On my recent big trip, about half the people on one of my ships were doing a six-month "world cruise", which cost about $200,000 for a couple. That's a chunk of change. Most or all were retired, since that's the only way to get six months off to travel.

I was listening to how people became affluent enough to afford such a trip, and two reasons were far and away the most common. People either worked for government or (in the past) a large company that offered defined-benefit pensions, or they owned and sold a business. Those were far and away the most common reasons. The pension people were not C-suite types who made big money, but my impression is that they felt secure with the pensions and didn't feel a need to manage risk to a retirement portfolio.

The other reason that I heard to some degree was people who merely had a high-wage job, mostly doctors. I met a couple of people who had legacy family money, and one couple who invested early and hard into crypto and made a bunch of money, but those were exceptions to the rule.

The loss of defined-benefit pensions is a major factor in people feeling less secure about retirement, in my opinion. I'm not sure there was ever a time where a majority of workers got them, but they're rare now. You pretty much have to work in government to get them.

I think it made many of them lazy and getting the free money to a bunch of workers around here took them out of the labor market.

It was like flipping a switch, several are now drug addicts dependent on welfare.

The rest of your post reads like people are owed something and don't have to earn it.

Companies don't need to give a shit about them, they are paying them a wage for a job they need done. It's not personal.

A few months ago I was chatting with a young (late 20s) woman and we were talking about careers. She mentioned that her boyfriend "doesn't want a job", and it frustrated her. She said that he only wanted to play video games all day and then make money doing DoorDash deliveries and stuff part-time. She could see that he wasn't going to thrive long-term doing that. (She had a career going.).

I kind of worry about young men in our society. Something is happening that's sapping the drive of a lot of them. I've noticed it in some of the younger men that I know, and it's a really bad mindset.

I sympathized with the woman, and I thought that she should probably find a guy with some long-term potential. I think people need to be more ruthless and businesslike when choosing a mate.

I made time, while working exactly 50 years and raising two daughters with my wife.

Once you have kids, your love will help you overcome your selfishness.

While helping raise them and providing, I restored several vehicles, played darts, bowled, played a lot of pool, had several boats, camped etc. They were a part of much of it and it taught them some valuable lessons.

The satisfaction I now enjoy from their success in life far outweighs any enjoyment I ever had from things I had done.

But I get it, the newer generations are getting away from this, thus our society has some issues.

Exactly, and it just keeps growing as there are grandkids and great grandkids.

As someone who worked closely with ERISA and plans in the past I don't necessarily disagree. However, as 401k's became more prevalent in the late 80's, it allowed certainty on the books for employer, as you mentioned, as well as an alternative for employees. This de-risking was necessary to compete in the evolving global economy, more so, than "how can we screw employees". Those that needed to compete for employees on the benefit side, still had substantial cost for matching contributions/profit sharing contributions, it was just a much more predictable cost. Many employers have went to cash balance plans in lieu of traditional Defined benefit plans in addition to their 401k plans. While this continues to grow and is a great benefit for employees, I've seen many employees leave and go to companies that don't offer a money purchase plan at all, which is a huge loss of a benefit. As an employee with a money purchase plan, I prefer the cash balance over a traditional pension plan for a variety of reasons.

The real question will be how it affects the population over the next few decades....

Excellent post from a man that built his own business and success!

So much of this is troubling and sad, and it makes me wonder how we got here and how it can be fixed?

It's interesting to me that annuities still exist, as they're essentially a self-funded pension. So they've obviously found a way to make the model work.

On paper, annuities make a ton of sense to me. As an individual, I have to worry about a market that goes south for a decade. As a perpetually living corporation, an annuity (or a pension plan) doesn't need to worry about that as long as they're adequately funded. I guess there are some variables such as life spans that could be a risk, but it seems like those could be built in.

I'm not necessarily advocating for the return of pensions, but my own observations is that people who get them feel much more secure in retirement, rightly or wrongly.

I'm also a big fan of society putting $1,000 into a long-term deferred investment fund for every kid that's born. It's not a huge cost, and it confers huge long-term benefits to the kid.

It's a trade off. If you are not in government or work for a company that doesn't offer a traditional Pension Plan, you most likely are earning substantially more money, 20-25%, in the private sector. Unfortunately not everyone understands the difference and then saves a large portion of that for retirement. Those that do can usually take a portion of those assets and purchase lifetime income that gives them certainty they will not out live their assets. The remaining assets can be invested more aggressively at this point for legacy assets or for travel and other wishes as they know their main expenses are covered.

Yeah, I have been trying my best to keep this out of D.C.

The reality is that many young people today would be incapable of actually doing something similar in today's economy. Most young people today cannot afford several vehicles, boats, etc. Simply working your ass off no longer provides young people all those extra things that you enjoyed. It's just not that simple these days. I know many young people who are very hard workers with great work ethic and have held a job for years, yet they can't even afford to own a home. Let alone extra vehicles, boats, etc. as reward for their hard work.

I'm not defending young people, because many are definitely lazy and unappreciative. But the idea that the entire younger generation simply needs to roll up their sleaves and get a job and everything will be provided like it was in the golden years, it just doesn't apply the same as it did 50 years ago. It's not all the younger generation's fault. Wages have been stagnant for decades while costs have skyrocketed. The playing field has absolutely changed.

There is really good white papers out there that have researched and surveyed thousands of retirees and those that have guaranteed income are much happier, and travel and recreate much more than those that don't. Even if the dollar equivalents are the same for those without lifetime income.

No idea.

Wages have been pushed down by NAFTA and illegal immigration. This is not meant to be a political statement as it is documented and quantifiable. I was a free market guy as an Economics major, but it has decimated the middle class. That being said, I see many of today's youths using door dash regularly, having the newest and best Iphone/Galaxy etc. Wealth doesn't come easy, but I've seen a lot of young folks with average jobs who are in great shape in their 30's.