Let us now consider the indignity of work. You have to show up at a regular time. No matter how high you go, short of the top, someone gets to kick you around. And while the profit pie gets bigger and bigger, only crumbs trickle down to the Minion levels. Worse, management across the country has made it clear that all workers are overhead, an unwanted obstacle between their brilliance and higher profits.
That’s the message frustrated readers have been giving me for years – no, decades. I’ve also seen it personally. A few years ago one of my younger brothers decided to retire at 62. Always a hard worker, never sick and very capable, he got tired of being kicked around by higher-ups. It came to a choice between being unhappy at work or figuring out how to live on less and do what he loves.
He quit. Today, at 65, he competes in triathlons and Ultra running events around the country. He’s a very happy, very healthy guy.
Yet the trumpets blast for the glory of hard work, long hours and the joy of slaving away in a wonderful 24/7 world. We’re swimming in the propaganda of work-joy.
Perhaps it’s time to take the red pill.
Taking the Red Pill
In case you don’t remember the pill choice scene in the first “Matrix” movie, it’s where Neo is offered a choice between a red pill and a blue pill by Morpheus, the rebel leader. Neo can take the blue pill and return to his life of ignorance and illusion.
Or he can take the red pill. When he does, all illusions will be lost and he’ll discover the realities of his highly controlled life. He’ll be able to set out for a new life of freedom.
Maybe, just maybe, work isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. For most people, I expect it’s just a necessary evil. And it’s getting more evil all the time.
There’s only one problem. If you don’t have a choice, why question the endless trumpeting of work’s glories?
Millions of reasons to question
But we live in an odd demographic moment. Millions of aging boomers will reach retirement age between now and 2031. Some observers put the count at nearly 4 million a year. Others say it another way, 10,000 a day, every day.
Lots of people don’t have any choice about when they retire. Their employer retires them and they aren’t able to find a new job. The Employee Benefit and Research Institute, for instance, has found that many people don’t control when they retire. Similarly, EBRI found that many people have to retire earlier than hoped.
But many aren’tall.
Basically, we’re looking at an army of workers, about one in seven, who will be looking at how working compares to being retired.
How does working compare to being retired?
The answer, in a word, is “poorly.” Since 2001 the Consumer Price Index has increased by a total of 38 percent. Over the same period, workers’ direct wages have increased by 43.7 percent. That’s 5.7 percent more than inflation over 18 years, an average of about 0.32 percent a year.
Incentives aren’t to the right of the decimal point
A real income increase of 0.32 percent a year over nearly two decades really can’t be put in the same sentence as the word “incentive.” Add the aggravation of the workplace, angst over job loss, ever increasing job demands, and we’ve got millions of older people poised to sing Johnny Paycheck’s classic song — “Take This Job and Shove It.”
Any doubt will disappear when you compare worker wages with retiree benefits. Over the same period, Social Security benefit increases totaled 38.6 percent, ever so slightly greater than the increase in consumer prices.
But consider the positives. An annual cost of living increase is guaranteed. You get it whether the economy is up or down. It comes, added to your monthly benefit, as a sublimely regular electronic deposit. And it arrives whether you ever get out of your bathrobe or not.
Seriously: What’s not to like?
Some complain that older people face different expenses than younger people. They argue that Social Security benefit increases should be tied to a different cost of living index. In fact, while medical expenses are a problem for many people, natural and painless declines in other expenses more than offset medical cost increases until about age 85.
But for the insanity of medical insurance, my bet is that Johnny Paycheck’s song would be a national favorite.
Why Retirement Looks Like a Good Idea:No Work, Good Income Increases |
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| This table shows the annual increase from the previous year in the CPI-W, Social Security benefits, and workers’ wages and salaries. Note that while it was announced that Social Security benefits would increase by 2.8 percent this October, the increase won’t be in benefit checks until 2019, hence all figures are one year later than the figures on the SSA.gov website. | |||
| Year | CPI | Social Security | Worker’s Wages |
| Totals | 38.0% | 38.6% | 43.7% |
| 2019 | NA | 2.8 | NA |
| 2018 | 2.3 September | 2.0 | 3.1 September |
| 2017 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 2.8 |
| 2016 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| 2015 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 2.1 |
| 2014 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.1 |
| 2012 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.7 |
| 2011 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| 2010 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| 2009 | -0.4 | 5.8 | 1.3 |
| 2008 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 2.6 |
| 2007 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| 2006 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| 2005 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
| 2004 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| 2003 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| 2002 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
| 2001 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.9 |
| Sources: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html ; https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/econi/2018/10/2 | |||
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “Workers, Retirees, and the Consumer Price Index,” 12/18/05
Scott Burns, “The Minion Measure,” 11/10/18
Sources and References:
Social Security COLA adjustments history https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html
Red pill and blue pill, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_pill_and_blue_pill
Red Pill or Blue Pill Scene from The Matrix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE7PKRjrid4
Johnny Paycheck, “Take This Job and Shove It,” 1977 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPrSVkTRb24
This information is distributed for education purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, product, or service.
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(c) Scott Burns, 2018