Retirement Was Not Invented For Old People

For millennia, humans worked until they died. It wasn't until recently that retirement as a concept was invented. This is the story of how the world was convinced to stop working and why some people are changing their minds.
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[@Pacemaker_fgc]

The life expectancy is an average measurement. The reason it was in the mid 30s for most of human history isn’t because people died in their 30s, it’s because of extremely high infant mortality rates.

[@zombieapocalypse3837]

Thank you, I have been trying to tell people this for years. And all you need is grade school arithmetic.

[@charlesbrightman4237]

In the future, life expectancy is expected to be negative 100%. Extremely Important Existential Pertinent Apparent Fact: EF AEAD SE Eternal Future, All Earthlings Are Dead, Sorry Earthlings. SMART PEOPLE AND/OR AI'S NEEDED: Consider the following: UNLESS the following Impossible Mission is successfully accomplished, our very life and existence does not ultimately matter: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: (Or so it currently appears): For those who have the mental and physical resources to help (including AI's): Try to save at least 1 single species on and from this Earth to exist beyond this Earth, solar system and most probably collapsing spiral shaped galaxy into a universe that never ends in a big freeze or by some other means so that life itself on and from this Earth has continued meaning and purpose to potentially throughout all of future eternity. (Otherwise, all life on and from this Earth, real and artificial, eventually dies and goes extinct, is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and are all a waste of spacetime in this universal existence.) * Mission Impossible of the Highest Order: MIHO. * Nature is our greatest ally in so far as Nature gives us life and a place to live it, AND Nature is also our greatest enemy that is going to take it all away. (Can we change the ending?)

[@er...]

@@zombieapocalypse3837 ditto

[@gregl6415]

This is true but also the long tail has gotten longer. Living beyond 70 used to be a true anomaly and now its an expectation. We have more people beyond “working age” than ever in history. Granted the life expectancy thing is misrepresented the logic of the case still holds

[@Svid1701D]

Ways to easily fix the infant mortality issue: Exclude deaths before a certain age. Or use the age MOST people died at, which was probably still much lower than today. If 90% of people died at age 35, you don't have to factor in dead babies or the weirdos that made it to 70.

[@dragoncat3499]

Fascinating video, it's wild how me as a 21-year-old, most of my coworkers at my simple grocery-store job are retired people who either got bored or didn't have enough money to live off of.

[@andyiswonderful]

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the French working model and their views on what retirement should be. So, I retired early, am in good health, have lots of friends, and do whatever I want. I am never bored. Who are these bored people? They don't have hobbies? interests? friends and family?

[@casnicall]

That seems to be part of the scam of retirement. Work demands so much time and attention from most people during their "prime working years" (20s to 60s) that they often neglect their health, their relationships, their inner life, their interests. Then suddenly they get to 65 and are forced to confront the void in their life that decades of work filled, and it is too large of a chasm for some to comprehend.

[@AK-jm1sc]

I was also a little surprised that he insinuated that retired people were going back to work mainly for "purpose" rather than economic reasons. There are many ways to find purpose in life outside of work.

[@shrineguard2778]

@@casnicall agree so much with the part about work demanding too much of our time, health and attention. Which is why I feel like everyone, especially those starting out in their careers, should be clear about how much time and energy they want to give to their jobs and how much to other things such as their hobbies, families, etc. Everyone should foster some alternative interests, hobbies, projects, etc. Even if you don't have an economic reason to work after the retirement age, it'd be pretty depressing to have to go back just because you can't find anything else to fill your time with.

[@MS-60663]

Unless you are suffering from debilitating illnesses or injuries, retirement is fundamentally a contradiction to life itself. All living things are constantly engaged in life-supporting activities. No animal or insect exists just to lounge around and indulge the senses with their surplus goods. One joy of life is in being able to participate constructively, so that help yourself and others around you. Sitting home and just "chilling out" is good after a marathon, or big projects like house painting; but without some exertion, rest is meaningless by itself.

[@ancabostinariu6550]

I was just contemplating this notion. I teflected on the enormous task ahead of a child age 4 or 5 just starting preschool and then school, university and starting to work and raising families. Then suddenly do nothing and almost starve? Hope to die of boredom

[@andyiswonderful]

You must be out of your mind. I don't know anyone that thinks like that.

[@MS-60663]

@@andyiswonderful By you answer I don't believe you've reached your 50's yet. If you had, you'd know EXACTLY what I was referring to. Don't be deceived by the idea of 'youth'. As long as you possess a positive will, an active body, and a strength to keep surviving, then you'll realize there is no continued reward without continued effort.

