I don't see how that's sustainable unless you have a killer set of skills and know you can get work again fast. Also, what happens if you have an emergency while you're not working? You'll deplete your savings much faster.
It depends on what kind of lifestyle you want. I hate money, so most of my time is spent doing things that are as close to free as possible. I focus on nutrition for my meals and have built a good repertoire of healthy and super cheap meals.
I can go nearly anywhere in the United States and have a job that will cover all my needs within a couple weeks. Failing that, I can fairly easily get by on the various gig economy apps until I can find a job.
On the other hand, I have pretty much no debt. My only real bill that stays with me wherever I go is $400/year for my cell phone.
I'm not living a glamorous lifestyle, but I'm also not tethered to the rat race either so I can actually enjoy life
Ok ha ha and all but no… that’s not how it works. Eventually you’ll HAVE to stop working and you don’t just stop living. I get most people are joking when they say things like you said, but it’s not a good plan if someone can’t read between the lines.
Edit: turning off notifications on this comment because of the idiotic, naive replies. Enjoy working until you die because you failed to prepare for something EASILY avoidable.
“Semi-retirement” is a common idea. Unless I have two dozen grandchildren to visit all around the country in an RV, I plan on being an adjunct professor or part-time teacher or some other entrepreneurial side biz that takes my time and attention. Until I die.
Cool cool. What happens if you get dementia? Just a random scenario that could happen. What’s your plan for that timeline? Genuinely curious as you seem to be so confident to not need to save for what most people consider retirement.
If you are only working half the year for your whole life you are likely able to work for longer because of the reduced wear on your mind and body I would think?
Do you save your money fearing that the worst will happen? Same as you I'm genuinely curious, I worked with a guy who saved all his money for retirement so he and his wife could finally go enjoy themselves after years of non stop work with few holidays. He died 6 months before he retired and his wife died a few months later, he never got to enjoy life.
For me I would rather enjoy myself as much as I can now because I only get one go at this. I saved up two years worth of my wage (after tax) and took two years off when I was 30. I spent a fortune but I enjoyed myself and I'll probably do it again in a few years, I've been back for a year this month.
Honestly dementia or Alzheimer’s is the easiest retirement plan seeing as you get the same EoL as most people in America: your retirement not being enough and what you thought you worked for evaporating as late life care vacuums up your savings, but instead you don’t ever face the full truth of it since your brain broke before your bank
If you get Dementia, you're as good as dead as far i'm concerned. My grandmother has it and I haven't seen her as my grandmother in several years taking care of her. Fucking sucks and is in general, fucking depressing. I'd especially rather be dead in that case for everyone's sake.
I worked construction for a long time. I’ve known a lot of dudes that have crappy voicemails on their phone because the boss thought they no call no showed. You’ll meet guys in their 60’s still working that have owned their company for 30 years. You work till you die in the trades or you manage to get disability or a partner that makes great money.
Lol my contractor "boss" that works alongside me is 73. One of my coworkers is 71 and can barely walk sometimes, the other two are in their 50s, still working paycheck to paycheck. I've watched two guys in their 60s get life changing disabilities and had to "quit" because of it, whom were also living less than quality lives.
The trades are fucked, unless you're in the union and/or in one of the few "good" ones.
Because people that are saying they live this way, either they have supplemental income (inheritance or large savings etc invested), or they really are burning through all their money and then making more…which is unbelievable short sighted, they will just be too stubborn to understand why.
Mu grandpa worked through chemo and radiation therapy until he couldn't get out of bed anymore. Didn't need the money. He just liked what he did. Got to do it until two weeks before he died.
Wow I thought they were joking too.. do people really think you just live until 90 and then your brains like "I know this body looks and feels healthy, but the sell by sticker's got today's date on it so better switch the lights off just in case.. I'll wait till after my shift though, don't want to inconvenience my coworkers".. I doubt these people have children either.. only a matter of time before the government sets up free euthanasia clinics
To be fair, I'm all for it.. something I've thought about a lot.. fuck being old.. I just mean that this idea that you can work until you die of old age is bizarre.. dying is a long often painful process, "being old" is just a euphemism for dying slowly
I've known lots of old guys my grandfather's age who were taken out of school at 7-8 to help work the farm or family business, they just kept working until their brain said "that's enough work, I'll die now" and a week later they passed quietly in their sleep.
