really fast.

I have friends whose children live with them, and several of those kids are in their early/mid 20's, have Masters/Bachelors degrees and MASSIVE student loan debt. At least most of my friends kids are working, but at fast food restaurants. Fast food jobs & a Masters/Bachelors degree.

These machines will just need a few people to operate them and a few to fix them, and even if there are no wages being paid and the price of food goes down, that cost-lowering won't be passed along to the consumer

Wait until they raise the social security age to 72.

and most 72-year-olds are in good shape, sure.

Also depends on what that ol' population pyramid shape is. When 62 was the retirement age, lots of young people supporting fewer old people. We've increased the tax rate a lot, but ultimately there'll be a shortfall. It's one argument for immigration--we need to import young brown workers to help pay for old white people's retirement. We don't phrase it that way, but that's a fair representation.

It's explicitly a rather prominent reason some give for demanding that Japan become more "diverse."

Me?

I expect to work until I drop dead.

I mean, 56?

Not with the standard of living they are going inherit.

The first twenty go by so slowly, like being on an inflatable tube in the lazy river. The next forty like you're facing whitewater rapids: Jerked in every direction and decidedly not fun. And then, before you know it, you're at the end of that third twenty and you find yourself at the top of the Bonzai pipeline in a bathing suit that's one size too big for you.

Nicely said!

and years fast.

something like that.

They would be born in 1997-1998 which is Gen Z.

swing since we're talking about people who can range from 35 to 16. The term, "Millennial" is almost insignificant in this case, when we're talking about retirement expectations, since a 35 year old will have a more reasonable understanding of what he needs to do to get financially stable, than someone who is anywhere from 16 to 25. Just my opinion.

"Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are the generational demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years."

Or Oregon Trail generation

I've seen it cut off at 1994-5. I think the general consensus is that if you're too young to remember 9/11, you're Gen Z.

Retire in my 50s.

Two of my brothers did (career military).
But I'm still working (63). Like so many women who took lower-level jobs and a series of temp jobs to have flexibility for the kid-raising years, I didn't ever get into a pension-earning job, until recently-- when I was 59. I won't be vested for 10 years (though I'd worked there 'temporary' for 5 years before that). It's not a lot of money, but it's guaranteed monthly, and with the social security, it'll get me about $2k a month after I'm 69.

That's life. Doesn't work out like you plan.

But very few people can retire at 56. These days, there are few companies, even if you're with them for 30 years by then, who will start paying your pension that early. And being a "millionaire" won't do it. A million dollars at 56-- you'll probably live 30 years more than that. That's a long time to live on what isn't a fortune anymore.

I remember my grandparents retired at 65 and died (both of them) within the year. At least they got the year. But I'm afraid the rest of us will live much longer after retirement age, and we really do have to worry about the money running out. Retire at 56, and go back to work at 76? Groan.

to the voting booths soon. The people they are allowing into government will make sure of it.

But why? I am just now gaining my stride and have enough experience that problems that would have killed me at 33 seem insignificant.

However, everyone should be able to retire at 65 with the guarantee of a comfortable if not luxurious life till they die. It is not hard. Many other nations have done it.

... driving that decision is 56 to someone who is 18 is old as dirt

.

The wealthy in this country sell the hopes that self-entitled people will become millionaires, one way or another. Therefore, they push back on the notion to substantially tax wealthy people--since they will one day be wealthy.

These form as a control mechanism to make people complacent to their current situations, as they will soon change. By instilling a positive wealthy future, it prevents those most dire from rebelling against society or becoming politically engaged to change the status quo.

In one of my religion courses, we were taught that politics and religion share the same centers of the brain, and they can easily replace one another. We might be seeing this, as the decline of organized religions are seemingly being replaced by hyper-partisan tribal political views. The passions of politics mirrors cult-like fervor.

.

and Trump speaks a coherent sentence without the words "no collusion."

My money's on the horse.

I think you picked the best odds.

I always hated the roadrunner.

UNLESS of course they are smart enough to vote for DEMOCRATS and then RAISE ENOUGH HELL with them to force them to EXPAND social security, lift the cap + raise the tax rate + make corporations and billionaires pay their fair share.

THEN maybe they can retire. Otherwise they shouldn't count on it - at least until age 70 or 72, if at all.

I was doing well, having fun. Not everyone does. They call that "getting lucky" precisely because it is the exception, not the rule.

