Posted on 08/02/2007 6:57:12 PM PDT by Graybeard58
The percentage of older Americans in the workforce is increasing markedly, partly driven by a need for affordable, employment-based health insurance.
A report released this morning by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute said the percentage of 55-and-older persons in the labor force ballooned from 38 percent 1993 to 45 percent in 2006.
The percentage of Americans aged 65 to 69 jumped from 18 percent in 1985 to 29 percent in 2006.
The increased workforce participation — especially among full-time, full-year workers — also is prompted by the need to accumulate retirement savings, the institute report said.
Two primary forces in the private sector are behind the trend. Employers are:
•Phasing out retiree health insurance, both for current retirees and for younger workers coming into the system.
•Shifting from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution retirement plans, which generally include worker contributions.
Increased workforce participation of 55-and-older Americans was found among men and women and across all race and ethnicity categories.
The nonprofit institute does not take policy positions; it researches health, savings, retirement and economic security data. Read the complete report at www.ebri.org.
I'm not sure how to fix that problem, but it will continue to get bigger and bigger as time goes on, if nothing is done.
Soon they will be taxing the air we breath.
This will go down like a big dog in about 10 years when most of the boomers are past their prime.
Only when you exhale - carbon dioxide, you know.
Not to worry. They’ll be covered by the new SCHIP.
Oops - not poor enough.
It's a sickness, I tell you.
Yeah, well, beneath all the bs and propaganda the simple fact is that medical costs are skyrocketing because medicine is a govt protected monopoly.
Add personal injury lawyers and medical malpractice insurance and you have the formula.
I you can still command a high salary because of experience and lack of younger workers, it’s hard to walk away - espeically if you don’t know how much you need to retire.
I get six figures, plus five percent 401K match, plus twelve percent cash-value pension. That’s hard to turn down.
It's a sickness, I tell you.
I've worked and I have not worked. I much prefer the latter.
With us living longer, it actually doesn’t seem like a good idea for many people to retire at 55. In fact, if I’m healthy at 65 I will still work. It’s not that retirement doesn’t sound fun (if you have the $$ to enjoy it) it’s just that I would rather be doing something productive, at least part time. People didn’t used to think that there was a certain age at which you just quit working and relaxed.
susie
More power to you Susie. That’s personal choice and it’s what freedom is all about.
I retired at 54 and am 62 now and I love every day of it. I am as busy as I want to be and I don’t need an alarm clock.
If you have enough $$ to sustain yourself to whatever age you live, I say that’s super. My husband is in the trust business, so I know that most people do not have the financial wherewithal to retire that early. If you planned well tho, more power to you. It has not always even been something people imagined. They worked until they either died or could not work. If they were lucky they had family who would take care of them. If not....
susie
Down in Virginia they already do that, but Kane wants to fine you if you breath two many times an hour.
Are you under 40?
I have impeccable credentials in my chosen field, years of experience. My resume gets me many interviews. However, as soon as I meet the interviewer, with my gray hair blowing in the wind, as it were, the interview is over. I can see it their glazed over eyes. Age discrimination has been around since the cost of medical coverage has hit the roof.
Hear, hear. I'm 55. I should be able to retire now and live on the largesse of my younger fellow Americans. What would Karl say?
“two” times an hour is a pretty low respiration rate. Not sure I can hold my breath for 30 minutes between inhalations.
I’d like to have about a million when I retire—not for living in opulence but living off the interest and financial security. Might be able to pull it off by age 60 if possible and favorable ROI.
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