More than one-third of millennials believe they won’t get a dime of Social Security when they retire, so they’re taking matters into their own hands

Women's rights have been walked back, causing child rape victims to struggle to find abortions, to say nothing of women being forced to carry fetuses who will die upon birth. Trans rights are being shit on, to the point that gender affirming care is being denied to people even where it's legal. Taxes for the wealthy are too low. The middle class is rare to be in. Health insurance is insanely expensive and it's difficult to see a doctor even when you have it- emergency rooms will leave you waiting for 6 hours or more. We simultaneously have too many people, and too few children with a looming crisis of too many elderly. We have microplastics in the air, oceans, food, fetuses, everywhere. Housing is largely unaffordable across the globe. Homelessness is out of control. Massive, destructive wildfires are the new norm. Heatwaves are killing people. Migrants are clamouring to find new countries to live in (which will get worse due to climate change) causing all kinds of social frictions. The youth are anxious, depressed, and suicidal.

But please, tell me how things are good for people over all?

No they aren't. Stop shilling. Any response that isn't "student loan debt has been taken away, all housing prices are at the level of the early 1980s, the ceo-to-worker compensation level is the same as 1953, we have Medicaid for all, and the government is out of debt" will be discarded.

Like what specifically? Are you factoring in what things might look like in the coming decades? Or what things already look like for a majority of Americans?

I don’t care if I can get a 4k tv for $300 if I have no emergency fund, no retirement savings and can’t cope with a medical emergency (even with insurance).

12 upvotes, 42 downvotes

This is your punishment for trying to be positive on the internet ;-D

Please refer to the final part of my statement

Basically republicans who are “we need to lower taxes and also steal the rest of the social security fund and give it to people who are already wealthy”

Wealth redistribution isn't a ponzi scheme. Even if we do nothing to "fix" social security it will keep writing checks.

Your retirement plan activated automatically?

It has always been that way. More millennials than any previous generation are able to fund a good retirement is a large take away.

Many still are not funding a [good] retirement, but overall Millennials are better than their predecessors.

You're getting at my favorite article of all time, The Shockingly Simple Math of Early Retirement. Say what you will about Mr. Money Mustache or even early retirement in general, but this article really is the absolute simplest and best way to think about retirement savings. It's why I often feel poor or pressed for money but never worry about retirement, because I max it all and pay myself first, and I know as long as my percentage is high I'm on track.

Plus even before I could max my 401k and Roth (and we recently had a kiddo so had to stop Roth for a bit) or get a high savings rate, I put in way more than was comfortable because the power of compounding is worth rice and beans and not going out drinking for a bit. Now that I'm middle aged my nest egg is huge, and we've been slowly able to lifestyle inflate. But I am soooo glad my younger self saved like crazy. Time flies by, and money compounds before you know it.

People tend to spend what they earn. I have to be careful not to spend more than my paycheck every month. I know people who make less than half what I do who still do okay in life - they don't have as nice a house or as many toys, but they have food on the table and a warm roof. I know from experience that I could cut how much I spend every month by a lot - I just don't want to cut those extras from my life.

Many people are working long hours now saving for retirement when they plan to travel, and thus they think their spending will be more in the future. I know some who did that for years, and got cancer and died before their planned retirement age. I know others who have been traveling the world carefree for a couple decades after retiring.

A 401k lets you make money on the part that would have otherwise gone to taxes. Can you show an example with numbers where paying tax up front comes out ahead of paying tax at the end?

And if you make enough to contribute to both a RothIRA and a 401k, you should do that and not pick one over the other.

Reference to Logan's Run. Life ends at a certain age so resources are never over consumed.

Capricorn15. Today is LastDay. It is time to renew at Carousel.

Edit: Sauce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2vx_RCwSs

From the movie Logan's Run. It's set in the post-Apocalyptic Future and was a way to control the Population. A crystal implanted in your hand would start blinking when you become 30. You then enter the Carousel and try to win your "Renewal", an extension on your life. If you tried to run away you become a "Runner" and they have a special force track you down and kill you. It's a good book and movie.

You think Mexico will be liveable by then? I had considered something like that, but I think climate change is going to make those places unlivable within the next 20 yrs.

If you need to live at 5% of current costs, you'll need go further down the oecd country list than Mexico.

Homes are expensive. Be nice to them so they don't wheelbarrow you off a cliff.

That was my plan. Are... are we not doing rhat anymore?

Because it's an ad and this is spam.

Because America is the world

Like when I'm going from my shift at my first job to my shift at my second job?

But wish you were because you've nothing left to give and your body is conking out on you. Life is a scam.

This is a very reasonable approach. Would be great if we could lift the estate tax cap while we’re at it, 11mil is a joke!

I've got some beans.

Yeah? How did you do that?

Where are you getting his income figures from?

If you haven't changed jobs in a few years, you can probably find another job with a raise that gets you 30k more in about 3 years.

"Everyone works in STEM"

Does this plan require good returns on investments? Cuz 15K × 20 years doesn't equal 500 to 700k. Isn't that how a lot of boomers got financially wrecked? Putting all their money into 401Ks or housing only to have them lose a ton of value every time there's a once in a lifetime financial crisis? Hopefully this doesn't sound sarcastic, they're honest questions.

Have you seen coffin prices?

It's not exactly that I'm buying into it disappearing is a foregone conclusion - just that if something doesn't happen to proactively protect and improve the system, than yeah, it's in big trouble in the next decade. And my personal bias puts my main concern on the people who rely on it for disability insurance since they are some of the most vulnerable. Of course I want what I paid into it myself later in life, but at least I can see it helping those close to me for some consolation if it doesn't.

Ha! Read your money. Now read about fiat. It's literally not your property. It's the government's and they're letting you borrow a little.

I agree! I would much rather actually retire which now, thanks to my pension providing job, I can.

There are agencies that act as intermediary for healthcare workers to pick up travel gigs. You sign up with the agency. Hospitals/laboratories/etc who need short term staffing solutions (laughs then sobs in COVID staffing shortage) reach out to agencies saying they need a nurse/medical assistant/medical laboratory scientist and the agency sends them the resumes of all their contract workers that are available. If the facility wants you, the agency contacts you to see if you want to take it.

Housing/living expenses are covered and you make BANK compared to the permanent employees (who may resent you for it). The travel pay and contracts are slowly returning to pre COVID levels but it was ludicrous for a while there. I did try to figure out a way to take a leave of absence from my job (don't want to lose that pension) so that I could pick up a travel gig. It was that lucrative. There's always a staff shortage in healthcare somewhere in the country.

There is potential for feast and famine so people doing it as their sole income need to plan for that or be willing to work in facilities that are a dumpster fire or in places that they wouldn't relocate to for permanent work. Most contract agencies don't offer benefits so that also needs to be planned for. Travelers usually make 2-3 times more per hour than permanent staff and have a separate allowance for living expenses so getting your own health insurance won't negate your earnings.