It's Always Our Fault We Are Poor in Old Age

This video about drove me crazy because it blames women especially for being destitute in old age, that they got that way because they were stupid about finances:



It is simply not reality as the vast majority of women, especially women who have never been married, have lived it. You can do all the right things and still wind up destitute. So many of these "how-to be financially stable" vids are by married people, who already have for the most part a big lifestyle and more options than never-married people. Even being married doesn't shield people from catastrophic illness or job loss. I completely disregard such advice as not only clueless, but cruel. Many, many people cannot EVER retire and must work until they can no longer do so. This is because pensions in the private sector (U.S.) have been eliminated in favor of do-it-yourself "savings plans" (401ks) which were NEVER designed to replace pensions, but loopholes in the federal ERISA law gave companies a way to destroy their pension systems. The vast majority of people can never, ever save enough on their own what an even small pension provides. For example, I have a $360 a month pension from a public employer (Nevada PERS). I would have had to save at least a couple hundred grand to tide me over for 30 or 40 years on that amount. Not realistically possible. The problem is systematic and not a problem of personal failure.


A lot of this advice comes from sources connected in some way to the financial services market, and of course they want you to spend money on their services by catering to your worst fears.

It is not the way of the real world. Pensions are necessary, yet they are rare outside the public sector in the United States these days.

I warned people about the 401(k) scam over 30 years ago because I did the research. Companies put them in and ditched the pensions because of cost. They shift the cost and the risk all on employees, who simply don't have the resources to fund an adequate retirement without decent pensions.