Saving for retirement is pointless due to the upcoming “supersonic tsunami” of AI and robotics, which can deliver a couple of world of zero shortage, based on Elon Musk.
Whereas the Tesla and SpaceX CEO admitted he’s “more optimistic” than most, he insisted folks shouldn’t stress over constructing a nest egg for the distant future, opposite to the staid recommendation of almost all different monetary professionals.
“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years,” mentioned the world’s richest man on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast in January. “It won’t matter.”
A part of Musk’s controversial take relies on his imaginative and prescient of a world remodeled by quickly bettering AI, robotics, and power expertise.
Musk’s sizzling take
By 2030, AI will surpass “the intelligence of all humans combined,” Musk predicted. He additionally claimed finally there might be extra humanoid robots than people on Earth. Slowly, the normal job might be changed as nicely, with white collar positions first on the listing.
“Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now,” he mentioned.
The advances may result in such large productiveness will increase, he mentioned, that they are going to surpass “what people possibly could think of as abundance.”
Slightly than a common earnings, everybody will take pleasure in a “universal ‘you can have whatever you want’ income” sooner or later, he claimed. On this world that Musk foresees, the hyperlink between particular person wages, financial savings, and residing requirements will now not make sense.
Even with out financial savings, AI will assist folks acquire higher medical care than what’s at the moment out there inside 5 years. It can additionally take away any restrict on the supply of products, companies, or instructional alternatives.
Musk’s feedback construct on his earlier claims that AI and humanoid robots will make work “optional” inside 10 to twenty years and render cash itself irrelevant. Musk beforehand in contrast the way forward for work to leisure actions like enjoying sports activities or video video games moderately than a survival necessity.
“If you want to work, [it’s] the same way you can go to the store and just buy some vegetables, or you can grow vegetables in your backyard. It’s much harder to grow vegetables in your backyard, and some people still do it because they like growing vegetables,” Musk mentioned through the U.S.-Saudi Funding Discussion board in November.
Submit-work’s downsides
To make certain, Musk’s predictions concerning the future come at a time the place many People are struggling to save lots of. Partially attributable to persistent inflation and weak wage development, solely 55% of American adults mentioned they’d a “rainy day” fund equal to 3 months of bills saved up for an emergency, down from a excessive of 59% in 2021, based on a survey by the Federal Reserve. Fewer than half of these surveyed mentioned they may cowl an expense of $2,000 or extra with their financial savings.
Surveys additionally constantly present a big share of People are behind on retirement financial savings or have little to nothing put aside for his or her post-work life.
Musk can be not blind to the potential downsides of a society the place folks don’t have to earn a residing. A excessive common earnings may come hand-in-hand with social unrest, he warned, as folks could face a deeper disaster of which means.
“If you actually get all the stuff you want, is that actually the future you want? Because it means that your job won’t matter,” Musk mentioned.
A model of this story was revealed on Fortune.com on January 12, 2026.