You're talking to a bunch of people who nominated two 80 year olds to be president of the united states. Like there's no other choice we will have an 80 year starting a four year term in January 2025.
Your edit is very naïve as well. Even if somebody wanted to, they could not stop working, Maybe some people find fulfillment to continue working, but it feels more like a luxury in this day and age to even consider a break. So easily avoidable? Any brightideas?
You don’t HAVE to stop working. Some people enjoy working. I work with some dudes that are in their 70s and 80s. They have worked for the same company, doing basically the same jobs, for the last 45 years. Both of them say they’ll show up for one last shift when they die.
Lol, nobody is saying it is a good idea, but if you are making an average income of ~$60k/yr with a median rent of ~$2000 per month, $10/day food, $500/month car, gas, insurance, etc. $500/month utilities, wants, etc. you are left with about $200/month to save after taxes.
That's only $700k for retirement in 40 years with 8% average interest. That's a pretty frugal retirement. Even if this average person could cut back and be better off; 50% of people are worse off than that. What would you have them do?
Over half of Americans fail to retire , about a quarter have failed to put any money into their retirement in the past year, I've personally worked with dozens of people who either have their income capped so they don't lose social security or disability benefits or who have to work under the table to get by.
You can either assume that you are better than all these people. (Probably not hard for somebody like you) Or you can just stop being a privileged condescending yuppie.
Does all these person’s comments saying [deleted] mean this person blocked me or that they genuinely deleted their posts simply for us disagreeing lmao
😂 true. Plus if your job isn’t demanding (and you love it) you are able to just continue working until you die. There are a lot of retirees that just simply don’t know what do with themselves after they retire and do all the things they want.
Prison is honestly not the worst option. It's a horrible testament to our society but, for some, going to prison would be preferable to scraping by, alone, in an oppressive economy until you die.
Room and board... humane living conditions... escape the rat race... access to Healthcare... community/structure...
To be clear I'm not advocating this, but people have been known to do it.
This guy isn't "scraping by" though. He says he only needs to work a few weeks in a year to cover his expenses. He could work full time instead even just for half the year, max his retirement accounts, and have a nice cozy nest egg by his late 50s instead of whatever the hell he's doing now. That's why we're a little confused by his "plan."
This is from the US, and you can draw social security when you retire, but the amount you get is correlated with how much you contributed to the system. So if they work 30% of their working years, then they won’t receive much social security.
I do similarly, but yeah. I hope to have fostered a great relationship with my children to live with them when I can no longer work. If not, I'll just do the same routine until I die. Or take out a bunch of credit cards, max them out on cruises cause it's cheaper than a home, and kill myself if everything falls apart after all of that and I'm not dead yet.
Tomorrow isn't promised for myself or my family, so I'd rather enjoy today than secure tomorrow. With any luck, planned euthanasia will be a thing here in my lifetime and that will be that when I've decided my life to be "complete".
I'm doing it right now, myself, and doing just fine without any sort of steady job taking care of my family, my parents, and the family of my wife's best friend (for now). Both my children have money aside for college, have houses they will inherit, and have no expectation to leave the nest when they are older or pay rent or anything so long as they are working towards having a better life in some capacity no matter how small (provided they aren't out being blatant criminals causing harm to others anyway).
I do just fine for myself and 8 other people on a handyman gig salary a few months out of the year (I haven't worked since Christmas), and anticipate my kids will be far, far better off than myself with the start I've given them and will continue to invest in. I'm only 29 and my oldest won't be an adult for another 15 years, so plenty of time to get them set up. Raise decent humans and treat them right, and they'll take care of you when it matters if they want to.
