Today I opened my first retirement account, a Roth IRA with $250 in an index fund. It feels great! It's been a goal of mine to start one before I turn 24. But it's having me thinking really long and really hard about how things will be like when I retire. For some reason, it feels like the investment I made is under qualitatively different circumstances than what previous generations were under. Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant, I know that a generation or two before me faced an existential threat of nuclear holocaust in an upfront and immediate way that maybe we aren't dealing with similarly. Though I'd argue that potential is still very much on the table. But everyone agrees the there will be some calamity regarding all the climate change. The population growth. Dwindling resources. Do you think that in 40 years we will still be operating under the same economic system we operate with today? Will my piddly investment have grown any? Will there be a recognizable society to retire into?