ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
There *is* sometimes an element of luck to it, but usually people say this out of jealousy, I suspect. Folks my age going into the workforce in the 1980s, for example, may have signed up for a j*b in the private sector with a pension and retiree health insurance that got taken away. If they simply trusted their deal would remain in place and didn't plan for their own retirement savings, they would be screwed.
Had they chosen another employer, either one of the few in the private sector that still gives this to folks my age and younger or in the public sector, they would be able to retire at a decent age. So yes, I think to some degree this is bad luck. But they still made the mistake of assuming their employer's deal would remain in place. If my first employer didn't freeze my pension or drop retiree health insurance, I would have been able to retire very comfortably at 55. Now, 55 may still be possible but it will be a more modest lifestyle -- and that wouldn't be possible at all now unless I was putting 10% or more into retirement savings since I was 23.
And let's not forget that a lot of good, hard working folks have been screwed by this economy and job market. Some of their unemployment and underemployment which makes retirement a longshot is also bad luck.
Having said all that, yes, there is luck but I think there's also a lot of sour grapes in this bottle of whine. There's still no better predictor for retirement hopes of young folks in the middle class than saving for yourself early, often and almost to the point of bleeding, since it's become abundantly obvious your employer doesn't have your back and they aren't your friend or protector.
Had they chosen another employer, either one of the few in the private sector that still gives this to folks my age and younger or in the public sector, they would be able to retire at a decent age. So yes, I think to some degree this is bad luck. But they still made the mistake of assuming their employer's deal would remain in place. If my first employer didn't freeze my pension or drop retiree health insurance, I would have been able to retire very comfortably at 55. Now, 55 may still be possible but it will be a more modest lifestyle -- and that wouldn't be possible at all now unless I was putting 10% or more into retirement savings since I was 23.
And let's not forget that a lot of good, hard working folks have been screwed by this economy and job market. Some of their unemployment and underemployment which makes retirement a longshot is also bad luck.
Having said all that, yes, there is luck but I think there's also a lot of sour grapes in this bottle of whine. There's still no better predictor for retirement hopes of young folks in the middle class than saving for yourself early, often and almost to the point of bleeding, since it's become abundantly obvious your employer doesn't have your back and they aren't your friend or protector.
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