Getting to the Golden Years

Kagan and I have been talking a lot these days about retirement. By the by, I am a champion worrier, and really, I can freak out about the most far-off event, even if I don't know that it will happen. We had the kids conversation BEFORE we started dating, and the remarraige post-death conversation less than a month after our wedding.

But anyway, retirement. The idea of having enough money to do nothing for twenty odd years of my life strikes me as some strange pot-of-gold urban legend, but I am assured that it is possible (especially with compound interest) if I get off my butt and open a Roth IRA.

Here's what retirement looks like for me: I have a place to live that I like, and I can quit my day job. (With any luck, I can retire in five years :) ) To accomplish this, I need to make a lot of money and stash it away, manipulating the tax system like silly putty.

So how did anyone ever retire? Come on, I know there were old people before social security came and went. How did they live? Did they starve? Did they just drop dead in the fields? Were adult children nicer? Did you die rather than go to the doctor/hospital?

I have to say I'm not really sure.