>>281215477 (OP)Well, I'll tell you how this ends. My father did everything he was supposed to do. High school grades, went through college, did the military to do more college to help pay for it, retired from the military ensuring a military retirement. Got a new job, big company. Worked there for years, people liked him he did well. As soon as he hit his 50s they started trying to get rid of him, not a unique practice, anytime employees got within a decade or two of retirement age they started trying to create reasons to get rid of them later. At 60 they'd pushed out almost everyone in his age group. This wasn't official. It's illegal to do it officially, but it was apparent to everyone. He had too many friends at the company so they kept shifting him around to keep him in. The company finally forced him to retire early at half his retirement package. He went to reach at a college until retirement. He did well enough they were going to have to give him a retirement package. So they made a reason to get rid of him because they didn't want to pay a five year prof a retirement package. He got to retirement age. He'd been investing in social security his whole working career.
He should have had social security, military retirement, and part of his company retirement. When he hit 65 though he had to fight tooth and nail. Barely got even a fraction of half his retirement. They didn't want to give him his full social security. Only the military actually paid out.
Before he died of cancer five years later my dad told me something. He told me none of it fucking mattered. All the hard work in the world is punished, they try to get one over on you, deny you what you earned. The only thing that actually mattered in the end was friends and family.
Live for yourself, how you want, any way you can because the companies can and will fuck you. Social security will fuck you. Everyone will fuck you.
The purpose of life is to do whatever you want with it. Not to work til you break.