As I said, "retirement"... pension. Many large corporations still pay pensions and also have very attractive 401k offerings.
I think it's always wrong to judge someone financially who perhaps did not get the same advantages or has faced a big hardship. As, @Beth Gallagher wisely stated, sometimes life just happens out of our control.
@Hal Pollner Exactly 21 years ago, I quit the highest paying position I ever had, Plant Engineer at a plastics extrusion company you never heard of, making $25 per hour. I was 56 years old, and save for teaching Math one year, never again paid any income tax (so much did I hate Bill Clinton!). Frank
There are those that get "the advantages", but unfortunately, like myself, get stuck not using them. I dropped out of college without getting a Degree and that sure didn't work out for me. My wife has three Degrees...…...two AA's and a Bachelors. Her one AA is for Business, but she knew that just having an AA for Accounting, wasn't going to pay her the money that she would get having a Bachelors Degree. She got a school loan and, at age 49, graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Business/Accounting. Definitely got a better salary with the Bachelors Degree. When a person makes a good enough salary to contribute to a 401k/Retirement Plan, that's totally great, but I didn't. I never worked for a big/major company, only small privately owned ones.
Same here. Had every financial advantage possible, but thought if I just got married, then I wouldn't need to go to college because surely I would never have to work a day in my life. I was wrong.
I am not romantic as my Missus is very fond of saying. She understood that I was not going to support her,and expected her to earn her own way. She expected and got the same from me. Why so many women fall for the knight in shining armor bit totally amazes me.
Chances are: The guys who built the nice house we live in, from the people who dug the footer to the guys who did the plumbing, electrical work, carpenters and placed a roof on top of it, etc.......didn’t nor do not have a retirement or pension plan. The people who work in the hospitality industry; the cooks, the utility people, the front desk clerk at a motel or hotel, the person who waits on us at a restaurant nor the bartender have pension plans. Most local businesses do not have a pension plan for their employees. They’re too small and let’s face it, the business itself is the retirement plan for the owner who rarely if ever thinks about retiring. I would venture to say that most farmers, do not have a written in stone retirement plan. The pastor at the corner church has a retirement plan, but not one that involves kicking back in a rocking chair. ............................ My wife and I really do not HAVE to work but we enjoy doing whatever it is that we do. If circumstances changed [because I cannot predict the future], I might have to do something to create an income but for now, I do things because I like to do them. Yvonne has a lot of irons in the fire and does what she does and I oversee some rental houses, do some neighborhood work and am getting ready to go open another restaurant for someone. Heck, I’m even fighting with myself about going back into full time mission ministry but that probably isn’t going to materialize due to my beliefs involving commitment. May God bless everyone who can go fishing and play golf all day during their later years, but, I will never be one of those people. I like to be productive and look at something I did and give myself a pat on the back when something turns out the way I envisioned it and have a little extra jingle in my jeans at the same time. Heck, I’d venture to write that even if I had enough money stashed in the bank to play all day long, I’d still be working and doing something especially if the end result is a show of excellence and has a little folding material for the wallet. In the end, I will probably be seen out there digging my own grave just because.....I can. Hmmmm......I wonder if grave diggers have pension plans?
That is painfully obvious, as evidenced by the total lack of empathy of a couple of members here. I suppose that they have no frame of reference. Kind of like the electorate believing that a billionaire(?) could relate to the common worker in any meaningful fashion.
Either way life's circumstances don't fit the wording in your post. Not taking employed mentally challenged that have left the job into consideration is one example. Retired & always responsible now faced with massive debt due to some health issue another that many face. Toss in the millions that have always lived from pay check to pay check. Weighing those few examples I think you will see that employment after retiring can easily be a need.
During my working life I had all three of the above plans plus Social Security to provide my present retirement income. I never worried about being laid off or unemployed because I worked mostly as a Independent Contractor on commission.