Summary
Faced with inflation, taxes and concerns over the size of Social Security benefits, most Americans are more afraid of going broke in retirement than they are of death.
In total, 64% of respondents across generations said they are more stressed about running out of funds in their golden years than the prospect of death.
Americans say they need $1.26 million to finance a comfortable retirement, yet the median amount saved is $87,000. “Certainly for boomers…inflation is a big deal.”
Suicide is going to become a popular retirement option.
Been my default plan A long before the economy went to hell.
I set up home medical equipment for 10 years, and by the eldery’s own words, even if lucky enough to have amoral levels of resources, it’s no life or victory, and certainly shouldn’t be your main life goal. Taking a dozen pills every day to stave of the inevitable, dealing with unyielding physical pain, even in the best of cases being cognitively dulled as if in a permanent, ever worsening brain fog as your very sense of self erodes until even those dozen pills can no longer cheat your body’s imminent failure any longer.
I’ll never understand regular people that live like monks just in case they don’t get hit by a bus or some debilitating disease and make it to… Their absolute shittiest years (them being the “golden years” was always marketing to keep you working your best years in service to sociopaths). Because sadly even in the supposed “good” times from the 90s onward, most people economically have to choose to live in the present, or do the supposed responsible thing and scrimp to subsist in the future when you’re no longer of use to the oligarchs.
Should have used all that money in your 401k to take a bunch of vacations back when you could actually fully taste the food, fully feel the wind in your face, fully partake in activities your failing body would no longer survive without injury or death, and fully imbibe the experience as more than a faint, fading shadow of who you once were.
And again, that’s from the experience of basically hearing how horrible it is from elderly people from the extremely wealthy to the extremely poor.
I used to make 100k at a job that I knew I wouldn’t be physically able to do in my 40s and 50s. Conventional wisdom says save it, build a big nest egg, plan for the future. Fuck that, I ate and drank and traveled it all away. 41 years old now making 30k. I’ve been everywhere, done everything I ever wanted. No regrets.
That is my retirement option. Figure an early retirement might be for the best.
Mine is life in prison.
Ive been thinking that for a the last few years. When I get to be too tired to work, Im just gonna get a gun and a bullet. I dont want to be doing physical labor at 70. Im almsot 36 and Im already getting tired. So if thats it, then thats it.