[@j10001]

I agree. Great point that rest without exertion lacks meaning. It might be hard for some to imagine when they are overworked, but if you imagine a 100 year retirement, or 1000 years, you definitely realize how bored you would get without some kind of creation, productivity, or work.

[@tmharperjr]

You’ve clearly never owned a cat.

[@tmharperjr]

Retirement isn’t about not working… It’s about doing the work that you love instead of slaving away at some 9 to 5 to pay the bills to survive. Shortly, my investments will be making more money than I do by working. Why should I continue to wake up early or when I’m sick when I can sleep in late and hangout with friends while engaging in the activities that I love to do every day for the rest of my life? I might even continue to work … just not as long or as hard.

[@Archimedes115]

“There’s not enough workers” 6:24. What you meant was “there are more retirees than we ever thought there would be”

[@figmo397]

Something you left out: the "retirement" age in the US is no longer 65. The current group of 65-year-olds don't get to retire until they're 66.5 years old. Younger workers won't be able to retire till they're 70. FDR set the retirement age at 65 because, back then, most folks didn't make it up to 65. As our lifespans increased, pushing out the retirement age was done by the government.

[@clydekimsey7503]

I'm 65. I retired 5 years ago from a company I worked at for 38 years. I didn't put enough in. My advice is to put more into your company pension. If you don't have one, invest on your own. As far as retirees not having a purpose, find some through hobbies or charity work

[@darkwing3713]

Retirement is a pipe dream for most people. Getting laid off every few years means that most of the money people save while they're working gets used as living expenses. And now that housing has because the favorite predatory investment, both social security and unemployment are a joke. The average social security payment is about equal to the average rental prices of a one bedroom apartment. It's pretty much work until you can't anymore.

[@glennet9613]

I have been retired for nearly twenty years, now 78, and it has been fantastic, doing lots of cycling, hiking, skiing and learning stuff. You can cherry pick people who haven’t done well, but you can do that with any age group or any demographic.

[@westrim]

You can also cherry pick examples of people who have done well. That doesn't change that the majority of people aren't.

[@GabrielEvans]

Another incredible video by your team. Keep up the great stuff!

[@vipermoon_]

Great and useful video essay! Thanks for your hard work.

[@tomedwards2002]

I'm surprised this channel doesn't have more subs.

[@KittySnicker]

I imagine I’d get bored being retired because despite my hobbies of gardening, exercising, watching TV, and doing puzzles, that all gets boring when there’s no work to contrast it with. I’m 33 now but I always remember summer breaks during school getting boring at some point.

[@jonathandante2233]

Informative video!

[@eyeonrecovery8319]

Amazing video, very informative.

[@cademccaslin3292]

Great job 👍 your production quality is improving at all impressive rate

[@MoneyGist]

You learned about personal finance IN HIGH SCHOOL? That's some unique type of privilege 😅

[@lawrenceek]

Social security was never meant to be a sole means of retrirement. The FHA 30 year mortgage was invented by Roosevelt so retirees wouldn't have to pay for their housing. Unfortunatley too many americans use their house as an equity bank.

[@markkuczmarski896]

Good work Nathan, I'm impressed as a brother and I like to think friend

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

Working until you die is a lot different when you're working with your son and grandson in your family workshop. Or on the land allotted to your family by the local lord who is probably the son or grandson of the man who was lord when you were born. Work wasn't just survival, it was also your family and social life. Compared to working in some souless sweatshop or mine in the industrial revolution. That was just survival, no dignity, meaning, or purpose. But today, if you're a high-level professional or executive, there's a lot more opportunity to feel that what you're doing matters so there's more than just monetary reasons to keep working.

[@Stelios78910]

Any day now one of these excellent vids will rly pop off 👌

[@charliedavies6731]

good video !

[@not2tees]

You retire, you get to enjoy your time and realize how important and vital it is to intentionally do nothing. Work keeps you busy, but the best thing is to learn to love life with no busy. It's the time to look at being alive itself and what it means to you, and escape the endless narratives of experts and authorities and other nuisances.

[@mercadosamericanos6216]

Thanks Nathan :)

[@BrettAKoehn]

Such a good video Nathan! I would be proud of you as a roommate and I’d like to think friend, but you forgot to clean your plate from Tofu Thursday last night so I am sorely disappointed

[@shrapmetal]

Financial independence should be the goal not necessarily retirement. I am planning on embarking on a second career once I reach financial independence.

[@josephpostma1787]

2:25 The average is not the median! Once you survived your first several years, you could easily live to your 60's and beyond.

