Millennials respond to an anxious plea by giving tips on how to save for their retirement

No matter how much people wish things to be how they used to be, the truth is it is not possible, especially in aspects like finance and the economy. Prices have risen, but income compared to that has shown no significant improvement, as revealed in a report by CBS News. The money that was once enough to suffice a whole family in the '90s is no longer sufficient to sustain a unit for a week. In a situation where it is getting difficult to fulfill basic needs, the idea of saving for retirement becomes a far-off thought. As per CNBC, 55% of Americans are behind on saving for retirement. The choice between the present and the future keeps individuals permanently in a state of anxiety. A 31-year-old mom, u/cynnie93, was also in a similar predicament when she asked the question, "How are we as a generation supposed to save for retirement while also struggling to afford life?"

In her opinion, millennials are specifically plagued by this compared to GenX. The answers on Reddit reflected how saving money for retirement is not a one-off concern but something that worries all the millennials. People not only came forward with suggestions but also implied that this comparison between generations might be a tad bit unfair. u/544075701 shares that not everyone in Gen X was living to their heart's tune without caring about savings, "Your parents seem to have been at least upper middle class if not higher on the socioeconomic scale. This shocks a lot of 'kids of sort-of well-off parents,' that the norm isn't upper middle class, but lower middle class and lower class." 

The change has not happened in the human attitude towards saving but in their conditions. The number of people in the upper middle class has steadily reduced. Those who grew up in such households have difficulty saving because they don't have the privileges their parents had, but the privileges were not equal all across the board. Hence, this generalization is wrong.

u/Ok-Stop9242 suggests that the woman should join the workforce. The belief is that to save for old age, all hands must be on deck. They commented, "My wife recently got a job after being a stay-at-home mother (SAHM) for nearly 10 years and yeah, we're actually able to save some money now. That's only possible though, because our daughter gets free daycare because she works with the before/after school program."

u/timewellwasted5 highlighted in their comment, "My wife and I make really good middle-class salaries for our area. 15-year mortgage, emergency fund, saving enough for retirement, two paid off 10+-year-old cars, no consumer debt outside of the mortgage. We have no idea how everyone around us can afford what they do without massive debt. New cars every 3-5 years, iPhone Pro, restaurants or take out 2-3 times per week, expensive vacations every year and people making less than us. It's nuts." Many people invest in things that ultimately add no long-term value to their lives. To seriously save, such expenses need to be removed. 

The most common suggestion was being regular with depositing money. The idea should be to monitor expenses per savings and not vice versa. u/WeaselPhontom explained what they do about saving, "My parents had their issues, but growing up impoverished, I prioritize setting something aside, even if it's only 100 a month. I add that to my 401k." In this way, even if the value of money deflates, individuals still have something to stand on in their old age. They can also use it as capital to invest further in the future. All these suggestions made it clear that despite all the drawbacks, people should prioritize retirement savings. It can happen only with self-discipline and cutting down on things that serve no or minimal use.