growing_older
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
- Messages
- 2,657
That's just not true. This is ongoing propaganda from Teresa Ghilarducci who is actively campaigning to end IRA/401k and similar plans in favor of a government controlled retirement for everyone. The figures in the article show 89.4% of seniors were not working 30 years ago and now it's 81.4% of seniors not working. A decrease, but hardly a crisis.more than most will end up like those in the article.
No mention of increased health and longer life in the last 30 years making longer working lives more desirable for some, including some who work by choice for any number of reasons, not just destitute need. Instead it's just some anecdotes to make it seem like there must be legions of unfortunate old people trapped in dead end jobs. Impoverished by cruel fate and poorly designed 401k plans.
There have always been people who didn't plan for or save for their future. Pensions were never as ubiquitous as these articles seem to imply. My own grandmother, and many of her friends, were content as seniors with very minimal incomes and adjusted their lifestyles to match. If you want to argue that the safety net needs to be bigger to provide more for people who find themselves too old to work with no resources of their own, then please argue for that. But don't imply that only a small number of rich fat cats and unworthy heirs are the only ones who can have a quality retirement unless radical changes are made.