On a recent news story in Arizona, I was amused to see two news anchors (one an older gentleman and one younger lady) talking about a new AI infused technology that created handwriting of a person by using a robot. Their reactions to this tell a generational story about social life & expectations in the USA, and so I wanted to expand upon this in this episode.
First, don't panic. Don't get depressed and don't think all is lost. It isn't. We will break down the fallacy of retirement and turn some lemons into lemonade. There are ways to sustain yourself financially and it doesn't require millions of dollars in an index fund.
It is time to get real. You've been told to pay attention in school, get a degree. Then get a good corporate job so you can enter the middle class. Well I'm here to tell you that it often doesn't work, and what you need to do to rethink that approach in the 21st century.
There are many theoretical approaches to retirement funding. If you ask a 50-60 year old their strategy, you will get a very different answer than to ask a 30 year old FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) person about their strategy. Much has to do with willingness to take on risk. I investigate these different approaches and why both are fundamentally flawed and present a simple answer that I have used successfully.