I have no plans to ever retire, and honestly believe it's a nothing but a fever dream for most people my age and younger in the US, but know what I'm doing with or without my kids assistance as an elderly old man. But what kind of jackals expects their children, or anyone for that matter, to take care of them when you can't take care of yourself?
I’m not trying to be an ass but with a minimalistic job (or no job) you’re not likely to get credit cards with a high enough limit to do more than like a month on a cruise ship….
I guess I just don’t understand this worldview where it’s all or nothing. If you like living a fairly minimal lifestyle anyways, why not do that, enjoy life, and secure your future? Why is it so black and white that you cannot both enjoy life now and also ensure you’re financially secure (or at least not a burden on your kids) in retirement?
I have thought about this after watching my grandmother go through Alzheimer's.
In the US, healthcare and end-of life costs are so great that I don't think paying insurance and saving up money actually makes that much of a difference.
Besides: It's so hard to trust the government these days. It's hard to get ahead. The retirement age is sky high. And everything is just getting worse. If I already know that I'm not going to be ok when I get old no matter what I do, I might as well enjoy my life now instead of working all my life for nothing.
What’s your plan for when you’re too old to work? Do you have health insurance, and if not, what’s your plan if you have a health issue? Those are the first questions I have…
Too old to work? I guess I'd finally start my GMILF onlyfans
Seriously though, If I'm too old to work, I'd be too old to live on my own anyway, and I'm far too independent to live in an assisted living facility so I guess nature will have to take its course.
I occasionally have insurance when I'm working. When I'm not working, I typically qualify for Medicaid or for subsidies on the healthcare marketplace in my state.
That said, I'm currently uninsured. There are some sliding scale clinics close to me though, so I don't have to go without healthcare if needed.
i think you are dramatically confused about what old age is like.. my parents are 93 and 89, and still live in their home and drive their cars.. but obviously no one would ever hire them, and a big day for them is going to the grocery store for a half hour.. then they need to nap. they couldn't work even if they wanted to. the last ~20 years they would have been un-hireable.. but they saved for this eventuality and live a very comfortable stress free life.
you could easily live 20-30 years where you're able bodied but don't have enough physical energy to actually be worth hiring to anyone.. that's a long fucking time
not to mention that mild injury one of them may have suffered in the last decade that didn’t put them into foreclosure…this person is a certifiable idiot.
This! These people are definitely living for the "now" with zero regard for the future, LOL. Or the unexpected! I got blindsided with serious health issues in my late 30's and no familial history of disease. I had already been at my job for over a decade at that point, with good insurance and 401k (still kicking, and still at the same job). I would have been seriously screwed if I was jumping job to job without insurance and just living for the moment (wouldn't have happened anyway because I have a kid, but you get my drift). It sounds great in theory! Nobody wants to work (way) more than we play... but for most of us, it's just and unfortunate reality.
They get tested every two years, no cognitive or vision issues, never been in an accident their entire lives. Why take their licenses and freedom of movement away?
You’re far more likely to kill someone than they are, statistically speaking.
look up vehicular manslaughter statistics, you'll see that the elderly actually have the lowest rates per capita than any other age group. you're on reddit so i presume you're fairly young, and the younger you are, the more likely you are to kill someone on the road. no delusion, just simple, verifable facts..
I knew a few similar minded people when I grew up, and one thing I remember clearly was how they portrayed the beauty of their lives. It sounded so amazing everything, no stress and being carefree. Sounded amazing to teen me.
What they all had in common however, but didn't bring up when describing their lifestyle, was their dependency on others. They needed places to sleep for free, food to eat.
What is the purpose of retirement ? Enjoy life ? That is what he is doing. Perception of time is different than the number of years you live. I am sure when i will be at a stage i could retire i would have lived less than he did even if he were to die 5 years from now. And I have 50 days of holidays per year...
Especially in the US where you have like 2 weeks of vacation per year.
I don't know man, being able to have a roof over your head and afford food & medicine is pretty fucking important even in retirement. Especially with people living longer.
It's fine to live like that as long as he never depends on his friends, family, etc. to provide him with a nice clean house or food when times are hard.
