43
That’s not true at all
Many people know with certainty they can never retire ever
It’s an open question if they can get into heaven
most people are just trying to pay off a house so they're kids don't have to start from nothing
I'm technically a millionaire, as many people who have worked a white collar job for 30+ years are. That's calculated by the value of all your assets, not cash on hand. So if you bought a home in Austin in 2001 for $200k, you're likely, technically, a millionaire in 2026.
In 2022 I got cancer (clean now) and I saw the medical bills. If I ever become ill for a prolonged period of time, my wife and I will be bankrupt well within two years. If the dollar collapses and takes our savings with it, we'll be bankrupt much, much sooner.
IMHO, unless you are a Billionaire or multi(50+) millionaire, I don't think a care free "retirement" is in the cards.
Don't you think this is rather optimistic?
I’m late 40’s right now, always assumed social security was a pipe dream so I’ve diligently put away money in 401ks and IRA’s. I no longer believe they will be worth anything much longer.
Was a nice country, for a little while, at least that’s what my parent's generation tells me, I’ve never been here for it.
Have you considered divesting? Europe based indexes may be more your speed.
My boomer mom did that and lost everything in 2008 when she was laid off and then had to live off of her savings and try to save her house after her 401 k crashed and her house went upside down. She was fell into a depression and developed early onset Alzheimer’s but didn’t have insurance it’s was brutal the rest of the story is even worse. The criminals running this country don’t give a fuck about you and will get everything one way or another
Even stronger faith I'd say, since billionaires aren't actively conspiring with politicians to keep you out of heaven.
I think they would certainly try if they could pay for the exclusivity.
Just got to bring back Tithes.
That's why whenever some d****** Boomer asked me what my retirement plans are I just looked them in the eye and say homicide or suicide
My retirement plan is to die in the resource wars.
When I was in my early 20's I gave up on the idea of retirement. I was watching the environment being ruined and realized my retirement was going to be awful and stressful. I decided then to live for the moment so I could be happy.
I travelled many countries, live abroad for a number of years, met many different people, tried many different things, learned many things, slowed down to enjoy the little things and even got an HR manager fired to top off my list of personal accomplishments.
I don't want to grow old and lately I've seen how awful it is to slowly die in a body you are losing control over. Too many times.
I've already made peace with my own death whenever it comes. My retirement plan now is extreme sports. If I'm going out, I'm doing it living in the moment.
From my perspective, it's strange to see so many people fight to live long, to live forever or to create a legacy that persists beyond their death. Eveyone dies and everything will be forgotten. That should be something beautiful but instead it fills people with fear.
got an HR manager fired
Please share, so we can live vicariously through you.
Dude we have shockingly similar overarching stories but my HR manager firing was for costing the company I work for 10s of thousands of dollars for not having the right visa to work in china and getting stuck in south korea for weeks due to the easter holiday making it so they forgot where they left me until I got ahold of someone again.
My retirement plan is skydiving.
Retirement was never a thing before the 50s or so. That's why even at the time they had set it to roughly the average total lifespan. It was supposed to be a coinflip to begin with. And honestly one of the shared facets of societies where people routinely live to 100 is actually the lack of a concept of retirement. And part of that is that work isn't something you either toil at physically for extended periods or being trapped behind a desk. It's physical but not to excess and they have regular breaks at least weekly and plenty of holidays. You're not supposed to grind grind grind for years then just stop. You're supposed to have work that's accessible and fulfilling that you can maybe slow down a little on with age but not just cut off at some point.
they're called blue zones
- Okinawa, Japan
- Sardinia (especially Nuoro), Italy
- Ikaria, Greece
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
- Loma Linda, California (Seventh-day Adventists)
Other shared traits include:
- Mostly plant-based diets, low in processed food
- Regular, low-intensity physical activity built into daily life (walking, gardening, manual work)
- Strong social ties and multigenerational living
- Clear sense of purpose (“ikigai,” “plan de vida”)
- Low chronic stress, with built-in rest or ritualized downtime
- Moderate caloric intake (e.g., Okinawan “eat until 80% full”)
- Little smoking; modest alcohol use (often wine, socially)
Talked to my wife a few days ago about this and made her sad with it but she could understand why i feel this way, i said i don't want to live a long life, 50 is enough (about to be 38 btw) and if i manage to live to be 60 i'm going for assisted suicide, like why the fuck would i want to live long enough just to become someone's burden and there's really no point in "looking forward to retirement" because a) i'll be too old to enjoy anything, if i am properly mobile by that point considering my job does involve heavy lifting and b) while i am earning "decent" money for the fact that my education has no relation to my current job, this money does absolutely fuck all for retirement and will get me about 1000-1500€ per month and that's if the threshold doesn't go any higher, investments are mainly risks that mostly don't pan out and the time when there were investment opportunities i didn't have money to do anything, so i'm just choosing death.
The thing is, there's no clear cutoff when you are so old that you become a burden.
If you are unlucky, you might hit that at age 50. If you are lucky you might make it to 90 while being fully self-sufficient.
I think it actually demands more faith. There's no proof heaven doesn't exist. But there is loads of evidence you will not be able to retire.
This totally true sentiment Reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm. Doesn’t have to be this way though we could take over the farm
I've been investing into index funds since my twenties and I live quite frugally in a small house that I own. I'm relatively certain I'll be able to retire just fine.
All my friends with this kind of attitude live in a rental apartment in a big city and have an office job. I guess I'd feel that way too if I was burning thousands in rent every month.
I hate sad showerthoughts.
That's fair, me too.
I know I will retire between 62 and 64, and I'll be ready for it.
Don't live too long or get sick though, you'll run out of money
Semantics really. Most people will be able to afford to stop work, and go live in a box under a bridge or something. Most people won't be able to afford to have annual overseas holidays in their retirement. Most people will be somewhere in between.
If I completely stopped work at 65 I might be able to afford to live out my days in a modest home and go on caravan holidays. I think most people my age in my country are in that category.
This will be much more difficult for our children because buying a home will probably be out of reach in 20 years when they're ready to do so. Retirement math would be pretty dreary if you have to pay rent.
Buying a home is out of reach for a ton of people in their 30s and 40s right now.
That's the point of the OP.
Retirement math would be pretty dreary if you have to pay rent.
lOl. The worth of my assets and all my accounts is about $13,000 and that includes my 401k and I have been working for more than a decade and rent.
I'm a weirdo but also I know that I'm also completely average for level of fucked.
I don't need to believe I know. I put in the work I got the qualifications. And as long as I don't do anything stupid it is impossible for me to fail.
Fun fact: you're not in control.
You can do everything right and oopsie the USD tanks. Hyper inflation. Womp womp.
Just don't put it on yourself with regard to it going tits up.
I think you misunderstand how investment works. My retirement is tied up in assets, not dollars, so it will float with any governmental shenanigans. And, those assets are global. Your theory only holds up if you have cash.
As long as I don't do anything stupid it is impossible for me to fail
I guess saying stupid shit isn't the same as doing stupid shit.
as long as I
Oof, and everyone else too it seems.
this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
43 points (95.7% liked)
Showerthoughts
41111 readers
112 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS