Is Retiring a Good Idea in This Generation?
True, I want to leave my wealth to my children and I expect them to grow it and be more prosperous than I am. This were almost the same words my grandparent said to my father and this words are similar to what my father said. If I remember clearly, my grandfather retired when he was about 70 years of age, and didn’t really have anything to pass down to his child as inheritance. Well, wealth isn’t an easy thing to gather, all said, in this post, I am not talking about gathering wealth, I will be looking at why a lot of people will not be retiring anytime soon.
My grandfather would tell me that while he was growing up, he could spend a dollar for days as it was really a huge sum of money but things have changed now as the funds that were enough to handle basic needs are not even enough with inflation. Things seem to be getting higher compared to the normal inflation rate. So at this point, people would want to work to earn enough so they can be able to continue enjoying lives goodies but retiring early or retiring at all will not bring this to a reality. The cost of living has gone higher than in the past and this means retiring will be a little difficult at the time of retiring.
Another reason why I do not see retirement as a good form of leaving work or getting out of investment is the fact that I do not believe in the pension system of several companies either private or public. I was checking through my dad’s phone and I saw a bank message of $12 (5000 Nigerian Naira) as his monthly pension. This money isn’t enough to get baby diapers if one have a child, more less feed for a day. The pension isn’t an option then.
Investing is not a thing for people currently unlike in the past when it was a big deal. A lot of people are in debt currently from college debt to mortgage and so on. At this time, they have to pay off loan and are not able to invest. Even when this people are in debt, they still mismanage their funds real hard that it always affect the retiring period.
On a final note, a lot of people will not be retiring anytime soon or when they are old because innovation and projects are taking over. There is always something fascinating to do at this point. It is no lie that even as Bill Gates is retired from Microsoft, he still has his day to day activities in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is a very huge project that is employing a lot of people. With this, it is no doubt that this people are not fully retired and so is it for a lot of people who have found one job, innovation or project fascinating.
