Increase?

I'm putting in nothing at all now, and haven't since I started depending on freelance work. I didn't put in very much when I was younger, either. There wasn't enough money to cover basic living expenses in many years.

I would never be able to handle increasing rent, which is why I bought a house for less than $100K. It won't increase in value, but it will provide me with cheap housing.

So no retirement here, unless something extremely unexpected happens. My Social Security is going to be very paltry and I'll always need to work to supplement it, even if I delay taking it.

I think something like half of Americans are in roughly the same boat, so I'll be in good company.