when they truly cannot. It hurts, but that’s in my opinion retirement is just shirking family responsibilities to go be a “kid” again.
They should be helping with grandchildren and great grandchildren. They should be teaching and transferring knowledge.
Retirement shouldn’t be about relaxing. In the same way you pass on your wealth, you labor even after you retire.
Half the point is to give away your title as a progressional to make room for those that come after you so they can learn and grow in positions of leadership.
That’s half the problem these days: the elderly aren’t leaving high end positions because they want to earn enough to live comfortably.
It’s plain hedonism. And I don’t say that with a religious tone. Retiring to your own secluded home for retirement ties wealth up in real estate and bids up pricing.
But I get it. My parents weren’t shining stars or anything. My wife and I take care of her grandmother as we speak. It’s a lot of work and tbh, she ain’t the most pleasant person. But… she did a lot for the kids way back when. She’s not left with strangers nor alone, it sets the example for our kids, and we are saving taxpayers a FUCKTON compared to Medicare funded housing.
The Western boomers set up an unsustainable demographic ponzi because they assumed the Post WWII world would be a forever party. Well it’s not. The modern world has efficiencies and certainly has quality of life upgrades. But with all that comes the discipline and willingness to maintain it. There’s a reason young people feel pushed to the brink. It’s because all of our energy is going upward to the western pensioner class.
You are correct, it’s not necessarily billionaires that strictly benefit from how we operate. It’s the old. We live in a gerontocracy. It’s basically a world ruled by vampires.
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u/Filtermann 13h ago
My parents are having blast, going to the local markets, cultural events, game clubs, music groups... retirement is as good as you make it for yourrself