Every American should be able to retire with money in the bank, and an IRA with hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in it, or instead a large corporate or government-supported pension. That never was the case for most retirees, but it seems that in the past more people could retire and afford to go to Florida and maintain a reasonable standard of living.

Many Americans know that they do not have the capital to retire, unless it is to the poorhouse. IRAs have been eaten by the stock markets or historically low yields on bonds. Fewer and fewer companies have pensions and many no longer match IRA contributions. A large number of studies show that people who might have retired at 65 now expect to work well into their 80s.

A new poll from Gallup shows that “More Americans are worried about not having enough money for retirement (66%) than are worried about seven other financial matters.” These worries include medical bills and standard of living. Perhaps these same people sense that federal government austerity will eventually cut back what is spent on Social Security and Medicare. Companies can break with their retirement obligation, so what can’t the United States.

The by-products of a generation of older workers are well-cataloged. The aged employed take jobs that might go to people who are under 25–a segment of the population which has very high jobless rates. Older workers cost employers more in benefits because of the physical breakdown of age.

The government hardly has the money to solve the retirement financial problem; as a matter of fact deficit cuts may make it worse. Companies will take years to recover from the shock of the late recession. This will cause most to retain profits rather than to pay them out to workers close to or at retirement ages.

Older Americans can no longer fall back on old safety nets like the value of their homes. The options for many to retire in their 60s are spent. The workforce ages as each day passes and that will not change for years

Methodology: “Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted April 7-11, 2011, with a random sample of 1,077 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling.”

Douglas A. McIntyre

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