4 Reasons Every Millennial Should Retire Before Age 65
There are no guarantees in life.
Society has created a system where the perception is (almost) every millennial can retire at 65 if you don’t rock the boat.
A system that hypnotizes you to believe there is a guarantee of happiness, wealth, and fulfillment…if you follow the path laid out clearly.
The default life system:
- Go to school to learn core competencies that make you one of ten million who don’t question authority and can perform menial tasks under supervision.
- Got to work at a 9–5 office or a mass-producing tradecraft, to be observed, measured, and directed for 40+ hours a week.
- Purchase homes, toys, and “stuff” with debt so you can be “happy” and distracted when you’re not working…but also stuck because you’re dependent on a regular paycheck.
- Retire at 65 with a basic income to live on (Social Security and anything you’ve invested) until you die.
Most of us cannot imagine another option, since everyone around us (grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, coworkers) is living the exact same life.
- We dutifully sit in our spinning office chairs, punching keys on our laptops, and stare out the window.
- Executives (who earn more in an annual bonus than we make in an entire year) tell us about how difficult the economy is and the company is trying to cut costs and “do more with less.”
- We punch out at 5 pm (if we’re lucky) and try to spend the remaining few hours of the day with our family, friends, and televisions.
- Then repeat the process tomorrow.
But the system is failing millennials.
- There’s no guarantee you’ll live to 65. You will have worked for 40 years for nothing.
- There’s no guarantee you’ll be healthy at 65. All those retirement dreams may turn into sitting on the couch watching Disney movies.
- There’s no guarantee you’ll have the money to retire comfortably at 65. The system ditched pension plans, so you’re on your own for retirement investments.
- There’s no guarantee you’ll keep your job until 65. We’ve seen the indiscriminate layoffs (regardless of skill level, longevity, or “like a family” mottos) and are about to experience ageism in our job hunting. (Yes, we’re getting that old!)
Without these guarantees, what is the benefit of the system we’re mindlessly following?
I’ll tell you, there isn’t a benefit if you want to live an intentional life.
The system makes sense for the masses — who don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives and well-being. Those who simply want to exchange their youthfulness, time, and energy for a paycheck and the (unguaranteed) promise of retirement from the system.
But for those of us millennials who are disenfranchised by the matrix created for us, those of us who see the system for what it is (a drone factory), and those of us who want more out of life, all is not lost.
You can take parts of the system and use them to your benefit. (Like getting that job, making lots of money, and investing it for an early retirement.)
Millennials have an opportunity to break the mindless path set out for us.
How?
- Take 100% responsibility for your life and your money. You can take control of your destiny instead of following a path laid out for you.
- Invest as much as possible, as early as possible. Become financially free and create opportunities for living, working, and retiring.
- Build gap years and sabbaticals into your life to spend quality time with your family and friends. Experience those most precious to you while they (and you) are around.
- Create new life goals and challenges so you never settle. Settling is giving up on a life that is too short as it is — keep it interesting and fun with new experiences and growth.
We’re limited only by our imaginations.
The walls of the system can no longer contain us if we learn the game and use it to our advantage.
The system will not change in our lifetime…but we can change whenever we want.
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