The case against retirement
MSNBC, November 15th, 2009
Ah, retirement! Before the 1950s it was
something only the wealthy could afford to do. Everyone else needed an
income, and most folks struggled to get by in the industrial economy as
their faculties deteriorated. Back in the days before 401(k)s—let alone
Social Security—older people faced the kind of pressures portrayed by
filmmaker D.W. Griffith in his melodramatic 1911 silent film What Shall We Do With Our Old?
It's a sad tale of the setbacks endured by an elderly couple, the wife
ailing, the husband tossed off the assembly line to make way for a
younger worker.
Griffith
was one of many social activists calling for a social insurance system
to provide an income for the elderly. The social reformist dream became
reality with the 1935 Social Security Act, the spread of the corporate
defined benefit pension plan, and Medicare in 1965. For most workers
the last stage of life became a time of leisure, recreation, and
enjoyment.
The Age
of Retirement was one of America's most successful social reforms ever.
But that era is over. A new vision of old age is emerging from the
trauma of the credit crunch and the Great Recession: Forget retirement.
Keep working.
A long time coming
Surveys
show that a majority of baby boomers say they want to work during their
golden years. They're going to get their wish. The key question is no
longer "How early can I retire?" It's "Why retire?"
Of
course, like all tectonic social and economic shifts, the trend isn't
new. It has been building for the past three decades with the move away
from traditional pensions with their involuntary contributions and
steady payout for 401(k)-type plans with their voluntary contributions
and uncertain returns. We're also living longer. That's good news, but
it does mean that to maintain their standard of living the elderly have
to either earn a paycheck longer or save more—a lot more.
Read more of this article.
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