Thread by @tomaspueyo

The most stupid financial advice is probably “plan to retire at 65”.

1. That’s inspired by 19th century Germany’s retirement innovation, when life expectancy was closer to 60. In developed countries it’s now closer to ~85

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2. That meant social security was viable then. It won’t be by the time most of today’s working ppl retire

3. We live longer, so we can work longer.

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4. When you live longer, you also spend $ for a longer time, so you need to save a bigger amount while you work to survive retirement, so you enjoy your young age less, just when you should be enjoying it +
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5. That makes ppl anxious because financial advisors use that benchmark, so most ppl are late to the savings they “should have”. They feel like a failure. It’s harder to save and invest when you feel like a failure. It’s also shitty.
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6. When you plan for a retirement at 70 or 75, you have a longer career, so you can make more mistakes. You can try other careers. It’s freeing.

7. Retirement is linked to depression and disease in many cases. Loss of challenge and social bonds. Only freedom side is good.
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Better solutions:
1. Consider retiring at 70-75. Or never.
2. Adapt to your needs: miners might be destroyed by the time they’re 65. Knowledge workers aren’t.
3. Don’t look at retirement as an event, but rather as a period. Start cutting hours. Change the pace.

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4. Recycle. The world is changing so fast you need to prep for more than one career anyways. Esp true with careers than pan half a century
5. Plan your finances accordingly
6. Governments should be more flexible. Eg don’t mandate max age for 401k distributions
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This is from my observations working for 4 years in an online investment advisory firm.

I’ve had a draft of an article with more financial advice like this for ages. Lmk if you want more. Newsletter here: bit.ly/tpueyo
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