pension
A pension is a "prepaid ticket to the future" accumulated over a lifetime. Upon receipt, inflation and taxes—like gatekeepers—mercilessly strip away its value. For workers, it symbolizes a long-term loan unlikely to be fully repaid, and for politicians, a tool to borrow votes in advance. Once hailed as security, in reality it becomes a labyrinthine trial for retirees. Calling it a "public self-investment" in one's own old age is irony at its finest.