The Colorado Sun just dropped a little sunshine on your dreams of sipping wine on a porch after 65. Spoiler alert: You’re more likely to be stocking shelves at Costco than strolling into retirement anytime soon. The article exposes how an increasing number of older Coloradans are staying in the workforce longer, not because they suddenly caught a late-in-life entrepreneurial itch, but because taxes don’t take naps and eggs cost six bucks.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Senior citizens aren’t retiring, they’re rebranding as consultants and gig workers so they can afford groceries and gas.
- Over a third of Colorado workers over age 65 are still grinding, and not in the sexy club way.
- Healthcare costs, mortgage payments, and basic survival make retirement look more like a luxury cruise booked by Elon Musk.
- The state pats itself on the back for job programs for older adults while ignoring the economic conditions that forced them there.
- Meanwhile, lawmakers whisper sweet nothings about Social Security while doing jack squat to ensure it’ll exist past tomorrow.
My Bottom Line
Here’s the unfiltered truth from your favorite no-B.S. County Commissioner: I’m 62. I feel sharper than ever, more Clint Eastwood than shuffleboard pro, and I have zero plans to hang it up any time soon. But let me admit something candidly: if my wife and I wanted to retire tomorrow here in Colo-RAD-oh, we probably couldn’t afford it. And that’s saying something coming from folks who’ve worked their asses off every single year since Reagan was in office. Yes, in his first term.
People should be allowed to continue contributing if they want to – not because the price of cereal crept up like your ex’s Netflix password misuse. The real heartbreak comes when people trade golden years for grocery store shifts or Uber driver gigs just to buy toothpaste and heat this winter. God bless ‘em for keeping America moving, but let’s stop pretending this is some trendy new lifestyle choice called “Boomer Hustle Culture.” It’s economic survival dressed up with LinkedIn buzzwords.
We’ve built a system where seniors pay taxes their whole life only to stay on life’s treadmill because Wall Street tanked their savings interest rates and Congress plays chicken with Social Security every other fiscal year. That ain’t freedom, that’s soft tyranny in khakis.
What does it say about a state when the state’s young people can’t afford to start a life here and when the state’s older people can’t afford to finish their life in the place they have toiled to make better?
So yeah, I respect anyone who keeps swinging after 65 out of passion or purpose, but this economy has turned retirement into a fairy tale funded by DoorDash tips unless you’re sitting on generational wealth or married rich (in which case… well done).
