Retirement Is Dead • Hacker News Board

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#21

Post by Danox » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

ozim wrote: post #9

Rooster61 wrote: post #4

I've never understood the logic behind the idea of a "nest egg". Years ago, perhaps, it might not have been clear to the average person that money has to grow over time to stave off inflation, but that information has been widely available for decades and many people still don't put money into any kind of investment. Not judging anyone. Circumstances are different for each and every person, and financial literacy isn…

It gets worse when you read financial "social media" people repeating BS like "high yield savings account" there is no such thing as long as I am alive, it is something from maybe 80's or 90's or even earlier. My cousin had the idea of "just put some money in savings account each month and never check it" - that's exactly super outdated advice or a crooked one where someone doesn't know anything about ETFs and heard…

That is why a personal finance class should be required before you graduate from high school. The treadmill starts at 18 unless you have a silver spoon.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#22

Post by georgemcbay » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

cagey wrote: post #15

ozim wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It gets worse when you read financial "social media" people repeating BS like "high yield savings account" there is no such thing as long as I am alive, it is something from maybe 80's or 90's or even earlier. My cousin had the idea of "just put some money in savings account each month and never check it" - that's exactly super outdated advice or a crooked one where someone doesn't know anything about ETFs and heard…

[Speaking as a US citizen] > ... BS like "high yield savings account" there is no such thing as long as I am alive ... HYSA are in 2026 readily available. > ... well "money market accounts" seem better and kind of like of HYSA, but the hell those are not really that easily available. Likewise readily available: open a free brokerage (or "cash management") account at Fidelity.com online (it is easy and acts similar to…

> HYSA are in 2026 readily available.

The designation of "HYSA" is itself kind of a semantic shrinkflationesque slight of hand.

"HYSA"s in 2026 have similar and often worse rates than a standard savings account back in, say, most of the 1990s.

But, sure, compared to the average modern standard savings account (with rates of effectively nothing and well below inflation) it is higher yield than that.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#23

Post by Danox » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 8:12 PM UTC

freetanga wrote: post #14

I am a Gen X. My grandmother, who was born in 1906 and passed on in 1994, worked at home, cooked, cleaned for most of her life. He had 3-4 dresses in her closet, and whenever I visited she gave some money to go buy a small bottle of Sprite for lunch. My parents define their retirement as cruises, traveling, etc. My mother has 3 closets full of clothes, the latest iPhone and iPad to check Facebook… Both generations wo…

Young people have to get out of that mentality you have to start saving and living within your means early when you’re young you have time it’s amazing if you put a little bit away every month and stay at it how much it adds up over time but that will never happen if you never make the commitment to do it, and most people do not they always put it off until tomorrow and then one day they look up and they’re 59 years old.

One thing young people in the west (most of the world stays home until they are married) can do is stay home pay your parents some rent save the balance that you would be paying. If you were living away from home don’t leave until you get married but during that time you have to save of course this assumes that you have good parents and a good home life, when you have youth on your side, and you have a good job, the possibilities of are endless when you are young if you have the discipline to save and invest.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#24

Post by newtonianrules » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 9:24 PM UTC

heathrow83829 wrote: post #6

I find it hard to believe the author could not figure out personal finance. He's certainly smart enough with that economics degree and those epic writing skills. If we're just looking at how to improve the individual: The issue is lack of self discipline. as he said, it's just too easy to spend. The solution: more social security, in effect a forced retirement plan. Instead of 7.5%, make it 10% or even 15%, 20%, what…

> Instead of 7.5%, make it 10% or even 15%, 20%, whatever it takes. that takes self discipline out of the equation and fixes the imbalance between spending and saving.

No thanks, I’d rather it be half what it is now in the US with the other half be investable by myself. Just putting that into an index fund would have resulted in significantly better returns.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#25

Post by JackMorgan » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 9:29 PM UTC

ozim wrote: post #9

Rooster61 wrote: post #4

I've never understood the logic behind the idea of a "nest egg". Years ago, perhaps, it might not have been clear to the average person that money has to grow over time to stave off inflation, but that information has been widely available for decades and many people still don't put money into any kind of investment. Not judging anyone. Circumstances are different for each and every person, and financial literacy isn…

It gets worse when you read financial "social media" people repeating BS like "high yield savings account" there is no such thing as long as I am alive, it is something from maybe 80's or 90's or even earlier. My cousin had the idea of "just put some money in savings account each month and never check it" - that's exactly super outdated advice or a crooked one where someone doesn't know anything about ETFs and heard…

I know folks who save and invest 20-80% of their income. They are not LARPing, and many of them have investments with growth exceeding their job income after 10 years of this kind of saving. It's hardly a LARP to save and invest. Maybe if you're investing in something actually worthless or a ponzi scheme, but last I checked land is still an investment vehicle and they aren't making more of it. One can put solar on it, or a business, or lease it out to someone else.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#26

Post by jghn » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC

AlotOfReading wrote: post #10

Rooster61 wrote: post #4

I've never understood the logic behind the idea of a "nest egg". Years ago, perhaps, it might not have been clear to the average person that money has to grow over time to stave off inflation, but that information has been widely available for decades and many people still don't put money into any kind of investment. Not judging anyone. Circumstances are different for each and every person, and financial literacy isn…

It's pretty easy to see how it happens. People don't intuitively understand compound interest and defer. You're supposed to start saving during the most financially constrained portion of your life, and those are the dollars that have the most impact on your nest egg. Imagine someone starts investing $100/mo at 20 for 3% annually. Their friend who starts saving the same amount at 30 will have 30% more money, despite…

It's not always that simple. I was deep in debt for most of my 20s & 30s, and the interest rate on that debt was higher than I'd have gotten by socking it away.

