Retirement dreams are disappearing

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JyWpEfKoJihiQfrMoGWROGqlNOgv-F59K73yo6n9DIoCv6KX-srC2_NA6hnqeeUzbMvr-eVpYZsIWVRMkvwI6tylAhB5Xkha06b_qpoifJWmKzll9isUfsVBrPqvWTwOFrWMpkiAXITY/s1600/collectivebargaining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JyWpEfKoJihiQfrMoGWROGqlNOgv-F59K73yo6n9DIoCv6KX-srC2_NA6hnqeeUzbMvr-eVpYZsIWVRMkvwI6tylAhB5Xkha06b_qpoifJWmKzll9isUfsVBrPqvWTwOFrWMpkiAXITY/s200/collectivebargaining.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The U.S. has a history of being a hard-working nation, one where people who did their job and followed the rules were rewarded with financial security in their golden years. But as </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/09/US-households-are-now-earning-less-than-in-1989.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">middle-class jobs have slipped away</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> due to the last recession only to be replaced with low-wage opportunities, workers are losing hope about being able to retire. Instead, </span><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-retirement-delayed-20130928,0,7773709,print.story" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">they plan to work longer</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A </span><a href="https://hcexchange.conference-board.org/blog/post.cfm?post=1455" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">report</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">released by The Conference Board earlier this year noted that the number of current workers between ages 45 and 60 now planning to delay retirement grew to 62 percent in 2012, up 20 percent from two years earlier. A reduction in salary as well as job loss were the top reasons for putting off retirement, according to the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span><a href="http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/are-americans-still-delaying-retirement.html/?a=viewall" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another report</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Gallup showed the average retirement age has increased by four years since 1995, and is expected to grow even more:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Younger Americans are growing more pessimistic about their golden years. The average non-retired American does not expect to retire until the age of 66, compared to 60 in 1995. Furthermore, 37 percent of those polled by Gallup say they expect to retire sometime after the age of 65, up sharply from 22 percent a decade ago and 14 percent in 1995. Meanwhile, only 26 percent say they will likely retire before age 65, down significantly from 49 percent in 1995.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fewer and fewer Americans are contributing to their retirement, and those who do don’t seem to have enough saved anyway. Why is that? Because </span><a href="http://www.nationalmemo.com/failed-policy-the-401k-shrinks-in-a-growing-economy-2/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the increased reliance of 401(k) retirement funds has been a disaster</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, The National Memo notes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Census surveys show that only a third of workers in their twenties have any form of retirement plan at work, compared to 62 percent of workers in their fifties.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But having a retirement plan and actually getting benefits are far from the same. Among all adult workers, only 43 percent say they have a vested right to either their own money they saved or money their employer set aside for them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Betty Schueler, who worked as a bartender and restaurant server for 40 years at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said she no longer harbors any illusions about retirement after recently losing her job:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Retirement is a word that's no longer in our vocabulary. I will never see that in my lifetime.</span></blockquote></div>

401(k) retirement Retirement dreams are disappearing

The U.S. has a history of being a hard-working nation, one where people who did their job and followed the rules were rewarded with financial security in their golden years. But as middle-class jobs have slipped away due to the last recession only …

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