Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm more interested where the idea that retirement in someone's 50s was ever the "norm" came from.
Until relatively recently (meaning the Baby Boomers) most retirees did so at 65, rarely did any go at 62.
Yes, some of you will say workers like teachers or government workers or law enforcement or military could retire early after X number of years. Law enforcement and military, maybe, yes. The others, no. The vast majority of other workers, emphatically no.
I remember those days meself. In doing a timeline backwards, they were before the devastating 80s recession, and on the cusp of the offshoring of American manufacturing. E.g., the days when you could count on a 35 year career, or a 20 year career at one place followed by a 15 year career at another.
After 1990 recessions, anymore, people stopped talking about retiring at 65. Anymore, five years at any one place - especially after your mid 40s - became the new norm for long standing.
In my observation, it's only gotten worse from there.
I do not find the prevalence of stretching and gasping for "early retirement" and SOME kind of income at 62 surprising anymore. Really, after the late 90s, what are people to do? Once they are kicked to the curb, there's just no revenue sources.
But, I am cynical about these matters in a major way. Your view of recent history may be quite different, because we have all witnessed different things.
Life keeps getting more expensive. Taxes keep getting higher too. Even if ones house is paid off, the annual property taxes are more than in years past due to things like the costs of public schools. Maybe if retired people could have a discount on their property taxes and not have to pay for the costs of their local public school system, then they'd be able to afford to retire.
Also, the US population keeps increasing and jobs are lost due to foreign outsourcing and more automation and streamlining of the work flow. Then factor in immigrants from Third World and conflict-torn countries being allowed to stay legally in the US... so even if a significant percentage of Baby Boomers left the workplace, there would still be not enough jobs for the Millennials to go around, let alone decent paying ones that could help them pay off their student loan debts.
I was born before WWII so I am not a boomer. I work every day and will as long as I can. I never intend to move.
That said, I am self employed. I am very glad I am no longer involved in the corporate grind. I schedule myself. We have 92,000,000 Americans of working age not working. The velocity of money, M3, is the lowest it has ever been. Soon banks will begin to charge depositors to hold their money. Our nation is going to face a huge adjustment and our government will no longer be able to afford to pay people not to work. Lyndon Johnson's grand society is about to come to a screeching halt.
My parents are both in their late 50s. They work because they can't afford to retire. My mother in law just retired last year and she is in her early 70s. Many people are going to be working longer especially with the age to get full social security benefits but it's unfair to blame older workers for lack of work. The economy is still in recovery from the recession and it's a security issue for many. Things are coming back and there has been a lot of job growth where I live but really don't blame people for being cautious and continuing to work.
Old age is simple. If you have a lot of money, just retire, go shopping, and shop till you drop. If you don't have a lot of money, don't retire, but just go to work, and work till you drop. Either way, what you really have to worry about is how hard you're going to hit the floor when you drop. Work is better than shopping, because whatever hits the floor with you when you drop while shopping, it's probably something you bought. But if you drop while working, whatever hits the floor is probably something that belongs to your employer.
The times that came before these were even sadder. From ancient times to recent, things were always sad. But even in the worst of times, some people were happy. Even those with the worst luck often found ways to be happy. And right at this moment, there are probably more happy people than at any other time in history.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
