Who doesn’t want to retire as early as possible with a good amount of investments and savings for the rest of their life? Sure the age of retirement is different in different countries and it also varies upon your pay scale and expenditure. But the sad truth is that our generation might not be able to retire as soon as they want to.
12 Signs Why Our Generation Can’t Retire
1. Life expectancy is going up
Since the last century, the average life expectancy of people has doubled and it is only going up. Well, it is a good thing but with all the good things there are some downfalls attached to it. Most of the people are above the retirement age and the system needs to look after them first.
2. Fertility rates are going down
Yes, life expectancy is going up but in many countries, the fertility rates are going lower than ever. This means that there are more people above the retirement age than the younger ones. It is only going to deteriorate in the coming future, especially in rich countries like the UK and the USA.
3. Pension systems around the world will collapse
With the above two points, you might have understood why the pension scheme will be most likely to collapse in the coming future. With more and more people above retirement age, it would be difficult for the government to collect taxes and pay for the pension schemes.
4. Sky-rocketing cost of living
With the population growth every year, it is becoming difficult to survive and have an average life if you are not earning good enough. The cost of living is skyrocketing. Things like transportation, housing, food prices, etc. are going up and up and it is becoming tough for anyone to retire soon.
5. Millennials have less investment than an older generation
Millennials, unlike the older generation, do not believe much in saving and they spend more to maintain their living standards. Also, they have very few assets acquired as compared to older people. The less the savings or investment, the lesser it will be for you to retire at your own will.
6. College debt
With everything becoming expensive day by day, the cost of education has also gone very high. We might be more educated than our previous generation, but the amount of debt that we have on our heads is never going to let us retire soon. It varies in some of the countries where education is free but in most of the countries, it is highly chargeable.
7. Short-term planning of government
There are several retirement plans by the government but the sad part is that most of them are underfunded. However, politicians always promise to look after the retired people but we all know how they forget all the promises as soon as they come in power. Also, it is not hidden that they focus more on short-term plans rather than focusing on something that is going to help them for a longer time.
8. Mismanagement of retirement funds
We all have retirement funds but the sad thing is that a lot of people fall into the trap of fund managers who promise to invest their money in some risky place just to get higher returns. Remember, you must always play safe when it comes to your retirement fund.
9. The pandemic made it even worse
The recent pandemic has surely taught us a lot of things. An additional thing it taught us is that we can’t retire now as soon as we want to. All of us and especially our economy is going to take a long time to recover as it was one of the worst pandemics ever in the history of mankind.
10. Medical care is getting harder and harder to cover
Until and unless your country’s healthcare system is awesome, you are definitely going to suffer if you do not have proper medical insurance. Healthcare is surely very expensive, sometimes it just puts you in a very difficult position. The reason medical care is getting harder to cover has made us rethink our decision of early retirement.
11. Millennials and Gen-Z are less likely to own a home
Both millennials and Gen-Z do not believe in owning, unlike our previous generation whose main goal in life was to own a home. It is becoming difficult for them to own a home due to several reasons like property prices going up, the rising cost of living, etc.
12. High expectations from life
We all have higher expectations in our life but have you ever thought that this high expectation might cost you several years of work life? It might not be just some material things but could also be beautiful experiences and journeys where you want to spend your money. These wants from life are costing you money and yes, you will lose some of your retirement years.