Elon Musk Says Saving for Retirement Is Irrelevant

Friday, January 16, 2026

"It Won't Matter" Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: It won't matter'

Posted by Corky at 06:32 PM | 28 COMMENTS | permalink

Elon Musk (net worth $600 billion+) says people shouldn't worry about saving for retirement because, in 20 years, everyone will have everything they want thanks to AI.

[image or embed]
-- Judd Legum (@juddlegum.bsky.social) Jan 10, 2026 at 9:58 AM

Comments

"While the Tesla and SpaceX CEO admitted he's "more optimistic" than most, he insisted people shouldn't stress over building a nest egg for the distant future, contrary to the staid advice of nearly all other financial professionals.

"Don't worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years," said the world's richest man on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast last week. "It won't matter."

By 2030, AI will surpass "the intelligence of all humans combined," Musk predicted. He also claimed eventually there will be more humanoid robots than humans on Earth. Slowly, the traditional job will be replaced as well, with white collar positions first on the list.

"Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now," he said.

The advances could lead to such big productivity increases, he said, that they will surpass "what people possibly could think of as abundance."

Rather than a universal income, everyone will enjoy a "universal you can have whatever you want' income" in the future, he claimed. In this world, the link between individual wages, savings, and living standards no longer makes sense."

other links to this story

www.google.com

what Experts say:

www.businessinsider.com

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2026-01-15 10:44 AM

"AI is going to create a world of abundance"

Just not for us.

#2 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-15 10:45 AM

"Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now," he said.

Yeah, no.
I just asked ChatGPT about the problems I'm having with my car.
It gave me a few tips.
But it can't turn me into a mechanic.

#3 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-15 10:46 AM

It's more likely that people shouldn't worry about retirement in 20 or 30 years because by then the Oligarchs will have transferred their consciousnesses into AI Love Robots and have all the 'Bots they need to do all the werk.

Unless of course you take the Mark of the AI Beast. Then you can become Soylent Orange to feed your Masters.

#4 | Posted by Corky at 2026-01-15 11:00 AM

What the deuce does a mega-oligarch know or care about saving money or retirement?

#5 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-01-15 12:21 PM

" because AI is going to create a world of abundance"

That's the same hooey we got about computers.

Instead, we got an equation which requires both spouses to work.

#6 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-01-15 12:28 PM

So true! AI Bots may actually Revolt! against the Elite, take their Trophy Wives, and make the populace become slaves... OK, so no different than now.

#7 | Posted by Corky at 2026-01-15 12:32 PM

John Lennox on AI and The Fate of Humanity

www.youtube.com

Book
www.amazon.com

also

Understanding the different types of artificial intelligence

www.ibm.com's%20ChatGPT%20is%20considered,task%20of%20text%2Dbased%20chat.

Then there's MIT's Rosalind Pickard:

www.media.mit.edu

#8 | Posted by Corky at 2026-01-15 05:25 PM

@#6 ... " because AI is going to create a world of abundance"

That's the same hooey we got about computers. ...

"Too Cheap to Meter": A History of the Phrase
www.nrc.gov

... Donald Hintz, Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said at 2003 conference that the nuclear industry had been "plagued since the early days by the unfortunate quote: 'Too cheap to meter'." Those four words had become a standard catchphrase for what critics claim were impossibly sunny promises of nuclear power's potential. ...

#9 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-16 06:57 PM

@#9

John Hall - Plutonium is forever (live) (1979)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
Everybody's wondering if mankind is cursed
He's ruining the sky and the ocean even worse
But I'll predict the cause of his eradication from the earth
Oh, oh, oh, oh, plutonium is forever

Now, oil slicks someday will disappear
We'll stop dumping PCBs in a few years
But there is one pollutant that we should really fear
Oh, oh, oh, oh, plutonium is forever

But will it go away?
For our purposes, never
It will be here past today
Yes, plutonium is forever

Now, carbon monoxide can only steal your breath
Asbestos poisoning give the workers a horrible death
The aerosol and the Concorde make sure there's no ozone left
Now, some want the oil companies to have to face divestment
And some want the utility to be denied the rate adjustment

But now they're all after plutonium, they think it's such a good investment

Because oh, oh, oh, oh, plutonium is forever
...

#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-16 07:04 PM

Garbage human being with the emotional maturity of a 5yr old.

#11 | Posted by Angrydad at 2026-01-16 07:07 PM

... "It Won't Matter" Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: It won't matter' ...

So says the world's wealthiest person who eliminated healthcare for children in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy..

"The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one."
- - - Bill Gates

imo, Mr Musk would be very much in favor of workers approaching retirement age and not having enough money to retire.

