Two Thirds Of Americans Aged 45-60 Plan To Delay Retirement
With today's jobs number due out shortly, it is worth pointing out some of the key trends that we have observed in the underlying data stripped of month-to-month seasonal variance, which expose the "quality" side of the US non-recovery, instead of the far more manageable "quantity" side. First and foremost, as we showed over two years ago, and as the mainstream is gradually picking up, the US labor force is increasingly transitioning to one of part-time, and temp workers, which has key implications for wages, worker leverage, and overall job prospects, all of which logically are negative. But perhaps an even more disturbing trends is the conversion of America into a gerontocratic worker society, where the bulk of jobs are handed out to those 55 and over, which puts all young workers, not to mention college graduates, at a major disadvantage relative to far more experienced older workers, who are willing to work for less as they scramble to compensate for retirement shortfalls, and which prevents the natural rotation of the US labor force from older to younger.
And as the WSJ today reports, there is zero hope that this trend will change in the near of far future, as nearly two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 45 and 60 say they plan to delay retirement, according to a report to be released Friday by the Conference Board. This compares to 42% of respondents expecting to put off retirement just two years earlier.
The WSJ explains how the "recovery" is anything but especially to those who may have hoped to be able to afford a peaceful and quiet retirement:
Nearly two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 45 and 60 say they plan to delay retirement, according to a report to be released Friday by the Conference Board. That was a steep jump from just two years earlier, when the group found that 42% of respondents expected to put off retirement.
The increase was driven by the financial losses, layoffs and income stagnation sustained during the last few years of recession and recovery, said Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic research at the organization and a co-author of the report, which is based on a 2012 survey of 15,000 individuals.
Matt Stern, 51 years old, a former analyst at a Manhattan hedge fund, met with a financial planner in December, days before he was laid off and the fund announced its imminent liquidation. At the meeting, the planner projected that Mr. Stern could retire at age 62. But now, with his assets down 10% to 20% from their 2008 peak, he is looking for a job and retooling his expectations for retirement.
"I might have to prioritize income over whatever calls to me on other levels," such as travel or being involved in nonprofit organizations, Mr. Stern said.
The labor force has been getting older for decades for reasons that range from longer life spans and better health to companies' replacement of defined-benefit pensions with higher-risk 401(k) plans.
But the stark increase in workers expecting to stay on the job—now 62%—was a surprise, Mr. Levanon said. After all, the stock market has largely earned back its losses, home prices are rising, and the unemployment rate is creeping down, all of which suggests workers should be feeling more secure.
Yet, lo and behold, just the opposite is happening, at least for US workers, if not for those 1% whose primary source of wealth is the stock market:
Many middle-aged Americans, though, drew down their savings during those lean years and now find that leaving the work force on their original timeline is no longer viable, he said.
They are also facing low interest rates, an uncertain future for Social Security, and a lower likelihood of receiving employer health insurance after retirement.
We suggest readers keep the above in mind once the spin brigade comes out full bore later today to spin the "great" jobs number which will add barely enough jobs to keep up with the population growth of the US.
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That ain't shit!
3/4ths of those under 35 understand we will have NO retirement.
Suck it up, grandpa.
Living the American dream......
Should do wonders to under 30 unemployement rate too.. Naaaat..
i ain't 1 of them. right on target for 62...
Retiring at 49, sick of the rat race.
a lot of retirements are going to be delayed till half past never
Even Mikey knows you don't want to work one day longer than you absolutly have to.
The funny part is that your average monkey spends about 8 hours a week engaging in actual work activity in order to survive. I think we humans have regressed.
Gonna get me a retirement job traveling with a circus or something so I can see the country.
I turn 55 in a couple weeks, canned two years ago after 34 years. So I'm zero income. I can draw $575/mo pension (70% penalty for early retirememt) starting March 1, but that would knock me off of $20 co-pay medical through local charity.
My pension has no COLA and with inflation running 10%-15% and zero hope of finding a job at my age, I'm just gonna have to cut back on my cocaine and Ferrari habit.
While student loan delinquency goes hyperbolic...
i ain't 1 of them
Brought to you by the progressive republicans and democrats. See.....we didn't get all of them!
it's called a multi-million $$ lump-sum payment from our good folks at pfizer...
Same here, 21 months to go and then some whippersnapper can have my job....please, take it.
march 30, 2013...
Bullish for Walmart greeters
No Walmart, in Canada over 60% of people retiring will start their own business according to survey. Ha Ha, what kind of business? Resale of Chinese goods, nail polishing or consultancy or something very orginal like sale of magic cow dung.
Selling vegetables from cart on street, booming business in 3rd world countries.
I personally will go for robberies.
Don't forget Herbalife!
lol
Screw that....100 ounces of gold, 2500 ounces of silver, and 250,000 in cash. I ain't working no mo.