Plus, I didn't count on one thing. It is easy to look far ahead and think the future will never come. Oh, but it does. So, now suddenly here I am at 66 (where DID the time go?), and wondering what all this "retirement" talk is about. These people are talking about retiring at 56 as if it were something to aspire to?

And then do WHAT? Sure, my job has a lot of stress, getting up at 4:30 in the morning half the time, sometimes not even getting home at all. But, hey, there is a bigger danger out there lurking, waiting to sneak up on, and kill anyone not paying attention. The one thing that would scare me most of all is dying of BOREDOM. If I drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow on the streets of Paris or Barcelona (I'm there for work, not recreation), it would be unfortunate, but preferable to staring at a TV screen or watching grass grow through a window somewhere all day long, every day. Broccoli is a vegetable. I am not. Not yet, anyway.

And the big, most glorious thing is YOUR TIME IS YOUR OWN.

You're not reporting in or reporting to anyone. Your stress level goes way down and you do what YOU want to. If by the time you retire and you haven't figured that out yet, you missed the whole point.

I retired from full time "career" work when I was 54 and never looked back. Since then I have worked part time at jobs that are interesting to me. I have rejected all offers of full time work. It is MY time.

But she was sick and tired of her job. She was getting mobbed by her corrupt boss, some guy sent by the church who was stealing, and she knew it. He wanted her out in the worst way, and tried every nasty harassment to get her to quit.

On the other hand, my job, despite the long hours and occasional danger from corrupt cops or organized Eastern European crime, is still fun, and it takes me to Paris, Brussels, Zürich, Barcelona, Munich, Holland, Geneva and a lot of etc. on a regular basis. I decide when and where, and get to choose my own travel arrangements and hotel accommodations. I decide when I take days off and how long my vacations are. So, I pretty much already do what I want, and get well paid for doing it. Why would I want to "retire" from that? And do what instead?

any decision to leave.

Once it's time though, don't worry, you won't be bored to death as you've undoubtedly made contacts and friends all over the world you'll be able to leverage into interesting things to do once you hang it up.

I'm 38 years old. In this economy the billionaires would literally work us to death if they knew they could get away with it, and they probably could. By the time I'm old enough to retire it may not be an option at all.

1. they'll be competing with AIs for the good jobs anyway, so might as well plan for an early bow-out
2. if our economy continues to be mismanaged by greedy assholes, we will experience significant currency inflation eventually, so many of the millennials probably will end up as millionaires -- for all the good it will do them then

I got laid off from a government contracting job (after 17 years) when the agency I was working for took a 30% across-the-board budget cut. My wife was still working (decent engineering job), so I basically just said, 'Fuck it - I'm retired' and never bothered to seriously look for anything. The last 12-15 years I was working (it was a half-day part-time job) I was putting 70% of my salary into the 401K. Wife retired a couple of years ago when she was 62, after 38 years with the company. We had both been saving and had made some decent investments through the years (my cost basis on AAPL stock is something like $3/share...I originally bought in the early 1990's, and we bought SBUX very early, too), so we're relatively comfortable now. I'll start drawing on a small pension I have available from a job I had in NY for 8 or 9 years, then later from Social Security, and then the investments and annuities we have set up.

It can be done, but they really have to set up long-range planning for the future by saving, investing, and otherwise being smart with the money they have. I managed to avoid putting a lot of money up my nose like a lot of other people did when I was working in NYC in the 1980's.

something that makes them rich.

call, perhaps finally will be a major driver in the upcoming elections although it seems both parties are opposed 100% to each other's fixes. Maybe they'll finally come together and make a realistic and fair repair to SS.

I don't want to be negative, but this is (a repair to SS) doesn't seem to be in the works other than the repugs again trying to cut benefits again, w/o addressing funding requirements, e.g., have no caps on when SS taxes / Medicare taxes can be taken against earned income.

I'm just negative, I guess because one side is so warped in their manner of thinking and not interested in getting both sides of the true story about SS.

I mean it's good to think like that, but realistically we won't retire then unless some hit it big with ideas or such.

Do really more half believe they will become millionaires? Was this some kind of joke question? If someone asked me a stupid fucking question like that, I'd probably say yea just to be a sarcastic dick.

30 years and thanks to my union job I'm living a dream. Not rich, just comfortable. Have a few hobbies that make me some extra cash doing what I love. A couple of years ago I move to a place with a much lower cost of living adding to my comfort. Downsized to a smaller home with lower taxes and utilities, eat a lot of fish and deer and have a booth at the antique mall that makes me some cash. Was not blessed with children and that really helped.