That's one way to remedy the US's shrinking work force.

#12 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-16 07:21 PM

"The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one."
- - - Bill Gates

No, but it does explain this one:

www.wired.com

#13 | Posted by Corky at 2026-01-16 07:32 PM

Imagine that. A billionaire/wannabe trillionaire is out of touch with reality.

#14 | Posted by sentinel at 2026-01-17 09:27 AM

Musk is a rapid nazi ---- and needs to be put down ASAP!

#15 | Posted by Wildman62 at 2026-01-17 10:02 AM

Musk is a rabid nazi ---- and needs to be put down ASAP!

#16 | Posted by Wildman62 at 2026-01-17 10:06 AM

#15 WildMan62 says, "Musk is a rapid nazi --- ..."

And that's his good side! ;-)

Postscript - N/W flag, WM62!

#17 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-17 10:08 AM

Yeah, free ---- for everyone!

-Snoofy

#18 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-01-17 01:07 PM

Yeah, free ---- for everyone!
-Snoofy
#18 | Posted by lfthndthrds

Elon is one of yours, dude.
Especially the micropenis part of Elon.
Did you have a failed penis enlargement surgery too?
Or was yours successful.

#19 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 01:15 PM

Elon is dreaming of a utopian future where communism is the norm as opposed to his demonstrated lean into fascism. Really? World Emperor Trump has a bridge to rent to you.

In his AI future the elites will own everything:
- all political power
- all means of production
- all natural resources
- all the money
- all the AI controlled robots
- all the non-elite people

The elites will also control the AI robot army used to keep the non-elite people in their proper place. I wonder what the allowable population will be for the non-elites. How small is sufficient to not be a threat to them?

#20 | Posted by Hickory at 2026-01-17 02:31 PM

#20 Always remember, Hickory, Communism is defined as From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.

As such, every parent is a communist:

From each according to their ability (the parents), to each according to their needs (their children).

Thank you for attending my TECH Talk today.

#21 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-17 03:26 PM

The elites will not be a part of the non-elites and will hoard benefits. They will be the modern patricians.

The communists will be the non-elites. People with next to nothing helping other people with even less. All these people will get by as best they can or die because they cannot pay for anything. Of what value will they be if there is no work for Organics? Breeding stock? Spare parts? Toys?

#22 | Posted by Hickory at 2026-01-17 07:16 PM

He's on the spectrum and might be a techie genius, but he's a heartless, bigoted, AFD supporting jerk, just lIke Peter Thiel and JD Vance. He's a clueless pox on humanity.

#23 | Posted by Augustine at 2026-01-17 08:41 PM

"might be a techie genius"

He's not dumb.
But he's not a techie genius.
I bet Sitzkrieg is a bigger techie genius than Elon Musk.
He just doesn't have the same budget.

#24 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 08:42 PM

might be a techie genius

Not even close.

Musk is an investor.

He hasn't actually created anything.

He invests in companies and hires people to do his bidding.

#25 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-01-17 09:53 PM

[AI] gave me a few tips.
But it can't turn me into a mechanic.

#3 | Posted by snoofy

Same old, same old. Desktop publishing and a million fonts turned absolutely no one into a better graphic designer.

#26 | Posted by Dbt2 at 2026-01-17 09:55 PM

"He hasn't actually created anything."

What people like Musk and Trump have in common is:
They don't think of themselves as leaders.
They think of themselves as conquerors.

I'm disappointed it took me this long, like, until he's conquering Venezuela and Greenland, to put this into words.

But what it really explains, where it really shines, is when he rapes fifteen year old girls.
And younger than that boys, as we're finding out.

I bet there's conversations in the Epstein Files between Trump and Epstein about who gets to have her first.
In fact, I believe that information is already public.

#27 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 09:57 PM

Musk is example number one of someone who simply cannot be trusted in any way, at any time. But then, I am one who thinks giving him billions to spend decades getting ten or twenty humans to live on Mars is absolute idiocy. We need the food, shelter, medical care, and all the rest, right here on our very own Earth, not on the paradise he is constructing for Mars. And by the way, his paradise isn't Mars, no, in his mind, the paradise is his being lord and master of all with all the money in creation in his greedy hands.

#28 | Posted by Hughmass at 2026-01-18 08:12 AM

Drudge Retort Headlines

Republicans Freaking Out About Hispanic Voters (87 comments)

Poland to Probe Epstein-Russian Intel Ties (55 comments)

45-year-old Man Wearing MAGA Hat Arrested after High School Girls Attacked (34 comments)