As people grow older, many of them start to think about the issue of pensions.
Many years ago, an actor once shared something that stayed with me.
He said he always envied older performers who had worked inside a “work unit.”
Not because they were more famous, but because they had something he didn’t — a guaranteed pension.
He himself was well-known and admired by the public.
But deep down, he felt a quiet anxiety.
All his life he had been working as an independent professional.
There was no institution behind him, no retirement system waiting at the end of his career.
As long as he kept getting roles, life was fine.
But he couldn’t help wondering:
What would happen when he could no longer work?
When I was younger, I didn’t fully understand this feeling.
Back then, retirement seemed far away, and stability didn’t feel that important.
But as the years passed, I slowly began to understand what he meant.
A pension is not just a monthly payment.
It is a quiet form of security — a sense that when the tides of life go out, something steady will still remain.
The Logic of Elderly Care for Three Generations
If we look back over the past few decades, an interesting change can be observed:
The logic of elderly care in China has undergone a significant transformation among three generations.
The First Generation: Unit-based Elderly Care
During the planned economy era, a person's life path was very clear:
Work → Unit → Retirement → Pension
The “unit” --- many people in China worked in a work unit that provided stable employment and retirement benefits and also social welfare like Housing, medical care, and elderly care were all addressed by the system.
Stability was the greatest source of security in that era.
Second Generation: Prioritizing Earning Money
After the 1990s, the market economy began to develop. Many people left their units and went into business.
In that era, there were numerous opportunities to make money. The growth rate of income far exceeded that of pensions.
So many people would think: What's the point of that little pension?
When young, people were more inclined to pursue income growth rather than stable security.
In an era when making money was easy, stability was even regarded as a kind of restraint.
The Third Generation: The Era of Uncertainty
Today, we are in the third stage. Stable units are becoming fewer and fewer.
More and more people are becoming:
- Freelancers
- Self-employed individuals
- Entrepreneurs
At the same time, the population structure, employment environment, and economic cycle are all changing.
As a result, a new problem begins to emerge:
If there is no system guarantee, what will we rely on for our old age in the future?
The transitional period of my generation
I myself actually went through this transition.
When I was young, I quit my job at my original company and moved to work in a big city.
At that time, many companies didn't even have an old-age insurance system.
Old-age insurance was only gradually established in the late 1990s.
Many small companies simply didn't contribute to their employees' insurance.
Looking back now, I actually am considered lucky because the company I work for has been contributing to the pension insurance. When I reached the retirement age of 55, I was able to receive my retirement salary smoothly.
As the actor mentioned earlier, many people actually missed this old-age insurance system and couldn't make up for it anymore.
Now, the young people of the 1980s are facing great challenges. They are worried that if they lose their jobs, it means the cessation of pension payments.
Moreover, it is said that the retirement age might be further delayed. So what about the period between unemployment and receiving retirement benefits?
Many seemingly natural systems are actually products of the times.
The freedom of a one-person company and the responsibilities
behind it
Over the past few years, many people have begun to discuss a concept: "One-person Company".
What is a "one-person company"? It is a growing trend of working style.One person can also create value and earn income.
The Internet has made this model increasingly common:
- Content creators
- Freelancer
- Personal brand managers
- Independent developers
Many people interpret this model as a kind of free life:
- Freedom of time
- Freedom of location
- Autonomy in working methods
But if you think about it calmly, you will actually discover a problem that is often overlooked.
A one-person company is still a "company". As long as it is a company, it implies a certain institutional structure.
In traditional enterprises, many things are actually borne by the company system, such as:
- Social security
- Medical insurance
- Old-age insurance
When a person decides to become a "one-person company", it is not a complete departure from the system.
Rather, they are transferring the responsibilities that were originally borne by the company to themselves.
If a one-person company registers as an enterprise， then the social security system should have been established originally.
If it is only an individual entrepreneur， then they should plan their own pension system earlier. Because no system will arrange it for you.
Why are more and more people starting to "pay themselves pensions"?
Many people view retirement as a distant issue.
But from a longer-term perspective, it actually runs throughout a person's entire life.
- Accumulate during youth
- Adjust during middle age
- Realize in old age
So the pension system is not essentially a single product. Rather, it is a long-term asset system. For example:
- Basic social security
- Long-term investment
- Stable cash flow
- Risk protection
Therefore, whether it is investing in index funds or configuring annuity insurance, essentially we are all seeking a way to deal with the uncertain pension system.
What they are trying to solve is actually the same problem: What we need is the guarantee of a stable cash flow.
By using a longer-term and more certain accumulation method, we aim to ensure a better life in the future. This is a guarantee of security rather than an extraordinary risky game.
Where does true security come from?
When we were young, we thought security came from the workplace.
Later, we gradually realized:
Security actually comes from the system.
Previously, it was the workplace system.
But in the future, more and more people will need to establish their own systems.
And the foundation behind all these systems is actually just one thing: Time.
- Wealth requires time to accumulate.
- Health requires time to accumulate.
- Cognition also requires time to accumulate.
If a person understands these things at the age of 20, then a lot of preparations will become more effortless.
But if one suddenly realizes the problems at the age of 50, anxiety will naturally arise.
Conclusion
When we were young, we rarely gave much thought to retirement benefits.
Because the future seems very far away.
But as one grows older, one gradually comes to understand something:
Pensions are never just about money.
It represents a kind of inner strength for life--When you no longer need to prove yourself, the confidence that allows you to live at ease.
And what truly determines this sense of confidence is... It is not a specific system.
Rather, it is whether we started preparing in time enough.
When we were young, we relied on the system.
In middle age, we began to feel anxious.
After reaching maturity, we started to build our own system.
-------Extended Reading and Resource-------
If you are interested in the topic of "personal systems", I highly recommend reading a book called [Company of One].
This book presents a very interesting viewpoint: in today's era, many people no longer rely on large organizations but have begun to work and create value in smaller and more flexible ways.
The books and tools I mentioned are part of my curated toolkit. If you're interested, I've compiled them all on [My reading list ] & [My everyday toolkit] page for easy access.