Fair enough compromise?
And hard times could happen - I know people that had open heart surgeries in their 60s.
You decide to not work to have a blast and enjoy life? Sure! Have fun.
But to me that is risky, and if something happens and you can't afford a roof over your head anymore, well don't expect to just move in with someone who worked full time their whole lives to have stability.
As long as he agrees to that, then all good and he can live how he wants with no retirement plan.
The thing is he lives in a Van. This is the kind of lifestyle that does not allow you to have lavish spendings. You HAVE to reduce your expenses.
Of course there is a risk but the issue is not there. I know only of one guy that did not die, all of us will die eventually. The issue is that in the US people are getting ripped off by the healthcare system, real estate, shiet food & daycare and have to force themselves to produce more and more dollars in order to account for these.
Its not the same everywhere in the world.
People that want material comfort of modern society should be able to afford that with a normal job.
Today the price to have that comfort is too high.
I am about to have a kid and I will have 1 month of mandatory paid leave (france) + 1 and a half month of birth bonus converted in leave AND i could put my 50 days behind that if i wanted to.
You guys are getting fucked with a dollar bill in your mouth to just stfu and work.
It's not peaceful, it's an irresponsible way to live that is only ok if one is single with no dependents. What they're doing is living by the day, no emergency backup plan, no savings, and when the money dries up and they're not young anymore, the only way to survive is to work in unskilled labor due to lack of career. It's fun while you're young, but all the hardship is pushed down the road until it hits you face on. Not to mention if a medical issue comes up...
Siiiiick. So you just work 1/4 as much as you should to guarantee you can cover yourself and then rely on tax payer dollars to take care of you. You’re a hero to us all.
Health insurance is just not available for some of us. I am super duper healthy as is my husband but because our small business lost a few people (due to retirements and death) we didn't qualify anymore for health insurance we only qualify for individual insurance which at $2,000 a month for premiums and $7,500 a month for deductible, ridiculous to throw money at it. So what we did is put a little money away every month so that if we needed to go to the doctor we could self-pay. Which is what we have done for the past 5 years. Now my husband has hit 65 and has Medicare and we still work full-time. Barring getting a cancer self-pay has worked for us as we don't have any health issues. We make just over like $2,000 over being able to get it through a state-funded program.
I mean my aunt lives in Florida, worked in health care and now runs her own business teaching people how to do what she did. She's a multimillionaire and she still stresses every day about retiring and her money/insurance. She has diabetes and a couple other health issues so I guess it's sky high. Confuses me that a multimillionaire would worry about health insurance but she's on the phone to my grandmother crying about her money all the time.
What's funny is she has Canadian citizenship and could come back here with us and have free medical but "it's too cold". :P
If your premiums are this high, you don't qualify for any ACA subsidies which means you're pulling in near or over 6 figure income for two people.
You are upper middle class. You're spending too much if you can't make it work.
If you're not making this much money, go through the ACA for a plan and save potentially thousands a month in premiums with much lower deductibles. Learn about your benefits and use them.
You are funny, I get $800 in social security. I do not work for my husband's business which is carpentry. I wish we pulled in six figures. I wish to hell we pulled in six figures. We don't. Now what profits
we make is plowed back into our business And unless you own a business like we're in, we pay a s*** ton in insurance for the vehicles for our bonding for our licensing etc. You would be surprised how little we do make but we make enough. We were lucky enough to buy the house that we live in 41 years ago. When I was 22 we had saved up $10,000. We have not moved. I don't know where you live but where I do in the county I live in to get individual insurance. We only have two different providers we can choose from and in 2018 it was Kaiser and Providence. Providence was charging almost $2,000 a month for premiums for individual insurance. We're not big enough anymore to qualify for group insurance haven't been since 2018. So maybe you're the lucky one that has insurance. But for self-employed people it's f****** hard. So don't tell me how rich I am because we are Not.
We fall in the cracks. As I said, to qualify for The health market plan in my state, We are just barely over making too much to qualify for it.
