"I Never Thought I'd Be Working In My 70s": Three Distressing Retirement Stories

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/americas-retirement-crisis



It’s official: America has entered a retirement crisis. Or, as Forbes understatedly put it, “the greatest retirement crisis in the history of the world.”

And, while the causes are manifold — the demographic bulge of baby boomers leaving the fulltime workforce; greater worker longevity; the disastrous, 30-year shift from traditional defined benefit pensions to costly 401(k)-style plans — most experts agree that the national retirement implosion has gone critical, with an estimated 75 percent of Americans who are nearing retirement age having less than $27,000 in their retirement accounts.

Even John C. Bogle, the founder of the $2 trillion mutual fund and 401(k) behemoth Vanguard Group, recently admitted that the system of retirement plans that rely on 401(k)s is broken.

“[401(k)s were] designed as a thrift plan, and it doesn’t work as a retirement plan,” Bogle declared.

http://vimeo.com/79730669#at=0

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. Another in the long list of imminent disasters we are going to pretend don't exist.

Once it hits, everyone will be quite shocked and terribly frustrated that nothing was done. If only we'd known about it before...

[xchrom]

3. yes, the typical list of words flowing from the mouths of 'experts'...

surprise, unexpected, unforeseen...etc

[ctsnowman]

10. Yup.

And the of course we will have to lower taxes and decrease regulations becuase that's what caused the whole thing in the first place.

[Turbineguy]

2. They fail to look on the bright side.

Last edited Sat Nov 23, 2013, 10:45 AM - Edit history (1)

Some undeserving Wall Street Wanker is driving a Bentley thanks to them.

The GOP retirement plan is a gun and a magazine with bullets.

[beachbum bob]

4. real crisis yet to come if rightwing crazies ever gain control of govt

eliminating social security and medicare/medicaid is at the top of their list as well as outlawing unions and prevailing wage act. Its bad now but it can become much worse.

We have people who see no need for ANY safety net...build more prisons, build debtor prisons, bring back chain gang labor. And to those who can't survive, let them die.

compassionate conservatism

[Egalitarian Thug]

17. If? n/t

[kelliekat44]

5. A lot of seniors work merely to cover health care and medical costs. If the GOP would stop

trying to gut the ACA and help make it work better, more people would be able to stop work and retire without fearing that their modest incomes would not be enough to take care of them. And if our government, especially the GOP, would help get decent jobs bills passed with good protections for workers and stop trying to bust up unions and hold wages down, more young folks could get jobs and contribute to the economy and government revenues. Selfishness is short-sighted for the nation. But the wealthy just don't give a damn....they don't have to work.

[KG]

6. I'm already resigned to the fact I'll have to work till I die

fortunately, i guess, it would be sitting at a desk rather than physical labor.

[TheMastersNemesis]

7. Yet A Lot Of Seniors Still Vote GOP.

[HughBeaumont]

11. Well, yeah, because (insert racial, ethnic or gender slur here)s.

They "LOVE THEIR COUNTRY" while hating 93% of the people in it.

[pangaia]

13. Include ignorance, habit and inertia.

[Alkene]

8. Quelle surprise.

I've never assumed otherwise for myself.

My assumption has long been that I'll work until I'm too sick to function, use up what little savings I've managed on a few weeks' groceries, languish in a cardboard box under the freeway until I die from exposure and malnutrition at which point I'll become fodder for the rats, crows and raccoons.

Not much of a retirement plan, but as a citizen of the greatest, most exceptional nation in the history of the world, it will have been an honor and a privilege to have worked all my life so my superiors could have nice lives with nice things in nice neighborhoods. Seriously. An honor.

[LWolf]

9. My 75 yo mom

is thrilled to be able to find some part-time low wage work.

[HughBeaumont]

12. Then there's the other disastrous, 30-year shift . . . .

. . .. from a sane and working social contract to re-branded Feudalism, which helps nobody but 5,000 people and needs to go the way of the dodo and FAST.

[pangaia]

14. 2014 GOTV and VOTE, early and often !!

Stop talking about 2016.

[FatBuddy]

15. our rapacious,greedy 1% owners

had this shit all mapped out from the jump.

they knew exactly what they were doing.

the Great American Fire Sale proceeds full throttle.

[MisterP]

16. post from 2020: "EXCUSE me, but the only people against HillaryWorks are

GOPSTRUCTIONSITS WHO WANT TO PUT US ALL IN CAMPS"

[Fumesucker]

18. Sensible woodhucks all agree

[Generic Brad]

19. I hope to remain working until I take my final breath

I love my job. I love mentoring people. I love making a positive impact on people's lives. I have no intention of ever walking away from that unless my health dictates otherwise.

[The Wielding Truth]

20. But if you get sick or hurt? What happens to you and what happens to those who do? What is other's

jobs don't pay enough ? Without SS and medicare we well see our economy flatten. We will all suffer.

[Generic Brad]

21. I'll cross that bridge when and if I come to it

My preference is to retire when I want to, not when I am forced to. I consider myself fortunate. I have developed myself into an expert in my field and still continue to increase my value every year. At a time when my peers are losing ground, I am not.

But I understand that I am an exception, not the rule. I agree completely with your point of view.