article: "Is the West Retiring Early Retirement"

[anethum]

Robert Samuelson has an article in the Washington Post based on a study showing that in most developed countries, people are now retiring at a later age. France, Belgium, & Italy are exceptions.

Robert Samuelson: Is the West retiring early retirement? - The Washington Post

[M Paquette]

OK. I've got the popcorn ready. Who's bringing the beer? Front row seats...

[Midpack]

I wouldn't expect the link above to be controversial or at all surprising to most here, began with the decline of defined benefit plans years ago.

But if you want an article that might elicit "discussions" where popcorn and beer are indicated, this one by the same author might. Robert J. Samuelson: We need to stop coddling the elderly - The Washington Post. I don't see anything wrong with it, but it's full of potentially incendiary quotes!

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I wouldn't expect the link above to be controversial or at all surprising to most here, began with the decline of defined benefit plans years ago. But if you want an article that might elicit "discussions" where popcorn and beer are indicated, this one by the same author might. Robert J. Samuelson: We need to stop coddling the elderly - The Washington Post. I don't see anything wrong with it, but it's full of potentially incendiary quotes!

Yep. I'm familiar with both this author and his... fan club. I figure we could always use another influx of Rugged Individualists to combat our unproductive elderly, so as to maximize entertainment value.

[robnplunder]

Judging by folks in this forum, I don't know what RS is talking about . I for one will retire early (by age 53 give or take a year) and hopefully live in style (doing what I want to do without worrying about $$$$). But I understand that many others didn't plan for ER, couldn't afford to save enough even if they did, and/or ran into unexpected hardships which prevented them from ER. C'est la vie.

[anethum]

I see nothing controversial about the article, either. It's mainly dealing with statistics from a study which was paid for by a grant from the Social Security Administration.

I was surprised to read that the Netherlands and Germany have experienced such significant increases in the percentages of 60-65 year olds who work. I know less about retirement benefits in Belgium and Italy than those in France. Nevertheless, I was surprised that only 20% of 60-65 year olds are still working in those three countries. Many French tourists to the USA have remarked on how many elderly folks they see working in the USA in retail and other jobs. They typically find it shocking.