Americans aren’t saving enough. That’s not all their fault. The Fed has kept interest rates low, depriving savers of decent rates of return on their savings. And a decade of misguided monetary policy hasn’t managed to get wages growing very much. So many Americans who would prefer to retire, cannot. They are being forced to work into old age, and today elderly Americans are twice as likely to be working as they were in 1985. Bloomberg’s Suzanne Woolley reports:
Just as single-income families began to vanish in the last century, many of America’s elderly are now forgoing retirement for the same reason: They don’t have enough money. Rickety social safety nets, inadequate retirement savings plans and sky high health-care costs are all conspiring to make the concept of leaving the workforce something to be more feared than desired.
For the first time in 57 years, the participation rate in the labor force of retirement-age workers has cracked the 20 percent mark, according to a new report from money manager United Income.
As of February, the ranks of people age 65 or older who are working or seeking paid work doubled from a low of 10 percent back in early 1985. The biggest spike in employment has gone to college-educated older workers; the share of all employees age 65 or older with at least an undergraduate degree is now 53 percent, up from 25 percent in 1985.
This rise of college-educated older workers has pushed the demographic’s inflation-adjusted income up to an average of $78,000, 63 percent higher than the $48,000 older folks brought home in 1985. By comparison, American workers below the age of 65 saw their average income rise by only 38 percent over the same period, to an average of $55,000. United Income’s calculations draw on recently released data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
These statistics are startling and sad for those Americans who would like to be enjoy some time off with their families. I’ve been writing about how many Americans will keep working into their retirement years for some time now, and you can read some more on the subject here:
- How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Half Haven’t Saved a Thing
- The Double Whammy Hitting Today’s Retirees
- In Retirement Stop Working, Start Earning. Here’s How
- The Dangers of Being Unemployed and Older
If you want to avoid working in what should be your retirement, save early and often, and find an advisor who will keep your best interests in focus.
Read more here.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
