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by matchamatcha 763 days ago
An acquaintance more or less seriously told me he's considering working into his 70s or 80s, I wonder how many other people are considering that option. It looks pretty bleak.
2 comments

Most people retire sooner than they had planned. Average retirement age in the US is 62. Most of the people who retire at 62 don't retire at 62 because they want to, they retire at 62 because they don't have any other reasonable choices.

Typically people who retire earlier than planned either do it because of health issues, or they get laid off and can't find another job in their field.

I have talked to people in Japan that feel similarly. Some have jokingly said that old people should commit seppuku, but even if they did, old people and their disposable income are a huge driver of the economy, and having a whole generation with little money is a cascading disaster waiting to happen. This is a problem all aging countries will probably encounter, but it will hit those with "lost generations" especially hard.
If they did commit seppuku, their money presumably doesn't vanish
That's true, but the problem is that they don't have much money :(
In which case

> old people and their disposable income are a huge driver of the economy

Cant be true. You either have money and drive the economy, or you don't have money

??? Did you read the article? The problem is that Japan has a generation of workers with no pensions and reduced social security benefits that are coming up.