Reddit: Nearly half of working age Canadians not saving for retirement

[Shalamar]

Nearly half of working age Canadians not saving for retirement

Check out some of the comments, y'all.  They'll make you want to cry.

For every person who probably has a legitimate reason to not be saving for retirement (crippling debt, for example), there's at least one other person saying things like "Why should I make my life miserable now just so that I can retire a few years earlier?"  One of my favourites was the guy who insisted that he needed his gym membership so that he could exercise.  Because, apparently, it's impossible to exercise unless you're at a gym.

[mm1970]

Some gems:

Yeah, the moralizing in this thread just kills me. "Live like a miser for all of your productive years! You're an irresponsible fool otherwise!"
I really hope that money is a comfort to them in their old age when they look back and remember that they traded away their youth being miserable.

50 yr old Canadian here.
My dad saved every goddamn cent. He couldn't wait to retire. He had a wonderful life but he couldn't wait to retire and then he was going to do this and then he was going to do that.
He died at 64.
My advice to the young men on this planet is plan wisely but fucking enjoy every moment of your imperfect life.

On the flip side, we were poor and my dad was a miser.  He retired at 62, lived on very little SS, and lived to be almost 82.  He was never rich, but he certainly enjoyed hanging out with his buddies and going fishing those 20 years, instead of continuing to work as an auto mechanic into his 80s.

[Shalamar]

Yeah, my parents were careful with money for their entire working life.  (Mum loves to say that the only time they've ever paid interest on a credit card is when Canada had a postal strike, and they didn't get the bill in time.)  We never went without - we always had plenty to eat, presents at Christmas, and a modest vacation.

Where are Mum and Dad now?   They're 84 and 74, respectively.  They've been happily retired for over 15 years now.  They have more money than they can spend and are loving every minute of their lives.    But I'm sure they're secretly miserable that they squandered their youth.  :D

[TravelJunkyQC]

I love the comments saying how much cheaper everything is in the States versus Canada. It's true, things are cheaper in the States, 1$ DOES go farther. And YES, our taxes are a hell of a lot higher here in Canada. However, we won't go bankrupt if we break our leg or get cancer, we won't go bankrupt if our child goes to university (and uses loans wisely and rarely) - so many things are covered by our share of taxes. Funny how people seem to forget that. It's like, "whine whine, my bread costs 5$ instead of 3$ here, woe is me! 35% of my salary is taken out for taxes (btw. that means you're in a pretty good tax bracket)"... ugh... yes, but do you need to shell out 20k if you break your leg? Is your child's public school bachelor's degree going to cost 25k a year? No? Then you're fine. Put the new iPhone away, stop paying through the roof for cable, and just... stop.

[Shalamar]

One sensible poster mentioned "low-hanging fruit" - things like cancelling your data package for your cell phone and just using wifi.  Cancel your gym membership.  (I can't remember the rest, but it was good advice.)   Pretty much everything he/she suggested was met with howls of outrage and "I CAN'T do (blah blah blah) because (bullshit)."

Oh, and there was one person who said "I'll probably start saving for retirement when I'm 30."  Whyyyy?  You do know that you'll never get those years back, right?

[stoaX]

However, we won't go bankrupt if we break our leg or get cancer, we won't go bankrupt if our child goes to university (and uses loans wisely and rarely) - but do you need to shell out 20k if you break your leg?

For over 2 years now in the states health insurance has been available to everyone with government subsidies if your income is low.   And the maximum out of pocket expenses on health insurance plans have also been capped by government regulation.  So bankruptcy via medical costs ain't what it used to be.  Of course residents of the USA can refuse to buy the health insurance and pay a fine, but I don't have much sympathy for that situation.   

University costs, on the other hand, there's still quite an issue there.

[Rural]

However, we won't go bankrupt if we break our leg or get cancer, we won't go bankrupt if our child goes to university (and uses loans wisely and rarely) - but do you need to shell out 20k if you break your leg?

For over 2 years now in the states health insurance has been available to everyone with government subsidies if your income is low.   And the maximum out of pocket expenses on health insurance plans have also been capped by government regulation.  So bankruptcy via medical costs ain't what it used to be.  Of course residents of the USA can refuse to buy the health insurance and pay a fine, but I don't have much sympathy for that situation.   

University costs, on the other hand, there's still quite an issue there.

Except for the poor in the poorest states, where Medicaid was not expanded so that the working poor don't make enough money to qualify for subsidies. That's still a tremendous problem, because they can't pay full price and also eat.

[stoaX]

However, we won't go bankrupt if we break our leg or get cancer, we won't go bankrupt if our child goes to university (and uses loans wisely and rarely) - but do you need to shell out 20k if you break your leg?

For over 2 years now in the states health insurance has been available to everyone with government subsidies if your income is low.   And the maximum out of pocket expenses on health insurance plans have also been capped by government regulation.  So bankruptcy via medical costs ain't what it used to be.  Of course residents of the USA can refuse to buy the health insurance and pay a fine, but I don't have much sympathy for that situation.   

University costs, on the other hand, there's still quite an issue there.

Except for the poor in the poorest states, where Medicaid was not expanded so that the working poor don't make enough money to qualify for subsidies. That's still a tremendous problem, because they can't pay full price and also eat.

Good point - I live in a Medicaid-expanded state so its easy to forget about that. 

[Helvegen]

There is also the bizarre so called 'family glitch'.

[Papa Mustache]

I love the comments saying how much cheaper everything is in the States versus Canada. It's true, things are cheaper in the States, 1$ DOES go farther. And YES, our taxes are a hell of a lot higher here in Canada. However, we won't go bankrupt if we break our leg or get cancer, we won't go bankrupt if our child goes to university (and uses loans wisely and rarely) - so many things are covered by our share of taxes. Funny how people seem to forget that. It's like, "whine whine, my bread costs 5$ instead of 3$ here, woe is me! 35% of my salary is taken out for taxes (btw. that means you're in a pretty good tax bracket)"... ugh... yes, but do you need to shell out 20k if you break your leg? Is your child's public school bachelor's degree going to cost 25k a year? No? Then you're fine. Put the new iPhone away, stop paying through the roof for cable, and just... stop.

The cherry picking is maddening.

Listened to a conversation about a guy who made good money but in the long run was poorer than his peers. Seems he endured frequent periods of unemployment over the course of his career.  Slow and steady would have won the race for him.

[Rightflyer]

Yeah, my parents were careful with money for their entire working life.  (Mum loves to say that the only time they've ever paid interest on a credit card is when Canada had a postal strike, and they didn't get the bill in time.)  We never went without - we always had plenty to eat, presents at Christmas, and a modest vacation.

Where are Mum and Dad now?   They're 84 and 74, respectively.  They've been happily retired for over 15 years now.  They have more money than they can spend and are loving every minute of their lives.    But I'm sure they're secretly miserable that they squandered their youth.  :D

Good on them. (had to laugh about Canada Post...)

BTW: "Shalamar"...is that named after the band, or possibly, the old trailer park/campground in Queenston?

[Shalamar]

The band.   :)  I loved "Footloose" and its entire soundtrack.     

[JR]

It seems as though a lot of the people making comments don't realize there is a middle ground between saving nothing and being one of those "real" cheapskate misers that everyone thinks Mustachians represent. Saving 10-15% of one's income will likely be sufficient for most people who intend on working 40 years and is in no way miserly.