Retirement Rant

One of the ads that just pisses me off is the ad where the “financial advisor” talks to the woman and asks ‘when do you want to retire?’ and she says ‘I don’t know, 78?’  Are you kidding me?  Who actually wants to work until they are 78 (unless you are in Congress and you hold on to your office with all the ferocity of a 2 year old with a candy bar)? 

Wouldn’t it make sense that as older workers retire, middle aged people move into those jobs, and leave the entry level jobs available for younger workers who are looking to gain experience and support themselves? 

We continually look for things to “fix” the problems faced by our youth.  The age when people can actually move out of their parents homes and support themselves keeps going up.  30 is the new 20 we are told.  So we send these new high school graduates to college, saddle them with huge debt, and then put them in a world where there are no jobs that will actually provide them a way to make a living and actually pay back that huge college debt.  So they are forced into living at home and delay their independence.  Do we really think they just enjoy living at home?  No I don’t think so.

Meanwhile we continue to move the retirement age, steal money from the social security system and keep these older workers in jobs that they really don’t want.  We stifle innovation because these older workers (and I am quickly becoming one) do not adapt to change as quickly as they once did.  So they try to hang on to status quo.  And if the company does move forward with changes and the older workers can’t keep up – they are quickly laid off and now are 55+ looking for a new job.  Most companies do not want to invest in an older worker, especially technology centric workforces.  So now these people who used to make $90K+ are looking for customer service jobs, entry level jobs that historically went to young people trying to gain experience and move up the ladder.  Do you see a problem here? 

It makes more sense to me to have workers retire at a better age while they are healthier and able to enjoy the retirement.  They can travel (spend $$), remodel their home (spend $$), buy a new car (spend $$) basically still live a life, and contribute to our national economy in a way other than just putting money into their medical bills.  

The younger crowd now has jobs to move into and start making more money which will contribute to the social security system and help keep it solvent.  And since they will now be making money they can move out of their parent’s homes, start families, and generally be moving forward instead of stuck in low paying service jobs.  And these jobs can now go back to what they have historically been – jobs for high school kids who are trying to make money.  People keep saying that we shouldn’t raise the minimum wage because these jobs aren’t meant to be permanent – but that is exactly what they have become.  There are people who work their whole careers in fast food places, because there are no other jobs.  Or they are back to working in fast food places because they are over 50 and can’t get a job in their field anymore due to age discrimination. 

Just my two cents.