雷科技
Lei’s got something to talk about today — and after hearing it, you might feel like reaching through the screen to give him a piece of your mind.
During the January 2026 podcast Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, Elon Musk publicly suggested that regular people don’t need to grind away saving for retirement 10 to 20 years down the line.
He also claimed money will become meaningless in the future, and AI will let people get whatever they want.
Sounds amazing, right?
Roughly what he said goes like this: AI is advancing far faster than anyone predicted. It won’t be long before artificial general intelligence arrives, triggering an explosive surge in societal productivity.
When that day comes, goods and services will no longer be scarce. You’ll be able to learn anything you want for free, and within the next five years, everyone will have access to better healthcare than what’s available today.
Image source: Screenshot from Weibo
He even said it won’t be universal basic income; it will be universal high income. In this bright future, anyone can have anything they desire.
Does that sound incredibly appealing?
Simply put, Musk is painting a utopia of a post-scarcity world. If this future really arrives, saving for retirement would indeed seem pointless.
But Lei has two questions: When exactly will this future get here? And what will you live on while waiting for it?
From Xiaolei’s WeChat official account (ID: xiaoleibbb), the reason Musk’s remark blew up online is not whether he is right or wrong. It is that the man speaking and the people listening live in two entirely separate realities.
Nearly half of adults in the US cannot cover a $2,000 emergency expense. Countless Americans have little to no retirement savings at all.
What about Musk himself?
His wealth mainly comes from shares in SpaceX and Tesla. He holds large stakes to keep voting power and maintain control.
Image source: Baidu
His choice not to “save money” only works because he already has more wealth than he could ever spend.
His retirement safety net is hundreds of billions of dollars in equity. For ordinary folks, retirement security is those few hundred dollars scraped together from each paycheck.
A pension expert from the Wharton School warned the advice is dangerous, as it could encourage people to put off saving.
Economist Li Daokui also criticized the view as overly optimistic. Without reforms to distribution systems, technological gains will mostly flow to capital owners, leaving little for average people.
So who is right — the experts, or Musk?
The irony runs even deeper.
While saying money will mean nothing, his foundation holds more than $14 billion in assets. For four straight years, it failed to meet the minimum 5% annual payout required under US law.
Internet users also dug up an old story: during the global famine crisis back in 2021, he told the UN World Food Programme that he would donate the money if they could clearly explain how $6 billion would end world hunger.
The organization delivered the detailed plan, yet the funds never materialized.
Image source: Screenshot from Weibo
Once this news spread, netizens erupted and split into fierce debate.
Most people called it a classic case of “the well-fed cannot understand the hunger of the poor.” They commented: “Of course money means nothing to Musk with a net worth in the hundreds of billions. For regular workers earning a modest monthly salary, what happens if you get sick without savings? How do you pay rent? Or your kids’ tuition?”
Some joked: “This take from Musk is just like Jack Ma’s famous line about having no interest in money.”
Others argued that Musk stands at the cutting edge of tech and can see further ahead than most. Even if we don’t fully believe him, his vision is still worth considering as a reference.
At the end of the day, from Xiaolei’s perspective (xiaoleibbb): this future Musk describes may well come someday — just not anytime soon.
From a technological standpoint, there is some truth to his words. AI is advancing faster than expected, and productivity growth will inevitably drive down the cost of goods.
But this world decades away is a future only those at the very top, with capital and time to wait, can afford to dream about.
For the vast majority of ordinary people, reality hits every single month: rent, mortgages, kids’ school fees, medical bills for elderly family members.
AI won’t cover those bills, and promises of a rosy future don’t fill today’s stomach.
Long story short: take big tech leaders’ visions as food for thought and entertainment, not a life manual. They can afford to take risks and bounce back from failure. Most of us cannot.
Now it’s your turn. What do you think of Musk’s argument? Would you stop saving money for this hypothetical future? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
