Retirement Is For The Young

In my late teens to mid-twenties, I had no idea what I really wanted to do with my life, and neither did my friends. But once we reached the age of majority, we had to move out of our parents' houses, get jobs, and go to college. Once in college, we had very little life experience, and many of us declared a major simply because it sounded interesting.

Meanwhile, at the other end of life, I noticed that many of my friends' parents didn't really want to retire - especially if they were business owners or independent contractors. They'd finally found something they enjoyed doing in life, and saw no reason to stop.

It took me until I was about 24 years old to really know what I loved doing, what I was good at, what I might like to study. If only I had been able to wait a couple years after high school, before going to college and choosing a job, I might have made a much better start towards my career. Several of my friends have lately made the same complaint. They have joked that "retirement is wasted on the old."

So, my idea is that at 18 years of age, each U.S. citizen should be eligible to elect to take 2-4 years of their SSI benefits. They might still need a part-time job to supplement their income, but this would give young people a chance to develop some experience of the world, get a feel for how to live on their own, pay bills, etc. They would have time to develop interests, volunteer locally, find out what they're good at. Perhaps if they wanted to start their own business, this could provide them with time and a little capital to do so.