Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Nothing preventing Millennials and younger folks to accomplish what they want in their life.
I told both my sons (now adults) you’re responsible for building your own future. Both are very successful ..... not mamma’s boys.
I definitely agree that people make their own breaks, but there are some outside factors at play that simply can't be ignored. When I worked at the state, I was one of the 5 youngest people in my entire department of 400+ people. That percentage was about the same for every department in the building.
There were people working well into their 70s who had been at the state for over 40 years. Many of them were making high salaries, and did very little relative to their pay grade. They kept working for the great pay and benefits, and low stress due to having little workload. Sometimes they simply couldn't do their job due to not being up to speed technology-wise, so their work was handed off to others. The state is the largest employer in CT, and this system enables these people to work longer, which prevents the hiring of younger generations of the workforce.
When I started working at a large company soon after leaving the state, there was nobody there over 65. It was also a very demanding and fast paced environment with strict job performance standards.
I can't honestly say one generation is lazier than the other. I know many people from all generations who have great work ethics and are very intelligent. It is extremely dependent on parenting and how they were raised. The systems put in place are more at fault than anything else. My father has worked for the state for 30 years and when he retires he will get a full pension. Someone taking a job in that same department today would get a 401k that they need to contribute to.
I would suggest that you don't really know WHY every one of those older workers is still working. MAYBE it's because of the reasons you state, (and they would have every right to continue to work if they want to) or maybe it's because they HAVE TO WORK to support themselves.
An example: I have a relative who is 71. She works at a University. She would love to retire, but she can't afford to. Why you ask?, because her husband had a stroke, and was bed-ridden in a long-term care facility for 10+ years until he mercifully died. That long-term care wiped out their finances.
So when you get more life experience, you may realize that not every person who is of 'retirement age', has the option to retire.
