A report from Scottish Widows
this week shows that only half of us are saving enough for our retirement and a quarter are saving nothing. They want us to save more because that is how they make a profit. But hold on a minute; what are we saving for, why and how much do we need? We certainly save less now because we spend more. No one wants to delay gratification in a consumer society. But why do we need so much when we retire? Do we have to stay on the same consumer treadmill? And will we save more while we continue to be bombarded with messages to spend now, to keep up and be normal. In the book I suggest three things about retirement; first is that we should all consume less and therefore earn and spend less; second we are probably going to have to be forced into saving more through a compulsory scheme and third if we can we should have jobs we enjoy and are fulfilling and therefore we never want to retire from.
“and third if we can we should have jobs we enjoy and are fulfilling and therefore we never want to retire from.”
So, who’s going to do the stuff that’s not enjoyable and fulfilling but is necessary?
Also, we may possibly want to discourage the bloke who still really, really enjoys driving a coach at the age of 96.
None of it will be easy David but if shift a bit to a world of none consuming pleasures then all sorts of opportunities for better work, trades, caring etc open up.
I think it is important that when looking at a better way of life, we don’t get sucked into an idealist utopian vision. People live much longer now. If we are all going to be doing less work, then all sorts of people will be living long retirements. Someone has to be a refuse collector, and factories will always exist. People are going to be keen to retire from these jobs.
You will still have to pay fuel bills, rent or mortgage, phone, and you may even want to get out of your house and see other things. As you point out in the book, living with no money is no fun. Could be that if we were saving adequately instead of spending it, we might still have to work just as hard. I haven’t done the maths.