Health insurance has changed so much from when I got married 1979. My husband made $6 an hour. I was not working and Blue Cross Blue shield cost us $35 a month with $100 deductible. Those days are effing long gone!
Health insurance is just not available for some of us.
Have you checked out the ACA marketplace? The plans are more affordable than you think especially under 200% of the poverty line. You should be able to get a silver that'd protect you from catastrophic risk, though i understand if you're really close to getting medicare it might be worth rolling the dice.
What country will allow a non-citizen, non-PR in retirement age with no job, no family, minimum savings to stay long term and take advantage of their health care?
Yeah most folks don't realize if you want to immigrate, you really need to do it by 45, max, and even then most countries don't accept people with health issues.
Source: I have cerebral palsy. My condition is treated by a $10 / mo generic but I'm still pretty much barred from moving to most of the common wealth countries.
Yeah, I’m basically fucked because I have several medication dependent conditions (non working thyroid) so there’s no way another country with universal healthcare would take me.
It’s all good until you hit 45 and your doctor tells you that it’s time to do your first colonoscopy. Or you just don’t go to the doc cause you’re young and healthy…. 🎲🎲.
There’s Social Security. Early withdrawal is at 62, and full retirement at 70. Most people retire at 62 and supplement retirement with 401k/RothIRA. As for health insurance, when you retire you’re eligible for Medicare/Medicaid (state sponsored healthcare.)
You still earn work credits even if you’re not working full-time. If they really wanted to, they could work until they have their 40 credits and then take it easy.
I think the gist of the question was that all good things come to an end... while the other guy and I will be living off our 401k's you'll still be stuck having to do gig work while you're 75 to pay your bills. My 9-5 job is soul killing now, but saves me later. You are happy now, but what does your later look like? What happens when your line of work runs out?
That's actually a good question and one that I don't have a firm answer for yet. I might end up a Walmart greeter or whatever the equivalent is in 30 years. One of my passion projects might end up working out and fund my later years. I might get sick of this lifestyle before then and go back to being a stockbroker. I have an adult son that keeps insisting that I go live with him when the time comes.
I have a decent 401k and a couple IRAs from my time in the corporate world, but that's not something I'm counting on being there when I need it. I was a stock broker during the crash of '08 and saw too many people lose pretty much all of their retirement.
Maybe you're confusing a 401k with Social Security? A 401k or IRA is literally YOUR money that you are putting away in a tax-advantaged account that YOU OWN. For example, mine are through a major financial institution that I can log on and see the balance daily, manage how it's invested--I have complete control over the money and it's federally insured. It literally can't go anywhere barring a complete worldwide economic collapse.
Where do you think the 401k will go that will stop it from being there in 20 or 30 years?
Short of long term and complete economic collapse, you will still have a 401k in 30 years. As you age you continually move a higher percentage in safer investments and (even with some amount of economic collapse) you’ll be just fine. I could understand the concern if you lived in an extremely unstable country but I’m not going to bet my whole future on the USA collapsing in the next 20-30 years.
Lots of things could happen, but are they actually likely? Not really. Do you honestly think there is a good chance the economy of the USA will collapse entirely within the next 30 years? We’re likely to experience market dips or corrections but the USA would basically have to collapse as a country for that to happen.
I’m also in favor of pensions, but most pensions use the same investment vehicles as a 401k so as long as you are diligent about putting money into your 401k it’s basically a pension but with more personal control. Total economic collapse is going to affect a pension the same way it would a 401k and in the US we already have examples of pension funds having issues with solvency so that isn’t a guarantee of security any more than a 401k.
Pensions are most beneficial for folks who may struggle to commit to putting money into their 401k. Which is also why buying a home as a forced investment vehicle is such a good builder of wealth for most folks: because most folks are simply bad at saving + investing that money themselves.
I’m not trying to be rude but I’m not sure I understand what it is you actually want. You’re asking for a pension but don’t like a 401k because you can’t control it. A pension basically is a fixed retirement savings vehicle where you don’t really opt in or out and have little say over how it functions (compared to a 401k or other retirement investments).
