80% of Americans believe WHAT?

Ya'll don't actually think this, right?

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On today’s newsletter:

  • The vast majority of Americans can’t retire.

  • What’s the point of it all, anyway?

  • A few thoughts on the retirement crisis.

As you may or may not know, I only post this newsletter to LinkedIn and e-mail currently. So, I browse upon LinkedIn weekly. Not that you care. But what you should care about is this news piece I came across here. It’s a real spit-water-out-your-mouther.

Titled “Americans Doubt Retirement Odds”, I find there’s a lot more to unpack here than Americans realizing they can’t retire or needing to postpone it. But let’s get to the sticker shock first:

  • 20% of Americans think they will NEVER retire.

  • 50% Americans are unable to save for retirement.

  • 50% of the American workforce do not have a retirement savings plan (not employer offered.)

  • Keeping it on the DL: Over 50% haven’t reached out to any financial advisor help and over 40% haven’t talked to friends about their situation.

  • Of those Retired, 68% are happy they did.

Damn. That’s, uh, a lot of people surrendering to retirement. Cue The Eagles at your local dive at 2pm. Pour me one, bartender. While our fellow Americans drink our sorrows away with an ice-cold Milwaukee’s Best, let’s see what we can do about the retirement predicament today.

What is the point of it all anyway?

Retirement seems to be the end all be all in this country. And I couldn’t disagree more. Naivety courtesy of my 26yr old self.

Now I’m not saying there should be old folks with dementia having to work. That ain’t right, and those folks should try to enjoy the rest of their days.

But I think the retirement is some over-idealized and romanticized concept presented that when we reach a certain age, we’ll just eat, drink, and be merry for the rest of our lives.

But it’s a lie. Life happens. Nothing here on Earth is linear.

Of course, you want enough money to be able to not have to work as a 99yr old with dementia. But life is a journey, not retirement. Live a little.

Enjoy life. Enjoy retirement too. But don’t delay gratification to the point where retirement is the only place where you can enjoy it.

And for my readers who enjoy working, most people work during retirement - at a wage much less than they were making - but it doesn’t matter to those folks.

With that in mind, let’s check out this survey below.

Apparently, the point of it all is to have a nice retirement, according to 80% of America, lol. And perhaps I’m reading into this too much. Maybe not. The questions here are fairly leading (could have a lot of sub context here with people choosing yes to the first question.)

But 80% think that? The point of missing your kid’s t-ball game and forgoing that one beach vacay is to have a nice retirement? Lolz.

The one thing this survey doesn’t share is the age of the respondents, or how much discretionary income they have. We can read into it all day, but I thought 80% was crazy.

Thinking Differently about Retirement

Shamelessly stealing the early Apple era slogan, I think it’s time we (100% of Americans) reframe the retirement myth/saga/dilemma/choice/thing.

The easiest way to retire? Start the earliest you can. Earlier you start, less money you need to invest/save, let time do its thing, then boom, you can do whatever. I’ve written about that plenty of times.

If half are just getting by, what can they do?

Money is taboo in this country - no one likes talking about it - not to their family, friends, or even someone they would pay to help them. I think the easiest way to go about this is to talk about it. Talk about your situation. How are others making it work? What are my options? Strength is found in numbers and the more people conversate in their communities about their needs, I think a solution can be clearer.

The other thing is taking an interest in your own financial well-being. This doesn’t mean being knowledgeable - I mean just care. That’s all. How many people ticking the days waiting for their first social security check to hit, but nothing more? Probably a lot. Don’t think us young people are going to be getting any of that. There is no privilege reserved for those who are trying to give a crap. Show up, take an interest, use the internet, do some research, and I have no doubt 50% of these folks can learn something.

The takeaway:

Can’t make it work? Talk about it. Understand what “retirement" means to you.

The earlier you start, the less work it is.

The internet is your resource. Surf responsibly.

Work forever if you like what you do. No one’s stopping you.

Hope I provoked some thoughts if you made it this far. Thanks for reading!

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Stay Frosty Mis Amigos/as,

Andrew

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