The End Of The Production Line

Is retirement inevitable and sustainable in modern times?

Legally, retiring refers to your tax status and access to your retirement savings in terms of the post-retirement investment options available.

Historically, we did not live long enough to consider not working. In the 18th Century, life expectancy was 35, rising to 50 after Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. Then, saving was onerous as economies were dominated by a subsistence lifestyle. Feudal taxes were paid to maintain central powers and systems for saving were rudimentary.

The person credited with ‘inventing’ retirement as we know it is Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck in 1883, but his objective was to increase his popularity and stem the rise of Marxism in Europe. He announced that he would pay a pension to any citizen of the age of 65. This was past the life expectancy of the population in the 1880s and therefore a safe bet ...