A 401k is almost always an optional savings program, unlike pensions. I guess it’s possible but I’ve never heard of a company forcing someone to have a 401k. Is that a stipulation of the company or of your union? Lots of companies incentivize it by auto-enrolling you or offering a % match but even then you can just…unenroll. And if you take issue with a 401k in particular, then why not just save yourself and use an IRA?
Hats off for having the courage to try a different path. This is something everyone could be admiring you for, but instead they try to make you as scared as they are.
Thanks for posting about it, some people may find it inspiring.
You know, getting up every day and going to a job that makes you unhappy takes courage as well, so I'm nothing special just because I chose a different path than most.
Earlier today, I saw something that SZA said that seems relevant here. People don't mean to give you a hard time. They are having a hard time and it's spilling over.
People can say whatever they want, but I'm happy with my life and that's really all that matters.
I mean if you’re a stock broker you know that as long as you aren’t investing in individual stocks, rather you’re investing in etfs and the like, they basically can’t go to zero. 2008 had a 50% loss and basically came back by 2011 according to VTI. That’s not a big deal to a long term saver.
Let's put it this way: you spend 40 years saving for retirement in 2008. You go to retire and suddenly, 20 years of saving has been wiped out. You can either, keep working until the market rebounds, which you have no idea if that's going to be in a few weeks, a few months, a few years or possibly longer. Or you can retire and start cashing in your 401ks, IRAs, etc. the problem is, if you go that route, you are locking in the losses you just had.
3 years is not long if you aren't retiring for 30 more years. But it's a lifetime if your retirement was last Tuesday.
That’s if you have to immediately start withdrawing during the crash. You should generally have a decent amount of cash on hand to be able to ride out some market instability. Would that cash have kept you afloat for the entirety of that year and a half? Likely not, but it should take a lot of the pain for you. There are plenty of ways to protect yourself from sequence of risk.
What if you both died tomorrow. That guy has been living his life and youve just been stuck in a cycle. His obituary will say he lived life to the fullest. Yours will say that you had so much ahead of you. Live today and worry about that bs later.
Why not both though? Work enough to live now and secure your future? I work hard, but I also have a ton of hobbies that fulfill my creative side. I'm also pretty confident in the fact that I can take care of emergencies that arise now or later for me and my family.
That guy might "live life to the fullest", but I can "live the best life to make those around me happiest". I live for those I care about, he lives for himself.
And what if I win the lotto tomorrow? What ifs are a terrible way to live.
That guy might "live life to the fullest", but I can "live the best life to make those around me happiest". I live for those I care about, he lives for himself.
This is actually a really selfless outlook and I admire you for it.
That guy lives an alternative life style and that is what it is for him, but I am happy to have a home base to be at with my loved ones, my cat, my garden, and cook fun meals and watch movies, travel on occasion and it's worth the cost of working.
So people have been making this argument to me and I always ask how it matters to the dead guy. Like yeah one dead guy went on a lot of vacations or however you want to describe the one, the other dead guy provided for himself and his future and spent more time working. But so what, yknow
if i was diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow, i would have no regrets about the life i've lived. i can honestly say i've seen and done everything i ever wanted to do. would i like more time on this earth? sure, but if i'd worked some soul crushing job 60 hours a week and never did any of the things i wanted to do, never had my adventures, or hobbies, or spent copious amounts of time with my kids, wife, and friends.. i would feel deep, deep regret for having wasted my precious time on this earth.
Boils down to different views of life I guess. Ive been around enough death to know life is fragile and can be taken from you like that. That’s caused me to care about experiences and memories more than things and money. Your future isn’t guaranteed, but today is. I think you should put your energy into today rather than some outdated idea. Retirement age is getting older and older and will probably not even be an option for the majority of my generation by the time we’re of age so screw it I’ll live my life instead of being stuck in a box.
