| > 1. I’ll only be a millionaire because of inflation over my lifetime. First, statistically speaking, you might only have a couple of years between statutory retirement age and some sort of an "old-age" illness that will diminish your ability to pursue hobbies, travel, and so on. All the stuff you've been putting off for later... you might not be able to do, and you will regret that. Retirement savings will allow you to retire earlier, and they will allow you to maintain higher "velocity" after - because many of these things we're putting off do cost money to pursue. Just as importantly, though, savings buy you peace of mind. You're no longer as stressed about day-to-day challenges, like conflicts at work, an uncertain economic outlook, or a leaky roof. Plus, on a typical tech salary, you can certainly hit 1-2 million in retirement savings in today's money, and there are investment vehicles that offset inflation with relatively modest risk. > 2. Social Security is less than a decade from insolvency, People have been saying this for the past four decades. But even if it does go insolvent, do you expect government retirement benefits to suddenly become a lot more comfortable than they currently are? > 3. Saving for retirement is a luxury reserved for the folks who don’t live paycheck to paycheck. For those who do, would their savings even be enough to matter? If you live paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't save, by definition. The question is whether you need to live paycheck-to-paycheck. For most people on HN, the answer is a resounding "no." > 4. Most pensions and retirement savings accounts use the stock market to beat inflation. Maybe it’s just me, but I am extremely bearish on the stock market for the next four decades. You don't need to "beat" inflation. You just need to match it. People invest into risky stocks because they want their savings to grow faster than inflation, but you certainly don't have to. You can buy corporate or municipal bonds, you can bet on commodities, you can buy real estate, you can go for collectibles, you can buy gold bars if you want to. You can invest in a friend's business. Finally, the whole talk of "the market" is a distraction. Unless you're buying index funds, you can choose specific companies that you're not bearish on. They might not beat market returns in a good year, but if your goal is to have confidence in your choices, it's a sound plan. |