even if you consider your retirement today its not guaranteed. i have seen people first hand put a bunch of money away then die before they could use it.
if you save just cash chances are you have a bad savings plan. because we both know money goes down in value. if you have $100 right now its worth more than it is tomorow. the longer you hold onto money the less and less its worth. so why would you do this?
take gas for example a gallon back in 1999 was $1. now its $3.50+ if you saved enough money for gas and then inflation hit hard in a short period your not going to retire a happy man. so if you save money in 1999 for 2013 your stupid. its better to invest it into the things we need
look at the richest men in the world. most of their money is tied up with physical things not cash. they are valued at big money they yet dont have it in cash. because they are smart and understand money is worth less than physical things
its better to spend your money investing in hard items or things people need.
i know you have someone in your familys who says something similar to this “back in the day a quarter bought alot of things” now a quarter doesnt even buy a piece of candy.
this all relates back to the movie idocracy. if inflation keeps going up de valueing our dollar eventually we will be paying $5 for a dollar menu item at mc donalds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svJXd9xxhv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzEMGfR_BtQ
Not everyone has the luxury of saving for retirement. You guys seem to forget not everyone is well off or even lower middle class that can ccontribute to a 401k/403b