September 12, 2012
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Start Saving at 60?
The amusingly-named Captain Capitalism has an entry in which he argues that for most Americans, saving for retirement is impossible before 60.
But, when they do hit the labor force, it won’t be at a job they’re capable of. It will be something mundane that they could have done in high school. Thus why underemployment rates are roughly 50% for the average 25 year old.
The problem is compounded because not only are the youth working jobs they could have done in high school (and at a commensurate wage), they have student debts they have to pay off. The next decade they muddle through lousy jobs with no hope for advancement or challenge due to the managerial ineptitude of the previous generations, finally paying off their student debts at the age of 35.
35, however, is pretty late in the game to “finally” be “starting a life.” And by “starting a life” I mean starting families and getting a house . . .
Whatever the case, you’re pushing 60 by the time these liabilities are paid off.
“60″ did you say?
Yes, 60 and you haven’t even started saving for retirement. And I am not blaming you. You never had the money to save for retirement. It took 25 years to get you educated to the point the Credentialism-Infected American labor market would even entertain hiring you. And another 10-20 years before they’d ever give you a decent wage or consider giving you a job with responsibility. This is of course requiring you to take “CPE” every 6 months while offering nothing in terms of employment security, job stability (ie-not changing your job duties every 3 months) let alone, sanity in your job.
Regardless, 60 years old is too late to save for retirement. Despite government promises of retirement at the age of 65, mathematically you are going to have to work till you’re dead.
Of course, our generation probably never believed at all in government promises of assistance with retirement, but it’s still a sobering thing to think about.
Comments (5)
“credential-seekers, who sterilize the intellect by pouring time and money into the accumulation of permits, belong in the same circle of hell.”
(In which life is just about adding a long line of letters to your name).
HAHAHAH!
The article is so tongue-in-cheek but it’s so true! The presence of the credential elite is even more oppressive in Korea, but it’s still very strong in the USA.
So that’s why med school training is ridiculously long… I’ve always wondered about why more people don’t become doctors. They can’t because of the cost. The cost is ridiculous, though, and it serves as a real barrier to a needed social service. You don’t see people complaining that we have too many doctors, or that the lines in health clinics are ridiculously short. And yet the MCAT demands are very high due to the credential-centered hiring economy.
Oh my gosssssshhhhh! Im 31, almost 32, and I still cant get a well paying job… and I went back to college, graduated in the medical field, just recently too. Same thing with my cousin, went to law school and graduated… but the field is SATURATED and he cant get good work. All the time we hear about goods fields to get into… but no one wants to talk about saturation because really, it seems silly. How could that be possible when so many people say that wont happen.
With nurses, there is such a surplus of them that the hospitals can lower the starting wage. In fact surplus within any field allows the corporations to lower the wages because the ball is in their court.
@theladyofabundance - Yup. But you can see, in my comments section as of last month, people vehemently arguing that more education for all is the solution to everything. They got mad when I suggested that that would overeducate people relative to their jobs . . .
@christykim - Of course, Asia has always been about what he calls “credentialism” – the central examination system. The thing with the Western credential process is that apprenticeship is, by modern labor standards, abusive.
@moritheil - I highly disagree that more education means an ultimate solution. In fact I think a lot of colleges force this idea that you need “X” amount of classes in order to be well rounded. Having taken these general ed classes myself a lot of it is garbage and not at all applicable to the real and working world. Im saying we need classes that MATTER instead of providing job security for stuffy or snobby professors/teachers that desperately want to remain relevant. Not only that but schools do not want to come forward and say dont go into this particular program because its becoming a saturated field or its irrelvent in this economy… they WANT YOUR MONEY! Of course they are going to say education is the key to everything. But with the rising costs of school, growing debt, and this economy (especially in the USA) that no longer produces anything in this global market… we are screwed!
Besides a woman on the Today Show was saying she was overqualified for the jobs she went to school for. Now she needs to “hide” her credentials so she can actually get work. I mean, why would a business want someone with all these credentials when they can find someone with barely enough credentials and pay them less? Anyway, its a big mess… and if there are people out there who dont get it now, they will eventually.
@theladyofabundance - Given that the person who violently objected is in the business of administering grants to educate people with minimum wage jobs, I don’t think he ever will change his idea. His ability to do his job with a straight face requires that he have absolute belief in the idea that all people need is more education to find better jobs – though a good hard look at the number of unemployed people with degrees should tell anyone that it’s easy to be overeducated for a job.
http://moritheil.xanga.com/767485663/education-is-a-luxury/#comment