\n<\/p>\n
There are times when you listen to something and think, \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years,\u201d Elon Musk, the world\u2019s wealthiest man, recently said on the \u201cMoonshots with Peter Diamandis\u201d podcast<\/a>. \u201cIt won\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was adamant that people like you and me shouldn\u2019t be too concerned about socking away savings for after those paychecks grind to a halt.<\/p>\n \u201cSaving for retirement will be irrelevant,\u201d Musk said. \u201cThe services will be there to support you. You’ll have the home. You’ll have the healthcare. You’ll have the entertainment. The way this unfolds is fundamentally impossible to predict because of self-improvement of the AI and the accelerating timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n He admits it will take us all some time to adjust. \u201cBumps are part of it. Change always feels a bit scary, doesn’t it?\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s coming, he trumpets, at a \u201cnot-too-distant” point. \u201dAnyone can have whatever stuff they want \u2014 incredible medical care that’s better than any medical care that exists today \u2014 and there will be no scarcity of goods or services.\u201d Plus, \u201cthe best education will be available for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n I am all for the future being a better place for all of us. But pardon me if I don\u2019t toss my retirement planning overboard on the advice of a man whose wealth could last for hundreds of generations.<\/p>\n Financial advisers (who are trying to help people stay afloat for merely one lifetime) largely agree.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far back as we can trace human civilization, there has always been some form of \u2018money\u2019 for exchanging goods, from shells and beads, to gold and silver, to today’s complex and increasingly digital monetary system,\u201d said Conor Kelly, partner and senior financial adviser at Prime Capital Financial<\/a> and self-described Musk fan. \u201cIt’s hard to imagine money simply disappearing in our near-term future.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly doesn\u2019t quibble about AI’s recent leap forward and its potential to reshape our world in ways we can’t yet comprehend, for better and worse.<\/p>\n \u201cBut let’s say Elon is right and our future is one of AI-driven abundance where goods and services are almost free,\u201d he said. \u201cWouldn’t that create an even larger focus on finite assets like real estate? AI can’t create more mountains in Colorado or coastline in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a future of AI-driven abundance, those who continue to save and invest will be the only ones positioned to afford the things AI can\u2019t replicate. Relying on a post-currency utopia is a high-stakes gamble, but continuing to build wealth is a strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n