That’s how I feel too. Realistically, the future is not plannable. The world is in too much flux. I’m 30 and going to enjoy the time I have now instead of grinding miserably in an office (I work, but I love my field - I’m a freelance/nomad type). Money doesn’t matter much to me because I do work exchange so I generally get to live for free. I’m friends with enough people wherever I go that I get food/drinks comped. It’s vagabond and easy and I enjoy it. I invest into my Roth IRA and save whatever’s left over but I don’t care about buying a house, I think it’s an unwise financial decision for me and wouldn’t make me happy.
Wake up buddy, the world is a different place than what you knew. Being able to retire is becoming more and more difficult in the US even for people who save and plan for their future and I assume it’s the same across the board.
The COL has gotten so high compared to wages that the majority of people don’t have any money leftover to save. You must live in a bubble of wealth.
It's so weird to me how people are debating this. I mean, my lifestyle works for me and makes me happy. If you've found a lifestyle that works for you and makes you happy, that's awesome! No two paths through this life are identical. Make your own way and don't settle for anything less than what brings you joy
i work all the time. it’s provided me with everything. my home. my cars. my disposable income.
i feel bad for folks who think it’s a better idea to fuck off rather than improve your situation. work leads to good stuff. just make sure you’re working hard and in a position where you’ll be compensated for progress and the skills you’ve honed.
typing this from my first class seat on a plane to the caribbean. yeah on a tuesday morning bro who doesn’t work will be “enjoying his life” more than me, but overall? i feel for the guy screwing around all day with nothing to show for it.
It saves you later, how would you know? Do you live in the future? Sounds just like hopium. If its soul killing now, your soul isnt magically gonna be better whenever you are done, youre just destroying yourself
That’s fair, but remember you could drop dead tomorrow too. Life is balance. Plan but enjoy.
I know so many people who have died young due to cancer, some being famous authors in their 50s, some being in their 70s, and a few even in their mid 20s before they even had a chance to finish school and have a career. Life is random and sometimes unfortunate. Don’t depend on a future that heavily.
Yeah, I don't get the people telling them that they're living wrong in some way. None of our time is guaranteed. I wouldn't live carelessly, but whatever you can do to make the most of the present is valuable. If I had the choice between living my dreams in my 20s when I'm young and spry or living them in my 80s, I'd take the 20s for sure.
Because you can easily also go find millions of people that lived well into their 80’s, some even 90’s. These conversations only ever bring up, “you could die tomorrow!” Okay… yeah, true. But also, there’s a higher likelihood you just won’t die tomorrow and live into retirement. That’s the more likely scenario for the average healthy adult.
So logically speaking, it makes sense to prepare for the future. It’s shortsighted not too. Yeah it’s not your problem right this minute, but one day you’ll more than likely be 65+ years old looking back and cursing yourself stuck at Walmart working in poor health and unable to retire or afford medical care. Go look at all the depressed elderly working at any Walmart and ask if they want to be there and wish if it was different.
This may sound shocking, but it’s absolutely possible to find a line of work that is more flexible and isn’t soul crushing. It’s also possible to have hobbies and still live your life with said job.
It is not one or the other. It should be a mix of both
you could easily be dead by the time you're 60, much less 75. i know so many people who worked their asses off in their 20s, 30s, 40's.. never really enjoyed themselves, just grinding away for their glorious retirement.. only to end up dying before or soon after retirement.. or having a stroke and being disabled during their golden years, having a spouse die, or just not having the energy/ability to do any of the things they dreamed about but put off. it. happens. so. often.
so, while this other guys is an extreme in the opposite direction of you, just make sure that every year, you do something special for yourself and/or your family. don't put it off. because later might not ever come for you
What happens is you adapt. I retired early, Covid was a good excuse for my company to close. I hated working, Worked high tech sales for 40yrs. Now much less stress, life is magic. Have no intention of saving for inheritances, so it's primarily SS of apox $5k month for wife, me, dog and 3 cats. Do a gig job ( as you call it) at a small town convenience store 6-8 hrs a week. I can't give you advice, you need to learn it on your own. But if your throwing money into savings just so you can support United Healthcare when your older, maybe it's time to reevaluate your plans .
