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Retirement boom? Not likely
The Christian Science Monitor, July 2, 2002
LAGRANGE,
GA. – Financially fueled
by years of working and saving, baby boomers are a healthy and wealthy
spending bloc soon to be consumed by enviable retirements built around
leisurely recreations. At
least, that's the popular financial stereotype. Joseph
Dalton wants to hear none of it. In a good month, he squeaks out a
makeshift income fixing trucks for maybe $400 a week. Retirement is a
pleasant-sounding pipe dream to him. "I'll
stay working as long as I can," says Mr. Dalton, who is in his late
40s, sitting at a La Grange, Ga., gas-station cafe on a slow day. "A
lot of people, especially around here, they retire but they don't have the
money to do anything." That
scenario is likely to become more prevalent as aging boomers who have
spent their lives scraping by realize that – just because they're moving
toward retirement age – giving up the 9-to-5 isn't an option. "In
an affluent, humane society, older persons ought to have a real choice
whether they work or not," says Stephen Brobeck, executive director
of the Consumer Federation of America, which has joined America Saves, a
campaign to prod people to save more. "But increasingly, there's the
threat of many seniors being forced to work until they're disabled." That's
what clouds the future agendas of people such as 56-year-old Charlie
Blender of Peoria, Ill. He works a range of jobs to make ends meet:
full-time as a maintenance mechanic at a printing plant, part-time as a
carpenter, and part-time at his wife's office-cleaning business. "[My
father] worked for a company for 30 years, retired when he was 59 and
lived happily ever. But it doesn't work like that anymore." Most
experts say that as people such as Mr. Blender age, they'll redefine
retirement with new job configurations – out of financial necessity in
many cases. Puny
savings has become a predicament for many. In
a January survey, less than 25 percent of workers age 40 to 59 had saved
$100,000 or more, according to responses from 1,000 people interviewed for
the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the American Savings Education
Council. Only
a third of workers in that age group said they had tried to figure how
much money they'll need in retirement. Other research shows people
continue to underestimate the amount of money they'll need after retiring,
says Elizabeth Jetton, a certified financial planner in Atlanta. "You
don't change who you are just because you're retired," she says. Despite
some high-profile corporate bankruptcies and a rocky stock market over the
past two years, boomers are the most affluent generation in US history,
with the highest standard of living ever. But boomers are dealing with two
issues their parents never faced: far larger spending habits and a trend
toward longer life spans. And
regardless of income, boomers have been on a buying binge for most of
their lives, propelled by a belief that the fiscal future would be bright
and advertising that stoked their desire for more possessions, Ms. Jetton
says. "Debt
has just been a real tragedy to the baby boomers," Jetton says.
"What we have to do is find where their sense of 'enough' is.
Otherwise, you just get more and more and it's never going to be
enough." Assessing
his father's financial ways, Blender sees the generational differences
starkly: "You live paycheck to paycheck," he says. "Back
then, you only had one car per family. And you took maybe one trip. Most
people around here took one vacation a year – they went up to Minnesota
and went fishing. Now they go to New York, or Atlanta, for a weekend. "I
go to a NASCAR race and it costs $400 or $500, and my father never dreamed
of going to a race." Where
to receive federal government help with retiree issues Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation The
FDIC can answer questions about retirement accounts and your rights,
particularly regarding how accounts at banks and other savings
institutions are insured. 877-275 3342; www.fdic.gov Internal
Revenue Service The
IRS can assist with tax-related questions, including questions about taxes
on retirement-account withdrawals. 800-829-1040; www.irs.gov Social
Security Administration This
agency can provide information about Social Security benefits, including
how to file a claim. 800-772-1213; www.ssa.gov Pension
and Welfare Benefits Administration This arm of the Labor Department responds to inquiries about pension rights. 866-275-7922; The
Federal Consumer Information Center This
organization is a clearinghouse for free and low-cost booklets published
by various federal agencies. 888-878-3256; www.pueblo.gsa.gov FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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