I've seen my future, and I have to tell you, it's sketchy. If things continue the way they are, I will have spent my entire retirement by the year 2020. Did you hear me? I will be out of money in fifteen short years. Something has to be done. NOW!

The initial plan was so simple. Set aside a chunk of money each paycheck for the elderly and retired living today, and when I get old enough, the young and employed would kick down a chunk of their check to pay for my old existence.

Things are different now. After surviving a serious car accident without serious injury, I'm starting to wonder how important (and probable) my living to be 70 years old actually is. On St. Patrick's Day, a lady mowed down a motorcycle cop, killing him and her young child. This occurred at San Mateo and Lomas, one city block away from my collision less than a month earlier. She was drunk and survived. The cop and her child are dead. No retirement checks for them.

Honestly, I don't know if I'm going to make it. I'm thirty years old. If I find a way to live twice as long, I still won't be eligible for social security. Politicians get on the their soap box and tell us what they are going to do about the retirement checks of the future. "We've got to do this for our kids and grandkids." Yeah right. Last I checked, the only thing the government has done for the kids and grandkids lately is send them to war (two years and counting, America).

Politicians talk about raising the age limit for social security. Right now, I'm forty years away from full benefits. I'm sure if I make it to 70, then the retirement age will be eighty. That's fifty freakin' years away. Methinks this social security hoopla is more about benefiting the baby boomer generation (the most egocentric generation in American History) than all the kids and grandkids.

We are talking about a government that went from record surpluses in the budget to record deficits in less than four years. What exactly makes them qualified to fix any financial issue this country has? Maybe if they put some financial assistance into social security instead of wars, the problem would go away. Wait, that's too direct. Instead, let's throw everything on the table. Let's talk about private accounts. Let's talk about solvency. Let's circle the wagons and start shooting in every direction. We're bound to hit something.

And then there's the future. This future doesn't seem so clear. 2020 doesn't seem like reality. 2010 still seems like a sequel to an Arthur C. Clarke story. One car blasting recklessly through an intersection can make your future disappear completely.

The truth is that I've retired already. In fact, I've retired a few times from the work force. I have never been fired, but for one reason or another, I have had to leave jobs without another job in the wings. I didn't know what I was going to do next. I wasn't in a hurry to dive into another job, but no check from the government came in the mail. They had no sympathy for another twentysomething out of work. In fact, the government has no sympathy for thirtysomethings, fortysomethings, and fiftysomethings out of work. Let's cut out the qualifiers here. The government has no sympathy.

Once you accept that simple truth, you can start truly planning for your future. Do not rely on the government to help you. Not now, not in the future, not even when you are 70 years old. If you happen to live that long and a check comes your way, cash it quickly and count yourself lucky.

Until then, we have to keep living day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year. You can't fix your future, and you can't fix your past. You can only live in the present, and like it or not, you are going to have to take care of yourself.

At this point, Chris Jungle will receive $403 a month if he lives to be 70. Big freakin' deal.