Maybe they are just people who do not realize that they can save enough to do something big in life? Maybe they realized they could do this and have small happy moments and that's the best they could hope for? That's the thing that is lacking these days, people lost hope, any hope that they could live a better life.
They think that no matter what they do, they won't live a better life, and that means with debt the best they can do would be making a life that would have some stories to tell. I am one of those people, not that I spend it on irresponsible ways, but I lost hope, I can take out any debt I want, but I do not see any future where I can live a richer life, that just doesn't make sense to me at all.
I feel like most workers who fail to meet up to their retirement goal just fail to plan during their time at work, they are easily carried away by the things of the present, some of them easily forget that they is something called the future. They prefer to live in the moment, forgetting that they live with budgeted funds. Those who are not fortunate to be born into wealth should be more disciplined when handling wealth. Because mismanagement of funds prune to happen to overzealous individuals. It is advisable to save 30% of your monthly income, workers should cultivate the habit of saving because this is their pass card to early retirement. You will seldom have unlimited access to wages or overtime. Having savings limits your need to borrow to cover unexpected expenses. Additionally few people budget correctly to include the annual or semiannual bills like property taxes and insurance and vehicle registrations. Having a financial cushion gives you peace of mind and allows you freedom to make better choices with less emotion. The main goal should be to work as a hedge for events which need immediate funds to be able to maintain your fixed as well as unplanned but a must-have/do expenses. A person wants to avoid asking friends relatives etc. for short or long term funding when getting laid off someone facing unexpected high repair bill hospital/medical care bill— for such events folks need to provide set aside reserve/savings.