Sometimes, when a friend from high school finds out that I write about money, they will tell me their retirement plan is to assume they won’t survive the inevitable climate apocalypse. This is always said with an ironic smile, and often followed up with, “It’s not like Social Security is gonna be there for us, either.”

These dark comments don’t surprise me, considering I’m also a member of the generation that adopted “Oh well, whatever, never mind” as a rallying cry. I was born at the tail-end of Gen X, but I was card-carrying a latchkey kid who didn’t trust authority, consistently prepared myself for disappointment, and wore a mask of ironic detachment that has served me well throughout my life.

In fact, until I was asked to literally write the book on Social Security in 2015, I too bel

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