Work Reform

So much propaganda in this article.

Knowing you won't be able to retire, and making plans accordingly, is acceptance of the situation.

It's not a fucking preference.

Maybe, just maybe, Gen-Z is not saving as much for the future because (1) they have less money to save due to inflation, and (2) they don’t foresee a viable future. These reasons can also explain the parenthood rate dropping lately.

what the fuck is up with all these pansy-ass terms suits keep coming up with? "quiet quitting" and now "soft saving"?

fuck this marshmallow flavoured cyanide bullshit

did some idiot confuse "worried we will have to work until death" with "wanting to work until death"?

get fucked capitalist class. the minute I can afford not to work I will stop. the problem is you guys fucked the system so hard that it seems that point is so far away, or not attainable at all.

I feel so sorry for the retired boomers on good pensions in their big houses with nothing better to do than wish they were working again

end rant

are currently between 27 and 42 years old — are significantly more likely to want to do some form of paid work during retirement.

Want is not the right word there, and it completely changes the message. This is a fucking hit job, trying to convince people that company executives stealing pension plans, and a failed society that abandons its elderly, is something young people desire.

1. open mouth
2. insert rich people
3. chew vigorously
4. swallow

This honestly sounds like propaganda trying to convince people this is a thing.

One thing worth noting that's tangentially related: the reason Social Security faces solvency concerns is not that they couldn't anticipate the Boomers' retirement, but because under Boomer management, wages (which are the basis for Social Security's funding) have been suppressed, particularly on the low end of the wage scale.

They saw the Boomers coming a mile away. What they didn't see coming was that they'd flatline the minimum wage and kill off unions

I have no idea where they pull these statistics from. It's increasingly sad that we should get more time off as labour gets automated and cheaper, not less.

I don't get the privilege of owning a home, why should I get to retire? 🤷‍♀️

Wow what a boomer article. Most young people just don't expect the current systems and institutions to last that long. Millenials have lived through several financial crises and economic downturns with no chance for improvement in sight. It just gets worse until the generation responsible for it dies out.

So I'd much rather live in the now making memories of adventures and good times with friends & family as long as i'm able to, than have a bit more money in the bank that won't be worth shit when i'm old. Peace of mind is great and all but the future is an illusion you can never fully prepare for.

Why should people push for traditional pensions? I don't want to be stuck at a crappy job just because leaving would reset my retirement clock. It's the same reason healthcare shouldn't be attached to the employer either.

A soft lifestyle? And to think this whole time I thought it was just called "being poor and underpaid"

This increasing preference for a lifelong income

These crazy kids with their preferences for avocado toast and Tik Tok and never being able to stop working!

If my calculations are correct, my cheeseburger and pizza diet will kill me around the time I want to stop working. That's my retirement.

You know, I am Gen X and honestly have never thought I'd be able to retire. I worked when pregnant until the day I had the baby, every time.

I now just try to keep work sustainable, take my PTO, don't give them everything now for some potential future return.

No, I don't need paid employment to have a full and happy life. There is plenty to do. But it's not the worst life either.

From the article...

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans are saving less in 2023. The personal saving rate — the portion of disposable income one sets aside for savings — was significantly lower at 3.9% in August, compared to the 8.51% average in the past decade, according to data from Trading Economics which goes as far back as 1959.

Additionally, inflation makes it harder for people to cover their expenses or save, Koehler said.

A report by Blackrock shows that in 2023, only 53% of workers believe they are on track to retire with the lifestyle they want. A lack of retirement income, worries over market volatility and high inflation were some of the reasons cited for a lack of confidence about retirement among workers.

It really just is time for companies to pay more money to their employees, to share the wealth better, back like how we used to.

It's wild to think that in the past only one person would have to work and a couple would be able to afford a house and raise a family. I can't see how that can be done in today's world.

Someone dig up FDR and ask him the redo the 'New Deal'.

I'm 40 and I've always "known" that there would be no retirement for "us".

Consequentially, as the eternally wise Homer Simpson once stated; "my lifestyle is my retirement plan".

I genuinely hope never to reach age 70 or over. I've known lots of old people in my life and the ONLY TWO who were somewhat happy were my maternal grandparents. And even they will soon have to deal with losing one another since they're so old.

I don't intend to go through all that. I'll live what I can, as long as I can, and as soon as I can't anymore, it's exit left.

I doubt I'll be the only one.

A belief in the future is actually a foundational requirement of capitalism.

What we have here is neo-fudalism, where the points are made up and the people believe in nothing.

Barely mentioned: wage stagnation and inflation.

It always got me how much it costs to be able to work.

I feel like my impression of CNBC from a while back was that it just covered stocks and business mergers and stuff like that, but between this, COVID, and the UAW strike it's really been demonstrating its position as a newspaper for business rather than simply about it.

I disagree with the editorialising from the title comment. To me it doesn't seem to celebrate or even opine anything, and that's actually kind of frustrating, because it's obviously bad that people are intending to work longer, regardless of their actual preferences.

Having read the article, to me it's not entirely obvious whether people feel that (A) they don't have enough to save regardless of their intentions (B) they feel saving for retirement is futile for whatever reason, or (C) even if they had extra money, they would prefer to spend the extra on here and now.

The article kind of hints that it's more B or C than A, but it isn't really explicit, and I think that would be the really interesting part of this story to report.