Modern retirement planning

It is almost impossible to retire with a middle class income. I say almost because I did visualize myself doing so. I'm lucky in several respects: my family isn't overly dysfunctional, I graduated university in the years before the cost sky-rocketed, I choose a career that has always been in demand and pays well, what few relationships I have had all ended relatively cleanly (no kids, no alimony), and I've lived a spartan life. There was that possibility, I thought, that with another decade, I'd be able to actually retire. But I recently realized that I don't have the skills to do what I have done for over 25 years now. I am unmarketable. My next career move will be involuntary retirement. And I am suddenly facing the reality that many people younger than me see as normal - working your whole life will not get you enough money to retire. So I am turning to the last financial saviour of the modern middle class - crypto and day-trading. Yes, gambling. You might lose it all and end up on the street but that is just hastening the inevitable. On the other hand, you might get lucky and dectuple (or more) your money. It's really the only viable option these days.

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the dream

Apr 26, 2021 at 8:38pm

Ah retirement... Just another fantasy that has been carried down from older generations to the young. Kind of like home ownership! I used to joke that my retirement plan involves a long piece of rope and a tall tree. The older I get, it seems like less of a joke and more of a viable option.

Or...

Apr 26, 2021 at 9:44pm

Lower your expectations, move to a cheaper place and get a part-time job to supplement your pension. It sounds like you've used your rational brain all your life, why panic now and lose it all? Because you know that in gambling the odds are always stacked against you, right?

16 6Rating: +10

It is...

Apr 26, 2021 at 10:08pm

... a rigged game. The only people who can definitely afford to retire those who work for government because the consolidated revenue fund pays for their incomes and pensions and who pays for the consolidated revenue fund you ask? Well we do. It's especially demoralizing for people under 40 I mean almost none of us have kids unless one partner works for the government or is a doctor or a lawyer.

12 9Rating: +3

Anonymous

Apr 26, 2021 at 10:15pm

This confession is incredible.

While not understanding your finances, the idea that you are guaranteed life at any time past 40 years of age is a fools gamble.

Maybe you can try to stop thinking you are "middle class" so forget the trip to Disneyland this year? Not wanting to be flippant. It's just that older "middle class" people tend to live in a perpetual fantasy universe.

Anonymous

Apr 26, 2021 at 10:24pm

Start your own business. As long as you are moderately capable you can quickly grow it to the point that you can hire other moderately capable people to run it while you step back and enjoy retirement with a potentially very comfortable income. Pick a field that you know something about and that has a moderate demand.

13 7Rating: +6

Anonymous

Apr 26, 2021 at 11:59pm

Downsize and spend half the year elsewhere, like Penang Malaysia, Koh Samui, Thailand or Bali all of which are warmer, affordable and actually have cultures. I don't know why people think only life's winners get to retire in Canada full time. It's cold, the people are repressed, it's dull, lacks culture and obviously expensive. It's like it's soooo beneath them to go to those countries, when in fact those countries are beautiful, safe and the people lovely and charming.

17 6Rating: +11

Thank you for calling it what it is!

Apr 27, 2021 at 7:30am

My partner is a stock market gambler. He has been doing this for several decades, and is no further ahead now than when he started. I’m certain that he’s lost far more than he’s gained. But he’s addicted to it. The crypto currency stocks are his latest gamble, and he’s become so obsessed with it that it’s almost all he talks about anymore. He’s managed to get a couple of friends into it too, and now they’re all gamblers together. Never gamble what you can’t afford to lose, is my philosophy, but it falls on deaf ears when it comes to him. At our age, throwing money that you can’t afford to lose into a risky investment like the stock market, especially lately due to the extreme volatility, is just not a smart thing to do.

12 4Rating: +8

Oh Goody

Apr 27, 2021 at 9:26am

The bit-coin crypto pusher is back. Please spare us the sales pitch. I'll give you points though, this post was a bit more clever than your previous ones.

9 5Rating: +4

@ Anonymous

Apr 27, 2021 at 11:33am

The places you describe, while nice, are being ruined by foreigners and expats. Thailand particularly has become a gross mecca for creepy old men. I feel sorry for the locals who have to deal with them.

@Thank You

Apr 27, 2021 at 12:40pm

It's only gambling because he hasn't been hedging. That is, take both sides of the trade.
But that being said, everything in life is a gamble with marriage being the biggest one- 55% failure rate.

9 5Rating: +4

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