Prepping for Retirement. It's for the Children Right?

I got to spend a 5 hour drive yesterday with two individuals that I think kinda sum up the two sides in the train wreck I see coming our way in the near future. Future? Hell for many it is already here with zero interest rates and inflation destroying what they had saved. Especially if they aren't one of the lucky ones with a public financed COLA adjustment each year.

One guy who spent his working years as a mechanic in the private sector, retired and then found out those 401K's were mostly a sham and Social Security has been looted of it's value by the money printers. He's a good guy really. In fact his political views are pretty much straight up the exact same as mine. Out of the group of us who work together they usually team the two of us up because I am the only one he doesn't get into an argument with on those long trips. I also don't complain about his listening to talk radio either :)

The other guy of course retired from a state job.

Now out of the crew of retired government employees who I work with, which out number the private sector co-workers about four to one I might add, this guy is about the most realistic of the bunch. Of course he retired from the prison system so not only did he get a healthy dose of reality on the job but wasn't any where near the top tier in retirement benefits either. Still the differences are staggering.

The mechanic worries about his children, grandchildren, what will happen when he can no longer keep working, what he can leave his children and will they take care of him in his final days. The other guy just stated that nothing would piss him off more than leaving anything to his kids and besides they didn't earn it anyway.

I listened to this back and forth for an hour or so until they finally brought me into the discussion. By that point I had been running scenarios through my head and could clearly see the bias in both sides of the issue.

On one hand we had someone who knew his assets were not gonna be enough and on the other we had someone who was counting on that check coming in from the government for the rest of his life that was enough.

The question I was asked was whether I planned on leaving my son anything. My answer was I damned well hope so. But why he asked? I bit back the standard "we need more money" school retort that children are our future and simply pointed out that without a government security net who would take care of you?

Before this whole retirement scam of social security, pensions, medicare whatever got rolling inheritance was about the best retirement account you had going for you. When a person relied on his own production to survive and reached the age he could not produce as well any longer than your best bet was to make sure someone you could trust took over the property you had and used it to produce for all of you. It wasn't about leaving your heirs money to play with but property that helped them become more productive. Tools, land, livestock.... for the entire family.

In essence the very things we as sustainers or preppers strive to have today. So why not count on it being a vehicle for own retirement when the time comes and the government ponzi schemes finally fail?

My bet is there would be a lot less grumpy old men out there who have alienated their own adult children if that were the case. Sitting around drinking and worried about what their kids might get that "They don't deserve".

Of course my final comment I think hit home the hardest. I simply said "Well when I get to be your age and as grumpy as you if my kid is still with me I think he would have earned everything I can give him".

Many things are going to change in the post debt society and I think a return to closer knit families will be one of them. Prep accordingly.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!