You know...planning is the whole key here. My grandfather screwed himself over regarding his pension (he was depending too much on SS) he never really planned ahead and seen more than 2 years into the future. My FIL, a carpenter for 30+ years with no other skills, a tired, achey and worn out body, and having to take an early retirement...did not plan ahead. I learned from their choices. I'm saving and socking away all I can, though I'm 31...even in 25 years, I don't want to burden my kids or my family...they will have it hard enough if things progress as they have progressed within the last 30 years (inflation, COL and all). I'll won't depend on the skillset I have for my current job. I'm going to have a couple other things I would be able to do in case job "1" ever went sour. Granted...I my be a little more type-A than most...and one really can't plan for everything, but at least having a plan of what you would do if you lost your current job, and saving for retirement, IMHO, could save alot of heartache, stress and other peoples money down the road.
My circumstances are exceptional however. There are those that never plan for the future and those that do but just don't know how much the future is going to cost.
I have significant savings already and have been planning for 30 years out for a decade now. My unfortunate circumstance is that my wife and one of my two children are disabled. My son will never be able to live on his own and I'm hoping to make it so that neither us or he is ever a (financial) burden on his sister. The problem is that he will most certainly outlive us and I don't know what will happen afterwards. The state already has a waiting list for group homes that is in the hundreds long and when the large number of Autistic kids today need housing in 30 years (after their belabored parents die), there will be no money or housing for them. I'm doing my darndest to ensure that my current house can perhaps be turned into a private group home when the time comes but without charity or government support, I don't know what will happen to him after I'm gone.
Thus my "retirement years" will not be spent on the beach or traveling, they will be spent caring for the disabled while trying to keep a job that has health coverage. So yes, I plan on working until the day I die.
Sorry for the downer