General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For people talking about having a 50 year old retirement age [View all]TrollBuster9090
(5,954 posts)Here's the economic and demographic elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about:
THERE IS PLENTY OF WEALTH to go around. But it is all being hogged by baby boomers in their late 50s and early 60s who are at the top of their careers, but who STILL INSIST on working 70 hour weeks to earn even more and accumulate even more. At the same time, these people complain about having to work too hard and not having enough time for family, vacation etc.
What happened to those 'three hour work days' we were promised in the JETSONS cartoons? All of the robotics and automation, all of the increases in efficiency were intended to give us more leisure time. At least that's how it was billed and sold in the 50s when the trend began. What ever happened to that idea? More people earning decent salaries, but having to work fewer days/hours per week. As opposed to what we got: a few people working around the clock for massive salaries, and the majority working around the clock for minimum wage?
I'm a big supporter of the four day work week. But that's not going to happen. However, an attractive alternative would be to restructure the tax code to favor top earners reducing their work hours as they get closer to retirement, and have younger workers take up the slack.