Can't even go to the arcade nowadays without dropping a fortune...

I'm a Southern California-based writer on the Lifestyle team who likes to try and rank viral foods and read and recommend awesome books.

"And it happened in a single generation. My father retired at 54 with extremely generous benefits. His income now, 20 years later, still puts mine to shame. I'm 45, and I'll probably never be able to retire. I've actually saved a decent amount twice, but it was almost completely wiped out by medical expenses. Whenever I mentioned that, people always love to say that I should not have cashed out my retirement; however, that would have led to me being homeless, so I really had no choice. I've restarted again, but it's an uphill battle."

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.