[@andrewrockwell1282]

I'm almost 40 and if I could I would retire today. I would not be bored at all. I desperately need a break, my house needs work, I could spend way more time with my kids, and I would love more time for my hobbies. Please let me retire.

[@thexdatabase]

kinda ironic consindering the average age of the soviet leaders

[@michaelnomura5196]

Retirement is when you look forward to getting old.

[@charlesbrightman4237]

ECONOMIC INFLATION: The way I see it is that regardless of the currency utilized (gold, silver, fiat, crypto, etc), economic inflation is still economic inflation. ANY economic inflation over previous economic inflation, overtime, eventually becomes exponential economic inflation. If an entities' wages, benefits and investments do not keep up with the true cost of inflation, then the entity falls behind in buying power and becomes poorer. A nation will eventually fail as will a global economy will eventually fail with ever increasing economic inflation because most people do not have wages, benefits and investments that keep up with the true cost of inflation. Math is still math.

[@charlesbrightman4237]

US FED: Economic Inflation: Lessons learned: The US Fed has a goal, I repeat 'goal', of 2% annual inflation. And this is on top of all the 2%'s that came before it, which turns out to be an exponential amount of inflation over time. Most people do not have wages and benefits that keep up with the true cost of inflation, which causes many social and economic problems in this nation and in this world. Zero income is sill zero income and zero pay raises are still zero pay raises. This is also a NATIONAL SECURITY item as many nations in the world stop utilizing America's currency as a reserve currency due to in part America's currency being weaker in this world. America has less influence in this world, which allows other nations in this world to take the lead. As a nation becomes greater, it's currency should be able to buy more, not less. Higher inflation: * Obviously higher prices. * Also at times lower quantity. * Also at times lower quality. (And if not lower quantity and/or lower quality, then that much more higher prices). Many rich people and large corporations have taken America's wealth and hid it in out of country bank accounts and/or invested that wealth in other nations for various reasons. This has the net effect of basically stealing America's wealth from America. Now also, rich people and certain businesses operate on huge debt, and even the US Government operates on huge debt. These entities love higher inflation because it helps to wipe out their debt, as they pay back their debt with currency that is worth less (worthless). Additionally, things like saving's account's get next to nothing for 'normal' people trying to save money for future expenses. Those that are operating on debt get rewarded and those trying to be more financially responsible are getting punished. America's currency system is broken and needs to be fixed. In part, a law needs to be passed that the US Fed has to have a 'goal' of 0% (zero percent) inflation. Sure, this is going to piss off those who game the financial system, but it would help with curing some of societies' issues as well as strengthening US currency thereby strengthening America's position in this world as more nations would want to utilize the US Dollar as a reserve currency. Inflation is still going to occur due to various reasons, but we don't have to automatically have a goal of increasing inflation. Another idea might be to give the US Fed just 1 single job: Control Inflation, (and take away their other job of trying to have full employment). Let the markets control full employment. And for any entity that thinks economic inflation is a 'good' thing, then you must also be okay with many of life's social and economic issues as well as a nation becoming weaker in this world as it's currency eventually loses value in this world. You must be okay with poor people suffering and dying due to higher economic inflation. In part, at least some of this world's suffering and death is on you. You caused this with your higher economic inflation goals. (A man made problem and can have a man made fix with 1 simple change. Change the US Fed's economic inflation goal from 2% to 0% which would help ease suffering and death in this world.) And if you still say that 2% inflation would be fine, then surely you would not have a problem with making a Federal law that says that all businesses all across America are mandated to increase their employee's salaries by at least 2% every year, (the 2% just keeping up with inflation, any above 2% due to the increased value of that employee). Otherwise, it's a system set up by the rich to transfer wealth from the middle class and poor to the rich. And if the middle class and poor do not stand up for their own interests against the rich, who will?

[@likeariver2237]

Excellent commentary, "without" AI voice over 👏. Thank you 😊

[@gabrielcayer2705]

There’s a fascinating comment here about capitalism taming the beautiful concept of a well-earned period of freedom from drudgery and just turning into a hollow nothingness

[@aubreywhitley6889]

Feel free to work until you die. I on the other hand have saved and invested for 30+ years, cultivated hobbies and interests outside of work. Two years into retirement at age 64 I am, like glennet below, very happy skiing (midweek to avoid the crowds), going to the gym, cycling, hiking, fishing and visiting my children and grandchildren, etc. No alarm clock jarring me awake, unless it's a powder day. No boss to appease. No deadlines.

[@eversor431]

8:06 I cannot even begin to process how stupid of a statement this is.