Government workers "retire", collect their pension, then contract themselves back to the government. Been going on for years. Draining the taxpayer dry.
This gov't worker ain't gonna do that. I am going to be so glad to be rid of that employer.
In ancient Rome, they would work a person in the mines of Sardinia until they died. So what's changed?
now the tax the slaves and tell them they are free citizens and of course double their output quota. They also give them inexpensive tvs so they are immersed in an illusion that they are free and striving for a dream.
mmmm I saw a typo, think you meant American Nightmare.
Get back to work.
And most of the people in your age group voted for Barack Obama so, stop complaining, you hire a clown, expect this sort of result. Further, get your people organized and March on Washington to get rid of a corrupt banking system that is enriching a handful of Jews while killing the world economy.
I would suggest that, had the Republicans nominated Ron Paul, our age group would have swung pretty solidly Republican.
Because retirement is a natural right............... /s
Frankly, boys and girls, I was supposed to retire this year at age 55. The stinking real estate and stock market crashes, the loss of real income, the outrageous inflation (I know, there is no inflation--uh-huh, and of course I have waterfront property in the middle of the Mojave Desert I want to sell you. . .), the increase in all sorts of taxes and fees (I know, Obama "did not raise taxes on the middle class" blah blah blah), and now I am prepared to work 12 more years--until AT LEAST 67.
Sorry. It would be great for me if I could retire, and it would be great for you, as you could get a job, start a career, start saving, and get out of mom's basement. But the evil monsters in office in DC and the evil monsters stealing our money on Wall Street and the evil monsters in the MSM that cheer them on instead of holding them accountable, have ensure that it just ain't going to happen.
Well, that may or may not be true. But I do KNOW this--as long as those under 35 continue to agitate and vote for a radically Progressive, theft-from-working-Americans agenda, things will not get better.
There hasn't been a good President since, who, Washington? About right. And a good Congress? Maybe never. Bush I, Clinton, Bush II--all bad enough. All crooks and thieves and fools. But none of them--hell, all of them together on their worst days--did not put us on the glidepath to Hell that Obama has set out for us. IF YOUTH KEEP ELECTING these sorts of evil monsters, then YOUTH HAVE NO HOPE for their future.
Get rid of Obama, Clinton, Bush, Cheney, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, McConnell. . . STOP ELECTING THEM. STOP SUPPORTING THEM. STOP ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER ABOUT THEM. JUST GET RID OF THEM.
Build your own futures based on liberty and an absolute commitment to the sanctity of private property.
Well the Baby Boomer generation and Echo Boomers plus the old ***ks love TV and loved Cronkite. The idiots who watch TV and Hollywood's crap have helped put themselves in the gulag. Keep watching because your viewership of Operation Mockingbird has made it possible. Amnesty Limbaugh is another fake too.
'Retirement'? Crazy fuckers are dreaming!
More talk by Clinton and Jesse Jackson of seizing retirement funds. They raided Social Security and the public pension funds.
It makes sense. In order to keep, and even better get, a voting demographic, make them dependant on the government. By seizing accounts, these people will vote for the party who promises more hands-outs, since they will now need them! Who needs dictators when you have democracy!
Seizing a 401K account presupposes that they don't already de-facto have it in their possession. I would suggest that you control the flow of funds from that account only to the extent that they choose to allow you that control. IRA accounts, same deal. Tax exemptions have a price.
My guess is that there are several triggers to total social chaos. One is theft of 401ks and IRAs by govt. Another is diminishment of 2nd A rights. Either of these, or several others, occur, all bets are off. Lots, and lots, and lots of people will oppose and defy by whatever means necessary. Perhaps the TPTB want these triggers pulled, as an excuse to install a genuinely complete control. But, for as long as they want things to remain normal, they had better stay away from these and certain other triggers.
100% of Americans 20-40 years old plan to never retire
20-40 yr olds dont plan much of anything actually.
When you have homicidal maniacs running the world, what exactly is there to plan?
"..what exactly is there to plan?"
Project Mayhem?
Agenda21?
I just want to say
Big Bro
Anyone get it?
Well that's why they call me the bus driver.
Cause i'm about to take you to SCHOOL.
And add in 30 million illegal aliens to the mix......its not 11 million.....well that is going to be good for the labor market...
Just getting our priorities staight....and doing the people's work.
I took out my 401K for $3000 in 2009 after being jobless for about a year and almost broke.
I went to AC with it, played poker, and won $5200. #bestdecisionever
Good move on the 401k; removing it that is. Why let the government keep your money hostage?
In a few years, when the handouts are gone and the currency debauched, retirement will go the way of the dodo.
Retirement is a myth. All good Ponzis come to an end.
Welcome to the new American Dream - Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.
Retirement? What is this word? "Retirement?"