Now that we're in retirement, we get close to 0 percent. And accounting for inflation, it is as you would say, negative interest whittling away our buying power. The government is stealing from us via inflation while they are on a spending spree. Young people don't understand the concept of saving and earning interest - because they can't see any interest. I just hope inflation doesn't make my pension checks meaningless in the next few years as my nest egg disappears. Yes, we can't win.
Your problem is that you understood the part about putting money aside, but didn't take the time to learn where to put the money. I spent years learning about different investments, and have put money into stocks, and real estate. We have been retired for years and our net worth keeps increasing.
It is not too late, take your money out of passbook savings accounts and put it into low cost index funds. Do the same thing with low-yielding CDs. There is lots of free advice on the internet.
I guess I wasn’t clear about what my nest egg is. It’s a mix of cash, stocks, bonds and real estate. So don’t worry about me, I’m not bad off, it’s not just under the mattress or buried in glass jars in the yard (something a couple of friends do that we disapprove of). I also have some in metals. That having been said, I still have a sizable chunk in cash in savings institutions, and that is taking the biggest hit from inflation. I do have investment advisors but don’t necessarily heed their advice, as some are as good as fortune-readers. I’m paying for it, and it’s a little better than the free advice! What I might add, is that even though our net worth is increasing, it’s an illusion because non-cash investments are rising with inflation. The inherent value stays the same, although the cash value on paper rises. It’s the value of the dollar shrinking that causes non-cash investments to appear to be increasing. Just being real here.