This is provocative.
I don’t mean Jacinta’s story is provocative. Her emphasis is.
“There is nothing wrong with the Average Retiree… as long as the average is high enough.”
I am unconvinced. To be clear, I am not sold on the idea of average.
Average is where financial games are played. And we can get burned if we are not careful. Let me explain.
Imagine a country with 2 citizens. You were told that the average salary in that country is $10,000. At first glance, you would be impressed.
“Wow, the country did a good job. Their citizens make a good living!”
That is a distortion.
And you never find out until you realize that,
- 1 citizen is the C.E.O. of a Multi-National Company earning $20,000 monthly.
- The other citizen is unemployed and is netting $0.
- The average salary is $10,000.
The idea of average can be deceiving.
However, the Average is Beautiful When You Start from $0.
This, I agree.
It depends on our baseline.
Jacinta had a sea-level baseline 10 years ago. To her, fighting for average rocks.