There was a time when retiring here felt guaranteed. That hasn’t been true for at least a decade. With constant layoffs, retirement feels like a distant luxury. Most of us are too busy worrying about what tomorrow might bring to think that far ahead. That’s the reality we’re living in.
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Your eyes are just now opening to the grift? I am taking what I can get as soon as possible.
"boomers are collecting what they paid into it. The government has raided the funds, so if the money runs out, don't blame the boomers."
@pr Okay Boomer!
@p2 boomers are collecting what they paid into it. The government has raided the funds, so if the money runs out, don't blame the boomers.
Fun fact: boomers collecting Social Security and are still working, they still pay into SS, so...
The latest data indicates boomers own 80% of the wealth in America but yet we see boomers complaining about not being able to retire. What a joke! So what happens to the rest of us who aren’t even going to see any SS benefits after the boomers take everything?
I was RIF'd in 2020 but I was thinking of retiring anyways. They said I could look for other jobs in the company and there were lots of them back then in my area but I had been thinking of retiring early for a few years. I had been at Oracle since 1994 and socked away a ton of money from stock options and employee stock. I've seen Larry pull a rabbit out of his hat over and over and over again through several technology transitions but worry that the borrowing this time may be a gamble that he can't pull off.
I think that the employee situation has degraded since when I left and that seems to be tech-wide, not just at Oracle. It's a bit harder to get an accurate perspective from the outside though.
I see a fair number of tech jobs in my area these days but they are not in big-cap tech. They may be in biotech, healthcare, manufacturing and financial services. These jobs usually pay less than big-cap tech. In Boston, I see more of these jobs that pay a lot but the cost-of-living is very, very high in Boston.
Does the oracle doormat principle possibly apply to OP? It could be at the root of any inaction.
Larry sez: Grovel you peons!
May be the OP should stop wasting their money on flashy cars and expensive watches. If you have time to think about retiring here then you for sure have beeen here long enough to know better. Don’t blame the company for your poor fiscal lack of responsibility or total laziness to get another job. That’s all on you!
"I call b*llsh1t... Im in my 60's. "
ok boomer
Sounds like it's time for OP to start reinventing his/herself. If this has been ongoing for "at least a decade", what have you been doing re: your long-term career options?
The times when one could work an extended time at one company and "retire" are long, long gone.
I've been debt free for years and looking forward to my retirement in 3 years.....IF they will let me retire. I'm one of those people that they will plead with me to stay on...even part time...critical role in the building of widgets. Never will offshore...its a defense company.
There was a time when retiring here felt guaranteed
Okay Boomer!
@a2 birth rates have nothing to do with how well off you are. in fact, it's a universal reverse correlation. all the countries with the wealthiest population have negative natural growth and all high birth rates are among poor countries and poorest classes of other countries.
Enlightenment experiment ran its course and individualism leading to hedonism leads to inevitable demographic collapse. We all are f***ed, I am not old enough to die before it will all collapses and wiped out by religious fundamentalists, because they are the only ones actively procreating.
I call b*llsh1t... Im in my 60's. learned long ago that starting early in saving and investing used the 8th wonder of the world, compound interest. Lived well but didnt feel the need to show off by buying the latest, greatest shiny new thing and using debt to pay for my lifestyle. Paid myself first, set up my Oracle 401k and later Roth in the 401k as maxxed as I could. Lived off the rest, paid credit cards in fuil each month, drove my nice but not extravagant cars until they basically died, then bought another nice but slightly used car. Rinse and repeat for a very long time. Now worth many many times the aveage US net worth of $250k. Retirement is possible but it take effort and WORK to get there, dont swing for the fences, just get on base. Over and over again and you will win the game...
@a2 Exactly right. Young people can't afford to save when they're trying to make ends meet, but they HAVE to.
50 and over, they are letting you go because you're too old and too expensive. Like you said, they import foreign workers that they don't have to pay as much or ship the jobs offshore. Someone pointed out that O WAS hiring and has lots of openings if you are in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Uruguay, heck even some in Mexico.
These companies just don't want to hire expensive Americans, and the older Americans tend to be more expensive than the young. I'm in my 70s and don't have enough saved (couldn't afford to save too much), where am I going? I have a wealth and diversity of experience and thanks to my savings and Social Security supplementing the income, I can afford to work for entry level wages, but they won't even consider me. I try to hide my age as much as possible (and I don't look my age).
Inflation is making things worse, but some of that can't be helped - as minimum wage increases, it raises the cost to produce, ship, and stock the products, which raises the price to purchase or use the products. And minimum wage isn't even a living wage.
You must be debt free to retire.
@a2 indeed that's true, I am from a Third World country and I confirm, even in my case working as engineer, buying an apartment without going into debt seems very time-consuming. This is the work of a group of ppl, they created Fed reserve, fractional banking system which allowed them to create money out of thin air.
@OP The best you can do is save money for those rainy days when no one will hire you cause you're over 50. I don't work for this company, but it's like this everywhere. Jobs are either being taken over by foreign visa workers (on H1B, O1, L1, F1, OPT ), being off shored, or by AI. And when AI gets really good (fed lots of data from human experiences), even the foreign worker or the off shore worker will be struggling to find a job. Everyone in every industry, everyday, is got in back of their mind that their job is the next to go. The stock market continues to go up because of the 1% getting richer, but most people, not only in USA, but around the world are struggling. There will be a sharp decline in new births if people are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Many Americans are already struggling in debt with car loans, student loans, mortgage, credit card payments, rising food prices, rising energy and water costs, rising healthcare, rising property tax, etc. What isn't rising these day! When TACO says inflation is low, well, inflation is the cream that's on the rising cake, meaning the base prices are already rising and on top of that is inflation cost. Meaning if milk was $2 three years ago, and due to rising prices, it's now around $4.50. Well, the new base is $4 and the inflation is $0.50. The key is to reduce the new base price of $4. The $0.50 of inflation can go to $0.48, meaning inflation declined but only by $0.02. The $4 didn't decrease at all. Many people don't understand this, but "Inflation Declined" is a great marketing tool for politicians to make it look like USA is strong economically. But it really isn't. Cause you are now paying more than double what your used to three years ago (from $2 to now $4.50 or $4.48).