Do you sometimes feel like you have to win the lottery just to have a decent life?

[JanMichael]

3. That taking care of elders has to have a system buy-in.

We don't do that in the US. We say good luck and god bless. Which is worth its weight in dogcrap.

When I lived for a short while in the EU in the 90's I was dumbstruck by what I considered working class people taking 12 week summer vacations in Spain or Portugal. Many have small second vacation homes too. That warped me permanently. The comments my foreign friends made about US poverty and weak social net also was cringeworthy.

People that have, and can, worked their adult lives should be able to retire and chill (or not). I wish everyone had that option. Sadly in the US it is coming close to 10% (that doesn't include the top 1 and 5 % in wealth that do not rely on monthly pensions and SS) that can live in peace and relative security in their old age.

I am an older X'er and for us it will be much worse than the main Boomer cohort and the WWII generation in retirement. Since I'm in a system it should be manageable but for most everyone else...sheesh. Hopefully a good percentage will inherit a house or condo.

Fried Green Tomatoes style resting homes cost too much now.