<prompt> Human: So, the top thread on rpersonalfiance is an article about the fact that most Millennials have nothing saved for retirement, and those who are saving arent saving nearly enough.However, when you actually look at the situation fully, why would this be a surprise to anyone?The vast majority of people between the age of 18-30 will attempt to earn a degree by attending a community college, a state college, and postgraduate university.Now, someone who graduate from college at the age of 22-23 will have to start paying off student loans debt after their initial grace period of about 6-7 months end.The vast majority of undergraduate student are going to be paying student loans that cost tens of thousands of dollars to fully pay back. As a result, you are going to be paying hundreds of dollars every month.If you are a postgraduate, you are going to be at a minimum of 100,000 in debt which will mean that you are going to be paying over a 1000 every single month. There are some people who are paying 2000-3000 in student loans every month.Now, if you are not living at home with your parents or other family members who are offering you rent free housing, then you are most likely either living by yourself, sharing space with your friends or have a spouse which mean that you have to pay the rent or mortgage with your money.So for a normal person who is in his mid 20s living by himselfherself or in the process of starting a family, heshe is having to pay for all of these items:-rent or mortgage -student loans-auto loans -grocery -internet -cell phone plan -health insurance-electricity and water in term of utilitiesYou can add in more items that you deemed essential for someone living in 2018.The main point is that the student loan by themselves are already taking up hundreds of dollars from your paycheck which mean that the other essential services will start taking a big bite out of your paycheck.Therefore, it is hard for a lot of people between the age of 20-30 to be effectively investing 10-15 of their paycheck to 401k or IRAs when they are barely able to survive paycheck to paycheck with all the expenses they have to cover.Now, I am sure there are plenty of people on here who fully understand and know all the issues that I just described but it should provide a small glimpse into the idea that this financial issue facing millennials and future generations isnt that big of a surprise.  <response>: I had 40k in my 401k before I turned 30. I was lucky I had an employer than provided a 5 match, and I had a job with a decent salary and overtime rate and worked a LOT of hours.I think some of those perks are starting to go away for a lot of newer grads, and many are just happy to find a job. 