[neilwilson]

That condition is important though. Have you ever wondered why the retirement age keeps going up despite there being a constant shortage of work? That's because society will only grant you a certain number of years off in return for the years you spent on the job.

So retirement is just deferred wages. That's a different concept to getting paid for nothing all the time.

[tmnvix]

How to afford a UBI is a different issue. (As an aside, I believe it is possible, but only after fundamental tax reform that shifts the burden away from earned income and towards unearned income.)

My point with the pension example above was to illustrate that a universal 'living allowance' doesn't necessarily get squandered.