this post was submitted on 10 May 2026
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me_irl
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Retirement is not an age, it's a financial status.
You make it sound like it's supposed to be that way?
I didn't read it that way. It's just a fact. If you had enough money saved/invested, you could reasonably retire today. If you don't have anything saved, you can't afford to retire at any age.
As the OP shows, even the pension system in the UK (or social security in the US) amounts to little more than a sick joke in comparison to the actual cost of living.
I know I'm not saying anything new, I'm just rephrasing the GP's point in a particularly verbose way.
But it's not supposed to be that way.
BUT IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY!
People usually don't retire because they can but because they have to. Because they can't work anymore. Framing it like retirement based on savings only is just an unchangeable fact of nature is just wrong.
You're too focused on this, IMO. I can't fix the injustice here all by my lonesome. What I can do is live beneath my means, save up the extra (and I'm fortunate to have extra after paying for the bare minimum), and have something beyond social security for my own retirement. That's all any individual can do.
In a group? In the US, you can vote according to who you think will run Social Security better. But in practical terms, that's a choice between bad and worse. I don't like it any more than you do, but I don't see a realistic alternative in the near future.
In the UK (or other countries)? Someone else will have to weigh in there.
This still refers to this shitty comment:
I'm not saying you should overthrow the system tomorrow, but those seemingly witty comments that just normalise how messed up the system is just don't help.
Retirement is not a financial status. Stupid teenagers that listen to right wing podcasts may think such a remark seems smart, but it is stupid and wrong. Retirement is a necessity that stems directly from the fact that people just can't work as well at 90 as they can at 35. It's not a hard concept to grasp and the fact that society makes it hard to stop working after people worked a lifetime but can't go on anymore isn't some wisdom to understand, it's just a neocon's wet dream and should be described and treated as such.
It would be nice if everyone could be afforded some kind of retirement when they got older. You are correct, in general a 90 year old will be nowhere near productive as a 35 year old. But it would also be nice if people working full time didn't need food stamps, and if the tax rates were higher, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But that's not the world we're living in.
I have to agree with OP here, right now it IS a financial status. It's a luxury only afforded to those who have the wealth. The whole idea of "retirement" is fairly new. Even 100 years ago a 90 year old might move in with their kids, provide childcare for the grandkids, help out around the house, etc.
Just to reiterate I am on your side, retirement SHOULD be something afforded to everyone. That's just not the world we're living in.
Nah, that's all you.
how?
when most people live paycheck to paycheck, and their biggest luxury is a bobba tea once a month, how the fuck can you do anything about retirement?
the system is set up to maximize human suffering for profit.
It simply stated the reality that retirement comes from having resource access without requiring employment. That's what it is. Hearing judgement about what should be is you adding it.
it’s a mindset