A trending topic on Twitter recently showed the exasperation and loss of hope (but also their sense of humor) of millennials on the subject of retirement. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Millennials' worldview includes enough obstacles to a blissful retirement that plenty of them have plans for that future period that sound more like a dystopic novel.
So says MarketWatch, which has plenty of Twitter citations to back up its evaluation of the dim view of the future that colors the millennial mind.
Why are they so gloomy about something so far away? Simple: high student debt, low salaries, high rents and a high cost of living all add up to a challenging financial situation—and that's assuming no financial or health emergencies intervene to make a bad situation worse.
Health care was in fact a major factor in millennials' gloomy view of their aged futures (assuming they make it that far, according to the most pessimistic among them). Among the tweets mentioned by MarketWatch, one Twitter user planned never to retire because she'd still be dependent on an employer's health insurance to be able to afford insulin to "stay alive."
Another hypothesized about moving to another country to be able to have universal health care. And another didn't look beyond the age of 40, figuring that medical complications from foregoing expensive treatments would put paid to their existence.
Others approached the issue with black humor, like the Twitter user who said they'd go to Mars after the collapse of Earth's environment—where humans would proceed to trash yet another planet. Or the one who plans to push offspring to become millionaires, then live off their wealth.
Permanent residence in parents' basements offered one alternative for living quarters, while another threatened to use GoFundMe to finance retirement.
Retirement is a sore subject for millennials, as it is for many of their elders. The report suggested some (very small) steps people might be able to take if they can't afford to save for retirement on a regular basis. Figuring out a way to contribute enough to an employer's retirement plan to at least get the employer match was probably the biggest, although other possibilities include a thorough review of bank and credit card statements to eliminate unnecessary subscriptions or "happy hours that don't actually bring joy."
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
