Early retirement is a dream of many Americans — one that can be achieved by sacrificing early in one's life to tuck away enough of a nest egg that the possibility of outliving one's money is remote, or at least easily fixed. This is a good think to achieve, right?
Charles Yarrow, vice president of the non-profit Public Agenda, is instead calling early retirement "profoundly selfish and unpatriotic" as his organization urges (shames?) baby boomers into working a few more years "for their own sake and the good of the country."
Oh, please. This is nonsense.
Let's look at a few of the reasons why we should work longer:
- "This idea of ‘getting what's mine as soon as possible' really doesn't think about future generations." There is a 90% chance that your great-grandchildren won't benefit from the wealth one passes on. Besides, this is more "do as I say, not as I do": each President since FDR has added to the debt that future generations will have to pay. Our leaders and representatives put us further into the hole each year, and now we're the bad guys? Come on.
- Working longer would also be a gracious way to begin to deal with the elephant in our collective living room: the Social Security mess. Whatever. This is insulting to common sense. We should all lock arms and put in extra years so that we can not only "contribute" to the Social Security system for those years, but also postpone receiving some of those "contributions" long enough for the dollar to be devalued another 15% and for the rules to change a bit more against us? I'll work to support my family and my church, but I care absolutely nothing about prolonging the Great Ponzi Scheme that just deserves to die. But it probably won't die; it will just bankrupt the country along with Medicare.
- If boomers all turn in their keys at age 55, 62 or 65 and head for the Tuscan hills, that great sucking sound you'll hear is untold amounts of taxpayer dollars being leached from the economy. That is money heirs will have to replace or do without. How does this make sense? Well, it makes sense if the sucking sound is out of the Social Security trust fund — which doesn't exist, anyway — but doesn't really add up otherwise. Retirees have to spend money, too — doesn't that change the suck to a blow? And why should I, as a child of my parents, have any say whatsoever how they spend the money they've scrimped, saved, and toiled for? If I don't want to do without, well shoot, I guess I have to get off my butt and do some work! And so do the rest of us.
The statement "You're being selfish and unpatriotic" is more an admission of the unsustainability of the federal programs for senior citizens: "If everyone does what you're doing, the system will go bankrupt. So don't enjoy your benefits, even though it's clearly in your better interest to enjoy your benefits."
Old age is the last chance we have at fulfilling our calling (if we even know what it is) and I'm pretty sure that people's idea of calling is not paying more than they have to into an involuntary, legalized, tax-funded Ponzi scheme for the benefit of tens of millions of grasshoppers who need the payouts from the scheme in order to afford themselves their best shot at not starving or freezing to death in their final, unplanned-for years.
Senior citizens, and younger citizens, should work either because they want to, or because they have to. Period. They shouldn't work if they're neither called to work, nor have to work. If they're not called to work at something worthwhile with lasting value, that's a shame and perhaps a waste, but it's not unpatriotic.
This one is new to me… First, let me say I am so thankful to be living in the US, we have problems, but it is still one of the best places to live in the world. But, the government's money is just so poorly managed that it is the source of these problems. They need to get their money in order – not tell people that it is unpatriotic to retire…
Who is this person and what right deos he have to try to dictate his beliefs on others? What an idiot! Sorry, but that kind of talk angers me.
He is just trying to justify what he will be forced to do anyway and figures if he has to work until dead everyone else should have to as well. He bypasses the main issue which is employers don't want to employ old workers, so he will be lucky if he can find work. Instead he should be hoping people retire early so he will be able to find work and make more working.
Social Security is in quite good shape with over 78% pay as you go and this has been rising over time. There may well be no problem with it at all. The problem is the rest of budget is currently dependent on Social Security surpluses and will have to be trimmed. Medicare is a different story and will require healthcare reform.
its your choice lol. Do what you want!
That's just inane. I'm looking forward to a follow-up on why we should retire early and how to do so.
social security. another situation where the government has taken control of something it has no right to and does a really poor job of doing so.
someday people will quit putting their hope and future into the hands of politicians.
Unpatriotic to retire early? huh? Well the facts are that most boomers won't retire – at least not in the tradition sense. The 4 I know well (my parents and my in-laws) are all "retired" – 3 of them are still "working" on a contractural, part-time basis. My parents still need the added income. My in-laws do not, but my father-in-law likes to work as a mediator (he's a former judge). Many boomers aren't as financially fortunate as my parents and in-laws so they will continue to work because social security and their retirements (if they have one) will not pay the monthly bills. I really dont' think retiring early is going to cause all the problems that forecasters predict.
Well call me a red Rooshian communist if you have to, but as for the labor force, I'm outta here! I just hope no one tells them muslim tourists about this or the Bin Laden Daily News will start running essays on how good it is for Merkins to retire early. And that would be bad. 🙁
I have to say I agree with you 100%. I agree that working contributes positively to the economy by producing goods and services and contributing taxes. But the country also needs people to spend money traveling and enjoying retirement. This keeps other people in jobs.
In addition, if retirement age people held on to all their stocks indefinitely and didn't cash them in to spend the cash, the US would lose out on those taxes, and it would create an artificial demand for the stocks which could cause the prices to rise because no one would ever sell. Then the market would crash when people decided the stocks were overpriced (gross oversimplification; I know).
If you have reached a level of financial security where you can retire and you want to retire, do it. You've earned the right.
The US military services allow retirement after 20 years, meaning age 38 in many cases. If you served Uncle Sam for 20 years I think you're patriotic.