The Most Depressing Thing You'll Read Today

Is everyone ready for some really depressing news? Yeah? Ok, good! The average retirement age for Millennials is predicted to be about 73 years old. Oh, and that's not the only bad news: The primary reason for our generation's predicted late retirement age? Increasingly high debt, which is the result of loans we take out to pay for our increasingly expensive education, which we need so we can get a job in the first place. The job we'll never retire from. According to research by the financial group NerdWallet, by the time a graduate has paid off their student loans — which average around $23,000 on the average payback plan of 10 years — they'll likely only have been able to put away $2,466 for retirement.

What makes the situation worse is that lots of jobs are no longer even a 9 to 5 thing: Depending on the industry, you never really walk out of the office. Thanks to the smartphone, we're expected to be reachable anytime, anywhere. So unlike many members of previous generations, the time we spend 'at the office' is also time spent outside of it. Which as we all know, is just fantastic.

Add to that the fact that the average American only gets nine days of paid time off a year (compared with 20 days in Britain). Take three days off for Christmas, two off for Thanksgiving, a long weekend to regain what's left of your sanity, and there's your time allotted for the year. If you graduate at 23, and work until you're 73, that'll add up to only a little more than a year off during your entire 50-year career. And most of it will have been spent with your family.

Furthermore, with an average life expectancy of 84, retiring at 73 only gives us 11 years to enjoy life before, well, we die. Eleven years for grandkids, travel, and reading those books we didn't get around to because you were working all the time.

On the bright side, tomorrow's Friday!

(Image by Steve on Flickr)