this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Work Reform

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Traditionally, retiring entails leaving the workforce permanently. However, experts found that the very definition of retirement is also changing between generations.

About 41% of Gen Z and 44% of millennials — those who are currently between 27 and 42 years old — are significantly more likely to want to do some form of paid work during retirement.

...

This increasing preference for a lifelong income, could perhaps make the act of “retiring” obsolete.

Although younger workers don’t intend to stop working, there is still an effort to beef up their retirement savings.

It's ok! Don't ever retire! Just work until you die, preferably not at work, where we'd have to deal with the removal of your corpse.

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[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 268 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

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.

[–] Rolder@reddthat.com 54 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I could see some people wanting low level jobs in their retirement because they don’t know what to do with their time otherwise.

But it should absolutely not be a requirement.

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“soft life” is a lifestyle that embraces comfort and low stress, prioritizing personal growth and mental wellness.

What a fucking garbage take.

This isn't a lifestyle. This is how life used to be for most people.

[–] kautau@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Lol even the summary says what they really mean

3 in 4 of Gen Z would rather have a better quality of life than have extra money in their banks, a report by Intuit shows.

“3/4 of gen z know that the world is probably gonna be pretty fucked up when they reach retirement age, so they’re doing their best to live an ok life before that happens”

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Literally all of the climate change stuff they said was going to happen 50 years from now is happening now. So yeah I'm going to be 70 years old fighting for scraps with a billion refugees in lower Canada. Why the fuck shouldn't I make sure I have fun now? The odds of getting enough money to get out of that situation are vanishingly small so fuck it.

[–] ZzyzxRoad@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So sick if seeing these articles framing "millennials/gen z killed xyz" as a preference or a want.

Remember when we killed the diamond wedding ring industry? We can't pay our rent ffs.

[–] SnipingNinja 21 points 1 year ago

That industry deserved death tbh, and so does the diamond mining industry in general

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[–] just_ducky_in_NH@lemmy.world 146 points 1 year ago (5 children)

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.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 81 points 1 year ago (20 children)

Main reason I never had kids was I was screwed over by just about everything financially. Student loans, housing/“financial crisis”, medical system, deck stacked against self-employment, predatory credit cards. Great job, USA. Then the same cunts who did that bemoan low birth rates and cry about immigrants.

[–] Acters@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There are TOO MANY procedures/fees/tax/unsafe ways to lose everything you have or be in a position where you will never be able to live without constantly being demanded to provide more work/cash/time.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Agreed, life wasn't this shakey in the past. Depression era: certainly, but it was caused by the same BS we are dealing with now. For example, it's amazing that medical bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy and thus degradation of quality of life in the US, and there's little will among politicians or citizens to do much about it. You could save up enough money to retire, even have good insurance, and then be screwed because you or any member of your family had a severe illness or accident, and lose everything.

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[–] audiomodder@lemmy.blahaj.zone 32 points 1 year ago (19 children)

I saw a report that someone my age will need $3m to retire at 65. The average total income from 22-65 for people my age is around $1.4m. So I guess we never get to retire.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 105 points 1 year ago (5 children)

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.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 69 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As a person over 40 years old, let me be clear: I never want to work.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 39 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I would have retired 20 years ago if I could. I will never understand people that say they don't know what they'd do with themselves in retirement. What unimaginative and boring people they must be. I have a thousand interests I can't fully pursue because of work obligations.

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[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

As someone between 27 and 42, I love getting shit accomplished but I have never in my life wanted to work

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[–] aes@lemm.ee 87 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] RoryButlerMusic@lemm.ee 36 points 1 year ago (8 children)

It's a way to turn people off of what they really mean.

"Quiet quitting" is just doing your job. Trying to make it seem like breaking your back to help someone profit is the minimum to do unless you want to be branded a quitter.

"Soft saving" is apparently the requirement of working til your dead because no one gets paid enough to...hard save...I guess.

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[–] Marin_Rider@aussie.zone 71 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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[–] SirStumps@lemmy.world 61 points 1 year ago (11 children)

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

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 year ago

Like “quiet quitting”, which is, in reality, just doing your job and not going above and beyond because it doesn’t benefit you…

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[–] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 60 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  1. open mouth
  2. insert rich people
  3. chew vigorously
  4. swallow
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[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 59 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] zbyte64@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 1 year ago

That and the Boomers modified social security to cap contributions for high income earners. If we removed that cap the issues with solvency get mostly solved.

[–] finnie@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Omg, I hadn't thought of that. Social security is taxed from income, American wages have been stagnant since the 70s.

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[–] solivine@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago (14 children)

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.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 26 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I do the manual labour while machines paint and write poetry, this is not the future I expected.

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[–] xaetrus@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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

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[–] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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'.

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[–] yenahmik@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (7 children)

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.

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[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 26 points 1 year ago

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!

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

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.

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[–] BURN@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

There’s about a 0.1% chance Social Security will be around when I retire, and the increasing costs of living have almost certainly cut into my ability to retire at a reasonable age.

I’m probably going to work till the day I die, it’ll just be contingent on if I work for myself or not.

[–] set_secret@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

lolz gen X forgotten again.

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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (5 children)

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.

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Want? No. Need.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago

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.

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