Depends a lot on where you are. My grandmother gets 2€ for every euro they put into their pension payment. I get 0.85 for every euro, and I get that in 40 years. I am talking here about the national pension system, if I could avoid paying into it I would, as the only worse investment I can think of is buying a car. Or perhaps NFTs

I am fortunate, as I have had a decent career. Still I must assume that the only way I can retire is have some savings and live outside the city. And even that’s assuming the whole system doesn’t collapse before I retire.