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I also plan to work until the grave. I don't see any other way.

rickydroll 3y ago
I'm already doing that. retirement is really depressing. No matter how I look at it, there is no way the markets could generate enough returns for give everyone the 7-8% they would need.
- mycall 3y ago
  Watching the boomers go through retirement looks quite boring, but they do have different life interests.
  - shostack 3y ago
    That's not what it is about. It's about the agency of not having to work if you don't want to or cannot. Aging with health issues and needing to still work is a scary concept.
  - jjulius 3y ago
    I'd happily take "boring" at that age over "work stress".
    - ekianjo 3y ago
      Boring will mean your brain will also decay much faster.
      - kleene_op 3y ago
        That's their problem if they chose that kind of boring.
- StanislavPetrov 3y ago
  >No matter how I look at it, there is no way the markets could generate enough returns for give everyone the 7-8% they would need. The markets can easily generate 7-8% returns, but you are right it won't be enough for what people need, when the cost of living (rather than the phony CPI number that is bandied about) is rising at more than 8% a year.
  - rickydroll 3y ago
    I will agree with you that the market can generate 7-8% returns for a certain volume of cash infusion through 401(k)s. but what happened if everybody participates? I'll spare you the back of the envelope calculation with but if everybody saved 10% of their income to a 401k, it looks like we would have approximately $24 trillion that would need to get that 7-8% return. FWIW,the current 401(k) number 7 trillion. The current stock market size is 46 trillion so where would that money go? feel free to come up with your own numbers, as professors have told me, more accurate calculations are left as an exercise to the reader. I suspect that the vast majority of people would stick their money into robot funds and cause the value of the stock market to inflate to unsustainable levels because as we know, stock prices have nothing to do with reality. Anyway, this calculation is interesting exercise and shows how people really haven't thought through the true cost of retirement and the impact it has on the financial system.
skissane 3y ago
My parents both turn 74 this year - and both are still working. Not sure when they plan to retire. My mother works as a doctor, my father as a pharmaceutical industry management consultant
- gymbeaux 3y ago
  Either your mom really enjoys her work (doubtful if she’s a doc in the US- they hospital administration seems to ruin that career), or she’s calculated she needs every penny she can get while she is able to work.
- matheweis 3y ago
  Ah yes, and when they do retire there will be no one to take their place..
russh 3y ago
Same here, I got to watch my dad burn though his retirement nest egg at an astonishing rate once he fell Ill and needed long term care. Started out at only $3800/m for assisted living and ended up at $11,000/m in a nursing home. This was by far the most stressful period of of both our lives. You will need much more money to retire than you realise unless you stay in good health or die young.
- gymbeaux 3y ago
  I intend on going the suicide route if my only other option was being such a burden, financial or otherwise, to my next of kin. But you’re right, it’s a common fate for the would-be inheritance. It was around $10k/month for one set of grandparents, and as much as it sucks that they’re gone, there’s a sense of relief across the family that they didn’t live another, you know, 5 or 10 years ($600k-1.2M)
  - hotnfresh 3y ago
    Yeah, I don’t think inheritance is gonna be much of a thing anymore below the top percent or two of estates. The rest of us are just temporarily holding the healthcare industry’s money, when we save. Including most Boomers.
dylan604 3y ago
The grave is my retirement plan

I'm already doing that. retirement is really depressing. No matter how I look at it, there is no way the markets could generate enough returns for give everyone the 7-8% they would need.

mycall 3y ago
Watching the boomers go through retirement looks quite boring, but they do have different life interests.
- shostack 3y ago
  That's not what it is about. It's about the agency of not having to work if you don't want to or cannot. Aging with health issues and needing to still work is a scary concept.
- jjulius 3y ago
  I'd happily take "boring" at that age over "work stress".
  - ekianjo 3y ago
    Boring will mean your brain will also decay much faster.
    - kleene_op 3y ago
      That's their problem if they chose that kind of boring.
StanislavPetrov 3y ago
>No matter how I look at it, there is no way the markets could generate enough returns for give everyone the 7-8% they would need. The markets can easily generate 7-8% returns, but you are right it won't be enough for what people need, when the cost of living (rather than the phony CPI number that is bandied about) is rising at more than 8% a year.
- rickydroll 3y ago
  I will agree with you that the market can generate 7-8% returns for a certain volume of cash infusion through 401(k)s. but what happened if everybody participates? I'll spare you the back of the envelope calculation with but if everybody saved 10% of their income to a 401k, it looks like we would have approximately $24 trillion that would need to get that 7-8% return. FWIW,the current 401(k) number 7 trillion. The current stock market size is 46 trillion so where would that money go? feel free to come up with your own numbers, as professors have told me, more accurate calculations are left as an exercise to the reader. I suspect that the vast majority of people would stick their money into robot funds and cause the value of the stock market to inflate to unsustainable levels because as we know, stock prices have nothing to do with reality. Anyway, this calculation is interesting exercise and shows how people really haven't thought through the true cost of retirement and the impact it has on the financial system.

skissane 3y ago

My parents both turn 74 this year - and both are still working. Not sure when they plan to retire. My mother works as a doctor, my father as a pharmaceutical industry management consultant

gymbeaux 3y ago
Either your mom really enjoys her work (doubtful if she’s a doc in the US- they hospital administration seems to ruin that career), or she’s calculated she needs every penny she can get while she is able to work.
matheweis 3y ago
Ah yes, and when they do retire there will be no one to take their place..

russh 3y ago

Same here, I got to watch my dad burn though his retirement nest egg at an astonishing rate once he fell Ill and needed long term care. Started out at only $3800/m for assisted living and ended up at $11,000/m in a nursing home. This was by far the most stressful period of of both our lives. You will need much more money to retire than you realise unless you stay in good health or die young.

gymbeaux 3y ago
I intend on going the suicide route if my only other option was being such a burden, financial or otherwise, to my next of kin. But you’re right, it’s a common fate for the would-be inheritance. It was around $10k/month for one set of grandparents, and as much as it sucks that they’re gone, there’s a sense of relief across the family that they didn’t live another, you know, 5 or 10 years ($600k-1.2M)
- hotnfresh 3y ago
  Yeah, I don’t think inheritance is gonna be much of a thing anymore below the top percent or two of estates. The rest of us are just temporarily holding the healthcare industry’s money, when we save. Including most Boomers.

dylan604 3y ago

The grave is my retirement plan