Comment by whoooboyy

Comment by whoooboyy 4 days ago

22 replies

View on Hacker News

Incredible HN post. I'm hoping it's because you are from a country where people are generally well taken care of.

Yes, there are people who don't invest. Where do they keep their retirement savings? 40-50% of Americans, at least, simply have no retirement savings! Most people in America aren't earning enough to put away a meaningful amount for retirement. It's going to be grim as boomers and millennials hit retirement age and have to keep working.

singleshot_ 4 days ago

More than half of Americans are net debtors, with a negative net worth.

Reply View 1 reply
  • dragonwriter 4 days ago

    > More than half of Americans are net debtors, with a negative net worth.

    Median household net worth is around $193k, not negative. Maybe this is true on an individual basis because there a bunch of, say, young debtors and elderly parents who have transferred their positive assets living in households with working adults with more positive wealth than the youngsters and elders combined have net debt, but...

    Reply View 0 replies
koakuma-chan 4 days ago

And it doesn't occur to them that they will need money when they're old and can't work? Incredible.

Reply View 19 replies
  • czottmann 4 days ago

    I am very certain it does occur to them but they simply have no financial means to do anything about it. Which must be soul-crushing to them.

    Rest assured it usually isn't their choice.

    Reply View 8 replies
    • koakuma-chan 4 days ago

      > Rest assured it usually isn't their choice.

      People choose to marry, have kids, and buy a house.

      Reply View 7 replies
      • czottmann 4 days ago

        Your comments make me think you've never seen hardships in your life that weren't self-afflicted.

        Life can be cruel even if you've made great plans and took all the precautions you could think of. Illnesses, accidents, the lack of a social net because your country was set up that way, crime, the list goes on.

        Reply View 6 replies
  • whoooboyy 4 days ago

    I.... they are dealing with systemic poverty. Being poor is expensive. They absolutely know they need to save, but if the choice is "starve to death today but save for retirement OR don't die, but don't save for retirement" most people are going to choose the latter.

    Reply View 5 replies
    • koakuma-chan 4 days ago

      I just checked and McDonald's pays $15 an hour, no? That's more than enough to not starve.

      Reply View 4 replies
      • InvisibleUp 4 days ago

        McDonald’s will not let you work 40 hours a week, or any consistent schedule at all. You will show up when they tell you to and that’s that. Same with grocery stores or most retail jobs.

        Also you’re neglecting the cost of transportation (almost certainly a car, with gas and insurance), rent, and medical expenses.

        Reply View 0 replies
      • whoooboyy 4 days ago

        Median rent value in Seattle is $2300/month if you are looking for a one bedroom, a little cheaper if you are looking at a studio. Minimum wage here is $21/hr. The first quartile for rent is $1600.

        Assuming you work full time, you are making $3360 a month, less taxes.

        That means that even if you get the bottom 25% of rents, over half your take home pay goes to rent. Then we need health care, food, taxes, transportation, clothing, etc.

        Not a lot of savings easily available there.

        Reply View 2 replies
  • pton_xd 4 days ago

    They're worried about paying for their next trip to the dentist. Not working when they're old is not in the picture.

    Reply View 0 replies
  • mfro 4 days ago

    Wow, you are so out of touch

    Reply View 0 replies