Posted on 06/30/2014 3:55:31 PM PDT by dynachrome
My mother is sixty something and anxiously counting down the days till she could retire her nurses uniform for good. She's been working consistently for 40 years, and when she speaks of retiring I can sense relief still mixed with a bit of anxiety.
The sense of relief is obvious, but it boggles me that after 40 years of dedicated work, rarely calling in sick and in fact winning awards for her diligence and treatment of patients, that my mother is still concerned about whether or not she will be financially secure once she calls it quits.
I see the position my mother is in right now and as much as I admire all that she has done - raising three kids on her own on top of 60 hour work weeks - I look at her and say to myself "that can never be me." I can not, under any circumstances, put in that amount of work to still not feel completely secure about my future. Furthermore, I don't want to wait till the latter years of my life to be able to live with the level of freedom that comes with formal retirement.
Freedom 55 has no appeal to our generation
I believe that I speak for most Millennials when I say 9-5 isn't enough. Please understand that when I use the term 9-5 I use it loosely to refer to restriction. The barriers that accompany the 9-5 life - feeling replaceable, not getting paid according to quality of work, scheduled breaks, the hurdles to really create measurable impact - none of these boundaries are in line with how we Millennials hope to make our mark.
We want more for ourselves, expect more from ourselves, and are willing to put in the work to ensure more is the outcome. But the work we put in can not necesssarily be quantified by hours. We aim to be judged by the impact our output creates, not the time spent in an office or workstation. We want to enjoy our lives to the fullest right now, concurrent to our most social years. Freedom 55 has no appeal to our generation.
And while others may see this as us feeling entitled, I feel that we are, and to a large degree already have, changing the way people, employers, governments define "career." We are entitled to control our own futures, to feel certain that if we work effectively and efficiently that we will be rewarded with financial security.
So call us what you want, but by the time I am sixty something we Millennials will have changed the world more sharply then many generations before us. And we will have done so with a smile on our face every step of the way.
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Kern Carter is the author of "Thoughts of a Fractured Soul," a modern tragedy of family, failed potential and the Millennial struggle with ambition, expectation, and the fight for independence.
More from Kern at www.kerncarter.com
You mean they are not going through the school of hard knocks. Character is what counts in the end. Those without character get winnowed out pretty fast.
Whiny litle dipshit. Now it is true that I will be getting out of my current career at 25 years. But it is also true that the career I chose lets you get out at 25 because it tends to age you prematurely (corrections). I will have a second career, preferably something that isn’t so bad for me. I will probably work at that for 10 to 15 years more. I just can’t do 30 to 35 years in prison (lol). I know of one guy that worked that long. He died of a massive heart attack/stroke driving home from his last day on the job. Not me, I’m not doing that.
CC
In Kansas, it’s 8 to 5, so glad I won’t have to be training this goober.
Companies are also pushing work into hours outside of the standard 9-5 window. For example, company issued smart phones mean that they now often ask you to check email or even join in the occasional meeting while on vacation.
“The average millennial knows more about “climate change” than the US Constitution.”
Technically, your statement is incorrect because you imply they know more about one thing than the other, while the truth is they know absolutely nothing about either
Spoiled little brat. He probably lives in mommy’s basement. In fact, I wonder if it was mommy that spoiled him. I wonder where daddy is.
only 2% of people retiring can do so without some form of assistance; either relatives or Government (not Social Security, it is paid for a lifetime of working).
I’m sure that if you’re using your masters degree in LGBT studies in your career as a blogger for Obama or something like that, your attitude is just dandy. But, if you work in a business that has real customers, deadlines, and an actual need to compete... then you’re screwed.
...raising three kids on her own on top of 60 hour work weeks...
That's why it shouldn't "boggles me that after 40 years of dedicated work, rarely calling in sick and in fact winning awards for her diligence and treatment of patients, that my mother is still concerned about whether or not she will be financially secure."
What did this guy do to help his mother when she was younger?
-PJ
I can't recall anyone from the prior generation; before WW2 and the baby boomers who had a pension. Best that I can figure those folks were cared for by their children or perhaps if they had wealth were on their own.
Very funny.
Seeing him cope with reality would be lots of fun to watch.
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Is the name like "bless me Ultima"?
Friends of ours allowed their son and fellow homeless, unemployed friends use their yard to camp in for awhile, and helped them out with a little bit of food.
Until they overheard one of them say “work is for suckers”. They were all gone the next day - including the son. I met a homeless guy that admitted to me that “I could work, but I don’t believe in paying taxes for stuff I don’t believe in - so I choose not to work.” For some of these people living in a tent is no big deal, and well worth the price of not having to work.
Thanks for voting for Obama, Millenials. And good luck paying off the $17 Trillion debt. Social Security and Medicare will be gone in a few years. Your life is chained to the government, and you will work until you croak.
The Social Security Act was signed by FDR on 8/14/35. Taxes were collected for the first time in January 1937 and the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made that same month. Regular ongoing monthly benefits started in January 1940.
Yes, families took care of the elderly unless they were wealthy. My grandparents took care of their parents, and my parents took care of their parents. Now, my children are so hard pressed to make ends meet they can't take care of us, so we both still work at age 80. I pray that this young person does not have to face the hard facts of life.
That would be me. I work on Sundays for a couple hours, check work emails on Saturday a couple times as well, and I rarely take a day off where I don’t have some contact with work.
Remember also that the average life expectancy was a good bit less. It’s gone from roughly 60 to 80 in that period.
Now the Death Panels will reverse that over time, but it will take a while.
So you're referring to social security, that's yet another part of the query and you put some helpful dates and on the ground observations confirming what I think. Mine was actually focusing on pensions and that sort of retirement benefit and the one off generation who got to enjoy it.
Almost all my parent's generation extended family, the WW2'ers had pensions and retired that way along with their social security benefits.
“...the hurdles to really create measurable impact...”
Well, you couldn’t make a measurable impact doing your chores at 17, kid. We don’t expect much impact now.
And although that conversation took place back in my liberal leaning days, I understood her point then and I still do. A promise made by a politician is still a promise, even if it could never actually work.
Me? I think it was since somewhere around that conversation that I've always assumed when I finally get to the counter to ask for my social security I'll be told, oop's oh heck! we're fresh out sorry about that!
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