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 253 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 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 53 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.

[–] ZzyzxRoad@sh.itjust.works 28 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@slrpnk.net 18 points 1 year ago

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

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

They used to advertise a diamond engagement ring as costing 'three months' salary' since that was painful, but affordable.

Who can afford to sacrifice one month's salary anymore?

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 102 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 67 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 38 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 27 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 81 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 33 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 67 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 58 points 1 year ago (11 children)

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

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 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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[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 56 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 21 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 20 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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[–] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 53 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  1. open mouth
  2. insert rich people
  3. chew vigorously
  4. swallow
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[–] solivine@lemmy.world 43 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 38 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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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (5 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'.

[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

I feel like this is the most significant piece of information in the entire article and it just skims over it. People aren't failing to save because of lifestyle choices. They're failing to save because groceries for 1 person costs like 200 bucks a week in some cities. Shit is more expensive than ever before, and things like home ownership, which is historically THE default hedge against inflation, is outside the grasp of pretty much anyone below 40 who isn't a doctor or working in a similarly lucrative field.

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[–] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] Acters@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't get the privilege of having a life, why shouldn't we get to work till death?

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[–] yenahmik@lemmy.world 28 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 28 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 25 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!

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

lolz gen X forgotten again.

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[–] BURN@lemmy.world 23 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.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 22 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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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (3 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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[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 19 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.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Want? No. Need.

[–] mawkishdave@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same as WSJ. They exist to manipulate people with pro-.1% propaganda.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There was a post earlier from wsj about how it makes more sense to rent because mortgage rates are high right now. Because, you know, refinancing doesn't exist and landlords never arbitrarily raise rent

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[–] charonn0@startrek.website 16 points 1 year ago

Barely mentioned: wage stagnation and inflation.

[–] geeuurge@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (11 children)

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.

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[–] TwoGems@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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