Why work has failed us: Because no one can afford to retire anymore
C&#x27;mooon<p>&gt; The IRA won’t make anyone rich. A calculator on the site estimates that if you’re 22 years old and making $14 an hour–saving around $120 a month–you could end up with around $230,000 by the time you’re 65<p>1. $14 &#x2F; hour? The median household (yes, I know, household, but wait) income is the highest it&#x27;s been since at least 1985 [1] at $59k&#x2F;year. So $14 is definitely a bit lower than &quot;normal&quot;.<p>2. Saving $120&#x2F;month on that salary is saving just 5%! Nobody is suggesting saving 5% is appropriate. 10% is the bare minimum anyone recommends. Doing that, an IRA at 65 would be worth &gt; $763,000, enough to spend $30k each year for the rest of their lives.<p>Standard statement I feel like I always need to make: this is in no way a defense of our economic system. We absolutely need to raise taxes on the highest earners. We probably need a wealth tax as well. But we middle classers need to cool it with the defeatist attitudes. The poor have it hard. We, for the most part, do not. We spend too much and save too little. If you&#x27;ve got a car loan, eat anything but rice and beans, drink anything but water, have cable tv, a &gt; $30&#x2F;month cell phone bill, and complain about being broke, you&#x27;ve got some very obvious improvements you can make to get out of that dilemma.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Household_income_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Household_income_in_the_United...</a>