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The new American retirement fear: working until you die
(fortune.com)
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this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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Did you make a shit tone of money by working for top evil corporation so you can retire early on your savings with no connection to financial markets?
Probably not. I should be able to retire at 50 or 55... But I spent my 20's putting 15-18% of my pay check in my 401k, and I've never dropped below 7% contribution. 43, just started making 100k a year and I should be a millionaire next year, should have about 2 million by 50, 3-4 million by 55, and that's not including the family trust fund(which most people won't have)
Contribute as much as you can to your 401k when you are going and you'll be doing it right.
You don’t even have to save that much. I spent my 20’s putting away 7-10% and was on track to retire early. Then life happened: I had to do an emergency withdrawal and could not contribute anymore. Then I lost half the remainder in a divorce. Now I’m approaching retirement age wondering how long they’ll let me work
Anyway, not trying to one-up anyone’s misery, but wanted to make it clear that even starting off right with retirement savings isn’t always enough.
I’m in the US so of course it was a medical emergency. Even with “good” insurance, it was a financial disaster
LOL. Everyone said that just before 2008. Talk to us about your 401k when AI investments suck $12T out of the markets.
Why would anyone want to retire at 55.
I made tens of fucking millions for multiple businesses and non profits so far in my career. The question should be, Why the fuck do I have to continue making money for other people for more than 40 years, when I barely get a cut? I don't fucking owe anyone, or anything more of my time, and that's what retirement means.
Honestly I'll probably get bored, and I can volunteer, or teach, or a number of other things that society needs, but doesn't have, because we're all wage slaves who are forced to work to death.
So you did make enough to be able to save as much. And the 401k value is linked to financial market health, isn't it?
No, I limited my take home pay and did the best I could with I had to work with. I didn't miss the 18% because I never even really saw it. Even then at the time, the amount wasn't huge, it took many a decade to get over the first 150k. I didn't go in vacations, I didn't go to bars, or buy a motorcycle, or start hobbies that cost more than they brought in. I stayed at home a lot with my cats and smoked weed.
And yes, it's all linked to the markets, so it doesn't really mean shit. My net worth could drop 80% in a day, and all I'll get is a pat on the back and a canned statement about market volatility. People with stupid amounts of money will get bailed out.
And judging by the number of down votes my initial comment got I feel like a lot of you don't realize that the people who play the game well and still fucking hate it are the best allies you're going to get.
No, I am borderline poor.
You plan on discovering a pirate treasure chest?
No, my life hack is I never needed very much food & I'm happy with living in squalor. I've been secretly practicing my taxidermy skills in preparation for the uprising. With a dash of salt, some needle & thread, styrofoam & trading skills; my goal is to build a monument to the greed of humanity & trade tickets for more taxidermy materials.
Sounds like some kind of plan, I guess!
My real plan is to provide an escape, be it from reality or the mundane ferocity of Internet.
I'll share some grilled crickets with you if we meet after the apocalypse.
I like grilled crickets.
Fluffy & crunchy.
I also like living crickets.
Not only do they emphasize my jokes as they fall flat.. crickets also provide food for so many other things.
Keystone critters...