I’m not qualified to talk about US social security. Every US member on 90DF seems compelled to talk about their 401K or something as part of the contrived storyline, so there is clearly more opportunity to save for retirement. I don’t think Potato Corner in Philippines are paying into their employee’s pension fund nor providing their employees the opportunity to earn more than is needed for day to day existence. And that is the big difference. A 50year old in the US or Europe has realistic opportunity to put money aside from their salaries to help later in life. A Filipino in a middle class job might have funds to help for a medical incident, but putting money aside to help in old age… well, not in this lifetime.
Of course you are entitled to bemoan the plight of American retirees and how your country should potentially take better care of them. But putting their plight in the same sentence as a retiree in a developing country is a bit of a nonsense.
I’m 43… turning 44 in January. I don’t think I’m quite in the scrap heap when it comes to the job market if I found out I was fired tomorrow.
Perspectives in other countries can be difficult to manage. When my wife’s relatives think I’m earning between $60-80k (in GBP equivalent currency) annually, it’s not just their eyes which light up. 2nd cousin Rolando suddenly makes himself known and that he would very much like a place on this gravy train (and I’ve never told them how much I earn, but a bit of Googling makes it easy for them to get a ballpark figure).
If I earned that in the Philippines, I could live like a king. To them, I am rich. The bit which they don’t understand is the cost of living in the west and how much I lose to taxes. Even after nearly 6 years, they cannot compute that my mortgage has got 18 years left on it. The amount I pay in tax per month would feed and clothe them for 6 months. That said, even after I give them my 1st world problems, the struggles they have far outweigh the struggles that poor people face in the west.