Posted on 08/02/2007 6:57:12 PM PDT by Graybeard58
The percentage of older Americans in the workforce is increasing markedly, partly driven by a need for affordable, employment-based health insurance.
A report released this morning by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute said the percentage of 55-and-older persons in the labor force ballooned from 38 percent 1993 to 45 percent in 2006.
The percentage of Americans aged 65 to 69 jumped from 18 percent in 1985 to 29 percent in 2006.
The increased workforce participation — especially among full-time, full-year workers — also is prompted by the need to accumulate retirement savings, the institute report said.
Two primary forces in the private sector are behind the trend. Employers are:
•Phasing out retiree health insurance, both for current retirees and for younger workers coming into the system.
•Shifting from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution retirement plans, which generally include worker contributions.
Increased workforce participation of 55-and-older Americans was found among men and women and across all race and ethnicity categories.
The nonprofit institute does not take policy positions; it researches health, savings, retirement and economic security data. Read the complete report at www.ebri.org.
I had intended to work till age 60 (I'm almost 57 now) then retire and move to central America. However, last November 30, after almost 35 years with my employer here in Detroit, our stamping plant was closed and the company itself was sold. I haven't been able to find any employment at all.
While its been nice having the summer off, I would much rather be working.......
Oh great. Well, I suppose I should just die when I reach 65. That way I won’t be in anyone’s *way* whose trying to reach the top (unlikely, since I’m a female teacher) and I won’t be a drain on the kids either. Sheesh. You sound bitter, and I’m sorry for that, but get a grip.
susie
My mother retired from Civil Service (federal) when she was about 57. Her benefits were great, she indeed didn’t get social security (altho she had paid into it when she didn’t work for the Federal Govt). In hindsight I am glad she did retire early, since she spent the last 4 years of her life battling kidney cancer and was dead by the time she was 67.
We never know what life will throw at us, but I am concerned about early retirement with people (in general) living longer.
As I said in a previous post, my husband is in the financial industry, and most people don’t really understand how much they need to have saved for retirement if they are going to live another 20 or so years.
I will likely not teach when my husband finally retires, but I will do something. Heck, maybe I’ll become a Walmart greeter...that won’t keep any of those young whippersnappers from climbing the corporate ladder!
susie
Of course I'm bitter: I'm the youngest engineer in my organization and I'm 40! It's insane....
Sorry about that 'healthcare' thing, but get a grip.
Well, so what if you’re the youngest? Perhaps your company likes to hire seasoned professionals. What’s wrong with that? I think businesses should be able to hire whomever they choose.
susie
So where is the next batch of 'seasoned professionals' coming from?
Really, if your 'bright young talent' is in its 40s, it's over. I'm talking about engineering, aerospace and defense--it's become a geriatric endeavor with no new talent replacing the retirees. Furthermore, as oldsters hang onto their jobs unto death there are no positions and no budget to hire the next generation of professionals.
So, who will I supervise as I move up the (now nonexistant) promotion ladder?
I suppose then you will need to go into another profession if the one you’re in is so bad. I fail to see why it’s someone else’s responsibility to retire so you or anyone else can have their job.
susie
I guess we really have no needs of aircraft or submarines, tanks and bombs since we are perfectly at peace and will remain so.
I fail to see why it’s someone else’s responsibility to retire so you or anyone else can have their job.
Of course you do: You are in your mid-fifties, correct?
First, are you suggesting that without you there will be no aircraft, etc? If so people not retiring may not be the reason you’re not moving up in the company.
Second, no, I am not in my mid-fifties, I just turned fifty. But, I think it would be frankly arrogant and selfish to imagine that anyone needs to retire so that I can have a shot. If someone can do their job well, and they have experience which makes them valuable employees, who are you to say they should retire just to give someone else a chance? If a field is saturated with workers, then that’s unfortunate, but some of those people will need to go into another line of work. I had that same experience. I had a degree in exercise physiology, and I had worked in the field. But it was difficult to find jobs because it became such a hot degree to get. So, instead of complaining I changed careers. Kind of scarey at age 42, but I don’t recall any guarantee anywhere that said I could have the career and/or job that I desired.
susie
Of course not. I never even suggested that, but I did say that without the next generation of engineers we will face just that prospect. If the oldsters don't patch the torch, it will burn out
Second, no, I am not in my mid-fifties, I just turned fifty. But, I think it would be frankly arrogant and selfish to imagine that anyone needs to retire so that I can have a shot.
No society has ever suffered having 30 percent of the work force stay into their dotage. It's never happened before and it retards the growth, success and opportunities of every generation that follows.
I had that same experience. I had a degree in exercise physiology, and I had worked in the field.
Yeah, that's just like aerospace and electrical engineering....
It's clear the old boomers won't pass the torch gracefully--the torch will have to be stomped out of their grasping liverspotted hands....
No kidding. I love to work. It keeps me out of trouble (for the most part).
The people I know who work after 'retirement age' do better physically, mentally and health wise. Sitting at home doing nothing isn't healthy.
Diane Stafford
In the last few weeks, whenever I talked to someone connected with health care delivery, they asked me if I’d seen “Sicko.”
You must see it, they said. Of course, these weren’t health insurance company or pharmaceutical representatives. These were doctors, nurses and health care consultants.
So, yesterday, I went to see it. We can all agree that filmmaker Michael Moore has his faults, but courage to point out failings is not one of them. Only the most jingoist American can fail to agree that the inability to provide affordable health care for all is a huge blot on the nation.
http://workspacekc.typepad.com/workspace_by_diane_staffo/
The first and easiest fix would be to de-couple health insurance from large employers. Insurance is not affordable unless you’re the property of some corporation.
Many older folks would probably opt for self-employment, but the health insurance premium is to high to overcome. No reason why there couldn’t be insurance co-ops, which would have the same financial leverage as a large corporation.
:-}
I’m sorry you’re bitter about the boomers. It’s sad, but you’re set in your viewpoint, and nothing anyone says will change your mind, I suspect. Funny, because that’s what they usually say about us old geezers.
I think life will go on, the market will work, and we will still have an aerospace industry.
Just be nice to those old folks who refuse to get out of your way. And pay attention, you might learn something from them.
susie
Where I work, it’t the reverse case. There are all these overblown, egotistical people, who came of age during the 1960s and early 1970s, who were in the right place at the right time, many of whom have significant psychological issues, broken marriages and other problems but who, as a controlling demographic, have seized and cling stubborly to power. Anyone who is between the ages of 30 and 45 right now can forget about getting very far up the ladder, unless they are very, very good and very, very lucky. There is a grey cieling.
It also helps if you are a minority, female, or both.
Gotta love that look you probably get sometimes (which I still get) .... hey, that’s an interesting idea kid!
When my dad was my age, he was one of the older people on his staff (and all those young whipper snapper Boomers were the masses ....)
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