The Joy and Freedom of Working Until Death | Hacker News Reader

The Joy and Freedom of Working Until Death

ritholtz.com

Author must be reading different news articles. When I see "growing number of Americans will not be able to retire" I instead think "what happens when people become too old to work, have no money, but still need support to live?"

The usual chain of events is.

Broke -> Homeless -> Health Problems -> Abysmal long term care facility or hospice -> Dead.

A shocking percentage of the homeless people I see on the streets are very old. They are usually in terrible health and/or disabled. Social security minimums are no longer enough to cover rent, much less food and utilities. A lot of them are actively killing themselves with drugs and alcohol.

If you didn't get enough employment through your lifetime you can get checks for as little as $50/month. This is especially true of people who do a lot of under the table work like immigrants and people with criminal records.

>> "what happens when people become too old to work, have no money, but still need support to live?"

Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, the Food Stamp Program, Medicare, Section 8, other state and local programs, the church and other charities, etc. And of course family.

The answer to your question for a lot of people will be suicide.

The means of suicide are probably too much for the average person to succumb to even in the face of a very hard life. The fact that assisted suicide is broadly illegal in the US is something that I've always found ridiculous. No one asked to be brought into the world, and we should be able to check out on our own terms (in planned, thoughtful, assisted way) without resorting to painful/tragic means.

"Rather than receiving the work-until-you-die news as a prison sentence, a healthier message is one of a change in perspective: Working until you die can be a gift of a lifetime if your work is meaningful."

"So when you hear the news that you must work until you die, you can become relieved and overjoyed that you are free from the slavery of saving money to procure an illusory freedom. Furthermore, it is doing nothing that hastens death. Many who have already retired find themselves bored and detached from life if they are not doing something that is meaningful."

I think this speaks for itself without need to comment.

I wonder how many people reading hackernews have tried to “do what [they] love?” Because I’ve tried, and I gotta tell you, unless you love self-promotion and running a small business, it’s a bullshit.

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