While somewhat avoidable in retrospect, I don't believe my story is uncommon.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#27

Post by laurencerowe » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 10:05 PM UTC

throw0101d wrote: post #19

laurencerowe wrote: post #11

> The reserve chute is the Canada Pension Plan. The CPP was originally intended to cover one-third of Canadians’ retirement income, but these days it’s more akin to what you might get from a part-time job: a sheet too small for most beds. The maximum CPP payout comes to about $18,000 per year; the average is just over $11,000. Isn't the reserve chute the Old Age Security pension along with the Guaranteed Income Suppl…

> Isn't the reserve chute the Old Age Security pension along with the Guaranteed Income Supplement? CPP benefits are proportional to how much you pay in over your life. OAS is proportional to how long you've lived in Canada and thus 'contributed to society at large'; once your income is CAD >95k/indiviudal OAS starts getting clawed back (IMHO it should be clawed back much sooner). On top of CPP and OAS it is your res…

> once your income is CAD >95k/indiviudal OAS starts getting clawed back (IMHO it should be clawed back much sooner).

The downside of means testing pension payments is that it acts as a disincentive to discretionary pension saving.

The previous UK system (pre-2009) was an extreme example of this where those without additional pension savings got topped up with pension credit (GIS equivalent) that was clawed back at 100%. They ended up raising the state pension (OAS equivalent) to that level so those with a full contribution history are no longer eligible for pension credit (12,548 GBP = 23,416 CAD).

The OAS clawback rate is only 15% which seems more like a tax on pensioners - reasonable given they no longer make social security contributions though maybe the 50% GIS clawback would disincentivise workplace tax-deferred pension saving for those affected.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#28

Post by laurencerowe » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

newtonianrules wrote: post #24

heathrow83829 wrote: post #6

I find it hard to believe the author could not figure out personal finance. He's certainly smart enough with that economics degree and those epic writing skills. If we're just looking at how to improve the individual: The issue is lack of self discipline. as he said, it's just too easy to spend. The solution: more social security, in effect a forced retirement plan. Instead of 7.5%, make it 10% or even 15%, 20%, what…

> Instead of 7.5%, make it 10% or even 15%, 20%, whatever it takes. that takes self discipline out of the equation and fixes the imbalance between spending and saving. No thanks, I’d rather it be half what it is now in the US with the other half be investable by myself. Just putting that into an index fund would have resulted in significantly better returns.

This is never going to happen because the US Social Security system is almost entirely pay-as-you-go since current contributions fund the vast bulk of current payments. The social security fund is a bit of an accounting fiction since it is just one part of the government owing money to another part of the government.

Even if it were practical though, how would you deal with those left destitute because of poor timing (retiring just after a market crash) or who just made poor investment decisions?

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#29

Post by bilegeek » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 10:38 PM UTC

georgemcbay wrote: post #22

cagey wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Speaking as a US citizen] > ... BS like "high yield savings account" there is no such thing as long as I am alive ... HYSA are in 2026 readily available. > ... well "money market accounts" seem better and kind of like of HYSA, but the hell those are not really that easily available. Likewise readily available: open a free brokerage (or "cash management") account at Fidelity.com online (it is easy and acts similar to…

> HYSA are in 2026 readily available. The designation of "HYSA" is itself kind of a semantic shrinkflationesque slight of hand. "HYSA"s in 2026 have similar and often worse rates than a standard savings account back in, say, most of the 1990s. But, sure, compared to the average modern standard savings account (with rates of effectively nothing and well below inflation) it is higher yield than that.

Generally the only account that keeps even with inflation is a CD, but of course that locks up your money for that duration, which would suck in an emergency.

Re: Retirement Is Dead

#30

Post by throw0101d » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 10:42 PM UTC

laurencerowe wrote: post #27

throw0101d wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn't the reserve chute the Old Age Security pension along with the Guaranteed Income Supplement? CPP benefits are proportional to how much you pay in over your life. OAS is proportional to how long you've lived in Canada and thus 'contributed to society at large'; once your income is CAD >95k/indiviudal OAS starts getting clawed back (IMHO it should be clawed back much sooner). On top of CPP and OAS it is your res…

> once your income is CAD >95k/indiviudal OAS starts getting clawed back (IMHO it should be clawed back much sooner). The downside of means testing pension payments is that it acts as a disincentive to discretionary pension saving. The previous UK system (pre-2009) was an extreme example of this where those without additional pension savings got topped up with pension credit (GIS equivalent) that was clawed back at 1…

Someone making CA$ 90k will get the full OAS. If they have a spouse who makes $90k, they will also get the full amount. So a household with $180k income is getting a bunch of government money.

Why does a couple with $180k HHI need to get anything?