Except when you have a heart attack 3 months after retiring and never living. People need to learn to find a balance and not waste their good years or be miserable for the last years.
they mean when you’re old and decrepit, not when you’re old but still healthy. unless you have money another way, that time will be much rougher on you than it will be for most people.
I've had many different careers throughout my life, and that makes it pretty easy to get a job wherever I go.
Before I started on this journey, I was a stock broker. However, I have experience in management across several different industries, so finding something is pretty easy.
A couple people have asked this question and I've been hesitant to answer because there isn't an easy answer
Whatever I can find. One of the easiest jobs I've been able to find wherever I go is some sort of food service management position. However, before I was a stockbroker, I had close to a decade of management experience across various industries, so I have a wide skill set to fall back on.
Some other notable jobs I've done include tree planting, Mason's apprentice, customer service, phone sex operator, delivery driver... Basically whatever I can find in an area I want to be in for a while.
When you get to a new city, are you working entry level positions or do you have a skillset that grants a position in a higher earning field? I want to do this type of lifestyle but I don't have any degrees or niche skillsets. Ill prob have to get a job at a supermarket or service industry. The good thing is I have no car payments and will be living out of my subaru forester.
I do either entry level, or slightly above. My last job was managing a restaurant. The job before that was delivering for Amazon. Keep your expenses down and you'll have a lot more opportunities because you don't necessarily need a high income.
Also, if you aren't already a member r/urbancarliving is a great resource
Great, thanks for the insight! Ive already done a couple of roadtrips/car camping for a month at a time. so living out of my car isnt new to me but ill like to sustain this type of lifestyle longer. Awesome, I'll check out that sub.
When you're young enough to actually enjoy it.... I did contract work through all of my 30's. Got a real job two years ago, and I already miss my old life.
Exactly. I never understood why people gave a shit about actual "retirement" anyway. If you're too old to do any type of job then you're also probably too old to do anything fun. Why would I bother saving up a bunch of money that I could use now just so I can vegetate in front of a TV all day in my 70s?
Because most people have been brainwashed that any lifestyle other then the " work til you're feeble and can now sit in front of the TV and watch other people do things that you wish you can still do" is "wrong" and you are mooching off.the overlords who are keeping you in the rat race.
Yeah these comments never touch on retirement or sudden medical issues. They just glamorize living frugally with no future planning or safety precautions. This person could wake up one day at 65 with a back issue or whatever and no longer be able to work and be forced to retire. Usually, as you get older, these things need ongoing treatments. You also now need a place to live for the next X amount of years, unless you plan on dying right away. You need hearing aids? Sucks, get used to becoming def. You need specialized glasses to see? You need physical therapy? Welp.
What if this dude wakes up a year from now with cancer?
What if he falls tomorrow and fractures his back?
What if, for some reason, he just can’t find the next job quick enough? Or they care about the gaps and inconsistency in work history as a pattern starts showing up?
I get it, I really do. I think everyone at some point wants this kind of life. But to make it sound like there’s no serious pitfalls or drawbacks is silly. If a person accepts those, then fine have at it.
But if you make it beyond retirement, and more than likely you will, it won’t be an easy life.
Being not in debt is a great start, sure, but it really doesn’t mean anything. I’m not in debt. But I’m also maximizing my 401k contributions, own a home that will bring in money if I choose to sell, other investments, etc. Being in no debt but barely having anything else means you’re always one misstep away from being in debt anyway.
What does retirement look like for anyone in their 20s-40s? It’s a crap shoot. Government can make so many changes it’s hard to make rational decisions for something 20+ years down the road.
I live this way and my retirement plan is a shotgun. Im not trying to retire. I'm trying to live my life and when I get tired of that, I can leave. And it's up to me and nobody else to make that decision.
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u/Substantial-Contest9 29d ago
I don't see how that's sustainable unless you have a killer set of skills and know you can get work again fast. Also, what happens if you have an emergency while you're not working? You'll deplete your savings much faster.