BINGO. I have NEVER EVER expected Social Security since I was a little kid...I grew up in the 80s with all the debt talk. We KNEW we weren't getting anything.
Meanwhile, the generation X’ers will be quietly building up their own, *non-monetary* semi-retirement.
Double bingo. Marketable skills. Survival skills. Side businesses. Seeds. Land. Fruit trees. Plenty of kids.
If you're not Gen X yourself, my hat is off to you. You've really nailed what is going on.
The cusp between the Boomers and the X’ers is called “Generation Jones”. They were told that all the good stuff the Boomers got was waiting for them, “but when they got there, the cupboard was bare”, and so the poor Jones’ got none.
By the time the X’ers came along, the illusions were all gone, so they grew up expecting little or nothing. Which has turned out to be exactly the case.