That's $500,000 (approx) saved over raising two kids, invested at the front end.

I always say that when a friend starts complaining about the kid..

That guy who sued his parents comes to mind.

The reason he got on the news is because he's unique.

I had to laugh

In the workforce, millennials are making better financial decisions and more money than many people did even 20 years ago. They are planning on waiting until late 30s to have kids, are already maxing out their 401ks and are focusing more on long term financial security and work experience than having kids.

I would guess a TD Ameritrade study would mostly be looking at these people...young professionals who already are starting to save for retirement...so in that cohort I could definitely believe this.

and have friends who are amazed I can retire when I'm 64. For many even 66 1/2 will be hard.

Just wait until the GOP hits their Social Security and Medicare.

I'm 58 and could retire tomorrow; my philosophy is "I'll keep working as long as it's fun".

Even with savings, pensions are mostly a thing of the past.

I totally believe this.

I'm only 33 and already bought a cheap house in full in the Central Valley to live in for the rest of my life. Of course this probably doesn't work with most people who like to move around all over the place before ever thinking of settling down but if you plan ahead you can retire even earlier than that.

Over 60% of Americans don't have enough in savings to cover an emergency expense of $1000

We have millennials in our office who drop $15 to $20 a day on coffee products. One in the morning and another in the late afternoon. Never seen anything like it. In some cases it’s gotta be close to $100 a week.

They they unironically bitch about these young people today who don't want to work.

Now, my vision is incredibly, incredibly skewed. I'm in my 30s and fully immersed in the tech world in San Francisco.

You would not believe the number of people out there who will be the next big YouTube or Instagram star, or whose new app is going to make tens of millions of dollars. In an industry where people in their 20s and 30s are already making outrageous amounts of money, the idea is that there is always more, always another opportunity, always a next best thing.

This kind of strange optimism parallels alongside the political hopelessness. "Yes, the country is going to shit. But I'm working on this thing, man. . . "

And the people with the degrees. Sure, they're working hopeless jobs now, but they'll see a friend make it comfortably in a tech-based world, and they figure, "Hey, I can do that!"

Well, you could. What you didn't see was that friend consuming pots of coffee and adderall through their twenties, working into the small hours, focused single-mindedly in pursuit of their goals.

My friends who have made it, my Facebook friends for example (the actual company, not the media site), worked their asses off to get there. Yes, they're paid obscenely well. They also work obscenely hard. The headquarters of these tech giants are designed around the expectation that their workers will basically live there.

I have a 26 year-old friend saving for his first house - in Silicon Valley. He also lived in a tiny room in a dorm at UCB, had few friends, one weekend interest we shared, and the rest of the time was learning, teaching himself what he didn't know, and doing everything in his power to make it.

But I've seen a lot of people take from that, "Oh, so I just learn coding and I'm rich, right?" No! That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works!

But social media give us an illusion. We see the successes, and the difficulty and hard work that went into it are elided over.

Very, very rarely, even in tech, do I see successes that didn't have "I've worked my ass off to get here" in the background. But no one tells anyone that. So they dream.

I live comfortably here. And I'm on the cusp of doing yet better. But the shit I had to do to reach this point is unreal. As far as retirement? I just did my July budget spreadsheet. I have what I call the "Remainder." After bills and needs are met, what's left goes into a Remainder. 20% of that Remainder is mine to eat out or see movies or buy a new video game or save for vacation, etc. 80% of the rest goes into savings and retirement.

You can probably guess how many friends I have who 1. Have a budget spreadsheet at all, or 2. Are taking full responsibility for their own financial futures. It's not an encouraging percentage.

He retired from the military 8 years ago. He gets his full military retirement check plus disability check from the VA. He will be eligible for a reduced retirement (will not get it until he reaches a certain age...I think it is 62) from his current job once he works there for 10 years. Right now we are focused on getting our remaining kids through college, saving and paying some extra on our mortgage. Once our kids are out of college and on their own we should be able to live a comfortable life.

The rest of that shows they part to be very true

Good for them for planning and working towards it, but there are so many factors to getting to that goal and unfortunately we don't have control over many of them.

I expect to have a heart attack and die while working two jobs at 85 (so I can pay for my meds, of course). As soon as there is confirmation ofy death they'll post my job and wheel my body to a dumpster.